Questions On Three Star Wars Character Fates

photo taken by me - R2D2 in FAB Cafe Manchester
Preston, England
December 24, 2017 8:54am CST
Spoiler alerts The Last Jedi leaves various questions unanswered. I’m mainly interested in the Leila-Holdo story and the absence of Lando Calrissian. With Carrie Fisher’s death, and that of Kenny Baker, and Peter Mayhew stepping down as the original Chewbacca, there is only Anthony Daniels (C3PO) of the original cast still going, though Hamill may appear as a ghostly mentor-guide for Rey just as Obi Wan & Yoda did for him. The return of Lando might be one strengthening link to the original movies, and it was considered that he would be the Code-Breaker Finn & Rose tried to reach at the Casino, but the DJ betrayal story took over and Billy Dee Williams was cut out at the writing stages as Lando is now redeemed and too loyal to the Resistance for such a betrayal after his efforts to sell Han off to Bobba Fett. Fisher’s fate is also problematic a there is no footage of her filmed for episode 9, and no plans to digitize her or use a stand in. Her fate, if mentioned at all, is likely to be an off-screen event. There were several chances to round off her story very neatly in The Last Jedi, even in post production following Fisher’s death. Her loss in space seemed like the end, and it would have been a lovely finish as her iced, preserved body drifted out among the stars forever. Her sudden use of the Force at high level after showing zero Jedi ability (except perhaps for hearing Luke in distress when he was clinging to the bottom of the Cloud City), seems rather too contrived, silly and smacks of reluctance to let Leila / Fisher go. Holdo’s story arc seems written in hurriedly with her as a replacement leader, and I felt like her part could have been carried by Leila / Fisher. Her gambit to evacuate the rebels to the final siege fortress putting her at odds with Poe, his mutiny actually going against Leila until her real intent wa revealed, and that final sacrifice being hers rather than Dern-Holdo. With Leila hiding her real intent rather than an unknown character it would have been a stronger struggle against Poe, both thinking they were doing the right thing, the kind of thing they used to do in Star Trek when they would try to relieve Kirk of command until they realized what he was really up to. It would also round off Leila’s condemnation of Poe’s attempted self-sacrifice at the opening of the film, with her doing the very same thing at the end. The reunion with Luke was the other point at which Leila could have gone, perhaps with his final fade coinciding with hers as her ship took down the dreadnought. Born together, their departing together would have been poetic. The story has expanded away from one family’s tragic destiny so the last bow of the Skywalker’s would have been perfect. The production crew had no real idea how ill Fisher was, and it is unclear if her health crisis affected filming and limited her ability to be on set (which would account for the udden inexplicable Holdo switch-over) but Fisher was on a book signing promotion when she died so the film work was all over by then. The team probably fully expected her to be right there for the next film, and Fisher’s tragedy played out far more cruelly than that of Leila. A reminder that real life tragedy has no creative sense of poetry. However Leila’s fate is decided in Star Wars 9, it is unlikely to match the options they had to let her go so well in Episode 8 – the final tribute to Fisher as ‘Our Princes’ in the credits was wonderful though. Hopefully, there will at least be a place for Williams / Lando on the Falcon next time round. Arthur Chappell
6 people like this
6 responses
• Calgary, Alberta
25 Dec 17
I was upset with one of the characters of this movie. Rose is so annoying. her story arc dont make any sense. she is like a bad fan fiction character.
2 people like this
@much2say (53650)
• Los Angeles, California
27 Dec 17
@CaptAlbertWhisker I didn't care too much for Rose either - and I really didn't seen any chemistry between her and Finn. There was no build up - it was a weak subplot. A lot of people are saying that whole casino thing could have been left out of the movie.
1 person likes this
• Calgary, Alberta
25 Dec 17
@arthurchappell That is my biggest complaint with that character. I dont mind if the writers want a romance between her and Finn but it has no development too. it came out of nowhere.
2 people like this
• Preston, England
25 Dec 17
@CaptAlbertWhisker I quite liked \\\\\\\\\\\rose but her transition from technician to pilot made no sense
2 people like this
@much2say (53650)
• Los Angeles, California
27 Dec 17
We did see that Lando was missing - I didn't know that he was considered for the code-breaker role. We all wonder about how Leia will be addressed in the next one . . . like you said, they did have several chances to do it here. For whatever reason, I just plain have a problem with Dern being Holdo!
1 person likes this
• Preston, England
27 Dec 17
@much2say she did seem a clumsily introduced character
1 person likes this
@much2say (53650)
• Los Angeles, California
29 Dec 17
@arthurchappell She seemed too "nice". And I couldn't help but "see" Dern instead of Holdo.
@teamfreak16 (43451)
• Denver, Colorado
25 Dec 17
Really, she's able to use the Force? I guess I really should catch up on these. I am a few movies behind.
1 person likes this
• Preston, England
25 Dec 17
@teamfreak16 it is Leila's only use of the Force since hearing Luke call for help at the end of the Empire Strikes Back
1 person likes this
@Kandae11 (53596)
24 Dec 17
My son would love a discussion on this - he has been a Star Wars fan from since he was little. It is not really my kind of show. Though he did get me to watch the "Lord of the Rings " trilogy - and I was hooked, as well as "kingdom of Heaven" with Orlando Bloom.
1 person likes this
@peachpurple (13882)
• Malaysia
24 Dec 17
sorry I didn't watch star wars
1 person likes this
• United States
25 Dec 17
I'm sorry I didn't read your post, because I'm going to see the movie tomorrow, and I didn't want to find out anything ahead of time.
1 person likes this
• Preston, England
25 Dec 17
@misunderstood_zombie hope you enjoy it