REVIEW:  Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker: Expanded Edition

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Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker: Expanded Edition was written by Rae Carson and published by Del Rey on March 17, 2020.

Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker (the film) does what every good third act of a Star Wars trilogy does, it crams about two movies worth of plot and explanation into one movie in an effort to make everything that came before make sense and get neatly wrapped up by the end. Did it succeed? Yes; but you could burn your house to the ground and make the argument that you succeeded in getting rid of your termite infestation. It’s almost a Pyrrhic victory of a movie. That’s not to say that I didn’t like it, or enjoy it. I did. I saw it twice and I am going to buy it and watch it again. We’re not here to talk about the film, though; we’re here to talk about the novelization to the film. Let’s get right to the point: if you didn’t like TROS, there is nothing in this book that is going to change your mind and make you like the story. You know that already. However, if you did like TROS, then I think there is just enough additional stuff in the novel to make it worth your while.


First and foremost, you have the one thing that a novel can do that a movie can’t, reveal the thought processes and internal motivations of its characters. That really helps with a movie that is as over-stuffed and relentlessly forward moving as TROS. You get glimpses into Leia’s thoughts as she trains Rey and grieves her losses. We also see some of her own memories of her Jedi training with Luke. As good as it was to see Leia in the movie, the untimely passing of Carrie Fisher made for a very limited role. This helps alleviate that to some extent, but of course the author of the book had to work from the script that was completed after Fisher’s death. So, Leia doesn’t really have a bigger role in the book; but she does have a deeper one. Rey and Kylo also benefit from the novel format. I especially enjoyed Rey’s thoughts after Chewbacca “dies”, remembering how he had offered the Millennium Falcon to her although it was by rights his own. So, yeah, Rey officially owns the MF now. We see Rey struggling with her dark visions, even before the truth of her parentage is revealed; and the scenes of her and Kylo Force-timing are well done. While reading, it occurred to me that, throughout the Sequel Trilogy, Ren and Rey are both very lonely people. Sure, Rey has the Resistance now, but she is still very much haunted by the loneliness of her youth; and her darker inclinations make her wonder if she really does fit in there. Kylo, had a family, but sought only to destroy it; to kill the past. He killed his mentor Snoke, and when he discovered the Emperor his goal was to destroy him. So you have Rey, who has a family now, but isn’t quite sure if she is worthy of it; and you have Kylo, who wants nothing but power. Yes, he wants Rey, but only to possess her; to snuff out her light and pull her into the darkness with him. Throughout the story, the connection between these two strengthens; the dyad is revealed, and these two broken people find healing and redemption in each other. That’s a beautiful thing, man. And that’s the thing about The Rise of Skywalker: it’s a hot mess, but it has some really beautiful moments. The book may even be better than the movie at revealing those moments because of the necessarily slower way the material is presented.

So, the book is really about adding depth more than breadth to the movie; because did the movie really need more content? More stuff? That said, there is some additional content; scenes that were not in the movie. There is a scene of Zorii eluding the First Order to get to the spice runner’s den; then another of her escaping Kijimi in her Y-Wing. There is a really nice scene of Lando boarding the Falcon just before the final mission, reminiscing about the past. He finds a holo in Chewbacca’s quarters depicting a young Ben Solo and “uncle Chewie”; this contrasts nicely with an earlier scene that I’m pretty sure isn’t in the movie where Kylo interrogates the captured and presumed dead Wookiee. It doesn’t answer every question you might have, like how Luke and Leia knew about Rey’s ancestry before she did. Until I’m told different, I’m just going to assume that Luke came to know this when he passed into the Force and then told Leia about it. It is shown that the departed Luke does communicate with Leia (in voice only). Yes, Palpatine’s body in the movie is a clone, but it is made clear that it contains his original essence. Palpatine’s son was a “failed” clone. So, cloning instead of boning on that one. No details are revealed about Rey’s mother. When the rag-tag fleet is checking in over Exegol, we hear “Ghost one” checking in. We also hear Kaz checking in and a “deep voice” that tells him to shut up. I assume that’s Yeager. The caretakers on Ach-To still don’t like Rey. Maybe they knew she was a Palpatine all along. Honestly, when you think about it, the caretakers are the real heroes of the Saga.
Score:

For the movie I would say 3 Skulls; but the novel gets 4 Skulls for adding the aforementioned and much needed depth.


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