NOW that's how you close a saga over 42 years old!!!

Rating: 9/10 (22 December 2019)

I went this morning to see Star Wars Ep. IX: The Rise of Skywalker and I have this to say:
THAT....is how you cap a saga that has been going for over 42 years, since May 25, 1977, the release date of Star Wars: Ep. IV: A New Hope. JJ Abrams hit this one out of the park. He and Rian Johnson, should be so proud! This final chapter is a masterpiece! I am going to share my thoughts on why this is the case but I need to preface my arguments with some background.
I was born just shy of 3 years after "A New Hope" was released, so Star Wars has been a part of the fabric of my life since the beginning. I have loved Star Wars since I was a child, and I have watched just about every Star Wars movie, spin off, and TV show since this then. In doing so, please consider that many of my thoughts are going to include connections to Star Wars canon outside of the 8 movies leading to Ep.9.
As the lights went on at the end of my viewing today, and I was scraping my jaw off the floor, I was reasoning things out, and admittedly, I can only think of one, minor loose end, that was never explained. More on that later. Now to understand my thoughts and theories, you need to have seen Ep. 1-9, and the animated "Clone Wars" that ran on Cartoon Network from October 2008 to March 2014. This is why I think there is such brilliance to this capstone episode to the Skywalker saga.
*Spoilers Ahead*
1. How is Palpatine still alive?
At the close of Ep. 6, we see Darth Vader pick up the Emperor, and throw him down a chasm in the Death Star. That should have killed him right? To start we need to go to Ep.3, when Anakin is speaking to Senator Palpatine in that light concert on Coruscant. There Palpatine introduces that he knows some history behind the Force, namely the Dark Side, and speaks of Darth Plagueis, a Sith Lord who had tapped into "immortality" but was killed by his unnamed apprentice (Palpatine). Palpatine uses this to entice Anakin, considering his love and concern about Padme. We know that he ultimately denies Anakin this knowledge. It is inferred, by Palpatine's appearance in Ep. 9, that he had mastered long life, as pursued by Plagueis, before his death at Palpatine's hand.
2. How did Palpatine stay hidden for so long?
When Kylo Ren seeks out Palpatine, and finds him on Exegol, I was drawn to S.3:Ep. 15 of the "Clone Wars" where Anakin, Obi Wan Kenobi, and Ahsoka Tano are drawn to a planet, hidden from the Jedi, called Mortis. This planet, which was home to three VERY powerful force beings, The Father, The Daughter, and The Son. Obi Wan asks how this planet, so rich in the Force, is unknown to the Jedi. We know from Ep. I that a darkness has settled over the force, at the hand of Palpatine, which was already at hand when the first episode begins, "clouding" the Force. This is one theory. At this time, when the Jedi are taken to Mortis, the Clone Wars are in full force, so it is safe to bet that Palpatine, who we now know is VERY powerful, has hid its presence. By Ep. 17, the only residents of Mortis are dead. Without residents, he renames Mortis Exegol. Exegol, like Mortis, was not on any map. When Kylo leaves his ship, and meets with Palpatine, the planet looks much like Mortis. The other theory is that Mortis is simply a place that hides the Force This would explain how Palpatine was hidden long enough to build a following and an armada of ships to make up the Final Order.
3.The Prophecy of the One
In Ep. I, Qui Gon Jin,,Obi Wan Kenobi, and Padme Amidala. happens upon Anakin Skywalker, and believes that this child, with his innate ability with the Force, and who is born without a father, is fulfilling prophecy. This carries through Ep. I, II, and III, to include Obi Wan showing is frustration that Anakin was supposed to be the chosen one, but he joins the Dark Side. Now again, we know that the Dark Side has been clouding the Force, since we are first introduced to this saga. Was Palpatine clouding this prophecy the whole time? Here is my thought: Anakin was never the chosen one. Rey is the true fulfillment of the prophecy of the one who would bring balance to the force. There are two concept that have been at war regarding the truth of this prophecy: one's destiny and one's choice. Qui Gon Jin had distinct passion that Anakin was the chosen one, and Obi Wan Kenobi followed suit. Qui Gon intended to train Anakin, but at the hands of Darth Maul, he dies, in Ep. Obi Wan Kenobi accepts responsibility over Anakin, and in Ep. III, mourns the fact that Anakin has fallen to the Dark Side. We get a view of hope when, at the end of Ep. III, Luke and Leia are born. How do they now fit into this? They are separated and hidden from Anakin, for their safety. Will one of these two be The One. We start to believe this, as Luke is discovered, and is found to be very powerful. Vader wants to win Luke over, and overthrow the Emperor. Luke chooses not to, at the loss of his hand, at the hands of his father, at Bespin. So now Luke is challenging Vader. Now the emperor wants Luke, too. Our thoughts about Anakin being the chosen are shaken when he ultimately comes to Lukes aid, drops the Emperor, we think, to his death, in the Death Star. Luke had sensed Anakin was still good, and the realization of this is found, we think, in the death of the emperor at the hands of Vader. Vader dies, and Luke comes away victor. With Vader dead, was Luke the chosen one? No, because we have learned that in Ep. VI, from Yoda, that there is another Skywalker, and we learn in Ep. IX that Palpatine survived, which means that there is still inbalance in the Force. So now we go to Jakku, where we meet Rey, who finds herself in the throes of the rebellion agains the First Order, the remnants of the Old Empire, under the power of Snoke and Kylo Ren. Snoke, we now know, was apprentice to the still-alive Palpatine. Kylo Ren, is the son of Leia, "the other Skywalker". He is apprentice to Snoke, which throws a wrench into the concept of "There can only be two!". It is fair to say Snoke is hiding Kylo from Palpatine. This is a problem until Kylo kills Snoke, and tries to win Rey over. Kylo has shown that, even with killing his own father, he has a burden. Does this make Ben, the son of Leia, the chosen one? Maybe, but he is still driven by his allegiance to the memory of Darth Vader, to kill all remnants of the Jedi, and become supreme. Now, open Ep. IX, and we learn that Luke trained Leia, as a Jedi?? Her son is born, and turns, but that doesn't change the fact that Leia is a Jedi? And she becomes Reys master?Is she the chosen one? No...in Ep. IX we learn that Palpatine is Reys grandfather, and was sold as a slave on Jakku, for her safety. We learn that Palatine had his own child and spouse killed, to get to their daughter (Rey). By the end of Ep. IX Rey knows she is the powerful grandchild of the very alive Palpatine. Kylo Ren is wants to be supreme, but like his grandfather, is won over to the light by vision of his deaf father and the sacrifice of his mothers death, to bring him back through Rey. He joins Rey, and it is now a son of a Skywalker and daughter of a Palpatine, now in league. Rey and Ben are nearly killed by the emperor, and Ben returns the favor to Rey, giving her life, at his death. Rey is ultimately the chosen one, because she had a choice, chose right, and according to Luke, there are things stronger than blood, so by choosing the light, and being the only one powerful enough to kill Palpatine, and by adopting the last name "Skywalker", she is the "other Skywalker" that Yoda spoke of, and is the Skywalker that would bring balance to the force!
4. Sith Wayfinders and Jedi Omicron, and their connection to Finn and the storm troopers of the First Order.
In episode IX, Kylo Ren was able to find Palpatine with the help of a Wayfinder, a crystal that guides one to Sith. I was reminded of Season 2, Episode 3, of " Clone Wars" when Cad Bane, the bounty hunter is hired by Palpatine to steal a Jedi holocron, which is effectively the Jedi version of the Wayfinder, from the Jedi temple. He succeeds, and we learn the holocron shows ALL force sensitive children in the galaxy. Ultimately, the effort was foiled, but in the time before the Jedi retrieve the holocron, did Palpatine learn the location of all force sensitive children. Why is this important? This is important because we learn that Finn is force sensitive, as well as the other First order mutineers they meet in search for the Wayfinder on the fallen Death Star.? As Finn watches Rey go to the Death Star, he is speaking to the other mutineers and learns that the left because of their instinct, their feeling was against killing innocent. This happened to Finn in episode VI, and he "knew" Rey was okay as the Star destroyer he was on crashes. Finn was going to tell Rey he knew the force, when they got sucked into the ground. First order took children and made them storm troopers. Were these brainwashed, force sensitive children, found by means of information taken from the Jedi holocron, so many years ago, during the Clone Wars? What better way to fight a resurgence of the Jedi, by enslaving the force sensitive children all over the galaxy?
This is all theory, but by knowing all these things going into the movie this morning, I have a hard time finding fault with the outcome of this movie. I really believe that the main audience for these three sequels has always been for those of us who grew up with the original Star Wars as our introduction. I just have to appreciate that there are even potential links between all of these movies and other sources of canon, tying together in this final installment. Just the ability to have sound theories tying these movies together, makes Episode IX a masterpiece.
The only loose end I could think of at the end of Episode IX was this: How did Maz Kanata come to have Anakin's lightsaber, lost by Luke at Bespin, at the hands of Vader?