The Star Wars We Deserved: Part 4

By Scuba Wang

Forget my long intros, I just want to get on with this. I’ve realized now that I waste way too much time for only 5 people to read my articles. It’s not worth it and it does nothing for my depression. You know what does though? Star Wars!!! Let’s get started where we left off, which was the differences between Ben and Rey's teachings. Looks like you'll have to click on the "Read More" button to, you know, read more on this.​

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Ben- better known as Kylo Ren, this man has seen a lot in his life. From a young age, Ben trained with one of the  most powerful jedi to ever exist, which happened to be his uncle. His mother was also quite powerful with the force, so it was inevitable that he too would attain power. Ben was constantly trained not only to wield the force but how to lead the Jedi Order.  Luke invested a lot of time in him, and Ben was a crucial part of Luke’s journey in figuring out how this new Jedi Order should operate. As we all know, Ben slowly gives in to the idea of power and what it can accomplish. He is slowly seduced to the Dark Side and becomes Kylo Ren, a ruthless, powerful leader who causes suffering for many. 

It is after his redemption that Ben starts to wrestle with what the Jedi are supposed to be. Ben has seen what power leads to and has been in a position of power, realizing what can come from it. He fears what would happen if a new order of force wielder's craved power like he once did. He understands that power has corrupted him and the destruction it has caused to others, though he was only one man. Imagining an entire order with this dangerous mindset while also wielding the power of the force kept him up at night. The Jedi shouldn’t be in a position of power. This would only allow them to crave it and slowly tip toe back to where they were in the Clone Wars, or even worse. The role of the Jedi is to be peacekeepers and to look out for all life regardless of species or allegiance. Jedi don’t get into the world's affairs, they get into the affairs of individuals. Jedi are at the beckon call of the individual people and fight for them and each other. Power is a privilege to use for everyone except themselves. When the Jedi become anything but this, they are stepping too close to the darkside. 

Rey- The young girl had barely heard stories of the Jedi growing up. Her introduction of the Force didn’t come to her until she was 19 years of age. Rey slowly taught herself about the force using what she learned with her limited time with Luke and her brief time with Leia. She is very gifted in the force, but still undisciplined. Ben has been around the force his whole life and has been consistently trained while Rey has only had snippets of training from a master. Rey was trained and started her journey in a time where Jedi were in very small numbers and war was being raged. She saw the destructive power of the First Order and Darkside first hand. In this time in her life, she relied a lot on her power to save the resistance and give them a chance. Without Rey and her ability to use the force, the Resistance wouldn’t have had a chance defeating Palpatine. 

Rey has only seen chaos since she became a Jedi, while Ben was trained and taught in a time of peace. This experience slowly starts to shift Rey’s perspective on the Jedi. To her, the Jedi need to be seen as a figure of authority. Without Jedi in the world, chaos eventually will rise and the world can’t fix it’s problems when they don’t have the power. The Jedi are granted this power to keep the world balanced. If Rey had been more powerful, she would have been able to stop the First Order and Palpatine herself. The world would be at peace with the Jedi Order in control of the galaxy. They wouldn’t be a government like the Empire, but rather a superior power that can clean up any mess that brings the galaxy out of balance. Using power in the right way is the key to balance.

It is important that both of these motives come across as good motives. Each viewer should be able to look at each stance and understand both sides, not seeing one as ultimately good and one ultimately evil. The viewer should struggle with picking a preference for themselves. Rey and Ben will ultimately split due to these disagreements on the Jedi Order. They won’t hate each other or become enemies, but they will move apart and start their own individual orders and teach their own interpretations. Rey will let go of the Jedi Texts and Ben will take them because she doesn’t want to follow the past, instead looking to the future.  The few students that each of them have will pick sides. Finn (who is stuck in the middle of this) will actually leave with Ben, even after being with Rey for the initial part of his training. He too was a part of the FIrst Order for a time, so he can relate with Ben’s feelings. 

The first half of this trilogy will be about these two Jedi factions. Each of them will grow in number and will impact the galaxy in their own way. Both groups will feverishly attempt to not step on the feet of the other faction. They will rarely encounter each other. During this physical separation and conflict, Ben and Rey will still be connected in the force and at times will communicate with one another, sometimes to peacefully disagree or update the other. Eventually, both sides will get involved with a world’s conflict. Rey and her group will be given orders by the Republic about two groups of people fighting on a planet. She views the situation as a threat that needs to be stopped. The Republic views one group as being more right than the other, causing Rey to send Jedi to aid in the situation. Around the same time, the other group in the world's conflict will reach out to Ben for help. This group will feel they are only defending themselves while the other group has good intentions for the galaxy. Though these intentions may be disguised as good, it will ultimately come at the price of the citizens of the planet. 

Guys, I know I’m being very vague on this, but until someone gives me the rights to Star Wars, I’m not going to explain everything. Basically this will lead to a group of Ben’s Jedi and a group of Rey’s Jedi both arriving on the same planet trying to solve a problem with two different methods. Ben’s group will side with one side while Rey’s group will side with another. Trying to negotiate and bring peace to the situation, both Jedi factions will argue on how to handle the situation, not wanting there to be conflict at all. They stand between two groups just moments away from fighting each other but still holding fire while the Jedi negotiate with each other. Then out of nowhere, a blaster goes off...

To be continued...

​​Photo Credit: milnersblog.com