In 2005, George Lucas gave us one of our best Star Wars films yet. When he featured Ewan McGregor and Samuel L. Jackson in the cast, he whipped up something special. This is the third movie in terms of chronology, but the sixth in order of production. In The Revenge of the Sith you’re knocked straight into action. Obi-Wan Kenobi, played by Ewan McGregor, is chasing after the dastardly sinister General Grievous, played by Matthew Wood. Ewan is riding what seems to be a giant lizard where Matthew is riding a giant wheel. But suddenly, as Obi Wan is chasing down Grievous, his allies turn on him. They start to shoot him down and Obi-Wan falls into the lake of darkness. But does he stay alive or not, and why do his allies turn on him? Well, this is the main sinister plot that runs through the entire film, a linchpin which every movie of the Star Wars universe is centered on. You will see that this is central to the entire story of Star Wars and that out of the various films made, it is drawn into heart-stopping focus in this movie. This is what I love about The Revenge of the Sith because it gives off the layer of depth of what’s been happening in the past movies. How does Sith’s plot play out in each of the movies and how shall it come to its staggering finish?

We start our Star Wars journey with the fourth movie produced in the universe in 1999, by George Lucas. The movie is called The Phantom Menace. The setting is somewhere in a “galaxy far, far away”. A master, Qui Gon Gin, played by Liam Neeson, and a Padawan, Obi Wan Kenobi, played by Ewan McGregor, are set out on a mission to make peace with the enemy, the Separatists. They travel there via spaceship but only to reveal a greater threat, that the galactic war shall be started and an attempt on the Queen of Naboo’s life will be made. Barely making it out alive, they land on the planet of Naboo, a lush and vivid place. They find unexpected help from a Gungan named Jar Jar Binks, who then helps them to meet the queen. They then flee together but they are shot down by enemy ships. They find a nearby planet to seek refuge on so that they can repair the damage made to the ship and be on their way. But on their quest for parts they find a… boy. Everyone thinks that this boy is just another slave, but Qui Gon sees something special in him, because in his eyes, that boy is the key to turning the tide of the war. The boy’s name is Anakin Skywalker. This film, although leading the Star Wars pantheon to a wobbly start, gives a good sense of what you should expect in the Star Wars universe. It is key to the pantheon because it gives a backstory and intro to the main ideas of the films. Overall I thought it was a great film and it gave off a great sense of directed action. But this film made me wonder, what is the next idea that Lucas has in mind?

After the stunning display of The Phantom Menace, Lucas gives us another spectacle: The Attack of the Clones is the second movie in the Star Wars pantheon and the fifth movie produced, made in 2002. In this movie we are stunned to see all these beloved characters 10 years older. We see some of the same faces with Ewan McGregor playing Obi Wan Kenobi, but we see some new faces as well. For example, we see 19 year-old Hayden Christensen playing Padawan Anakin Skywalker. We see them both in a big scene where all the Jedi are surrounded by battle droids with nowhere to go. Suddenly there is a whirring sound in the sky! It’s Master Yoda with the very first battalion of clones made specifically for the Jedi. But what the Jedi don’t know is that there is something bigger to the clones than merely soldiers for their war. But the question is what? This movie gives off a good plot and continues the storyline decently, but I wish we saw more development in the characters. For example one of the characters I saw that had a great storyline that played out from the first into the second was Obi Wan Kenobi. I thought that when he went to Kamino he showed the same sense of caution as he did in the first movie but he evolved into a wiser man as well, whereas Anakin is a small child in the first movie then we make a jump to this movie and he becomes big and strong and to top it off, he is now romantic. I felt like we were rushed and we weren’t taken on this journey as we have been with some of the other characters in the second movie. As a sci-fi movie I would expect there to be a better continuation to the storyline and this was a big jump from the first movie. The question for Mr. Lucas is this, will the next movie decrease in interest or will it skyrocket and show a new side of the Star Wars universe?

We must take a fourteen year jump all the way from 2008 to 2022, and change format from the big screen feature to episodic television, where we see the incredible episodes of The Clone Wars.

Lucas sadly is not directing this series. But the person taking Lucas’s place is Dave Filoni. This is wondrous, having Matt Lanter voice the older, now more matured Jedi Knight, Anakin Skywalker.

We also see a new voice for Obi-Wan, who is played by James Arnold Taylor. The Clone Wars is set after Attack of the Clones. In each episode it bursts open a new door to imagination. For example, in the last season, season number 7, it makes the entire show come together. Ahsoka Tano, voiced by Ashley Eckstein, comes back after leaving the Jedi Order to stop a threat that has plagued the Jedi for almost 20 years. This threat was thought to have been killed by the skillful Master Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi, but he has come back to take over the galaxy. Ahsoka Tano takes on this threat in a lightsaber duel. Eventually the threat is contained, and the threat that has terrorized the Jedi is none other than Darth Maul, voiced by Ray Park. But while Ahsoka transports Maul, something feels off. The force feels imbalanced (The Force is a mysterious energy field created by life that binds the galaxy together). Suddenly as she warns the clone troopers on the transport, she hears the words, “Execute order 66.” As the hologram shuts off, the clone trooper drops his helmet, turns around, and points his blaster straight at Ahsoka Tano. I thought that this series was amazing. The plot that resides in each episode is shown, and it’s thrilling.

I thought that the character development was spot on. For example, throughout the story we see the characters mature over time, take Anakin. He is a hothead in the beginning of the series but later towards the end of the series he still is a bit of a hothead, but by having his own Padawan gives a sense of responsibility. This allows us to really connect to the characters. I still have one question to Mr. Filoni: how was it to take up the mantle of George Lucas yet still create a masterpiece?

The Clone Wars was a knock out of the park for the Star Wars franchise but now we have to go back about eighteen years, to 2005, when Lucas gave us The Revenge of the Sith. A significant scene occurs between Anakin and Chancellor Palpatine, played by Ian McDiarmid.

In this scene, Palpatine tells Anakin about the ways of the dark side of the force. He reveals to Anakin that he can help him become stronger than any Jedi and that he is meant for more.

Anakin is told that he mustn’t let the Jedi take control of him. Only then does Palpatine remove the shield from his face revealing his true identity. Again, this is epic and resonates with the whole pantheon, filling in the little pieces of the puzzle we were missing in order to see the central personal struggle against the dark side of the force, and how it runs through each of the movies. I loved this movie but I have one question for Mr. Lucas: how does the next movie connect to this and how does each movie after this one come back and connect to it?

For the next movie we must go back to the year 1977 when bell bottoms were the fashion and the music of the era was disco. This is Lucas’s first attempt to produce a Star Wars movie, and he absolutely smashes the game by regaling us with an exciting tale. The movie he makes is called A New Hope. He starts the movie out with a ship being attacked by people in white armor and one leader in black with a red laser sword. He then shows us a woman in a white dress handing a message to a droid, R2-D2. Later in the story R2-D2 and his counterpart, C3PO escape to the nearby desert planet Tatooine. Here they are captured by traders called Jawas to be sold. The people who buy these droids are named Owen Lars and… Luke Skywalker (played by Mark Hamill). When they bring the droids back home Luke begins to clean them up to get them nice and fresh for farming season, but as he is cleaning them, R2-D2 bursts out a hologram. In this hologram the woman in the white dress is crouching and telling something to R2-D2. She says, “General Kenobi, years ago you served my father in the Clone Wars. Now he begs you to help him in his struggle against the Empire. This is our most desperate hour. Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi, you’re my only hope.” Now, Luke doesn’t know who this is but this message immediately alters his path: from being a humble farmer to someone who must answer this plea for help. Mr. Lucas generally makes it so that there were never any plot holes, especially when you watch the first three movies. For example when you wonder what happened to Luke in the third movie, he made sure that you could always be rewarded for thinking it through. I have just one question for George: how do you make sure that everything ties together in the next movie so that nothing is left hanging? 

After the phenomenal performance of A New Hope, Lucas began to work on his second work of art. He focused on the character development in this movie, and in 1980 he gives us The Empire Strikes Back. This movie was amazing as it had new characters such as Lando Calrrision, played by Billy Dee Williams, but we also saw some old faces such as Luke Skywalker, played by Mark Hamill. In one scene of this movie we see the villainous Darth Vader facing off against naïve Luke Skywalker. They are on the planet Bespin in Cloud City. Luke tries to dodge Vader’s attacks, but it is no use because he is already cornered. Suddenly Vader makes one fatal swoop and Luke and his lightsaber fall into the abyss. Luke then crawls his way to the little platform and as he is gripping the pole, Vader tells him to join the dark side but Luke declines. Then Vader asks Luke if Obi-Wan told him what happened to his father. Luke says he knew enough and that Vader killed him. But then Vader says something that struck me like a lightning bolt. “No Luke, I am your father.” I thought that this part was really amazing and of course is one of the most famous lines from cinema in the 20th century. This again, is confronting the dark force within oneself, and ties back to the prequels and all the other movies. This movie in my opinion does the best job at that because it reveals a big part of the Star Wars universe such as the fact that Obi-Wan tried to protect Luke from the truth making him in turn a more likable character. I thought that this movie was one of the best movies that have ever come out of the Star Wars franchise. I just have one question: does the next Star Wars movie tie the plot up or is it a continuation of this movie?

            After The Empire Strikes Back raked in a record-breaking $538 million globally in less than a year, Lucas started to work on his next big creation. He wanted to bring the Star Wars universe to a happy ending. But Lucas did not direct this movie, for Richard Marquand is the director of this movie. So on May 25, 1983 he gave the world Return of the Jedi.

I thought that this was an exceptionally good movie. For example, nearer to the end of the film, Luke Skywalker, again, played by Mark Hamill, is face to face with his father, Darth Vader, in a lightsaber duel as Emperor Palpatine watches, played by Ian McDiarmid. In the last film we saw Luke getting his hand cut off; in this film Luke is wiser and eventually cuts off his father’s hand. But under it he sees machine parts! He then remembers that his father was a Jedi and that he will not be influenced into the ways of the dark side and that he will be like his father was before him.The Emperor is furious and he starts to electrify Luke. But suddenly Darth Vader, thought to be bad, lifts up the Emperor and throws him off the side into the abyss, saving his son. Later in the movie, we see Luke carrying his wounded father. As he puts him down, Vader tells him to remove the mask. As Luke removes his mask piece by piece he is revealing his father’s face, Anakin Skywalker. I thought that the action in this movie was phenomenal and I loved how the storyline was plotted out in such organized order and you knew what was going on. This movie really did close the book of the Star Wars story for me and I would think that there would be no more films to be made after this. For me this movie is one of my favorites because it delivered a very satisfying conclusion. I just have one question for Mr. Maruand: will you be directing the next movie, will Mr. Lucas come back to regain hold of the reins, or will you end the Star Wars universe here?

But to come back to the central riddle: how do all the movies pivot on The Revenge of the Sith? We see this little kid, a slave who then is taken to be a Jedi. Eventually he finds himself in a precarious situation which then proceeds him to tempt him to turn to the dark side. And we see in the next movie and the next, that is continued by that person’s legacy, by his children. This eventually will lead us to the end to the Star Wars universe, we think. But meanwhile, here’s another 2-hour extravaganza to delay the inevitable.

Thankfully, Star Wars is not over yet. But unfortunately Richard Marquand will not be directing this movie and neither will George. But as one director leaves another must take its place and the director taking the place of Marquand is Jeffrey Jacob Abrams. Abrams decides to add on to the Star Wars universe and in doing so he makes the movie The Force Awakens. One scene from this movie shows a man in black garb, fighting a scavenger girl. The man in black garbs is Kylo Ren or Ben Solo, son of Han Solo and Leia Organa. Kylo is played by Adam Driver. The girl is Rey, last name unknown, played by Daisy Ridley. The setting is covered in snow and Rey is facing Ren with her lightsaber pointing at him and his pointing at Rey. In the battle Rey finds herself at the edge of a cliff and Kylo is pushing her lightsaber over the edge along with her. Suddenly Rey closes her eyes and breathes in and out slowly, and only then is when she is truly connected and bonded with the force. Then she opens her eyes and she starts to fight back and she gives it her all against Kylo. She then cuts above and below his eye before she escapes, giving him a scar that he will live with for the rest of his life. This was not my favorite film because for one I am surprised how a man has trained his entire life with the force and a lightsaber yet he can’t beat one scavenger of a girl who has never even seen a lightsaber, let alone space. In fact, I thought that this movie was not needed and that it was an unnecessary add on. My favorite part of Star Wars movies are the lightsaber fights, and there was only one in the whole movie. Despite that, I appreciate this movie because of the personal nostalgia, as it is my first Star Wars movie I ever watched. I have one question for Abrams: what is the plot twist in the next movie? And the next? And the next?

The Star Wars universe is complex and hard to understand. But when those little details are broken down it all ties together. Each and every movie ties with another, going on and on. Yet it is always entertaining to watch these movies over and over and over again.