#pablo watch

[starwarsnonsense]

Do you think that Pablo debunked rey sk*w*lk*r on twitter or do you think he took a safe answer by saying that we don't have a reason to believe that's who her father is based on TFA, but things could change later?

I think he did what he’s done before, in that he came as close to debunking it as possible without actually taking it off the table entirely. I think he’s trying to prepare ReySkys for inevitable disappointment. 

[kirstyofjakku]

“You need a teacher!”

[starwarsnonsense]

Probably reading too much into this but it seems Pablo compared Wizard of Oz to TLJ along the lines of "strong female lead drags along damaged, incomplete men." Tbh ive been worried that Rey might have been relegated to the passive, therapist role in TLJ... But this gives me confidence it won't be the case since Dorothy is so much more than that, and it is defiantly her story. What are your thoughts on Rey's role in the Skywalker family drama in TLJ?

I don’t think it can be read that literally. I’m sure there will be an element of Rey dragging Luke out of his funk, but I don’t think that will be shown to be the whole sum of her purpose. There’s a popular storytelling trope that has the young apprentice have to draw an old master out of exile, and I expect that to cover Rey and Luke in the first act of The Last Jedi. I think the story will go in all kinds of interesting and unexpected directions from there, for Rey and (hopefully) the other characters as well.

[starwarsnonsense]

What do you think about the implied rift between the Story Group/LFL and JJ/Bad Robot? Pablo has been more open about his criticism of TFA as of late and seems to be much more enthusiastic about VIII, due to it being an LFL-only production, with Rian cooperating much more closely with the SG. I'm starting to think that TFA has been more of a one-shot disposable transition contract work, rather than a real foundation for the trilogy.

I find it all very interesting, especially because - as you point out - Pablo in particular has been very unsubtle about his issues with TFA and the apparent rift between the Story Group and J.J./Bad Robot since Rogue One came out. The issue, as far as I can tell, is that J.J. brought in his own people (at Bad Robot) and was more interested in making his own movie his way rather than listening to the suggestions of the Story Group. Understandably, the Story Group probably resented this, and I think that resentment is colouring - in particular - Pablo’s attitude towards The Force Awakens.

This will have all resulted in disagreements and bad blood, and I think you see the story manifestations of that in things like the background of Ben Solo - the story being pushed by J.J. and Adam in interviews (that Ben wasn’t loved enough, and felt let down by his family) appears to really rile Pablo up whenever it’s raised with him, which makes me think J.J. had a conception of the character’s backstory that conflicted with what the Story Group would have wanted. (I also stick with the theory that Ben was originally meant to have turned to the dark side as a teenager, but that story changed at Rian’s instigation.)

With all that said, I don’t think we should treat this as a cause for worry. While he is working alongside the Story Group, Rian appears to have worked closely with J.J. while the latter was still working on The Force Awakens. We even know that Rian asked for certain changes to be made to The Force Awakens while it was in post-production, so I think we can feel confident that Rian will be treating The Force Awakens as the main foundation stone for his film. Irrespective of any internal issues or resentment at Lucasfilm, The Force Awakens was a massive critical and commercial success, so it should be in everyone’s interests to finish telling the story that it laid the groundwork for. 

I’m sure things will have changed (see my thoughts on Ben’s fall), but I don’t think the fundamental direction of the story will be messed with or the seeds laid by The Force Awakens neglected. The Force Awakens posed all kinds of questions and mysteries, and Episode VIII has a duty to tackle them.

[kirstyofjakku]

Sooooo Pablo's Twitter icon right now is Darth Revan - do you think this has any significance or is he just messing with everyone? I may have flailed a little bit.

Hey anon,

I think it’s just him kind of having a laugh about the kotor Netflix petition. Doesn’t look like it’s going to happen, but it’s cool that many fans are so passionate about the idea.

[starwarsnonsense]

Something else to keep in mind for the Pablo vs JJ rift is that it's basically Pablo's job to make sure all the new EU lines up with the movies etc. And that JJ Abrams was brought in months after work started on the script, with the implication he ditched a lot of what was already done. So it might also be that JJ's changes went and made months of Pablo's job pointless (and everyone pointing out contradictions in books now just makes it even worse - no wonder he gets snarky)

Yeah, this is a really good observation. I definitely get the sense that some people are inadvertently rubbing salt into wounds when they bring certain things up.

[starwarsnonsense]

When did Pablo say that about lineage? Don't Reyskys already know that Pablo pointed out Kylo is THE Skywalker? Or him laughing at people who think Daisy confirmed Rey Skywalker? He said "I must be reading a different article"

It was a while ago now, but he definitely said it. To avoid being disingenuous, I have to point out that Pablo actually said that Kylo is THE Skywalker of TFA - that doesn’t preclude Rey being revealed to be a Skywalker later on. However, I’d say that there are lots of other reasons why Rey is almost certainly not a Skywalker (which have already been extensively catalogued elsewhere).

[starwarsnonsense]

Maybe I misinterpreted it (Pablo tweets), but I wasn't trying to incite panic at all, though? I was truly worried. And I didn't send you any asks besides that one.

Ah, sorry - I only made that comment because I have around six panicky asks in my inbox about Pablo’s tweets, and since you’re all on anon it’s impossible to know who sent what. I hope my answer alleviated your concerns :).