I just rewatched the prequel trilogy for the first time in YEARS and I have to say, they were nowhere near as bad as I remembered.
I mean, yeah, the direction was shit and made the actors seem like they’re awful (which they aren’t, most of the cast is made of very decent actors) and the writing was kind of ridiculous but the story? The story is amazing.
And it really just reminded me how horribly everyone in Anakin’s life failed him, with the exception of Padmé.
Obi-Wan did love Anakin like family but he should have fought harder to keep Anakin more distanced from the Jedi and from the Senate when it became abdundantly clear that he was too unstable to handle it. But he, and the rest of the Council, just saw this unbelievably powerful young man and they used that power.
Most of all, they (and Padmé) should have opened their eyes and seen that he was being manipulated by Palpatine. But instead, they encouraged him to get closer and closer to Palpatine to spy on him and report back.
And they left him in the clutches of Palpatine who gave him everything he wanted - someone who believed in him, who didn’t exclude him without reason, who didn’t discount his feelings. They failed Anakin in exactly the same ways that Ben was failed so much later.
Watching the prequels again also really cemented why I hated how the sequel trilogy ended. Anakin’s life was nothing but pain, loss, failure, and disappointment. He never had a chance against everything that happened to him.
Anakin’s tragedy continued through the original trilogy where we see him truly stripped of his humanity, always abused by his Sith master.
And despite that, we see Anakin redeemed at the end, but only through death. At the very least though, his death is genuinely mourned. His loss is felt deeply by his son who, despite it all, still loved him. Anakin is forgiven and he is allowed to come back as a Force ghost. And he comes back as Anakin, not Vader. The young, vibrant man he once was who died as soon as Vader was truly born.
And therein lies one of the many ways that the sequel trilogy was so incredibly unjust to Ben Solo. Like Anakin, he was tormented his entire life. He was manipulated and abused. Everyone who should have protected him failed to do so and Ben was lost, giving rise to Kylo Ren.
But, unlike Anakin’s change into Vader caused Anakin to die, Ben was simply lost behind Kylo Ren. He was torn between the two sides rather than entirely lost to the dark side. He was more primed for redemption than Anakin could have been.
Kylo Ren actually tried to shake loose the things that kept him bound to the light, unlike Anakin who had everything ripped away from him. And despite Kylo Ren’s efforts to sever the light that was causing him so much pain, he was NEVER able to succumb completely.
So strong were his innate ties to light and goodness that he could not give in even if he tried. He wore a mask trying to convince the world and himself that he was solidly evil, but it was a facade that no one entirely believed.
Palpatine was able to fairly easily bring Anakin into the darkness. But even with all his efforts, all his desire to possess this last Skywalker, he could never own Ben Solo.
So strong were his ties to the light that he could never bring himself to harm Rey. He didn’t even kill Finn when he easily could have - why? Was it his innate goodness? Was it that he knew killing Finn would hurt Rey deeply?
His lightsaber was the perfect way to express his anguished personality. Unstable, over heated, unusual. Always shimmering with a passion and energy not typical for a lightsaber, whether it was a Sith saber or a Jedi saber.
Like Rey, he was neither a creature purely of light or darkness. Both were perfect mixtures of grey.
And then, we lose Ben Solo.
It is beautiful because he saves the woman he loves so much.
It is also abrupt, unexpected, and unceremonious.
He is not mourned.
He is not remembered.
He is just gone.
He was made to be mourned and remembered less than even the most evil characters we see. His loss is treated with less concern than anyone ever gave to a red shirt in Star Trek.
His life and his death are both devoid of meaning.
The boy, lost and broken, who was failed by everyone who should have protected him. The boy who crawled from the pit of death to answer the call of the light. The boy who so desperately wanted to be free of pain that he was willing to break his own heart.
The Skywalkers - all of them - deserved better. But especially Ben Solo. His life was reduced to nothing. His death was reduced to nothing. His redemption was reduced to nothing.
And that is my biggest beef with the end of the sequel trilogy. I loved the prequel trilogy because it humanized Anakin in preparation for his redemption. The sequel trilogy humanized Ben Solo in preparation for ... nothing. Just an unceremonious death and to be forgotten by everyone.
He deserved better.
