LogFAQs > #939788883

2017
Star Wars Episode VIII: The Hands of Thrawn

The major beats here are relatively simple. Boba Fett reveals that Han is alive to Leia, and the Senate has to hold back her fury, trying desperately to prevent their leader from turning all of their resources on Zsinj. Luke and Rey are training on a Dyson Sphere planetoid, meanwhile, and the meat of their plotline will see Rey slowly turning towards the Dark Side as a response to Luke's consistent doubt in the Jedi Order. Rey is not a Sith however; instead, she is eschewing all forms of organization, and she even begins to question Luke, recognizing him as a part of the establishment. In Rey's eyes, any system is the issue, and by film's end she will clash with Luke before turning her back on him.

Leia is ready to launch a fleet into the lower arm of the galaxy to get her husband back. Meanwhile, Thrawn is gifted with mechanical hands, and his desire for revenge is blunted by the value he sees in dangling Solo as bait in front of Leia. Thrawn's plan? To pull the majority of the fleet from the center of the galaxy and offer up Han entirely as a feint. While Leia's forces are occupied, Thrawn plans to hyper-jump directly to Coruscant with his forces and carpet bomb the entire planet. With the center of commerce for the Republic destroyed, and the hub of operations shut down, they will fall back into the disorganized muddled lifestyle of a Rebellion. He also wants to take Leia's hands as a form of repayment for losing his own.

It takes the return of the Chief Warlord of Kashyyk to snap Leia out of things. Finn and Wedge Antilles, along with Threepio and Artoo, travel to the jungle world of the Wookiees and seek out Leia's old confidant at the urging of a group of concerned Senators led by Holdo. Enter the search for Chewbacca. Chewie is passing through the rites of leadership along with two other Wookiee leaders, and he refuses to leave until he has claimed the mantle of Chief Warlord. So Finn works with Chewie, forms a bond with him in the process, and unites Kashyyk.

At the same time, Boba Fett decides to retire. Fett has taken up residence in a seedy corner of a volcanic moon of Coruscant, one known for supplying raw mineral resources to the larger planet. He questions why he didn't want revenge against Solo, and he wonders if the death of his father makes him an enemy of this new Republic. Did he betray his father's legacy by helping the spiritual successor of the government that murdered his dad in front of him? These are questions he asks a local Trandoshan who reminds him of an old friend. They bond, despite their mutually gruff exteriors.

Thrawn's forces are divided into two; the distraction, where Baron Soontir Fel, a legendary TIE pilot, is commanding the troops, and Thrawn's troops on Coruscant. Zsinj demands from Thrawn two things: the Holocrons, and Fett's head. Zsinj acknowledges that he miscalculated by believing a crooked bounty hunter was worth his word.

Thrawn's troops, and Thrawn himself, hit the surface of the Coruscant moon and after a hand-to-hand battle demonstrating how Thrawn's new hands make him a match in physical combat with anyone thanks to his tactical mind, Fett is seemingly killed. In reality, Fett has performed a switcheroo with his Trandoshan friend, and he escapes without his armor. He reveals that he's been keeping his father's armor inside of his ship as he flees, and he dons it.

Thrawn learns that the Holocrons are being kept on the Dyson Sphere planetoid. Relaying this information to Zsinj, Zsinj decides to infiltrate the society of that planetoid, a rudimentary, simplistic culture, in disguise. At this point, Zsinj discovers the location of Luke and Rey, and also that Luke considers Rey a successor, like a daughter. His faux persona ingratiates itself with Rey over time, and he gains her trust, pushing her to question Luke even further.

The fleet is launched, and Thrawn is able to use the massive migration of ships as cover to move in his own ships, under the cover of asteroids. Leia travels to the location of Fel, a binary star system, with a massive portion of the Republic's fleet. Chewie sends a transmission to Leia while she's in the process of hyperspeed travel, and there's a life-size confrontation between the two. Leia claims he abandoned Han; Chewie says that he knew his role was as a leader of his people in this new galaxy, and so is hers. And being a great warrior also means being cautious and being a protector. Marching forward forever leaves your back exposed. Leia hugs the hologram before realizing his words may have revealed Thrawn's strategy.

Coruscant is attacked by the exploding asteroids, revealing Thrawn's fleet. Leia is too late; as her own fleet pulls out of hyperspeed, They're trapped in the gravity wells of the binary stars, surrounded by Fel's fleet.

At this point we have a massive battle in two locations, and this syncs up with Rey's betrayal of Luke and a battle. Rey has been poisoned by Zsinj's words. Man has ruined the purity of the Force; society has ruined the essence of man, and Luke represents both to her.

As Holdo and the Senators of Coruscant begin to fall to Thrawn's troops, Leia is also losing her troops to Soontir Fel. At that point however, the Kashyyk armada, comprised of spiky ships that luke like bundles of metallic spears, arrive in the binary star system. That battle eventually wraps with Chewie and Finn leading these massive, ships that eject shrapnel armor as weaponry against the capital ships of Fel's fleet. Wedge, alongside his friends, dogfights with Fel, who narrowly escapes as his fleet is destroyed. Over audio, Fel cackles and claims that this was all about buying time. "Have your husband. We'll have your empire." Han is rescued.

Holdo's capital ships are falling; Thrawn is going to take Coruscant, and most of the fleet that remains is depleted. Fett, however, begins to buy time by suggesting to Holdo that she ram her ships into Thrawn's. Fett flies his own ship into the belly of Thrawn's ship thanks to a tear created by Holdo's. He offloads and begins causing havoc. The internal distraction slows down Thrawn's attack, and this proves enough time for the Kashyyk and Republic forces to return. The battle is evenly matched.

But, meanwhile, Luke has lost his fight with Rey, choosing to not fight her. "I will not fight," he says, echoing Obi-Wan, Qui-Gon and even himself. Rey refuses to listen; instead, she pins Luke to the wall of their home with a lightsaber in his shoulder, and steals the Holocrons. She brings them to Zsinj.

Zsinj reveals himself, and unlocking all five, he believes he is receiving the knowledge of Revan. Instead, he's unlocked the spirit of Revan, whose essence was separated and trapped by the combined might of the Jedi and Sith. Revan reveals, through a mechanical voice that disguises their true identity, that all of this was pre-ordained. Revan has been watching the galaxy's dual nature consume itself. The only path to peace is the eradication of all opposing forces. Union is found in nothingness. The universe existed as nothing before the Big Bang. And in oblivion, there is peace. Life can only exist as an unharnessed, uncontrolled, pure form. This seems to reach Rey. Revan tells Rey to strike down Zsinj and therefore eradicate half of the dual nature of the remaining pieces of the ages-old conflict between Republic and Sith. Rey obliges, and this seems to fully release Revan from the Holocrons. Revan takes to Coruscant with Rey and destroys both Thrawn's and Leia's fleets and leaves a message written in the surface of Coruscant. "I AM RETURNED."

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"It is too easy being monsters. Let us try to be human." ~Victor Frankenstein, Penny Dreadful