Long before long ongoing franchises were common in geek culture, George Lucas announced that beyond his original Star Wars trilogy, the Star Wars franchise would comprise a trilogy of trilogies all telling the same ongoing story. With the release of The Rise of Skywalker, that promise has finally been fulfilled.
This final film in the Skywalker saga has certainly been polarizing, apparently trying to meet every fan expectation the internet could hope for and so coming across as unnecessary formulaic and pandering. Among the many plot threads finally given some clarity were the relationships of the various characters, long overdue after years of wondering. Here are 5 relationships that paid off - and 5 fans are sad didn't happen:
10 Paid Off: Chewbacca & Maz Kanata
Back in The Force Awakens, Maz Kanata referred to Chewie as her boyfriend. So while this relationship is not a new one, it's good to finally see it fleshed out a bit, especially as there is no real reason he has not had a noteworthy romance thread thus far, other than the depiction of his wife in the dismal Star Wars Holiday Special (of which no more need be said).
Maz and Chewie are a cute couple and while they don't get a lot of screen time together, it's nice to see them happy together. Frankly, after more than two centuries of life, it's about time Chewie had a romantic partner on screen.
9 Didn't Happen: Finn & Poe
There were a lot of indications that Finn and Poe Dameron were going to be an item. The internet was shipping them almost the moment The Force Awakens was out and the actors who played each character (John Boyega and Oscar Isaac) have said they intentionally played their parts with the intent to possibly be romancing the other character.
The flirtatious nature of their banter in The Rise of Skywalker made it seem like their relationship would officially be confirmed. Unfortunately, despite plenty of queer coding in how they were portrayed, this turned out just to be possibly a case of queerbaiting from Disney.
8 Paid Off: Rey & Ben
After seeing a shirtless Kylo Ren invite Rey to join her on the dark side in The Last Jedi, the obvious seduction attempt had fans wondering whether Kylo and Rey would be the next galactic power couple, enjoying dates on Ahch-To where they'd pet the porgs before barbecuing the helpless birds with some Sith-style Force lightning.
While Kylo Ren did not get together with Rey, Ben Skywalker did have a brief romance with her. The distinction is important, since Kylo was a toxic destructive entitled jerk, while Ben is actually a caring guy who went out of his way to help her.
7 Didn't Happen: Finn & Rey
This is another relationship that was teased quite a bit. Finn developed two meaningful relationships in The Force Awakens, and one of them was with Rey. In The Last Jedi, he repeatedly refers to Rey as his friend and forms a close connection with Rose Tico, making it seem Rose would actually be his romantic partner.
Then, the scene with the quicksand happened in The Rise of Skywalker. As the heroes were sinking to what they thought might be their deaths, Finn had something he needed to tell Rey. It seemed like he was going to confess his feelings before they all died. Only they didn't die and the film never revealed what he was going to say.
6 Paid Off: Ben & Han
This is not a romantic relationship but is still quite important. Kylo Ren killed his father Han Solo at the end of The Force Awakens in a single scene that effectively ended the hopes of many fans of ever seeing their favorite moments from the Expanded Universe portrayed on the big screen.
In The Rise of Skywalker, after Kylo is defeated by Rey and then healed by her, he is visited by an apparition of his father while standing amid the Death Star wreckage on Endor. The dialogue echoes the exchange they had when Kylo killed Han, but this time, the younger man turns away from the dark side and is able to heal. By the end of the scene, Kylo has died and been fully reborn as Ben Solo. Also, this scene suggests Han might have become a Force ghost, which raises all sorts of questions.
5 Didn't Happen: Finn & Rey & Poe
The final variant of the Rey-Finn-Poe love triangle involves the three of them each becoming a romantic throuple, a relationship dynamic that makes a lot of sense. Why would a twice-distant galaxy be limited to the same ideas of romantic pairings of Earth? The idea of these three forming a polyfidelity relationship with one another is something many fans hoped for.
Finn seems to have romantic chemistry with both Rey and Poe, who both in turn have a dynamic with each other where they express concern for how the other handles BB8 and the Millennium Falcon, acting like worried parents. There is even a powerful scene of the three of them holding one another in a threeway hug. Given how much they obviously love one another, it really feels like Disney teased this relationship and then didn't want to follow through.
4 Paid Off: Unnamed Same-Sex Couple
At its core, science fiction is about ideas, working to understand the world as it is and as it could be, imagining new ways to live, think, and love. The original Star Wars movies were idea-rich tales with powerful indictments of fascism and the Vietnam War, while the prequels discussed the ways a republic could succumb to tyranny due to corruption from within.
To be clear, since Disney obtained the franchise, Star Wars has avoided politics as best it can, so much so that the Canto Bight scene stands out as jarring in The Last Jedi for daring to be even remotely political. At the end of The Rise of Skywalker, two (as yet unnamed) women kiss. In the modern era, this is not groundbreaking, but an overdue half-measure. Still, it's an important scene that shows young fans that when the evil empire is defeated, love can finally prevail.
3 Didn't Happen: Poe & Zorii Bliss
One of the new characters introduced in The Rise of Skywalker was Zorii Bliss, a mysterious criminal from Poe's past. She proves herself a capable combatant and streetwise criminal capable of outmaneuvering the First Order's patrols in a city under martial law.
Little is known about Zorii besides that she and Poe have a past and that she looks really cool in that red and gold outfit, her helmet obscuring her face and giving her a sense of mystery. Poe tries to hit on her and she shoots him down like a rookie TIE pilot flying against a fleet of X-wings.
2 Paid Off: Lando & Leia
It is unknown just what the exact nature of the relationship between Lando and Leia was. In all likelihood, they were just friends, but their friendship was so close that the phrase "just friends" downplays their bond was. When Lando meets the main group, he sends a message with them to give to Leia: that he loves her.
Leia dies before Lando makes his return to the Resistance, but knowing Lando still cares about her after all these years is incredibly touching. Also, there is always the possibility that a roguelike Lando might have stolen his way into Leia's heart at some point over the years while Han was away traveling the galaxy.
1 Didn't Happen: Rose & Finn
Rose Tico was the best new character introduced in The Last Jedi. She and Finn traveled together to Canto Bight to help save the Resistance and fought the First Order aboard one of their ships. At the end of the film, she confessed her feelings for him and risked her life to save him in an incredibly emotional scene. Tragically, many of the most toxic elements of the internet lashed out at actress Kelly Marie Tran who played the character, harassing her until she was driven off Instagram.
In The Rise of Skywalker, Rose mostly just sat around and offered the occasional comment as a background character. Not only was her relationship with Finn ignored, but it felt like Disney dismissed her character to appease toxic fans.
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