2024 UPDATE: I’m not proud of this outline anymore, but also don’t feel like deleting it so… Whatever…
A few months ago, there was a new contest on the message boards of theforce.net, which asked Star Wars fans to write fan outlines for the three new films announced this year. I submitted my entries and then moved on with my life, but recently, I revisited my work and realized that the outline for the Rey movie in particular was lacking detail, compared to the other two. Therefore, I’ve decided to revisit that story and add more to it.
So without further ado, here you go:
Opening crawl explains that Rey has spent the last several years traveling the galaxy and training different people, but refuses to bring them together to form an order, cause she fears that doing so will only repeat “the cycles of the past.” We then see Rey (wearing an outfit similar to the golden ceremony tunics from The High Republic), traveling on the Falcon with her newest apprentice, Thea (one of the working names for Rey during the development of The Force Awakens). Her outfit is more like the brown travel tunics from The High Republic, and she’s very similar in face and age to Rey. It almost looks like they could be twins (intentional).
They land on a barren wasteland of ice in the middle of the night, right in front of the ruins of a massive, ancient temple. We then get an Indiana Jones-like sequence where they go inside and uncover a small mechanical device simply known as “the decoder.” Rey reiterates that she needs this device to help translate “the last page of the sacred Jedi texts,” which is written in a language that’s even more archaic than the rest of the texts. The pair then go back outside, where they suddenly find themselves surrounded by strange humanoids in bronze armor, carrying exotic-looking blasters. Thea then suddenly reveals that she’s secretly been in league with these beings behind Rey’s back for some time. She explains that they’re called The Grysk, and that they’re “galactic conquerors” that come from another galaxy (they’re mentioned in some of the recent books). Rey asks why she betrayed her, to which Thea explains that the Republic has already failed the galaxy twice, and that simply keeping all the Jedi separate isn’t enough to prevent future turmoil, in her opinion. She then adds that the Grysk there with them are merely “a strike team sent early,” and that a full army is on the way.
Thea then draws her lightsaber out (it’s purple, to contrast with Rey’s yellow). Rey manages to escape back into the Falcon, which Thea taunts her for from a distance (“Running away so soon?”). Rey then returns to Coruscant (looks more like it did in Andor), which is back to being the capital of the Republic (no more “New” in the title). She passes by Rose and Babu Frik, who have been constructing a massive ship together for some time and are finally almost done with it. Rose offers it to Rey (not the first time), but as usual, Rey declines, saying “the Falcon is more than enough for me.” We then cut to her walking inside the old Jedi Council room, where all the seats are empty and covered in dust. Chancellor Poe (yes, really) meets her in there with his droid entourage (R2, 3PO, BB-8, D0).
Rey explains the Grysk situation to him, adding that she wishes she could turn to the Jedi spirits for help, but that she “lost contact with them some time ago.” Poe tells her it’s time to bring some of her old students together and form a new order, to figure out what to do about the new threat, but Rey rejects his advice, pointing out that the Jedi order already imploded twice in a row, meaning there’s a pattern there, and that most of the public hates the Jedi now for all the trouble they caused since the clone wars anyways. Poe says he wishes he could keep talking to her about this, but that he needs to go meet up with Zorrii (implying that they’re a couple now). On his way out, Rey jokes that she’s the better pilot now because he’s “out of practice,” but he playfully insists that he still “has it.” Rey then heads to her own bedroom, where the original Jedi texts are. She tries using the decoder to translate the last page of the last book, but can’t figure out how it works.
We then cut to the lower levels of Coruscant, and see some Mandos (they’re like the “police” now). They chase down some pirates who are part of a growing gang called “The Uprisers,” who feel the need to fight back against the Republic for still supporting Rey after all the issues the Jedi have caused over the decades. They’re also pissed off about the fact that she’s both a Palpatine as well as the fact that she chose to take on the Skywalker name. The Mandos manage to arrest the small group of Uprisers right after they blow up a statue of Rey, but acknowledge that there are more (“There’s always more.”).
Rey then catches up to them and sees the statue of herself in ruins. This leads her to finally deciding to travel to Mimban, where Finn is (she catches him just as he finishes leading a revolt of some kind). Together, they review records of all the other people Rey has trained over the years, and recruit the ones they feel would best learn from one another. This ends up being Rey’s team:
Finn: The “heart” of the group. Wants everyone to get along. His outfit is basically a traditional prequel-era tunic. Green saber.
Krash: The “lancer” of the group. He’s a purist, though that sometimes makes him come across as a bit of a jerk. His outfit is similar to what Baylan wears in the Ahsoka show (though maybe more gray than black). Orange or bronze saber. Maybe one of each? Or maybe one of them is blue? Something like that.
Hope: The “smart one” of the group. Non-force sensitive Jedi. Her outfit is reminiscent of the Old Republic era (i.e. tunic with pieces of armor). Uses gadgets and stuff to get by. Snarky attitude, but sensitive on the inside. White double-sided saber that maybe spins and/or bends.
Lowbacca (aka Lowy or Low): The “big one” of the group. He’s Chewy’s son (Chewy himself is mentioned as being retired on Kashyyk now). Wears an outfit similar to what Ben Kenobi wore in the original trilogy. Similar personality to his dad (usually nice, but not afraid to get his hands dirty). Prefers not to use a saber. The Force is the only “weapon” he needs (that and ripping people’s arms out, I guess).
After coming together, Rey and her new group hear from a Republic spy who’s been hanging out in the underworld (Connix, wearing Leia’s bounty hunter outfit from Return of the Jedi) that the Uprisers are planning to attack/ steal credits from a bank vault. Rey and team see this as a good opportunity to prep for the incoming Grysk invasion. Part of the Uprisers’ plan involves using ships, so Rey takes off in the Falcon, with Finn at the gun turret (they make a reference to “old times” during this), while the other Jedi pursue other Uprisers on foot. Things go horribly wrong, though, and the Falcon is destroyed in the process (but Rey and Finn manage to escape). The Mandos end up having to come in to save the day. The public ridicules Rey (making reference to the Palpatine lineage as well as the Skywalker name tag). We then cut to a barren moon, where the Gryssk army finally arrives from their distant galaxy. Thea tells them that they should attack Mandalore first, since that’s the home of the Republic’s army. They agree to her plan.
Back on Coruscant, the Jedi retreat to their temple. Hope gets most of the blame for the plan going sideways. Krash especially yells at her (he doesn’t think she deserves to be there). Finn calls him out for going too far with his criticisms. Meanwhile, Rey retreats to her own room, unable to handle the stress, and regretting the fact that she brought all these people together. Finn walks in to check on her. He mentions that he’s glad they’re back together, but wishes they could be traveling around the galaxy as one group, instead of being stuck at the capital, as he thinks they would get along better if they were actually adventuring and “among the people.” Rey ponders these words as Finn leaves. She then sees the decoder on her desk, and to take her mind off things, she tries using it again, but is still unable to make it work.
BB-8 suddenly rolls in and figures out how to get the device working. Rey finally reads the last piece of the Jedi texts, which turns out to say “Light will always be there for the people, even when they cannot see it, even when they do not want to.” This leads Rey and her Jedi peers to realizing that the galaxy may never accept them, but that’s not the point. Rather, the point is to just simply be there for them regardless. This newfound motivation allows them to finally all get along. Krash in particular starts to finally lighten up quite a bit, and Rey tells him that he “reminds her of someone” (Kylo reference). He seems to like hearing this. There’s hints of romantic chemistry between them.
Soon after, Thea and the Grysk army finally arrive on Mandalore, and a battle breaks out on both the ground and sky between them and the Mandalorians. Rey and her new Jedi order arrive to assist (on Rose and Babu’s ship), as well as some of the Mandalorian “police” from Coruscant. All the Jedi have a climatic moment where they have to use the Force together to stop a giant “warhammer” battering-ram weapon (discarded concept from The Force Awakens). Rey in particular duels Thea, and manages to gain the upper hand, which leads Thea to having to retreat (callback to the “running away so soon?” moment). The Grysk army is also defeated, but both the Jedi and Mandos acknowledge that more will probably come (callback to the “there’s always more” moment).
We then jump to some time later. The Jedi order are back on Coruscant. Rey tells Poe that she and her new order have decided to stay united, but rather than remaining on Coruscant, they want to instead travel around the galaxy together, helping people from a distance. They think that this “distant” approach might help the public to feel more comfortable with them. Furthermore, they think that constantly moving around will give them all something ongoing to focus on, which should hopefully limit infighting, while allowing them to still stay united as one order (callback to Finn’s words from earlier). Rey promises Poe that they’ll keep in contact with the Republic, but they wanna be the guardians of “the people” now, not just the Republic. Poe says he understands, and gives them all his blessing.
The Jedi then get into their new ship from Rose, who says goodbye to Finn particularly. There’s a hint that there’s still romantic tension between the two of them too, all these years later, but Finn doesn’t know what to do since Jedi traditionally don’t take romantic partners. Rey notices his internal conflict and pulls him aside to say something like “don’t worry, we’ll figure it out” (hint at what the sequel will be about). We also see Rey flipping through the books again inside the ship’s cockpit (she says she likes to re-read them sometimes), and she happens to flip to a page that depicts the father, daughter, and son from Mortis (another sequel tease, since the Ahsoka show seems to be hinting that Anakin, Ahsoka, and Baylan are becoming the new versions of the father, daughter, and son). The big Jedi ship then takes off into the stars. The end.
And in case you’re wondering; I intentionally left out senior-aged characters like Lando, Wedge, D’Acy, etc. because, frankly, I think they’re all too old now. I also left out Jannah cause she’s with Lando now (I guess?). Lastly, I left out “mandoverse” characters because, as of this writing, it sounds like this movie will be coming out first, so including any of those people would give away the fact that they survive their own shows/movies. I’d also like to mention that I have an alternate idea for Finn: Rather than being a Jedi, he could instead be one of the Mandalorians. Perhaps the leader of the Mando “police group” on Coruscant. I wouldn’t be surprised if Lucasfilm decide to have him “choose a different path,” so that he’s not always in Rey’s shadow. Either option works, I guess.
…Welp, that’s all I got!
Peace!
PS: Not important, but at some point Finn and Poe walk passed one another and point at each other playfully like they did in The Force Awakens. As you can probably tell, I like little “callbacks” like that. Also, since I mentioned Baylan towards the end of my outline, I’d like to take this opportunity to say that I think he should be recast, and if the actor they pick ends up looking or sounding very different from the late Ray Stevenson, they can just quickly explain it by saying “he was changed by force magic” or some other mumbo jumbo. On a similar note, if we do see Anakin’s force ghost again at some point, I think it’d be cool to see him quickly “flicker” between Hayden Christensen and an older actor that resembles Sebastian Shaw, like he supposedly does in the book Shadows of the Sith. I like the idea of force ghosts being able to “flicker” between different forms. Lastly, if it were up to me, I’d make it clear in the marketing that Thea is a villain, rather than try to hide it…
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