It’s no secret that Colin Trevorrow was originally slated to write and direct Star Wars: Episode IX. Heavily shrouded in secrecy, however, was what Trevorrow’s vision for the final entry in the Skywalker saga would have entailed. Now, thanks to a leak, we have an idea. Some are saying that his version would have been better that The Rise of Skywalker. I say they’re ignoring a huge problem with the Trevorrow script.
Over on Reddit at r/StarWarsLeaks there appears a breakdown of the Trevorrow script. AV Club claims to have independently verified it, as well. The film would have been titled Duel of the Fates, drawing inspiration John Williams’ masterful piece for The Phantom Menace. According to the report, there would have been more focus on the individual journeys on which Kylo Ren and Rey separately embark. Other plot points have Rose Tico playing a much larger role, and even Chewbacca flying an X-wing. Further, in this version, Kylo Ren killed Rey’s parents and Palpatine was relegated to a holographic appearance. And that’s where we start to question whether this script is real.
A Plagueis-sized hole in the Trevorrow script
According to the leak, Palpatine appears in holographic form when Kylo Ren finds a Sith Holocron in Vader’s castle on Mustafar. It’s at this point that that Palpatine tells Ren to go train with the Sith master who taught him…. That is, of course, Darth Plag, er… Tor Valum.
Wait, what? Who?
One question that surrounded J.J. Abram’s treatment of Episode IX was whether he would retcon anything Rian Johnson did in The Last Jedi. Now we have an alleged Trevorrow script that apparently retcons one of the biggest reveals of the entire saga. Who can forget the critical scene of Revenge of the Sith in which Palpatine utters the words “have you ever hear the tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise?” It was Darth Plagueis that taught Darth Sidious everything he knew. And then there’s the small detail that Sidious killed Plagueis for it. So who is Tor Valum?
I suppose it’s possible that Tor Valum was Plagueis. However, there’s no indication, canon or otherwise, of that being the case. Contrarily, based on James Luceno’s (now) Legends book Darth Plagueis, we know his birth identity to be Hego Damask II. So why would the Trevorrow script make such a huge departure from something already recognized?
I don’t know. After reading the plot points, I certainly can’t say that the Trevorrow script would have been better than The Rise of Skywalker…. Especially with the Plagueis issue. Can you? Let us know in the comments!
Source: AV Club
You either don’t know your Star Wars or you’re creating a problem for the sake of having a topic to write about. There is no “Darth Plagueis” issue. Any more so than there’s an issue because Obi-Wan tells Luke to train with Yoda, “the Jedi Master that trained me”.
I like you, dude. And though I don’t always agree with you I like how passionate you are about SW.
That said, this will be one of those times when we disagree. I think this script is perfect. It’s the movie we should have gotten.
I want a Baby Yoda lol but Disney ain’t getting my money anymore until they stop pandering to racist/sexist fanboys or to Reylos.
Call me when Star Wars becomes about fighting fascism again.
I appreciated the comments, and thanks for the kind words. Perhaps the Trevorrow treatment would have been better, and he might have gone deeper into the connection between Sidious and Tor Valum. I will give you this – We still agree on Reylo. 🙂
Thanks for reading!