Please keep in mind this is not an article to attack Rise of Skywalker, but simply to explore an idea. At first glance, you may be looking at this article and scratching your head! What in the world does Stranger Things Season 3 have to do with The Rise of Skywalker and how was it a better end to the Skywalker Saga then Star Wars was?
Well, let’s delve a bit into what the respective stories were dealing with. In Rise of Skywalker the two main characters are Rey and Kylo Ren, Rey is an ultra-powerful force user who is being sought by a malevolent being who wants to take their power for themselves. Kylo is a tragic figure, a selfish but powerful man who has truly never grown up and seeks power and respect from those around him, including the malevolent being who is seeking Rey.
The villain of Rise of Skywalker is Darth Sidious a villain who was previously thought defeated, but is left in a weakened state and seeking Rey to regain his full power again.
Now let’s look briefly at Stranger Things S3, at its core the story is about Eleven a very powerful telekinetic and her friends, on the opposing side is Billy, a selfish manchild who wants power and respect. The villain is the Mind Flayer a malevolent being who was thought defeated in S2 but is left in a weakened state and uses Billy to do its bidding in order to target Eleven for her power.
Now many fans and critics were very disappointed with how The Rise of Skywalker ended the Skywalker Saga, many cited its rushed plot, and how Rey and Ben Solo’s interaction with Darth Sidious was lackluster and onesided, as it barely included any of the other cast members. I was one of those people, at the conclusion of Rise of Skywalker, Ben Solo/Kylo Ren turns from the dark side and service to Sidious to the light side and stands ready to fight Sidious with Rey, he is thrown over a cliff and Rey pretty effortlessly defeats the Emporer one on one.
Now let’s look at the ending of Stranger Things S3, the Mind Flayer is wounded by Eleven and later at almost full strength attacks a mall seeking to absorb her power into itself, Elevens friends try and defend her as it attacks as Eleven is vulnerable and losing her power. As the Mind Flayer prepares to kill her, Billy finds the strength in himself to resist and stands between her and it, fighting the flayer as it tries to absorb her, Billy dies delaying the creature but saves Eleven and all her friends.
Now you may be putting some of the pieces together already, both stories are about a villain being redeemed, a powerful hero being sought, and a scrappy band of friends fighting an evil far more powerful than them. The conclusions for Stranger Things S3 and Rise of Skywalker are very very similar, and I feel that in the end, Stranger Things and not TroS told the better story conclusion.
Rey is incredibly powerful, and does not struggle much over the course of the film and Ben Solo is shown to have been manipulated by Sidious from childhood, yet he never gets to face Sidious down and defend his friends and family, as he is thrown off a cliff so Rey can defeat the Emperor. Also, Rey’s friend’s role in the final battle feels very tacked on, and not at all impactful to what is going on in the throne room.
Stranger Things S3 handles this same type of story much better in my opinion. Eleven while being shown as immensely powerful is given a handicap and made vulnerable, which forces her to rely on her friends more than before (However she is given a heroic moment to wound the Flayer earlier on) Her group of friends play a direct role in defeating the Mind Flayer, and Billy a tragic figure who has been controlled by the Flayer gets a final heroic moment to defy him and save his friends.
In the end, Billy gets the end that Ben Solo should have gotten, he directly saves everyone without taking the spotlight off of Eleven or her friends. Everyone plays a role in the defeat of the villain and we are shown the conflict everyone goes through. The Rise of Skywalker putting aside lore issues was exciting, however, it feels like we lost some of the moments we could have gotten, Ben Solo saving Rey after the battle is over and done, has just as weak an impact as it would have been if Billy had saved Eleven after the Flayer was killed, vs fighting to save her during the battle.
In the end, this is just one opinion, what did you think? Was Stranger Things S3 a better conclusion to The Skywalker Saga then The Rise of Skywalker or was The Rise of Skywalker a perfect end to the Skywalker Saga for you?
