Star Wars Officially Launches A Better Version Of The Sequel Trilogy

Disney and Lucasfilm have officially made a better version of the Star Wars sequel trilogy nearly seven years after Rey Skywalker's last movie. Though the sequel trilogy of Star Wars movies proved massively profitable, they ended up being incredibly divisive at the same time. The Force Awakens was criticized for mimicking A New Hope, The Last Jedi was adored by critics and some fans and hated by others, and The Rise of Skywalker has only grown more controversial since it was released in 2019.

There are plenty of reasons that the sequel trilogy ended up being divisive, from the way it handled the original trilogy's legacy to the lack of a cohesive vision for all three movies to less than charitable views of Star Wars' first female main Jedi. The main takeaway from all those problems is that the sequel trilogy wasn't as good as it could have been, even for fans who did enjoy Rey's journey.

Now, nearly seven years after The Rise of Skywalker, Star Wars has delivered a better version of the sequel trilogy. The Star Wars: Visions spinoff show The Ninth Jedi isn't part of Star Wars canon, but it does take place in a similar part of the Star Wars timeline to the sequels. More than that, The Ninth Jedi accomplishes everything the sequels should have, from its big events to its character moments, and it does those things better.

The Ninth Jedi Is A Better Version Of The Star Wars Sequel Trilogy

Though it's not canon, it's remarkable how similar The Ninth Jedi is to the Star Wars sequel trilogy. Like the sequels, The Ninth Jedi takes place in a galaxy where the Jedi have been gone for years. Lah Kara and company work to reestablish the Jedi Order to combat the rising threat of Nawaam, a warlord clad in black samurai-like armor that is clearly inspired by Darth Vader, and restore peace to the galaxy.

Almost everything in The Ninth Jedi has a direct counterpart in the sequel trilogy. Lah Kara, the young woman who is incredibly gifted in the Force and trying to decipher the truth of her father's history, is Rey. Nawaam, the warlord who has taken the wrong message from the Jedi's past and uses it as a basis to dominate the galaxy, is Kylo Ren. Lah Zhima, an older Jedi who is deeply ashamed of his actions as a younger man and now hides himself away, is Luke Skywalker.

The Ninth Jedi has almost the same setup and characters as the sequel trilogy, but it tells a better story with that familiar setup. Kara is more complex than Rey; she struggles with the dark side, tries to close herself off emotionally, and eventually learns to accept her responsibility and lead the Jedi into the future. Nawaam gets a better ending than Ben Solo; Kara spares his life and he gets a chance to redeem himself by joining the Jedi. Lah Zhima doesn't immediately die like Luke, he joins the fight and continues living while letting the next generation of Jedi take the lead.

Aside from its characters, The Ninth Jedi also handles the broader story of the sequels better than the sequels themselves. The Ninth Jedi established a new Jedi Order, it gave Star Wars a new set of heroes to push the timeline forward, and it even explored the politics of its non-canon galaxy in quite a bit of depth. The sequel trilogy failed at all three of those objectives, which is one of the many reasons it was so divisive. The Ninth Jedi told the sequel story Rey's movies should have been.

The Star Wars Sequels Can Still Learn From The Ninth Jedi

Luckily for Star Wars, there's still time for Rey's sequels to learn from The Ninth Jedi. Though the sequel trilogy ended with The Rise of Skywalker, Rey's story isn't done yet. The slate of upcoming Star Wars movies confirms that: between Starfighter, which takes place in the same era, New Jedi Order, and Simon Kinberg's trilogy, which is speculated to be Episodes X, XI, and XII, Rey and the sequel era are going to be pivotal to Star Wars moving forward.

The continuing story of the sequel trilogy can also take inspiration from The Ninth Jedi now. It can look to that show to see how to establish a new Jedi Order, how to flesh out Rey's character like Lah Kara, and how to dive into the politics of the galaxy far, far away in a way that is satisfying for fans. The Ninth Jedi is the perfect example of how to tell a sequel story, and now New Jedi Order and Starfighter can use it as a blueprint.

With The Ninth Jedi as its foundation, New Jedi Order, Starfighter, and Kinberg's trilogy should be able to fix some of the foundational mistakes of the sequel trilogy. It can have a more cohesive vision from the start, a better main villain, and a stronger sense of what it needs to accomplish. Kinberg's trilogy won't have to go back and forth narratively like The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker did.