Colin Trevorrow Star Wars 9 script had a different (darker) death for General Hux. The final installment of the new trilogy was a momentous occasion for all Star Wars fans; unfortunately, it created a significant divide that will likely persist for years.
Before the release of Rise of Skywalker, fans had already been largely divided by Rian Johnson’s The Last Jedi. Compared to Rise of Skywalker, however, the amount of criticism and disagreement among fans was arguably smaller. After some initial problems that caused Colin Trevorrow to step down from his duties as director on the third film, J.J. Abrams stepped in to finish what he had started with 2015’s highly successful The Force Awakens. And despite his solid fanbase, Abrams’ ambitious work on Rise of Skywalker has since been criticized for a variety of reasons. What’s more, there remains a decent percentage of fans who are still disappointed that Trevorrow didn’t get his chance to imbue Star Wars with his considerable talents.
In Trevorrow’s unproduced Star Wars 9 script – which, incidentally was called Duel of the Fates, the Jurassic World director had a much different ending planned for General Hux (Domhnall Gleeson). Rather than his Rise of Skywalker fate, which sees the duplicitous General killed by Allegiant General Pryde (Richard E. Grant) for his treasonous ways, Trevorrow’s script offered something considerably darker. A snippet from the original script can be seen below, detailing the death:
“Hux storms into his lush chamber. Goes to the collector’s case. Removes one of his prized vintage lightsabers. He activates it and IMPALES HIMSELF WITH THE PURPLE BLADE. Hux kneels, the glowing saber protruding from his chest as First Order ships descend in smoke and fire out the window.”
Apparently, Duel of the Fates shows Hux to be something of a collector of both Sith and Jedi artifacts, and that he also was hugely envious of Force sensitivity. While far more disturbing that Hux’s death scene in Rise of Skywalker, Trevorrow’s version is arguably more fitting for a character who had been a part of the entire trilogy. The death scene is also quite fitting because, in it, Hux dies like a samurai. In this way, Hux was able to achieve in death what he never could obtain in his life – the honor of a Jedi. Star Wars fans will know that George Lucas based much of the mythology surrounding the Jedi on the Japanese codes of the samurai, while also being influenced by Akira Kurosawa’s The Seven Samurai. In Japanese lore, death by seppuku is a ritual disemboweling utilized by samurai. While Trevorrow’s version of Hux’s death isn’t exactly seppuku, it does borrow heavily from the concept.
Unfortunately, fans will never get to see Trevorrow’s vision for a ninth Star Wars film realized. That’s simply the way things often go in Hollywood, with unrealized versions of stories relegated to online fan forums and often-divisive debate. Still, time seems to heal all wounds when it comes to the Star Wars franchise, and several years from now, the issues that are being debated today in Rise of Skywalker may be abandoned altogether in favor of appreciating the film for what it is.