One of the latest promo videos for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker acknowledges the Skywalker saga as it is. Star Wars fans all over the world are currently preparing for the release of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, the final chapter in the saga they have known for decades. The Star Wars film universe began in 1977 with Star Wars: A New Hope, followed by Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back and Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, forming what’s collectively known as the “original trilogy”.
Since then, the Star Wars universe has expanded to other media, such as television, comic books, and theme parks, but it’s best known for its film saga, referred to as the “Skywalker saga”. Two decades after the original trilogy, Lucasfilm brought the prequel trilogy, which explored the backstories of characters like Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Padme Amidala. Following the acquisition of Lucasfilm by Disney, the studio started working on a sequel trilogy, which began in 2015 with Star Wars: The Force Awakens, followed in 2017 by Star Wars: The Last Jedi.
The ninth installment in the saga, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, will bring together all past films to give closure to over four decades of Skywalker history – and the characters within this universe know it.
How Star Wars 9 Made The “Skywalker Saga” Part Of The Universe
With just a couple more weeks to go before the release of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Disney has been sharing promotional videos with footage from the previous films (just to add more to the nostalgic vibe) and inviting viewers to purchase tickets on presale. One of these begins with Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid) saying this will be “the final word in the story of Skywalker”, thus making the Skywalker saga part of this universe.
Many fans have been speculating this could mean Darth Vader (played by Hayden Christensen) will make an appearance as a Force Ghost, possibly alongside his son, Luke Skywalker – but there’s still another Skywalker alive and well in the saga. Ben Solo/Kylo Ren is Leia and Han Solo’s son, and therefore the last Skywalker standing (unless J.J. Abrams has a big surprise up his sleeve), so Palpatine’s words don’t necessarily have to refer to Luke or Anakin. The marketing for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker has been doing a good job in bringing together all films in the Skywalker saga (the video shown above uses music from the prequels mixed with “The Imperial March”, which comes from the original trilogy), and having a character like Palpatine confirm the “story of Skywalker” is an in-universe thing is a very special (and emotional) detail.
