Rey’s Jedi story in the Star Wars sequels was doomed from the start as Star Wars: The Force Awakens did not take into consideration how much the Star Wars prequels had changed the franchise's Jedi lore. The first live-action Star Wars movie in 10 years, Star Wars: The Force Awakens was a pop culture landmark and is currently the fifth highest-grossing movie of all time after being recently surpassed by Avatar: The Way of Water. Although it cannot be denied that The Force Awakens and the sequels as a whole reignited the Star Wars franchise, Episode VII unnecessarily separated the Star Wars prequel lore from the new films, which affected Rey’s journey.
Each Star Wars trilogy is different, with a very distinct feel to it, from the story to the aesthetic. While George Lucas was obviously behind all three original Star Wars films despite only directing the first one, Lucas’ prequel trilogy was quite different from what audiences had come to know as Star Wars between the original film and Return of the Jedi. Modern technology meant Lucas felt he could finally fulfil his vision, and he showed the Jedi at their prime in a way that barely resemble how the original trilogy had depicted Obi-Wan and Yoda. Although the prequel trilogy’s world building added a lot to Star Wars, it also changed the Jedi forever.
The Star Wars Prequels Changed What It Means To Be A Jedi
Whereas the original trilogy treated the Jedi as mysterious space wizards who barely engaged in any fights and whose lessons were often limited to words, George Lucas' Star Wars prequels pulled back the curtain on the Jedi and presented them as true warriors. Though Mace Windu states that the Jedi are protectors of the peace and not warriors in Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones, the prequels were far more action-driven when it comes to the Jedi than the originals. As a comparison, Yoda never leaves Dagobah in the original trilogy whereas the prequels had two major Yoda fight scenes – Yoda vs. Doku and Yoda vs. Darth Sidious.
Obviously, the fact that moviemaking technology had advanced allowed George Lucas to depict the Jedi in a way that he never could during the originals. From Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon’s fight against Darth Maul in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace to Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith’s Battle of the Heroes, the prequel-era Jedi seemed almost superheroes compared to the original trilogy’s Darth Vader, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Luke Skywalker. That change in the Star Wars power scale was followed by a change in the Jedi lore as a whole, including how Jedi are trained and what even means to be a Jedi.
For example, Luke’s Jedi training in the original trilogy was limited to an undisclosed but surely not-that-long period with Yoda in Dagobah. From carrying Yoda behind his back to lifting rocks and an X-Wing, Luke’s training montage in The Empire Strikes Back was enough to sell that Luke was now closer to becoming a Jedi like Obi-Wan Kenobi. While the movies acknowledge that Luke’s training was not complete and that he was “not a Jedi yet”, Skywalker was powerful enough in Return of the Jedi to defeat Darth Vader. However, going by the prequels and Clone Wars’ approach, Luke’s training was laughably simple.
Rey’s Story Is Closer To Luke’s Than To Any Prequel Character
Starting with Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Rey’s character was criticized for being too good of a Jedi without proper training. However, compared to Luke’s story in the original trilogy, Rey’s feats in the sequel trilogy were totally reasonable within what is expected from the hero of the story. The problem, however, is that the Star Wars prequels’ extensive Jedi lore had now retconned the Jedi to a military-like force with strict rankings in which the characters’ strengths come from years of training. For example, Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi both showed Ahsoka had way more proper training during the Clone Wars than Luke did during the original trilogy.
The prequels and Clone Wars, which defined Star Wars for an entirely new generation after 16 years without Star Wars on the big screen, almost made Luke Skywalker seem weak compared to the Jedi and the Sith audiences were now being introduced to. Still, given that the overall perception of the prequels upon release was not as positive as it is now, Star Wars: The Force Awakens tried to distance itself from the prequel trilogy as well as from the Jedi of the Clone Wars. The Force Awakens was a sequel to Return of the Jedi not only in terms of the timeline but also of tone and aesthetic, almost as if the prequels had never happened.
From the perspective of the Star Wars prequels and Clone Wars, Rey’s Jedi journey did lack more proper training, especially in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Anakin Skywalker, for example, had trained for 10 years before his first on-screen lightsaber fight whereas Rey defeated Kylo Ren right after realizing she had powers. However, from the perspective of the original Star Wars trilogy or other adventure stories, Rey’s arc was just like every hero’s journey. Characters like Luke and Rey were capable of impressive feats because they were meant to be special within their stories and not because of any incredibly technical training.
Why The Original Trilogy’s Approach To The Jedi Is Better Than The Prequels
As great as the prequel trilogy’s world building was, to the point Star Wars became a much larger saga thanks to the films and shows like Star Wars: The Clone Wars, its changing approach to the Jedi Order removed part of what made the mysterious warriors so special in the first three installments. What made Luke Skywalker such an iconic hero was that Luke could be anyone – a person who wanted to dream bigger and that, in the end, saved the entire galaxy. Luke was not special because he had spent the first 20 years of his life training to be a Jedi but rather because he embodied Obi-Wan and Yoda’s lessons right away.
This is what Star Wars: The Force Awakens and later Star Wars: The Last Jedi tried to achieve with Rey, especially after her moments with Luke. Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker then tried to acknowledge some of the criticism aimed at its protagonist by revealing Rey was a Palpatine and that she and Kylo Ren were a Force Dyad, thus establishing that Rey was that powerful because of lineage. The Star Wars prequels made the Force something almost measurable, not only with the divisive Midi-chlorins but also with its Jedi training lore. Like Rey, Luke didn’t have to train his whole life to be a worthy Jedi.
Star Wars’ Next Jedi Should Balance The Original & Prequel Approaches
Additional Star Wars material, be it from the Expanded Universe or the new Disney canon, tried to fill in the gaps in Luke’s Jedi journey by diving a bit more into his training. Likewise, shows like Star Wars Rebels tried to bridge the prequels approach to Jedi and the more mythical, mysterious original trilogy approach. That is something Star Wars should replicate for its next Jedi, the hero who will lead the next Star Wars movie. A combination of the original and prequel approaches is the best way to avoid criticism similar to those received by Rey’s Star Wars story.
By completely ignoring the Star Wars prequels, including the Sith, Star Wars: The Force Awakens limited its possibilities. Though the original trilogy’s take on the Jedi is arguably better than the one from the prequels, Star Wars cannot simply ignore what is the biggest contribution to its lore – the prequel trilogy. Not every Jedi should have to train for a decade before they can actually have a lore-consistent victory in a Jedi vs. Sith battle, yet the specifics of the Jedi training can add a lot to a character’s journey. For example, Grogu spent some time with Luke receiving proper training and will continue his journey in The Mandalorian season 3.