*Spoilers below*

Star Wars fans complain their myth suffers from a lack of humanity since around 1999, perhaps rightly so.[1]  In response, the latest trilogy introduces surnameless Rey, a lonely desert scavenger, drinking the dregs of her canteen before sliding down a sand dune on scrap metal, her musical theme softly building in the background. This delightful little minute-long sequence quietly signaled that the galaxy far away was going to care more about the Hero’s Quest than senate debates this time around – a welcome change.

Indeed, by the time we get to the new Rise of Skywalker, a charming remake of 1983’s Return of the Jedi,[2]Rey the Scavenger has nearly become Rey the Knight, almost at the end of her journey. All that’s left is to dispatch the evil, formerly-dead (?) Emperor in a dispassionate way.[3]To accomplish this, she must figure out who her real family is, and their identity has been a mystery this whole time. 

But when Rey discovers she’s actually the evil Emperor’s granddaughter,[4]she invokes Star Wars’ Communion of Saints.[5]She does not believe this practice a fond thing, vainly invented. She asks the faithfully departed Jedi masters of old, repeatedly, in preparation for her battle, “Be with me,” and they answer! Her fellow soldiers are saints above and saints below.

At long last, she discovers that belonging to and fighting for what’s Good is less a matter of where or to whom we’re born. Her family is now the one she’s spiritually joined with; their bloodline not nearly important as the cause they rally around. There is no longer Jew or Greek, neither Kowakian nor Kel Dor.[6]

Star Wars is important for shaping theological imaginations in the way that all myths are. Any epic saga we write, (or, in this case, pastiche we assemble) will necessarily include themes from God’s own ordering of the cosmos. We watch and listen for the “flower we have not found, the echo of a tune we have not heard,” and these all point us toward the exitus-reditus: the procession forth from God, and the procession back to him. The Force binding all together.

[1]See the trio of videos, “What if the prequels were good,” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgICnbC2-_Y) and please help this guy get hired at Lucasfilm to remake them.

[2]Or, a fun, often poignant conclusion to a story we never saw. Pick your poison. Only Siths deal in absolutes?

[3]My dude the Emperor’s plans are frequently incomprehensible. It’s hard for the audience to believe he’s been pulling the strings for nine movies if we never see the strings. Alas, retcon is lucrative.

[4]Did you notice how awkward and terrible it was when the Emperor narrated the coronation liturgy? Let this be a lesson to Celebrants everywhere: never explain liturgy during liturgy.

[5]Is it actually more akin to Buddhist ancestral worship and reincarnation? Of course it is, now get outta here!

[6]As far as I know, there is no history of conflict between those last two peoples, but I’m sure some nerd can correct me.