How Star Wars Got Its Groove Back

Like most of you, 2020 was a difficult year for me in many ways. The last two months, specifically, were particularly rough. But come New Year’s Eve, I was able to settle down and decompress. The word of mouth on the most recent season of The Mandalorian had caught my attention and I decided that an extended binge of some escapist, sci-fi fantasy would hit the spot. I hadn’t even seen any of the first season; I would binge both the first and this latest season together.

Now I’m glad things broke the way they did, I’m glad I binged it all when I did, because 2020 didn’t deserve the transcendent joy this gave me. This was for 2021. This was about hope for the future. Things can get better, be better. They will be better. That last episode actually makes me believe this. A silly, stupid fantasy story helped restore my faith in life. Joy is possible again.

This was everything I needed exactly when I needed it.

I won’t spoil the major reveal at the end of that last episode right now, even though 99% of you probably already know it. I actually had it spoiled for me before I saw it, but this did little to lessen the impact. All the same, I’m offering some spoiler space before I share some absolutely amazing and spoilerific YouTube links with you.

Proceed no further if you want to avoid spoilers.

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The return of Luke Skywalker, the REAL Luke Skywalker, the legend, hero of our childhood, coming to the rescue once again, saving the day. This was all I wanted from the new Star Wars sequels—had J. J. Abrams just given me this, I probably could have forgiven all of his other sins. This wasn’t remotely hard; in fact, it was damn easy. Why couldn’t he do it? Why didn’t he do it?

But this isn’t the time to allow ourselves to be sidetracked into old disasters or past mistakes. It’s a new year and we’re being offered new hope (see what I did there?). This was beautiful. God bless all the creators involved, Mark Hamill, and everyone else attached to this project.

Happy New Year to all. From my own perspective right now, 2021 feels like it’s off to a promising start.

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