Imagine this, Rey is the tough sith lord, leading the first order as the heiress to the emperor. She destroys Jedi temple in a surprise attack, killing most. Luke disappears to find answers to why Sith keep coming back stronger. While Kylo, who’s conflicted because of lineage shared with Darth Vader, disillusioned because of his mentor missing, and unsure in his capabilities as he failed to save his Jedi brothers, reluctantly leads an under-prepared resistance as auxiliary forces of the weak new republic.
He falls to the Dark Side, betrays his father at the end of episode 7 and joins Rey. Then Rey leaves him as a second in command and goes to track down Luke. Kylo leads the first order into an open conflict with republic, and decimates them, further enforcing his belief in Dark side. While Rey finds Luke, who’s on a journey to learn the secrets of force, discovering that Jedi and Sith are two faces of same coin. Rey has little change of heart herself on this journey. She doesn’t eliminate Luke and both return to their sides. Towards the end of episode 8, Kylo has inner conflicts while facing his mother, but returning Luke enrages him and he goes all out against the resistance, while Rey finds herself sidelined in the first order.
Episode 9 could then be a redemption arc for the characters, where they find balance in some manners. Luke and Leia could sacrifice themselves in some way. Rey could have a complete change of heart, turning from a sith to Jedi, abandoning the palpatine name and taking Skywalker name, finding that she was probably relating more with Vader rather than the emperor. Ren could survive to continue Luke’s work.
How different this storyline would be in a good creator’s hand?
Think It Yourself 