Star Wars: Episode VII: The Force Awakens.Spoilers/Discussion/Speculation

[Morgania]

Search your feelings, you know this to be true.

It seems most logical.
And makes more sense than Obi-Wan's granddaughter, as I've seen suggested.

[Spimman]

I agree with her being a Skywalker (as an option), just not the daughter of Luke Skywalker. If she is that it means he abandoned his daughter or got someone pregnant without knowing it.

Did Uncle Owen have other children?

[Morgania]

I thought Uncle Owen was Anakin's step-brother, and not Force sensitive.

[DigiFluid]

Owen Lars was already an adult by Episode II, meaning he is Cliegg Lars' son from a previous partner or relationship. Owen is Anakin's step-brother, not his half-brother. There's no blood relationship between the Skywalkers and the Larses.

[avp60685]

I watched it twice and here's part of my theory about Rey. I think she must be either a twin of Ben's or she is somehow a daughter of Luke's and she was separated from her family after Ben went rogue and followed the Dark side.

Also Rey is probably going to start piloting the Millennium Falcon with Chewy and perhaps continue her Jedi training instead of returning to her scavenging quests.

Finn is probably going to help out the rebellion once he recovers from his injuries!

I was really glad that C-3PO wasn't as annoying as he had been in previous episodes, it seemed like he hogged too much of the stories at times!

[DigiFluid]

So I've finished the novelization of TFA now, and while it did improve in the second half, I do stand by my original impression. Which was...not worth the extra effort. It told the exact same story while adding very little of consequence, and at the same time managed to lose a lot of the magic and charisma of the actors' performances (ha, imagine being able to say that 10 years ago!)

That said, I did do a bit of note-taking as I read along for you guys's benefit

I'm going to stick it all under some spoiler tags just so I don't make this post and page gigantic. Everything under this spoiler tag comes out of either the TFA novelization or else the childrens' reader Before the Awakening

Spoiler:

Differences from the film
The novel opens with a Leia scene, effectively just musing on how much she hopes they can find Luke.

Slight dialogue changes at Jakku massacre.

Right after the scene in which we are introduced to Snoke is a scene with Poe waking up on Jakku for the first time since they crashed the TIE fighter. He gets rescued by a local scavenger named Naka Iit. Iit takes him to someone named Ohn Gos, in Blowback Town, to get him off planet. Along the way they're briefly hassled by some raiders. Poe saves them when he takes over driving the transport and does some fancy flying to lose them.

An extra scene where Leia asks her attache, a Commander Korr Sella, to go speak to the New Republic Senate on her behalf (regarding the rising threat of the First Order). Sella is the woman who gets a close-up shot later on, in the giant city as they watch the superweapon's beam come down to destroy them.
Leia: You need to go to the Senate right away. Tell them I insist that they take action against the First Order. The longer they bicker and delay, the stronger the Order becomes. If they fail to take action soon, the Order will have grown so strong the Senate will be unable to do anything. It won't matter what they think.
Sella: With all respect: Do you think the senators will listen?
Leia: I don't know. So much time has passed. There was a time when they were at least willing to listen. And of course, the Senate's makeup has changed. Some of those who were always willing to pay attention to me have retired. Some of those who have replaced them have their own agendas. Not all senators think I'm crazy. Or maybe they do. I don't care what they think about me as long as they take action.
Sella: I'll do all I can to ensure the Resistance gets the hearing we deserve. But why don't you go yourself, General? An appeal of this nature is always more effective when delivered firsthand.
Leia: I might make it to the Senate, yes. I might even be able to deliver my speech. But I would never, never get out of the Hosnian system alive. I would have a terrible 'accident,' or become the victim of some 'deranged' radical. Or I would eat something that didn't agree with me. Or encounter someone who didn't agree with me. I have total confidence in you, Sella. I know you will deliver our message to the full extent of your considerable abilities.

Unkar Plutt comes to Maz Kanata's world looking for the Falcon. When he confronts them, Chewie rips off one of Plutt's arms saving Rey.

At Maz Kanata's base, the First Order aren't the only ones on the lookout for BB-8/Rey/Finn/Han/Chewie. One of the droids in Maz's bar is an ally of the Resistance droids, who sends out a signal to 3PO. This is how the Resistance knows to come to their rescue.

Rey's vision at the lightsaber in Maz's basement includes some extra scenes, including a "two figures locked in combat" at Cloud City, an unidentified boy who speaks no dialogue, and a voice that tells her "I'll come back, sweetheart. I promise."

When the planet-killer destroys the Hosnian system, it also destroys the bulk of the Republic's starfleet--hundreds of starships. There's also a brief cutaway to Leia when it happens, that she "feels a great disturbance in the Force."

During the battle at the First Order superweapon, the FO also launches something called "seekers" to attack X-wings. But these "seekers" aren't discriminating, shooting down anything flying--X-wings and TIE fighters both.


Extra character bits
Rey's home has "thousands" of scratches (the ones she marks for each day). Rey is 19 years old in TFA, so conservatively estimating that "thousands" means just 2000 -- she has been there for at least five and a half years. Ie she was placed into hiding, alone, when she was just 13 years old.

Kylo Ren is something new in terms of dark-siders. He is most definitely not in the same school of thought as the Sith that we're familiar with, musing at one point that "revenge is little more than an adolescent concession to personal vanity."

When Kylo Ren first confronts Rey on Maz's world (in the woods) he says, mystified, "Something. There is something... Who are you?" Later, when Rey uses the Force to take the Skywalker lightsaber, Ren comments "it is you."

A narrative line confirms that Han and Leia were and are still married, but haven't seen each other in "years." It's almost completely clear that they haven't seen each other since they lost Ben.

A little earlier, during Kylo Ren's mind-reading/interrogation of Rey on the First Order planet, he observes that she sees Han as "the father she never had."

Dialogue between Han and Leia heavily implies that that Snoke was manipulating Ben from very young, narratively echoing the relationship between Palpatine and Anakin.

When Kylo Ren takes off his mask in front of Han, it's the first time Han has seen his face as an adult.


Extra narrative/expository bits
The TIE fighter that Finn and Poe use to escape from the Star Destroyer is identified as a Special Forces fighter.

The Resistance planet is called D'Qar, and is located in the Ileenium system. Maz Kanata's base is on the planet Takodana. The First Order base's planet is not named, aside from being called Starkiller Base. When giving details on the facility to the Resistance people Finn tells them that it is the First Order's main base--so meaning that while the Republic took a colossal blow, so did the First Order.

Unkar Plutt was able to trace the Falcon back to Maz Kanata's world by means of an old Imperial homing device that was on the ship when he got it, and only took a little tinkering to get it working again. It's not stated outright, but the implication that this is the same homing device that Tarkin used to track the Falcon from the Death Star back to Yavin, in ANH.

The city that Korr Sella is in when the superweapon destroys the planet, is named Republic City.

The superweapon's functionality gets more explanation in the novel (though it's certainly still full of shaky logic). The weapon doesn't just draw from the nearest star--it draws from the most abundant thing in the entire universe--dark matter (meaning its power supply is effectively unlimited. That energy is drawn in to the planet core, where it is contained largely by the planet's own natural magnetic field, and that is reinforced by an additional containment field (which is the target of the Resistance attack in the final battle sequence). When the weapon fires, it bores a hole through regular space-time into hyperspace, where it then travels in a straight line at hyperspeed. It'll travel forever, unless a large enough gravitational body pulls it back into realspace. A star system or planet, for example.


Tie-ins to other nuCanon media
That is indeed Admiral Ackbar that we see at the Resistance base. He has not shirked his duty with the Republic starfleet. Rather, he was retired, and Leia talked him into coming to help with the Resistance fight. You may also have spotted the other familiar ROTJ face: the Sullustan pilot who flies in the final battle. That is Nien Nunb, who was Lando's co-pilot at the Battle of Endor, and has featured in several of the new Marvel comics.

One of the officers who speaks up at the Resistance briefing (older guy with a big white beard) is Major Ematt. Ematt has featured in a number of the nuCanon releases, including Before the Awakening, Moving Target, and Smuggler's Run/

The one Resistance pilot we see at the base and in the final battle--the white guy with a beard who's a bit heavyset? That is Captain "Snap" Wexley--whose real name is Temmin Wexley, and was one of the main protagonists of the novel Aftermath.

One of the other X-wing pilots is identified as Jess Pava, who previously appeared in both Before the Awakening and The Weapon of a Jedi.

[DigiFluid]

Oh, and two other bits of trivia in case anybody remains unaware:

1) Unkar Plutt, the junker who pays the Jakku scavengers in food rations, is Simon Pegg beneath all those prosthetics.

2) The stormtrooper that Rey uses the Force to mind-trick into releasing her is portrayed by Daniel Craig. Yes, that Daniel Craig.

[garhkal]

So I've finished the novelization of TFA now, and while it did improve in the second half, I do stand by my original impression. Which was...not worth the extra effort. It told the exact same story while adding very little of consequence, and at the same time managed to lose a lot of the magic and charisma of the actors' performances (ha, imagine being able to say that 10 years ago!)

That said, I did do a bit of note-taking as I read along for you guys's benefit

Nice rundown.. Thanks for posting.

[Morgania]

Rey is too young to be Ben's twin. And I don't see them as being siblings either.


Something that might have happened off-screen...

Spoiler:

Snoke- Give in to your anger.
Ben Solo- Okay. *does so*
Snoke- That was easy.

[Spimman]

Owen Lars was already an adult by Episode II, meaning he is Cliegg Lars' son from a previous partner or relationship. Owen is Anakin's step-brother, not his half-brother. There's no blood relationship between the Skywalkers and the Larses.

Thanks for the information.

So Anakin had no half siblings that we know of?
Luke had only Leia as a sibling?

If yes to both, than the only way she can be a Skywalker is if she is a child of Luke or Leia's...hmmm. I'm still looking for another way for her to be a Skywalker, but I don't really have a reason why.

[garhkal]

Rey is too young to be Ben's twin. And I don't see them as being siblings either.


Something that might have happened off-screen...

Spoiler:

Snoke- Give in to your anger.
Ben Solo- Okay. *does so*
Snoke- That was easy.

Talking about Snork. Since there are a lot of people thinking he MIGHT be darth Plageus, and in Ep 2 (or was it 3) it was said by Sideous/palpaltine, that Plageus had mastery of the force enough to create life, someone hypothesized, that maybe HE created rey as a new tool (like Anakin was made), and Luke took her and hid her, so Plageus couldn't warp her..

[mandogater]

Talking about Snork. Since there are a lot of people thinking he MIGHT be darth Plageus, and in Ep 2 (or was it 3) it was said by Sideous/palpaltine, that Plageus had mastery of the force enough to create life, someone hypothesized, that maybe HE created rey as a new tool (like Anakin was made), and Luke took her and hid her, so Plageus couldn't warp her..

Interesting thought.

However, didn't Palpatine claim that Plageus was killed in his sleep? And if that was the name of Palpy's master wouldn't he of had to kill him to take the mantel of Dark Lord of the Sith?

[garhkal]

Yup. BUT you would think that plageus might have had something prepared for that situation.. and maybe that was him getting reborn in a new baby somewhere, so has had 50 or so years to grow up.. and created Rey as another failsafe..

[Spimman]

I think it is fairly clear that Kilo Ren and Snoke are NOT Sith and thus aren't directly linked to Darth anyone...

[DigiFluid]

^ Agreed.