STAR WARS: DUEL OF THE FATES - Breaking Down Colin Trevorrow's Original, Much Better EPISODE IX Screenplay

STAR WARS: DUEL OF THE FATES - Breaking Down Colin Trevorrow's Original, Much Better EPISODE IX Screenplay

There's once again been a lot of talk about Colin Trevorrow's version of Episode IX lately, so we're breaking down what's known about his leaked screenplay for Duel of the Fates to reveal what you missed!

Feature Opinion
By JoshWilding - Sep 03, 2022 11:09 AM EST
Filed Under: Star Wars
Source: SFFGazette.com

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker was largely considered a disappointment by fans of this Galaxy Far, Far Away, and it's not hard to see why. Going into damage control after some of Rian Johnson's more divisive creative decisions, the 2019 movie tried to make everyone happy, but failed miserably in a big way. 

Cramming in too much story and a lot of fan service, it marked a disappointing end to the Skywalker Saga. However, before J.J. Abrams returned, it was Jurassic World helmer Colin Trevorrow who was tasked with ending this story. 

His Episode IX would have been vastly different; there was no Emperor Palpatine, no redemption for Ben Solo, and a very different reveal about Rey's parents. While Trevorrow's screenplay has never been released in its entirety, we've scoured the internet for everything that is known to bring you a breakdown revealing what might have been (via SFFGazette.com).

To check that out, all you guys need to do is click on the "Next" button below!
 

The Title And Opening Crawl

Kylo

Colin Trevorrow's Episode IX would have been titled Duel of the Fates, and that's seemingly a reference to the iconic piece of music that played over the battle between Obi-Wan Kenobi, Qui-Gon Jinn, and Darth Maul in The Phantom Menace.

The opening crawl, meanwhile, was set to have read as follows:

The iron grip of the FIRST ORDER has spread to the farthest reaches of the galaxy. Only a few scattered planets remain unoccupied. Traitorous acts are punishable by death.

Determined to suffocate a growing unrest, Supreme Leader KYLO REN has silenced all communication between neighboring systems.

Led by GENERAL LEIA ORGANA, the Resistance has planned a secret mission to prevent their annihilation and forge a path to freedom...
 

A Daring Mission

Heroes

From there, the action would have kicked off at the Kuat Shipyards where Rose Tico and BB-8 were attempting to infiltrate one of the First Order's ship factories in an effort to deliver another blow on behalf of the Resistance.

Finn and Poe also would have been present, and their plan involved destroying the power shaft which supplies raw ore to the factory from the orbital ring below the Moon they're on. 

Unfortunately, things go wrong and the First Order is able to contain the blast. A character named Admiral Vaughn dismisses the Resistance's tactics as "pitiful," but the tide soon turns in their favour.
 

Rey's New Weapon

Rey

Disguised as a Tusken Raider, Rey reveals her new weapon, a double-bladed lightsaber that's a hybrid of her staff and Luke Skywalker's blade (the one destroyed in The Last Jedi).

A battle ensues and our heroes manage to escape with a Star Destroyer! It's then that the Knife 9, a ship carrying the Knights of Ren, arrives. Rather than being sidelined, we'd have seen what they're capable of when one of them kills the Admiral for his failure. 
 

Return To Coruscant

Pryde

The once vibrant city now looks very different as the planet has become a stronghold for the First Order. General Hux is now Chancellor Hux and the traitor who helped the Resistance steal that Star Destroyer is executed before him. 

He then meets with other members of the First Order and a variety of alien warlords who are all too aware that there's a "last Jedi" making problems in the Galaxy. This council demands to know the location of Supreme Leader Kylo Ren, but all Hux can say is that he's off searching for something of great power that will help them.

Oh, and at some point, we'd have also learned that Captain Phasma survived!
 

A Haunted Kylo Ren On Mustafar

Ren2

Kylo Ren, who now has stubble and looks a little worse for wear, is alone on Mustafar (except for a droid that's said to be similar to Darth Maul in appearance) and haunted by the Force Ghost of his uncle, Luke Skywalker. 

They argue back and forth about Ren's path leading him to little more than an empty tomb, but the villain vows to become more powerful than any Jedi. It's then that he finds a Sith Holocron which reveals a message from Emperor Palpatine. It was meant for Darth Vader as a contingency in case Luke killed him.

We learn that Vader was to take Luke to see Tor Valum, a Sith Master and Darth Plagueis' teacher. However, after the Holocron scans Kylo and realises he's not Vader, it releases red lightning and explodes, burning his face.
 

Rey Still Wants To Save Kylo Ren

Ren-3

Back at the Resistance base, everyone is shocked to see a Star Destroyer land on the planet, and there's a funny moment with Rey using a Jedi mind trick on officers who were still on board. 

Talking to Finn, she admits that she's not sure she has what it takes to be a Jedi, especially when so many people have such high expectations of her. Talk turns to Kylo Ren and she's unable to explain their connection after telling Finn about nightmares she's been having about him. 

He believes that Rey should shut him out as he can't change, though the Jedi reminds him that Finn is proof it's never too late to become a different person.
 

A Plan Starts To Form

Rey-3

That Star Destroyer could help turn the tide for the Resistance as it still has most of its weapons...they just need an army to use it! Rey, meanwhile, has been studying the Jedi texts from Ahch-To and discovers that there's a communications system called a Force Beacon beneath the Jedi Temple in Coruscant that could be used to reach out to allies across the Galaxy. 

The kicker is that the First Order will be powerless to stop it as it predates even Empire technology...

CLICK HERE TO READ THE REST OF
THIS FEATURE OVER AT SFFGAZETTE.COM!

 

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EnergyVamp
EnergyVamp - 9/3/2022, 11:26 AM
Rosraf
Rosraf - 9/3/2022, 1:19 PM
@BoosterBronze - Thanks for that! Way better story than what we got. Tragic.
Spoken
Spoken - 9/3/2022, 11:33 AM
From someone who decided to skip out on Rise of Skywalker and till this day has STILL have not watched it........I would of really preferred to see this version or whatever this story would of grown into rather than...."nostalgia sells everything" story.
bkmeijer1
bkmeijer1 - 9/3/2022, 11:39 AM
This feels like an article that's already years old.

Anyway, for those who want to refresh their minds on the script instead of reading (half of) this article, I found a pretty well done (motion) comic by a fan: https://www.awinegarner.com/duel-of-the-fates
MartianManHuntr
MartianManHuntr - 9/3/2022, 11:45 AM
I don't think there would have been much difference. Colin trevorrow is not a good writer just look at his other movies and studio would have butchered this movie no matter what so his version would have been much worse. They had an Oscar winning writer and studio made it mess.
Rosraf
Rosraf - 9/3/2022, 1:31 PM
@MartianManHuntr - Based on what body of work? Outside of Jurassic Park stuff, he's written like 3 movies that mostly no one has seen. I agree studio would have doinked it up though. So many stupid decisions were made regarding this trilogy. Maybe the most wasted movie franchise opportunity ever.
MartianManHuntr
MartianManHuntr - 9/3/2022, 5:52 PM
@Rosraf - Based on Jurassic world and he also directed The Book of Henry. All of these are awful even though I know he didn't write Book of Henry.
LilJimmy
LilJimmy - 9/3/2022, 11:56 AM
Sounds good but would have been as bad as JW3.

Prequel trilogy was bad, but it had a story. There was a purpose. Sequel trilogies had no direction. No reason for them to exist.
DudeGuy
DudeGuy - 9/3/2022, 1:09 PM
@LilJimmy - exactly. With the prequels we knew they were building up to the fall of the Jedi order and a skin Skywalker and the rise of the empire and the Vader. Sequel trilogy Beas just a waste of all of our time.
TheLobster
TheLobster - 9/3/2022, 11:59 AM
A MUCH better story - thanks a lot Kathleen Kennedy
AmazingFILMporg
AmazingFILMporg - 9/3/2022, 12:14 PM
@TheLobster -



Kathleen Kennedy sucks but let's not forget the "creative" that gave us the pile of shit known as TROS😕....




Thanks for nothing JJ💁
ShimmyShimmyYA
ShimmyShimmyYA - 9/3/2022, 12:37 PM
@TheLobster - and the fans
TheLobster
TheLobster - 9/3/2022, 10:12 PM
@AmazingFILMporg - I agree but I blame Kennedy for rushing this film when she should have delayed it to make sure JJ had a tighter script.
AmazingFILMporg
AmazingFILMporg - 9/3/2022, 12:00 PM
Miles better than the trash that is TROS.




TROS is probably the worst star wars film ever😳
Origame
Origame - 9/3/2022, 12:04 PM
@AmazingFILMporg - hey you're back. This feels like when Peter and Ned met up at the end of endgame!
AmazingFILMporg
AmazingFILMporg - 9/3/2022, 12:09 PM
@Origame -



Waaaaaaz uuuuuuup🥳



Just here chillin like a true villain. What are you up to?😎
Origame
Origame - 9/3/2022, 2:09 PM
@AmazingFILMporg - nothing much. Slow Saturday. Hey, did you know the incredible hulk is on hbo max? Just thought that was hilarious with she hulk out.
inkniron
inkniron - 9/3/2022, 12:15 PM
I can dig it. Seems a whole lot better than what we got.

A side note, apparently I missed something the last few days. They brought back the 48-hour rule. I like it.
GirshwinDavies
GirshwinDavies - 9/3/2022, 12:59 PM
This is [frick]ing great. Shame although I enjoyed the third installment to some degree. But this is badass
vegetaray
vegetaray - 9/3/2022, 1:03 PM
I’m not sure this was the final draft…Seen some other leaks that had some differences…That being said, this version would’ve been vastly better than what we ended up getting…The one complaint I still have, even with this version of episode 9, is that I really wanted them to keep Kylo bad throughout…Kind of like the antithesis of Anakin’s story 🤷‍♂️…It is what it is and we got what we got…
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