Star Wars Sequel Trilogy Plot Holes We’re Still Mad About
Even though the Star Wars sequel trilogy has been finished for years now, fans are still debating the many ways it ruined much of what they held dear in a galaxy far, far away. While we’d like to take the (ahem) high ground on the matter, the truth is that we’re still quite salty about some silly plot holes in the sequels. If you’re ready to give in to your hate and begin walking the path to the Dark Side (a path presumably lined with better films), here are the worst plot holes in these Disney sequels.
The Emperor’s Return
Many of the Star Wars’ sequels’ plot holes came from the haphazard approach to directors making up things as they went along, which led to the new Big Bad, Snoke, getting unceremoniously killed in The Last Jedi. The Rise of Skywalker replaced him with the Emperor who we are simply told “somehow” returned — a disappointing explanation that doesn’t account for how he survived first exploding inside the Death Star and then that battle station exploding around him.
Worse still, his casual boast to Kylo Ren that he’s died before robs the film’s climax of any real momentum because there is seemingly nothing keeping him from “somehow” returning yet again.
The Origin Of The Sith Fleet
Another source of the Star Wars sequel trilogy’s biggest plot holes is the rule of cool creating moments that make less sense the more you think about them, and there is no bigger offender than Palpatine’s Sith Fleet on Exegol. We see these ships dramatically rise out of the planet, which looks kind of cool, until you start wondering how they got under the surface, why they were there, how they were built, and so on.
Honestly, the more you think about how the hell the Emperor was supplying and communicating with a giant fleet hidden deep under the surface of the planet, the more your head will hurt.
Worst. Pilots. In the Galaxy.
Even if you can make peace with Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker showing Palpatine pulling a Sith fleet out of the planet like he’s a magician, these dumb ships led to another big plot hole. In the film’s climactic battle, it’s a major plot point that this fleet (each ship packing the power of a Death Star) can’t leave the planet without the help of a navigation tower that Finn helps destroy.
The whole time, we kept wondering why all these ships couldn’t simply fly up, away from the planet, maybe spending all that time magically hidden under rocks made these pilots completely stupid?
Luke’s Restored Saber
In the Star Wars sequel trilogy, few items are more contentious than Luke Skywalker’s lightsaber, and it led to one of the trilogy’s weirder plot holes. After Maz Kanata (who never does get around to explaining how she had it) gives Rey Luke Skywalker’s lightsaber, it gets torn in half in a Force battle with Kylo Ren in The Last Jedi. By the next movie, it’s completely repaired, leaving us with no clear indication of how Rey repaired it and why she was so hellbent on using someone else’s saber until the very end of that film.
