‘Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker’ – We Need to Talk About This Rose Tico Situation

(This article contains some spoilers for what goes on with Rose Tico in “Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker”)

There’s certainly a perspective out there that the story that “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” is specifically intending to appeal to fans who didn’t like “The Last Jedi.” By either ignoring the plot stuff it set up or straight up just countering it — like the weird meta-commentary of having Luke (Mark Hamill) says that “a Jedi’s weapon should be treated with more respect” when Rey tosses Darth Vader’s lightsaber into a fire in “The Rise of Skywalker,” after himself tossed a lightsaber over his shoulder in “The Last Jedi.” And another piece of evidence that the new film wants to blow off the last movie is the way it treats Rose Tico (Kelly Marie Tran).

When Rose was first introduced back in “The Last Jedi,” it wasn’t necessarily the cleanest fit. She spent most of the movie with Finn (John Boyega) going on a side adventure that had no real bearing on the main plot and thus, unlike the characters who were in “The Force Awakens,” never actually got to establish herself as part of the new trilogy’s ensemble. She never got to be part of the group, and thus felt kinda extraneous.

That’s not an unfixable problem. John Boyega promised that the main crew of this new trilogy would spend a lot more time together in “The Rise of Skywalker,” so really all that needed to be done was to include Rose in that crew. After all, extraneous or not she was inarguably one of the film’s main characters and even got to deliver a line of dialogue summing up what amounts to the moral of the story. And at the end of “The Last Jedi,” Rose and Finn have basically become a couple, so it would make sense to bring her along on Finn’s adventures with Poe and Rey.

Also Read: Nothing About Emperor Palpatine's Return in 'Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker' Makes Sense

Except that doesn’t happen, like at all. In TROS, Rose basically gets the same treatment Jar Jar received in “Attack of the Clones” and “Revenge of the Sith.” Relegating her to a very minor role — barely more than a cameo — the film tries to present her like she was never actually one of the main characters in this new trilogy. And her interactions with Finn suggest nothing more than professional courtesy, an especially weird thing to do considering the last time we saw them, they were kissing.

I can’t pretend to know exactly what the thought process was behind this decision, but there are not all that many reasons why they would push Rose out of frame like this. The big one, as we all know, is that a bunch of freakin’ nerds conducted a months-long harassment campaign that drove Kelly Marie Tran off social media after “The Last Jedi” came out. Actually, that’s the only reason I can think of. That doesn’t mean it is the only possible reason, obviously. “The Rise of Skywalker” is full of shockingly inexplicable creative decisions — we’re talking about a movie with a huge fleet of Death Stars here. But if there’s some other reason why she’s only in a handful of scenes, it’s not something we could intuit.

One gets the feeling that “The Rise of Skywalker” is trying to undo the setup provided by “The Last Jedi,” sort of like how that film set out to defy your expectations based on how “The Force Awakens” kicked off the trilogy. Abrams and co. will insist that’s not the case, but Rose serves as pretty solid evidence.

Also Read: Whose Voices Were Those at the End of 'Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker'?

And that’s annoying! I can understand, in a general sense, criticisms of how her character was handled in “The Last Jedi.” What I can’t understand, in the third movie of a trilogy and ninth movie of a series, is simply refusing the play the cards you’re dealt. You can’t just toss one of the main characters aside just because a couple dozen angry internet nerds didn’t like her in the last movie.

Or I guess you can, since that’s exactly what happened with Rose in “The Rise of Skywalker.” And that’s not great, Bob.

'Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker' – How Exactly Did Emperor Palpatine Return From the Dead?

Whose Voices Were Those at the End of 'Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker'?