5 Plot Holes in Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker

Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker is like a date with the person you had a crush on for the longest time. You were drawn by this overwhelming feeling of a dream come true at the moment. But after the date, when you’re alone you think, “Huh, they’re actually kinda dumb.”

I have to say, I did enjoy the movie while watching it. It’s not a bad way to end the story. But the more I think about it, the less I like it, because of all the plot holes that just break the story up.

Spoilers ahead: you’ve been warned 🙂 

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#1 – Confrontation Between Rey and Emperor Palpatine

This is the most obvious one, and almost ridiculous given the importance of the scene. Do you remember when Rey confronts her grandfather, Emperor Palpatine? He tells her he never really wanted to kill her, but for her to kill him. Rey then fights to resist the urge to kill her grandfather.

Well, it’s not logical for Palpatine to tell Rey the truth at that moment. Cause if he didn’t, Rey would have killed him without hesitation, and he would have gotten what he wanted. What a perfect plan. Except he told her the one thing that could stop Rey from killing him at the most crucial moment. I call that a plot hole.

#2 – To Sense Or Not To Sense; That Is The Question

Remember the scene where Rey loses control and brings down a transport she thinks Chewie is on? Rey is devastated, as is Poe and Finn who try to console her. Later we learn that  Chewie was actually on a different transport — shown for a split second in the background. On it’s own, there’s nothing wrong with this scene. But later on, on the planet Kijimi, Rey senses Chewie on Kylo Ren’s ship.

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Wait a minute, so Rey couldn’t sense Chewie on a different ship, around the corner and literally in shouting distance, but she can sense Chewie far away on a ship hovering over Kijimi?

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#3 – What Level Of Mobility Does The Force Give Rey?

This is actually quite common in movies — the strength and power of a character are not consistent throughout the movie.

First, we see Rey in training, floating in mid-air with stones around her.  Then she backflips over Kylo Ren’s X-Wing Fighter. But next time we see her, she has to literally climb the Death Star, panting and almost slip off. Then again, she fights Kylo Ren and jumps over skyrise high waves.

I’m confused. How mobile is Rey exactly with the Force?

#4 – R2D2 Has A Copy Of C3PO’s Memory? 

This is a nice touch. I’m sure most of the Star Wars fans were choked up when C3PO says to Poe, “I’m taking a last look of my good friends, Sir.”

We went through the whole — there’s no way they can get that valuable piece of information unless C3PO gets a hard drive wipe. That’s why the scene was so touching and emotional.

I’m happy that C3PO gets his memory back, but only if we knew it’s so easy to fix… Maybe R2D2 has a copy of C3PO’s memory, more likely, R2D2 just shared its memories with C3PO. Wait, so C3PO didn’t think about that? Or….. is C3PO evolving into manipulating human emotions….? 🙂

#5 – The Pathfinder In The Desert

Kylo Ren reveals to Rey in the abandoned Death Star that he sent Rey and the gang into the tunnel under the quicksand on purpose so she can find the pathfinder.

Well if that’s the case, it’s an awful plan that worked out miraculously well. Because Rey and the gang were shot down by a stormtrooper they missed in the fight, and then ended up in the quicksand. If the stormtroopers’ mission is to send them into the tunnel, they wouldn’t be firing on them during the chase, but actually, corner them into that spot and then knock them off. Also, what’s the point of Kylo Ren showing up after they got the pathfinder? Just wait at the finish line — the  Death Star.

#6 – How is Exegol Hidden?

Remember that wild nebula thing that Kylo, and then Rey, flew through before reaching Exegol — it was sort of like a red, spongy, thing they had to navigate through? And it was supposed to hide Exegol from the rest of the galaxy so that Palpatine could remain secretly in hiding. There’s a very brief shot after Rey passes through the nebula and sees the planet Exegol. And you know what was surrounding the planet? EMPTY SPACE. There’s nothing but stars in the background. Apparently this space sponge nebula was just a tiny thing on one side of the planet. Just fly around it; problem solved.

The Verdict is… 

The good news is that the combination of epic sets, emotionally touching scenes, and humor sprinkled throughout the movie are distracting enough — for the most part — to cover up these plot holes. Because as I said in the beginning, I did enjoy the movie as I watched it. But the plot in this movie isn’t as cohesive as that of the LEGO Star Wars movie.

That’s just sad.

What do you think? Leave a comment below.

Vera Tsien

Vera Tsien/Gardner.
Software engineer, Sci-fi lover, Global Citizen born and raised in Southeast China. She stood still when the earth rotates and now she’s in Southeast America. 🙂

She does most of the movie Peetimes with Dan and very rarely writes blogs. If you are seeing this bio, that means you have sought her out.