Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker has turned out to be somewhat of a disappointing end to the sequel trilogy for many fans.
Criticisms ranging from poor pacing to nonsensical plot holes have seen the ninth installment receive an embarrassing overall score from critics, with the current aggregate on Rotten Tomatoes currently sitting at a middling 57% approval rate. Fans, on the other hand, have generally been much more receptive of J.J. Abrams’ return to the director’s chair following Rian Johnson’s highly divisive The Last Jedi.
A wildly mixed bag, then, but it now appears as if one major plot hole in The Rise of Skywalker has been accounted for via an unlikely source. It goes without saying that, from here on out, we’re headed deep into spoiler territory, so continue at your own risk.
Rise of Skywalker‘s opening crawl makes specific mention of a mysterious message heard throughout the galaxy featuring the voice of Emperor Palpatine. It reads: “The dead speak! The galaxy has heard a mysterious broadcast, a threat of revenge in the sinister voice of the late Emperor Palpatine.” Bizarrely, the broadcast in question is never heard or even mentioned in Rise of Skywalker itself, but rather, was played exclusively in Fortnite during a special in-game event.
Strange that Disney would greenlight the omittance of what many viewers would consider an important event, especially given the film’s already inconsistent plot pacing. There is, of course, every chance that the missing dialogue was simply a mistake during editing, but if not, it sets a worrying precedent. One could argue, after all, that it should never be a necessity to play what’s otherwise an unrelated video game just to get the full story of a film.
What do you make of the situation, though? Think it’s a non-issue, or are you of the opinion that Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is an objectively worse film due to the cuts? Sound off in the comments below!
