Script / Star Wars: Duel of the Fates

Following

Star Wars: Duel of the Fates^note also known as Star Wars: Episode IX - Duel of the Fates was an unproduced screenplay that was intended to be the third installment in the Star Wars sequel trilogy and the final chapter of the Skywalker Saga. The script was co-written by Colin Trevorrow and Derek Connolly in 2016, with Trevorrow planned to direct the film once it entered production.

Set after the events of The Last Jedi, the First Order has taken over most of the galaxy under the command of Supreme Leader Kylo Ren and claimed the planet Coruscant as its capital. General Leia Organa continues to lead the Resistance in the hopes of overthrowing the First Order's tyrannical rule, while Rey continues her Jedi training. During a mission to the planet Kuat, the Resistance takes command of the Eclipse, a colossal Star Destroyer containing an entire fleet of First Order weaponry. The Resistance now has their best shot at retaking Coruscant. However, the First Order have shut down all communications between systems and the Resistance will need reinforcements if they'll have any chance at succeeding. Rey discovers that there is an old communications system hidden within the abandoned Jedi Temple on Coruscant, and Leia organizes a mission to reactivate the beacon and rally the rest of the galaxy to their cause.

Meanwhile, Kylo Ren finds an old Holocron that belonged to Emperor Palpatine revealing the existence of Tor Valum, the ancient Sith Lord who taught Darth Plagueis. Kylo seeks out Tor Valum and learns how to use the Force to drain the life from other beings. With his new powers, Kylo heads to the planet Mortis to drain the power of the Ancients and make himself a god. Rey receives a vision of his plan and journeys with Poe and Chewbacca to locate Mortis and stop Kylo before it's too late. As the fate of the galaxy hangs in balance, Rey learns about her past and what kind of hero the galaxy needs her to be.

The script underwent heavy rewrites following the death of Carrie Fisher in 2016. In September 2017, it was announced that Colin Trevorrow was no longer attached to the film due to Creative Differences with Lucasfilm, and that J. J. Abrams would take his place in the director's chair. A new draft was written by Abrams and Chris Terrio, and eventually released on December 20th, 2019 as The Rise of Skywalker.

The script eventually made its way online about a month after the release of The Rise of Skywalker, and can be read here.

This screenplay contains examples of:

• Balance Between Good and Evil: Rey taps into both the Light and Dark Side of the Force during her final fight against Kylo Ren. As she meets with the former Jedi Masters in Astral Plane, Luke and Yoda admit that both sides need to be embraced if there is to be true balance in the Force.
• Battle in the Rain: It starts to rain during Rey and Kylo Ren's lightsaber duel outside the Temple of Mortis.
• Big Bad Duumvirate: Kylo Ren is the current Supreme Leader of the First Order and is the primary antagonist for Rey's story as she tries to stop him from using his new Dark Side abilities from becoming even more powerful. However, Chancellor Hux is responsible for running things while Kylo is away and personally directs the First Order in their attempts to crush the Resistance on Coruscant.
• Break Out the Museum Piece: The First Order has shut down communications between neighboring systems to stifle any attempts at a full rebellion. Rey discovers that there's an old beacon hidden within the old Jedi Temple on Coruscant that predates the communications systems used by the First Order. Since it's so outdated, the First Order wouldn't be able to even detect it, which makes it perfect for the Resistance to rally the rest of the galaxy to their side.
• Call-Back: Kylo Ren finds an old Holocron belonging to Emperor Palpatine in the ruins of Darth Vader's castle on Mustafar, which was first seen in Rogue One.
• The Cavalry : Just when it seems like the First Order has the Resistance on the ropes, Lando leads a fleet of smugglers to help turn the tide of the battle.
• Defiant Stone Throw: A young boy named Dade is introduced tossing a piece of debris at a Stormtrooper when he starts to rough up a homeless alien. He's later shown to be one the many Coruscant citizens helping out the Resistance.
• Disney Death: R2-D2 is seemingly destroyed during the battle on Coruscant when he's hit by cannon-fire, with BB-8 having to extract his memory drive afterwards. Near the end of the script, R2's body is repaired and Leia installs his memory drive back inside to bring him back to his old self again.
• Driven to Suicide: Once Hux realizes that the First Order has truly lost their war against the Resistance, he quietly retreats to his quarters and impales himself with one of the lightsabers from his collection.
• Earth-Shattering Kaboom: Hux orders the destruction of Korilev, the latest base for the Resistance. The First Order uses a Finalizer Star Destroyer to shatter the planet into pieces as the Resistance makes their escape, with the Millennium Falcon getting into a dogfight with the Knife 9 among the floating debris of the planet.
• Elite Mooks: The Brutetroopers are an elite squadron of mercenary Stormtroopers in Mandalorian armor that the First Order uses as a strike force against the Resistance.
• Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: Leia uses the Force to call out to Ben as he attempts to drain the life out of Rey. This manages to get through to him and drag him away from the Dark Side, as he sacrifices himself to save Rey's life.
• Facial Horror: Kylo's face is scarred after he's electrocuted by a security system Palpatine placed within his Holocron. He briefly undergoes surgery that smelts Mandalorian iron over his wounds, leaving him with a metallic scars over his face.
• Failed Attempt at Drama: Rose is captured by the First Order and Hux interrogates her to discover where the Eclipse is. He attempts to use the Force to extract the information he needs. But since Hux doesn't have the Force, Rose just ends up embarrassed for him more than anything.
  Rose: Are you trying to use the Force on me?
  Hux: Be quiet.
  Rose: Oh no, see... you're not special. I mean, at all.
• Fake-Out Make-Out: While hiding from the Mechtroopers on Bonadan, Rey kisses Poe so they can hide their faces. Since Poe has been harboring feelings for Rey, he really doesn't mind:
  Rey: Did it work?
  Poe: I mean, I think so.
• Fingore: During their final duel on Mortis, Rey uses her lightsaber to chop off Kylo's fingers, disarming him in the process.
• Given Name Reveal: Before he dies, Kylo reveals to Rey that her last name is Solana.
• Hope Bringer: Rey has become a symbol of hope among the oppressed, with people across the galaxy recognizing her as the last Jedi. Finn ends up in a similar role among the former Stormtroopers, as he was one of the few who managed to escape his conditioning and fight back against the First Order.
• I Just Want to Be Special: Hux is shown to be envious of Force-users. Not only does he have a massive collection of Jedi and Sith artifacts in his quarters, but he also attempts to use the Force himself at a few points to no effect. Rose ends up being very confused when he desperately tries to use the Force while interrogating her.
• Life Drain: Kylo Ren tracks down Tor Valum, the Sith Lord who taught Darth Plagueis, and learns how to use the Force to drain the life-force from others. Tor Valum had already drained most of life on Remnicore dry by the time Kylo shows up, and Kylo quickly uses his new powers against Tor Valum himself once he has the opportunity to do so. He uses this ability again against Rey during their final battle, but the words of his mother convince him to spare Rey and sacrifice his own life to save hers.
• Mook–Face Turn: Finn comes across a Stormtrooper named RK-514 and convinces him to abandon the First Order. RK-514 takes Finn's words to heart by adopting the name Rafe and leading a squad of Stormtroopers into helping the Resistance take back Coruscant from the First Order.
• Noodle Incident: While sneaking aboard the Eclipse at the beginning of the script, Rose mentions that they all had better odds on Raxus Prime.
  Finn: That was not my fault. You need to let Raxus Prime go.
• Public Execution: Hux broadcasts the execution of a Resistance member to the citizens of Coruscant via a giant hologram in the Monument Square. Hux offers to spare his life if he reveals the location of the Resistance base. When he refuses, Hux places him in a guillotine with a lightsabre blade and chops his head off.
• Redemption Equals Death: Kylo Ren is prepared to kill Rey until he hears the voice of Leia calling to him using the Force. Touched by his mother's words, Kylo sacrifices himself by using his own life-force to heal Rey of her injuries and uses his dying breath to tell Rey what her surname is.
• Refusing Paradise: Rey almost succumbs to her wounds from her fight against Kylo Ren and meets the spirits of the deceased Jedi Masters in the Astral Plane. They tell her that she can stay and have an eternity of peace and serenity, or she can return to the realm of the living and her loved ones. Rey chooses to stay by her friends and help the bring galaxy back from turmoil.
• The Reveal: Kylo Ren was lying to Rey about what happened to her parents in The Last Jedi, as they didn't abandon her for drinking money. They were actually trying to hide her from Snoke and the Knights of Ren. Kylo was the one who eventually tracked down Rey's parents and killed them.
• Shoo the Dog: Rey tries to convince Poe to join the others on Coruscant and leave her to face Kylo Ren on Mortis alone. When Poe refuses, Rey is uses the Jedi mind trick to force Poe to leave for his own safety.
• Storming the Castle: The Resistance spends much of the script sneaking into Coruscant, which has become the capital for the First Order, and kick-start a galaxy-wide rebellion that will depose them from the inside-out.
• Temporary Blindness: Rey is blinded on Mortis when Kylo Ren slashes her across the face his lightsaber. When she confronts him one last time inside the Temple, she fights him while wearing a bandage over her eyes. Rey eventually recovers her eyesight back when Kylo uses his own life-force to heal her after their fight.
• Title Drop: While it's not given in the dialogue, the stage directions manage to drop the name of the franchise during the climax:
  Hux realizes the tragic truth. He lost the star wars.
• Trojan Prisoner: The opening to the script has Rey, Finn, Poe, Rose, and BB-8 going undercover as imprisoned workers to sabotage a refueling Star Destroyer.
• Vehicular Turnabout: The Resistance hijacks a Star Destroyer at the beginning of the script and brings it back to their base on Korilev. Inside, they find an entire fleet of vehicles and weaponry, and make a plan to use them against the First Order during their attack on Coruscant.
• Villain of Another Story: Tor Valum is the 7000 year old Sith Lord who taught Darth Plagueis and was powerful enough for Palpatine to consider him as a back-up plan in case Luke ever killed him. When Kylo Ren first meets him, he's the sole living being on a planet filled with corpses, having drained the life of others to keep himself alive. However, he never gets to meet any of the heroes as Kylo kills him once he's mastered the ability to drain the Force.
• Wham Line: After receiving a vision while fighting the Knights of Ren, Rey finally puts together the full details of her past once she confronts Kylo on Mortis:
  Rey: You still think I'd join you. After what you did to my family? Were you going to tell me here? Weaken me with the truth? I know what you did. Deep down, I've always known. My parents didn't sell me for drinking money. They were hiding me from you.
• Worthless Treasure Twist: Kylo Ren travels to Mortis, believing that there is power hidden under the Temple that will grant him unlimited power. Once he finally reaches Mortis, Kylo finds that there's absolutely nothing waiting for him underneath the Temple and his quest was a giant waste of time.
• You Have Failed Me: Hattaska Ren cuts Admiral Vonn in half after the First Order loses the Eclipse to the Resistance under his command.
• You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Kylo Ren briefly trains under Tor Valum to learn how to drain the Force from living things. Once Tor Valum teaches him everything he needs to know, Kylo quickly uses this power against him and turns Valum into a lifeless husk.