#rememberingrebels

I originally published this article on March 8th of this year after the series finale of Star Wars Rebels. This is the last reposted extra article for the 2018 July Extras so I promise that there will be a completely fresh new article next Thursday.

Star Wars Rebels came to a fulfilling and emotional conclusion on March 5th with its season finale. After four seasons of seeing the strong bonds between this somewhat irregular family and the progression of each individual character, I decided that I would write an article about this TV series not only because I really enjoyed the story that these characters brought to the Star Wars universe but also because this series showed creative writing ideas in action. For the sake of #rememberingrebels, here are some practical writing tips straight from the Star Wars universe.

Warning!!! This article contains spoilers for Star Wars
Rebels, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, The Scarlet Letter by
Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Marvel's Agents of SHIELD 
as well as a great amount of Star Wars discussions
that will only make sense to fans of the franchise.

Lesson #1: Balancing Characters

Star Wars Rebels provides a great example of balancing multiple characters that are present in one episode at once. There are six characters in the team, yet we are able to mark each of their progressions and identify the role each one has to play in the team.When having a large cast of characters, the temptation is to focus on every single one of those characters.

For example, in the Last Jedi, the plot switched from Rey to Luke to Rose and Finn to Poe and Leia to Kylo Ren and Snoke and kept switching back and forth. The plot was no longer cohesive because of the multiple major character arcs that the producers wanted to focus on. Although each character may have had an amazing story to tell the audiences, each story was greatly detracted by the importance put on so many other stories.

I think in part that is why the movie was so long and that even may be why the producers chose to kill off so many characters. And to make room for the abundance of major characters, many characters (for example, Captain Phasma and Snoke) that should have been developed were not. If this was done, audiences would have been left with a much more cohesive movie devoid of random characters who haven't been given a reason to be in the movie in the first place.

But Star Wars Rebels provides such a good balance of this. Granted, this is a TV series and there is definitely much more time to develop more characters. But even in this case, the TV series mainly develops major characters through their interaction with each other and their response to the same events. Limiting themselves to the six main characters and a plots interwoven into each other, the producers weren't distracted by the hundreds of other characters that have appeared on the show. Each character whether major or minor is used to develop another character; essentially, each character has a purpose. Each major character has a complex personality that stands apart from other characters, but is revealed by other characters. Characters acting together is one of the best ways to display each of their personalities.

 



Lesson #2: Plot Holes vs Room for Interpretation

Star Wars Rebels has not only left its viewers with opinions of what happens next in the story but it also leaves viewers with their own perceptions of the story. The "World Between Worlds" and what it contains isn't completely explained to the audience. Or how Darth Maul survived Episode I. Or what Ahsoka did after she left the Sith temple. Although none of these examples (there are many more examples for sure) were fully explained to the audience, they provide great examples for a literary tool of writing. The producers explained enough of the story so that it made sense, but just enough so that the viewers could theorize about what it all means. It gives "room for interpretation." 

This is not an excuse for plot holes. A story with plot holes will not make sense and will not have a cohesive story; plot holes cause a story to be incomplete. It's a good thing to not fill in every small detail. Some stories even let the reader guess what the ending is. For example, the Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne leaves readers to wonder whether Hester Prynne ever finds forgiveness at the end of the story. He kind of hints at some of the tales that the neighbors tell about Hester. The story is complete, but again, there is "room for interpretation."

Lesson #3: The Impact and Reasons for Death

In first episode after returning from the Season 4 mid-season break of Star Wars Rebels, the team was faced with Kanan's death. From that episode, the only reason for Kanan's death seemed to be because the producers needed the TV show to fit the Star Wars canon. But the next episodes wouldn't have even been possible with his death. This brings me to the point of this lesson: In your story, deaths should have a reason in the story besides the vague excuse of "moving the plot along." Deaths should also have a distinguishable impact on the characters of your story.

Each member of the team responded to Kanan's death in different ways. Hera grieved alone for a while, but Kanan's death led to her viewing him as a part of her family. Chopper did his best to comfort Hera, a stark contrast from the tough and annoying droid he usually was. Sabine and Zeb both wanted revenge on the Empire. As much as they wanted to take out their anger on Thrawn's personal assassin, Rukh, their character was displayed in their decision not to beat Rukh to death. And Ezra was affected in that he felt like a son without the guidance of his father. Through this experience, he took leadership of the team as Hera was grieving. He learned to make difficult decisions on his own including refusing to change the past as much as he wanted to.

The main similarity between each of these characters in response to this tragedy was that each of these characters were faced with making a right or wrong decision. In these decisions, each character was developed even further. That is one possible impact that a character's death could have on other characters. And ultimately, the audience learned that Kanan died not only to save the life of everyone else on the team but also to complete the mission that led the team to these events in the first place. A character's death could serve as motivation or maybe serve as another surprising revelation later on in the plot.

Lesson #4: "Shipping" Characters

There is one writing choice that I absolutely hate in modern stories: "shipping" every character into a romantic relationship. I usually don't object to shipping most characters (unless it concerns Rey and Kylo Ren; NEVER!!!), but it really annoys me when authors just have to include a romance between multiple different characters when half of them would be better off just being friends.

Star Wars Rebels has two great examples of relationships between two characters. The first relationship is a romantic relationship between Kanan and Hera otherwise known as #Kanera. I will state here that I was kind of always pro-Kanera. But this relationship was fitting for several reasons. One of those reasons is the Star Wars Rebels family which I will mention below. Kanan and Hera have always acted as the mom and dad to Zeb, Sabine, and Ezra. Another reason is the closeness between them. For the most part, Hera helped Kanan embrace his secret of being a Jedi and Kanan provided her with companionship. The relationship was just meant to be.

On the other hand, the producers decided to give Sabine and Ezra a sibling-to-sibling relationship. Although some fans wanted a romantic relationship between them otherwise known as #Sabezra, this sibling relationship was also great. Sabine and Ezra shared some similarities with true siblings: they got on each other's nerves, they were close to each other but not too close, they stuck up for each other, they helped each other attain their goals. And at the end of the series, Sabine embarks on a journey to search for Ezra which reminds me of Leia's attempts to find her brother, Luke.

The point of this lesson is that not every great relationship has to be romantic. In the real world, there are a complexity of relationships: daughters and mothers, sons and fathers, sisters and brothers, etc. Utilize the makings of real-world relationships to give variety to your story.

Lesson #5: Writing a "Family"

One of the best examples of a "family" that is not necessarily a biological family is in Star Wars Rebels. None of the team are biologically related to each other, but the characteristics of a family is what holds them together. Hera and Kanan act like the parents of the family; in Season 2, Hera says, "All right, kids. Do mom and dad proud.” Zeb, Sabine, and Ezra act like the kids in the family; all three of them have a sibling relationship with each other; and Chopper is the cat because Dave Filoni said something to the affect of "If R2-D2 is the dog, Chopper is the cat."

Being able to draw the parallels of a family is a sign that a group of people act as a family. For example, in Agents of Shield it is obvious that Phil Coulson is like a father to Daisy who is just as much of a daughter to Coulson. Once again, utilize the makings of real-world relationships to give variety to your story. Pay attention to the roles that people have in real life. Some of the best fictional stories use real-world families and morals as their premise.

 

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Someone at the screening for the first two episodes after the mid-season break for Season 4 (the last season) of Star Wars Rebels said: "Thanks, Dave Filoni, for making grown men cry." I won't dispute that those were some pretty emotional last episodes!