Why Episode 16 mattered... at least to me

Episode 16, beyond being just a generally phenomenal piece of cinematic artwork, bridged a gap between an older generation of Star Wars fans and newer (or younger fans).My father was a devout fan of Star Wars. He passed away in August of this year. He raved about The Mandalorian and how authentic it was to his memory of the original Star Wars which released in the early part of his life. He would always tell me about how revolutionary it was... how it changed cinema... what it meant to his generation but receiving the information second hand it wasn't possible for me to really comprehend it's impact.My father was an apologist for Star Wars. We didn't have many shared interests outside of sports and Star Wars. We saw the Prequel trilogy together in my youth and, though we lived very far apart, we saw all the Sequel trilogy movies and talked about them on the phone. He was never critical of them and I don't think I really understood why until having seen Episode 16 of the Mandalorian. He didn't care so much about the specifics of the story, he was just happy that it was Star Wars. He was happy that it was something that he loved so much and that more of the story was being told. I remember, after a discussion about The Last Jedi in which we differed greatly about our impressions of the movie, he said to me "Just because something was one way doesn't mean that it must remain that way."I asked him about some of the things I felt were ridiculous... that had no reference in any Star Wars lore (Leia flying through space, starship entering warp space through another star ship) and his response was "There was always a first time that a Jedi or someone who can use the Force was able to do something. The Skywalkers are supposed to be some of the most powerful Force users ever... why is it so unbelievable that they can do things no one else could do?"The end scene of Episode 16 was very emotional for me. I thought surely it couldn't be Luke, there was no way. I wanted to believe it could be but didn't expect it. I was expecting Ezra Bridger. When the dark robed figure was shown on the display with the green lightsaber I began to cry. Not necessarily for myself, but for my father because I knew how much it would have meant to him and I was sad that he missed it. The fact that it was Luke showed that the creators and developers of the Mandalorian care what Star Wars was and care about the fans, like my father, who lived through it from day one.I appreciate that Favreau and Filoni are trying to preserve Star Wars history as they move it forward into what it may become. At times I felt the Sequel trilogy either stuck too closely to things we'd already seen or entirely abandoned precedent to execute the director's individual artistic vision.Luke Skywalker cutting through Darktroopers to save Grogu will stay with me for the rest of my life, with many of my other timeless Star Wars memories.I appreciate, and I know my father would have, that they allowed Luke to be the star. They allowed him to steal the show. They didn't make him an accessory to the story. To me it showed, above everything else, that while they are excited about the future, they respect the past. via /r/StarWars https://ift.tt/2WoP3f8