Highlights
- Star Wars fans advocated for a watching order that enhances the viewing experience of Return of the Jedi.
- Watching all canon parts of Star Wars before Return of the Jedi, including prequels and recent entries, adds depth and satisfaction to the final victory against the Empire.
- While there are other popular viewing orders, this new order resonates with fans and creates a true feeling of victory and relief.
Some Star Wars fans think they may have figured out the ideal order to watch the movies, and it sounds like yet another solid method to add to the list. But this one takes into account how much has happened since the franchise started a moderately long time ago in a galaxy very, very close.
The Star Wars fandom is known for many things, and some of them are even good. But one aspect of this faithful group of nerds is their penchant for debate. While the discussions can often get heated and, unfortunately, bigoted for some reason, they also occasionally wander into the wholesome and even helpful category. When they're not arguing about how the sequels or prequels ruined Star Wars for the 3,720th time today, sometimes they'll get on more practical trains of thought. In this case, they've come to bat in favor of a surprisingly overlooked watching order.
Return Of The Jedi Was The Perfect Ending For The Skywalker Saga
More Than 30 years prior, Return of the Jedi already provided the perfect conclusion to the story of the Skywalkers.
Reddit user ThbDragon recently made a post in the Star Wars subreddit explaining how their viewing experience seeing Return of the Jedi once again was immensely improved after watching every piece of Star Wars media set before that final moment in the film. They detailed various aspects of the franchise leading up to the movie, all of which made the celebration on Endor feel all the more satisfying and cathartic. Other users were quick to concur, offering their explanations for why this viewing order works so well, such as one user mentioning how their girlfriend got a lot out of watching them in this way. At least, those responses can be seen after the top-rated comment, which simply says "Yub Nub." Classic.
The original poster specified that every canon part of Star Wars set before Return of the Jedi (at least the shows and movies) contributed to this feeling. This included everything from the prequel trilogy to more recent entries like Tales of the Jedi (which elaborated on the time before and during the prequel trilogy) and the perfect rebellion story of Andor. ThbDragon elaborated on this, saying how "watching a kenari guy go from prison to aiding Jyn Erso in helping the rebellion up to their sacrifice and the hope created by it leading to the first victory of the rebellion" further increased the impact of that final win against the Empire.
"Seeing the ending of ROTJ after all those events with music really gives me a true feeling of victory and relief, I don't think any form of media will ever impact me like this universe did."
Other users went to bat for another popular viewing order: watching the original Star Wars trilogy episodes IV and V before moving to I, II, and III and finally ending with VI. This one has its own merits as it tells the story largely as it was told upon release but then frames the prequels as a flashback in the wake of the big "Darth Vader is Anakin Skywalker" twist in The Empire Strikes Back. (Sorry for the 44-year-old spoilers.) But it's all subjective. Some will get more out of that order, and others will feel a bigger impact with chronological order, as seen in this Reddit thread.
Of course, presumably to keep things on brand, the comment section still occasionally devolved into hate for the still great Star Wars sequel trilogy because nothing can ever just be nice and fun. But overall, there are some fascinating insights about why this viewing order works. One might think it would be obvious to watch the movies chronologically. But then again, Star Wars has always been big on seeing things from a certain point of view. This is just a new way of looking at an existing idea.
The Star Wars saga is available on Disney Plus.
Star Wars
Star Wars is a multimedia franchise created by George Lucas and Lucasfilm Ltd with the 1977 motion picture. The science fiction franchise follows the adventures of characters (both humanoid and alien) in outer space, including those who can wield a mystical power known as the Force. Since the release of the original trilogy movies, the franchise has expanded to include multiple films and branched out to other mediums like comics, video games, TV shows, theme park attractions, and more. The IP and Lucasfilm were sold to Disney in 2012.
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Source: ThbDragon/Reddit
