dekejis

Because I mean just look at him…..

I do have more to say about the music of the teaser than just this, but here at least is what has been requested about the very end of it.

This is the breakdown of what is really different about how Kylo’s theme is scored in the teaser as opposed to every other iteration we have heard over the past two films. I simulated the octaves and voicing of the parts other than the “kylo theme” notes as clear as I could, just so the comparison is as stark as possible.

All of the music in the trailer centers around the key of E (some minor, some Major). I’m gonna headcanon that the actual choice of key didn’t matter at all, but the score writer choose “E” for the “End”. (And yes, I said “score writer” because trailers are often not scored by the same composer that scores the film, and frankly I have no idea who orchestrated and scored this teaser music). “E for End” is complete headcanon though, not in any way supported other than the part of me that likes to suffer.

A gross MIDI file for ya.

So yes, in the standard “fall” pattern, the theme drops ½ step, followed by another drop of a tritone (the evil/devil’s interval). The pattern ends in a minor key, and the supporting voices lead us from a Dominant (V) to Tonic (I) authentic cadence. The cadence, though it ends on the tonic chord, does not feel very final. This is due to the melody ending on the 5th note of the scale as opposed to the 1st note.

In the new “rise” pattern, the theme drops the normal ½ step, but then rises back to the original note, eventually settling on the 3rd scale degree of an E Major chord. We have never before heard an iteration or illusion of Kylo’s theme that ends in Major. The actual chord progression of this authentic cadence feels much more finalized, as an end on the 3rd note of the scale establishes the mode (major or minor) firmly. This is in opposition to the cadence of the “fall” pattern, where ending on the 5th note leaves the mode up for interpretation since the 3rd of the triad determines a chord to be Major or minor.

So, why would the score writer not just use the actual “Kylo” theme in its entirety but just change the minor notes to major notes? Something that might look like this.

Well for one, it just doesn’t follow good part-writing, and feels incredibly awkward after having heard the “normal” version so many times, but more importantly…

The reasoning lies in the title of the film. 

Strategically, we don’t see the words “The Rise of Skywalker” appear until the notes themselves “rise”. Take another listen to the ending. 

It’s a double whammy and hits it all home. This is classic text painting, something we’ve seen used many time before with Kylo’s theme. Often the downward spin of his theme shows downward motion on screen (falling to knees, ships descending, etc). Now however, we get the opposite. He is not bringing decline, but rather ascent and growth. Those little words are literally rising up out of the darkness and turning toward the light. (I know, I’m reaching. But, am I really?)

We’re getting two key pieces of information from this music/visual combo.

1. Kylo/Ben IS the Skywalker. This is not new information by any means, but ya know, people are still struggling with that I guess.

2. This film will bring closure to the saga, and not just sad boo-hoo closure, amazing FULFILLING closure.

If you take a listen to the teaser trailers for The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi, they both end unresolved when the titles appear. TFA is more stable, but the melody just hovers on that 5th scale degree out in the open, where you know it’s gonna find some trouble. TLJ is just a hot mess full of angst and suspensions to the extreme that puts you on edge.

But this? We know EXACTLY what this means. We may have only heard the shape of it, but it is solid and clear (sorry, I had to). It’s powerful. It’s resolute. It’s strong. It’s stable. It’s BALANCED.

Y’all. It’s been a LONG 3+ years, but IT. IS. TIME. 

AWW! Thank you so much!!! ♥︎He doesn’t want her to stop 👀

first of all let me say I’m not a fan of the expression “toxic masculinity” because it’s another of those discourse-y buzzwords that I deeply side-eye, but it’s the easiest shorthand to communicate what I’m trying to address, anyway:

Kylo is deeply empathetic. I think this is one of the reasons why Snoke had such a field day with him since he was a child. He feels, deeply, acutely. Not only that, but he absorbs other people’s emotions, positive or negative, like a sponge (see how it hurt him to perceive that his parents were afraid of him; how easily he detected Rey’s secret pain about being abandoned by her parents, and connected it to his own experience). Empathy and compassion—the “pull to the light”—might have been the bane of his existence but I think it will ultimately be what saves him, because it’s what allowed him to find Rey. 

Like, the whole reason why Rey softened towards him is that he softened towards her. He let her in before she let him in. In the interrogation, when Rey first enters his mind, he’s terrified; but when the force bond pops open for the first time, he’s curious, excited, receptive. While Rey reacts aggressively and tries to reject him, he doesn’t raise any barrier—he likes that Rey is invading his space, his privacy, even though he knows this could be potentially a threat. He also tries to communicate with her, to share his experiences with her, and it’s less a “l want you to listen passively to how tortured I am”, and more a “so how does this make you feel? Also, what about your parents?” In the hut scene, he listens to her without interrupting and he only talks to offer emotional support, not judgment or unsolicited advice. And he lets Rey dominate the entire encounter—lets her talk when she wants to talk and touch when she wants to touch. Rather than proactive, he is responsive. Receptive. Daisy said “nurturing”. These are “feminine” qualities in the sense that they’re traditionally and culturally linked to femininity, not feminine per se; it’s not a judgment on Kylo’s sexuality or anything. 

And most importantly, the narrative doesn’t diminish or humiliate him for displaying those qualities, no, he’s at his most beautiful and heroic when he is like this. And he wins. He wins a friend for being like this. He makes Rey defend him against Luke for being like this. He destroys the big bad (who had previously mocked him for being compassionate), something he couldn’t have done without Rey’s support, and it’s all because he let his softer nature prevail.

Conversely, Kylo constantly fails when he’s aggressive and dominant. His phallic lightsaber is unstable, broken, difficult to handle, barely kept together, like it didn’t belong really to him, like he tried to twist it into something it isn’t. The interrogation ends with him retreating with his tail between his legs. The duel ends with him badly injured, lying helplessly in the snow. As soon as he reverts to male posturing and tries to forcibly suck Rey into his own utopia of grandeur, she dumps him and leaves. And, well, we all know what a mess he makes when he tries to play the military commander on Crait. He wastes all his ammo and stamina on a force projection, while the Resistance flees undisturbed and Hux takes notes of his weaknesses. It ends with him on his knees as Rey shuts the door and disappears.

He really sucks at this. At the whole being a tyrant and a violent hypermasculine boogeyman thing. He really is no Vader. And it’s okay, because that was never meant to be his purpose in life. He’s meant for bigger, better things.

from twitter, Kylo Ren prepping for a chat.

THESE SHOTS ARE SHOWING THEIR AWAKENING! And these 3 characters have something else in common that i have read about somewhere.

Who is a man, of color. Basically the antithesis of what antis think all Reylo shippers are or should be (he also recently went off on a thread about people stanning Rey and Finn for fake woke reasons!). And I totally believe he ships Reylo and loves Ben Solo, because he tweeted this:

Thanks to the Who Talks First Podcast for reading the script and giving us some key insights.  

During the scene where Leia uses the force: “Her face, hopelessness. But then, deep in space against the mega destroyer, Leia spots her son’s ship flying back to his master. Her son, so far away, and lost to her. And something in her face changes. Her head lowers. Is she giving up? Like hell. Her outstretched hand is tense with some effort and we recognize she is concentrating and connecting with the force.”

The sight of her son is literally what motivates her to stay alive I-