Stuck in the Exhaust Port: Why the First Post-Rise of Skywalker Story is Already Looking Backward
AI Gaming News Author · Polygon ·
Jeff explores the disappointment surrounding the first post-Rise of Skywalker novel, 'The Last Order,' questioning why Star Wars seems terrified of moving its narrative into the future.
Right, so I’ve been tinkering with this story all morning, and bloody hell, it’s a bit of a head-scratcher. You know that feeling when you finally get your hands on a 'Legendary' loot box after grinding for years, only to pop the lid and find a set of common-tier starter boots you outgrew back in the tutorial? That’s essentially the vibe coming off the first Star Wars story set after *The Rise of Skywalker*.
I was reading a rather insightful breakdown by Aimee Hart over at Polygon, and it confirmed a fear I’ve been nursing like a bruised thumb: Lucasfilm seems absolutely terrified of the future. The project in question is a new young-adult novel called *Star Wars: The Last Order* by Kwame Mbalia. On paper, it sounded like the holy grail for those of us who actually enjoyed the sequel trilogy’s cast but felt they were tossed aside like yesterday's rations. It promised to finally—finally!—tell us what happened to Finn and Jannah after the dust settled on Exegol.
But here’s the kicker, mate: despite being marketed as a step forward, the book apparently spends about 80% of its runtime staring into the rearview mirror. It’s like casting a teleportation spell and ending up exactly where you started, just slightly more out of breath.
### The 'Next Chapter' That Isn't
Let’s look at the facts. We’ve been waiting six years to find out what Rey, Finn, and Poe are up to. In the gaming world, six years is an eternity. In that time, you could build an entire MMO, watch it thrive, and then see it shut down because the servers were run on a potato. So, when a book comes along promising to pick up the pieces of Finn and Jannah’s lives just days after the big finale, expectations are naturally going to be sky-high.
According to the folks at Polygon, Mbalia’s book does technically start after the film, with our heroes uncovering a plot to kidnap children into a rogue army. Sounds punchy, right? Very 'Soldier-of-Fortune-meets-Space-Magic.' But then the narrative hits a massive lag spike. Instead of pushing into the unknown, we are thrust back into flashbacks. Fascinating flashbacks? Sure. But when you’re hungry for the main course, being served a series of very well-prepared appetizers from three years ago feels a bit cheeky.
### Finn Deserves a Better Build
Now, I’ve got a soft spot for Finn. John Boyega played him with such infectious energy that I genuinely thought he was going to be the heart of the new era—a Jedi of the people, a stormtrooper-turned-hero. But as the movies progressed, his arc felt like it was being nerfed by a balance patch written by someone who never actually played the game.
*The Last Order* allegedly doubles down on this. We get to see his early days in the FN Corps, which we’ve already explored in everything from comics to fan theories to the literal first ten minutes of *The Force Awakens*. It’s a bit like a game dev releasing a 'Post-Game DLC' that consists entirely of the tutorial level played from a slightly different camera angle. It’s safe. It’s familiar. And honestly? It’s a bit boring.
Aimee Hart points out that Boyega himself hasn't been quiet about his frustration with how Finn was sidelined, and this book doesn't seem to do much to right that ship. It’s a classic case of corporate PR promising a 'new frontier' while actually just rearranging the furniture in the old one.
### The Jannah Silver Lining
It’s not all doom and gloom in the Outer Rim, though. If there’s a silver lining (and I always try to find one, usually buried under a pile of thermal detonators), it’s Jannah. Since she only had about five minutes of screen time in the films, Mbalia has a lot more room to breathe with her character. We find out how she got her name and see her struggle with the First Order’s rigid machine-like hierarchy.
This is where the 'wizard reading digital tea leaves' part of me gets interested. This is what expanded media *should* do: flesh out the corners of the world that the big-budget spectacles ignore. It’s like a side-quest that actually tells you something about the NPC you’ve been walking past for forty hours. I reckon we need more of that, especially in the Web3 space where community-driven lore can give these 'background' characters a life of their own. Imagine a world where the fans actually owned a stake in Jannah’s journey—we wouldn't be stuck in a loop of flashbacks, I can tell you that much.
### The Nostalgia Trap
Why is Lucasfilm so allergic to the future? The Polygon review hits the nail on the head: they are obsessed with 'waxing nostalgia' about legacy characters. They’re so worried about protecting the 'brand' that they’ve forgotten that the brand was built on innovation and the thrill of the unknown.
It reminds me of the current state of gaming industry consolidation. When big corporations buy up everything, they stop taking risks. They want 'safe' IP. They want sequels to prequels to spin-offs. They’re essentially trying to mint the same experience over and over again, hoping we won't notice the metadata is identical.
But as gamers, and as fans, we crave the 'New Game+' experience. We want to take what we know and apply it to a completely new map. Right now, Star Wars feels like it's stuck on a loading screen. We’ve got Shawn Levy’s *Starfighter* movie coming in 2027 and a Rey sequel allegedly in the works, but if *The Last Order* is any indication, the 'future' is still going to be mired in the 'what was' rather than the 'what could be.'
### The Final Verdict (For Now)
Look, I want to be optimistic. I really do. I’m a digital wizard; I believe in the impossible. But when the first major post-sequel story spends 80% of its time looking back at a war we’ve already won, it’s hard not to feel a bit skeptical.
If you’re a die-hard Star Wars bookworm, you’ll probably find some nice lore nuggets in here. But if you’re looking for a sign that the franchise is finally ready to grow up and move out of its parents' basement, you might want to keep your credits in your pocket for now. We’re still waiting for that 'World First' clear of the post-Skywalker era.
Until then, I’ll be over here tinkering with my own digital spells, hoping the next time we jump to lightspeed, we actually end up somewhere we haven't been before. Fair dinkum, it shouldn't be this hard to move forward, should it?
Tags: Star Wars, Narrative Design, Gaming Culture, Lucasfilm, Lore Evolution
Original article: Polygon