THE LAST JEDI is Remarkably Similar to THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK

If you thought  The Last Jedi was “too different” from the original Star Wars trilogy, then think again. While the common online criticism of The Last Jedi leading us too far afield from the Star Wars stories we know and love may be true from a certain point of view, it’s also factually inaccurate. The Star Wars prequel trilogy was made to rhyme with events and echo themes of the original trilogy, and now that Disney’s sequel trilogy is two films deep, we can see that it honors the legacy of the original films the same way that the prequels did. (And all without the aid of a certain bumbling Gungan senator.)

The similarities between The Last Jedi and The Empire Strikes Back are myriad. While the two films are separated by the span of nearly 40 years, the imagery and plot devices employed by both are too numerous to discount as mere coincidence. Allow us to explain:

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via Giphy

In both The Last Jedi and The Empire Strikes Back, we follow our heroes on a single ship, on the run through space from the Empire/First Order’s most powerful capital ships.

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via Giphy

Meanwhile, Luke and Rey are off on remote planets, learning the ways of the Force from Jedi Masters who are pretty cagey about taking on new pupils at first.

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Both Luke and Rey are beckoned by the dark side to seek out shadowy caverns, only to be horrified by what they find therein.

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After brief periods of training, they both leave to rejoin the larger fight after experiencing Force-induced visions.

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via Giphy

Our subplots take us to faraway, exotic locales—Cloud City on Bespin and the casinos of Canto Bight—full of smooth-talking shysters—Lando Calrissian and the Master Codebreaker (and even D.J. to a certain extent)—where our heroes only manage to escape because their droids save their butts.

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Luke and Rey confront Darth Vader and Kylo Ren, respectively. We even get a callback to Return of the Jedi in the turbolift to Snoke’s throne room when Rey implores Kylo Ren to turn back to the light, just as Luke did to his father decades earlier.

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Then there’s the big lightsaber fight. After all is said and done, Darth Vader and Kylo Ren offer Luke and Rey the chance to rule the galaxy by their sides. They also reveal huge secrets about both characters’ parentage.

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While Rey doesn’t get dismembered, both scenes pretty much end up the same way as both Luke and Rey refuse to join and rule the galaxy. By the end of the film, our heroes are batter, changed, and barely holding on, but they’re ready to keep fighting and hopeful for the future.

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Are the plot points exactly the same?

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Of course they aren’t. The Last Jedi gives us fresh twists and turns, sending the franchise heading off in an entirely new direction, but the same Midi-chlorians that makeup Star Wars‘ DNA are still present in The Last Jedi.

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But what do you think? Does The Last Jedi mirror the events of The Empire Strikes Back and the original trilogy, or is this just an elaborate coincidence? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

Additional reporting and editing by Jesse B. Gill.