The overwhelming success of Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith teaches one lesson about storytelling that the Star Wars sequel trilogy forgot. Revenge of the Sith concludes the Star Wars prequel trilogy, fulfilling the promises made by Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones and depicting the end of the Clone Wars, Anakin Skywalker’s corruption, and the fall of both the Jedi Order and the Galactic Republic.

The film is one of the darkest and most emotional installments in the Star Wars saga and is often considered to be the best of the prequels. Fascinatingly, George Lucas did not have confidence in Revenge of the Sith’s success, predicting that it could be the least popular prequel film due to its dark premise.

The film’s tragic narrative ended up being one of its strongest elements, however, providing a dramatic and worthy conclusion to the prequel trilogy and tying it to the original trilogy era neatly. There is one easily overlooked factor, however, that saw Revenge of the Sith make the best of its odd position as a simultaneous prequel, sequel, and interquel within what was a six-part movie saga.

Revenge Of The Sith Proves You Don’t Need Secrecy To Make A Story Work

Revenge of the Sith was the last prequel, so it was essentially the final piece in the puzzle for the Star Wars saga. The original Star Wars trilogy was already one of the cinema’s most famous and beloved film trilogies and while the prequel films were not nearly as well-received critically, they were highly successful financially. What this means is that most viewers of Revenge of the Sith likely knew the film’s entire plot in broad strokes before the opening crawl even began.

Revenge of the Sith had no room and no need for plot twists. Most viewers likely expected to see the Galactic Republic putrefy into the Galactic Empire. They likely expected to see Palpatine reveal himself to be Darth Sidious, convince Anakin Skywalker to join the Sith, and for the Jedi Order to be destroyed.

It was simply Revenge of the Sith’s duty to show how this all would happen while viewers could only watch helplessly as the Star Wars galaxy entered one of its darkest eras. Revenge of the Sith is, of course, a good (albeit not flawless) movie on its own merits, and it certainly made the most of this unique position.

The Star Wars Sequel Trilogy Depended Too Much On Twists & Self-Reference

The Star Wars sequel trilogy was even more divisive than the prequels, with three films that were heavily flawed in numerous categories. One of the sequel trilogy’s many shortcomings is its over-reliance on plot twists.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens left characters like Rey critically underdeveloped for the sake of building up mysteries, with Rey’s heritage, in her case, taking precedence over quality characterization. Star Wars: The Last Jedi was overly concerned with surprising viewers by any means necessary, resulting in character and plot developments (or lack thereof) that were nonsensical and superficial, at best.

Another issue with the Star Wars sequel trilogy is its preoccupation with metanarratives. The Force Awakens and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker leaned too heavily on nostalgia. The Last Jedi, meanwhile, haphazardly attempted to address viewer expectations and make criticisms of specific elements of the Star Wars franchise.

The flaws of the old Jedi Order and Luke Skywalker’s characterization serve as two examples of this, but there was one glaring problem: other Star Wars movies had already handled explorations and criticisms of those themes with far more competence and originality. The sequels fail to understand that meta-commentary and reliance on twists was never what Star Wars was about, and the trilogy lacks earnestness.

George Lucas’ Revenge Of The Sith Will Never Lose Its Edge

Revenge of the Sith, by not relying on plot twists, made itself timeless. Part of what makes the film so powerful is the fact that viewers already know how its plot will play out.

Revenge of the Sith’s tragedy, human drama, acting, atmosphere, and set pieces make it one of the most memorable films in the franchise, all without having to wink at viewers or surprise them. Films like The Last Jedi, on the other hand, might be a shallow novelty once, but they lack the longevity of more earnest films like Revenge of the Sith.