Whereas “Starkiller” has an innately violent ring to it, “Skywalker” is rather more ethereal. It is also very a lot the form of factor you’d count on a Chosen One to be known as in a prototypical hero’s journey narrative, like that of “Star Wars: A New Hope.”

Curiously, due to the discharge of George Lucas’ prequel trilogy, the identify “Skywalker” has come to tackle a way more difficult connotation. Certainly, for all their faults, these motion pictures performed a key position in reframing the Skywalker Saga at giant as a familial epic marred in tragedy, during which one technology after one other are left to “repair the sins of the final technology,” as Lucas put it in his Rolling Stone interview. It is a part of what has allowed “Star Wars” to operate as a mirror for the real-world, the place we ourselves are continually compelled to struggle the identical battles as those that got here earlier than us (in barely totally different varieties), again and again. 

As Lucas identified, nevertheless, this was all of the extra motive for Luke and, naturally, his sister Leia to have an uplifting surname:

“[…] The primary three episodes are a tragedy, and the second three go barely goofy, however they’re inspirational: Even the worst, most evil individuals discover compassion. Darth Vader has compassion for his youngsters, and that is finally what youngsters are for.”

As for “Starkiller,” nicely, it is not a foul “Star Wars” identify — it is simply not becoming for Luke and Leia. Heck, it was adequate for J.J. Abrams to make it the identify of the First Order’s planetary base practically 40 years after “A New Hope” hit theaters. Maybe /Movie’s Bryan Younger put it finest: “No good concept goes wasted within the halls of Lucasfilm.” Lucas would positively know one thing about that.