In the previous instalments of this series we have looked at Star Wars Tribute videos highlighting particular trilogies or animation series. In the past two years a number of awesome tribute videos have appeared that focus on the development of a particular character. Let’s have a closer look!

Kreia & Anakin

The YouTuber DuDuFilm has a very recognizable and special style of picking up the thematic threads in the development of Star Wars characters. As an excellent example of this it is worth viewing his tribute video to Kreia.

This character from Knights of the Old Republic II has long been a fan-favorite and was also subject of Clone Corridor posts on her. But this tribute not only succeeds in presenting the features that make her so unique, but also the elements that connect her to Prequel, Original and Sequel trilogy characters. Now that a Old Republic film is very strongly rumoured and hinted at, even by Lucasfilm, there is an increasing likelihood that Kreia will in some form become a part of the formal Star Wars canon. Even this short video clearly shows how relevant she would be as part of the official storyline.

What I consider to be DuDuFilm’s best character tribute video is focussed entirely on Anakin set to Game of Thrones music.

This video is amazing not only because of the excellent choice of music and imagery. But what gives all of it an added layer of depth is the reading from Revenge of the Sith‘s novelization that acts as a voice-over. Although the narration itself isn’t entirely as excellent as the music and design of the sequence of visuals, it is definitely good enough to do its job: conveying the depth of those selections of text from the novel. They are very well chosen. The video brings home the point of the sordid entrapment of the dark side, the leeching character of the Sith and the tragic wreck that Darth Vader is compared to who Anakin was.

Obi Wan Kenobi & Luke

The YouTuber Heroes Fan Productions (HFP) has also produced a number of outstanding tribute videos that are really character studies of Star Wars characters. His study of Obi Wan Kenobi’s character spans Obi Wan’s entire arc from The Phantom Menace through The Clone Wars and Rebels down to the original A New Hope. It is a great watch.

Not only does it highlight what a wonderful character Obi Wan is but it also paints Obi’s arc in great detail, including how it is entangled with Maul’s.

The tribute video shows us Obi Wan’s life in almost chronological order. This makes his losses not just stand out, to great dramatic effect, but also does a great job of making the death of Maul on Obi Wan’s arms feel even more important than it did during that Episode of Rebels. His last moments with Maul foreshadow Anakin’s redemption in Luke’s arms and in a mythical way seem to address where Obi Wan found the courage and inspiration to allow his death at Anakin’s hands in Episode IV. Because beyond, and in addition to, the fact that Obi Wan had gained the power to return as a force-ghost his final act with Maul in a very real sense brings Obi Wan at the end. What is left for him after so much of his own life has come full circle is end it with purpose.  He is ready for a new hope.

A similarly powerful video following an analogous set-up is HFP’s exploration of the themes of The Last Jedi. Starting off at the Dagobah scene between Luke and Yoda

HFP does an outstanding job at bringing together the threads from Prequel Trilogy and Original Trilogy that directly impact on the final sequences of The Last Jedi. Although this certainly is not the end of Luke’s story it does represent the end of Luke’s arc in a real way. The video is also an excellent illustration of points I have been trying to make here, here and here as to how we as viewers of Star Wars are the true authors of it and about how the Star Wars narrative requires us to assign meaning to a sequence of related events where causality between them is much less of a concern. I think the video shows how The Last Jedi is so far the most compelling entry to the Sequel Trilogy.

Ahsoka

Ahsoka Tano is, in my book at least, a Star Wars character that is on par with characters like Luke, Anakin and Obi Wan. So I want to end this post with a character tribute devoted, by YouTuber Alkarys, to her and taking us till the end of Rebels season 2.

It shows what an amazing arc she has gone through as a Star Wars character. The video shows clearly how damaged she has come out of the Clone Wars era. It doesn’t include what we know to be the series finale of Rebels and the video makes me wonder how the editor had included the outcome of Rebels. But perhaps it is even better this way. Ahsoka Tano is one of the great Star Wars characters and her story is as of yet entirely unfinished. As a result, although this video is technically not quite executed to the same level as the four preceding ones, it is a great place to end. Because with Rise of Skywalker entering cinema’s at the end of this year and the Skywalker-family arc wrapping up … Ahsoka is still out there!