Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Writer Reveals How the First Order Targeted Rebel Children

Since their debut in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, fans have known little about the First Order, other than that they took over as the ruthless organization seeking universal domination from the Galactic Empire, with the release of The Art of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker book confirming that they were so vicious, they targeted the children of known Rebels. What is worth noting is that going after the children of Rebels isn't the same as going after the children of members of the Resistance, as this new detail clearly served to emphasize the First Order attempting to make gestures that were more symbolic in nature.

"The first people that the First Order targeted were leaders of the old Rebellion; they went for their kids," Chris Terrio revealed in The Art of book. "They went for Lando's daughter. They went for Ben Solo, which begins to make more sense when you look at the wider context of their machinations — the long-term plan."

Terrio's comments do shed new light on the agenda of the First Order, but it's worth noting that he didn't specify that the nefarious group aimed to execute these individuals. Ben Solo, for example, was sought after by Palpatine through the manipulation of Supreme Leader Snoke, ultimately recruiting him to join the First Order and embrace the ways of the Sith. The Force Awakens also confirmed that the First Order took children from their parents to raise them to be members of the military organization, such as John Boyega's Finn. In this regard, it's possible that the grand scheme of the First Order was to turn children against their former Rebel parents.

It's unclear why The Rise of Skywalker, nor other entries in the sequel trilogy, explored this concept in further depth, but Terrio previously revealed that he had never worked on a script that required so many tweaks along the way to ensure the best story possible.

"I've never rewritten a film as much as this one," Terrio shared with Business Insider. "It's like a tide. There's a new script every morning. But we just keep going at it and going at it, loosely thinking that it's not good enough. It's never good enough."

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is available now on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital HD.

Would you have liked to have learned more about these details in the films? Let us know in the comments below or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter to talk all things Star Wars and horror!