Rey (Finn and Chewbacca) witness Han Solo be killed by Kylo Ren, pushes Rey to stay the course and find Luke.

A New Hope: Luke Skywalker witness Obi-Wan Kenobi be killed by fighting Darth Vader, which pushes him to follow through on becoming a Jedi and dealing with Vader.

Obi-Wan witness his Master Qui-Gon Jin be killed by Darth Maul, which pushes Obi-Wan to change his mind on training Anakin One clear example in Star Wars Saga is: Each first film, in each trilogy, features a protagonist witnessing an older beloved 'good' character die in battle with a villainous character, which is used to push the story forward, usually through the protagonist watching. Note: The link above provides much insight into Star Wars' first two trilogies specifically, and much like this question, it points out even why The Phantom Menace is important to the series as a whole. After all, a ring, saysĭouglas, is a “construction of parallelisms that must open a theme,ĭevelop it, and round it off by bringing the conclusion back to the The introductory sectionĪlso states the major themes of the work. Important context for the following sections. Introductory section that introduces the characters and provides Mary Douglas in Thinking in Circles, a ring generally includes an

There is no Wikipedia on 'ring storytelling' but more or less it's a construction theory ( Ring Theory/Chiastic Structure) that relates to the way Star Wars has been designed/constructed to 'echo' itself with either circular and/or parallel story telling.Īccording to the seven conventions of ring composition laid out by This is done to better define Star Wars Saga films and establish its themes. However, The Force Awakens, because it is both a family saga story and uses 'ring' story telling, does in fact incorporate elements and juxtaposes all six previous saga films. While no particular plot point depends on having previous knowledge, knowing how things evolved adds a lot of depth to the decisions that characters make in the series.Īs others have said I believe you can see The Force Awakens without ever seeing the prequels, as the story itself is mostly introductory and relates more to the the Original Trilogy, than the Prequel Era. the history of the Sith and their influence on the empire and the galaxy at largeĮpisode 7 does a very good job of taking the universe as it was established in the previous movies and expanding on them.This is a brief list of important points that the prequel trilogy covers that adds depth to the Star Wars cannon: However, by NOT watching the prequel trilogy, you will be missing out on a lot of universe-defining lore. The short answer is NO, you don't HAVE to watch Episodes 1-3 in order to enjoy Episode 7 (and presumably Episode 8, but it's too early to tell).

I will expand on kappa's answer on the order watching question in order to provide an answer here.

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