{"id":977,"date":"2026-09-23T20:21:39","date_gmt":"2026-09-23T19:21:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fevered.earth\/?p=977"},"modified":"2026-09-23T20:22:37","modified_gmt":"2026-09-23T19:22:37","slug":"scene-19-bb-8-crushed-by-a-tree","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fevered.earth\/index.php\/2026\/09\/23\/scene-19-bb-8-crushed-by-a-tree\/","title":{"rendered":"Scene #19: BB-8 crushed by a tree"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Part 19 of 43 Individual Scenes from \u2018Rise of Skywalker\u2019<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Shall we talk about Leia? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Carrie Fisher sadly passed away in 2016, well before this film started shooting. And yet she is – supposed to be – one of the main characters. Test footage recording from The Force Awakens<\/em> is used to composite Fisher into a whole variety of scenes in this film, a technique that never quite manages to escape being ghoulish. More than ghoulish though, it just doesn’t work. Leia is limited to a handful of stock expressions, giving her something of the likeness of a fortune-telling machine. The actors placed in scenes with her are forced to awkwardly work around what was available to the script, often having to go some distance<\/a> to make the key phrases work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n

Rey: I will earn your brother’s saber one day.
Leia: …
BB-8: Beep boop
Rey: No [BB-8], you can’t do it for me.
Leia: Never underestimate a droid.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Why has this been done? I think as time went on and it started to seem like the wheels were coming off the big Disney Star Wars train, an amount of conservatism crept in to what was already quite a conservative project. After this film flopped, no more Star Wars films were released in cinemas until 2026’s The Mandolorian and Grogu<\/em>, itself an odd artifact of shifting currents of production. Part of that conservatism has manifested in a movement away from what Disney was building in the sequel trilogy, a new Star Wars for new fans, back towards the tried-and-tested aesthetic and characters of the original trilogy. For the theme park, where characters are necessarily played by a variety of actors, this doesn’t present a problem. For the films, where recasting in the case of Solo<\/em> was felt to be too avant-garde and fully computer-generated mannequins (as used for Tarkin in Rogue One<\/em>) have consistently put off audiences, the mortality of the original actors must pose a real problem. Worse than that, the first two films in the new trilogy were devoted in part to passing the torch between old casts and new, with Han Solo and Luke Skywalker being given dramatic closure. Well, they’re all back in this one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I think in part they thought they were buying these original actors. I think there must be some executive out there who, though they would never put it in these terms, feels quite aggrieved that the original cast have had the audacity to age and\/or die. That’s part of what was being paid for so it had to be exploited in the end product – the sequel trilogy had to be ‘legacy sequels’ though the term was only just coming to the fore. As we’ve seen again and again since though, legacy sequels are a creative dead end. They’re a reprint. At best you can create a small, sad and hopeful coda to the original work like Matrix Resurrections<\/em>. At worst, you’re mechanically extracting nostalgia from an old horse, like pressing an 87-year-old Ian McKellen back into a Magneto costume again<\/em>. The new is the lifeblood of creation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rey, Finn and Poe are the protagonists of these films, in a way that just a few years later might not have been the case, not just because the ability for aging stars to be composited into action films was increasing – Ford was rolled out for Dial of Destiny<\/em> after all – but also because appearing as second strings to legacy stars became a much less appealing prospect to up-and-coming actors. Everything worthwhile here comes from Ridley, Boyega and Isaac giving it their all against a production process that just wants to insert as many fawning appearances for Leia<\/del> Lando as possible. Returns will always diminish. This is why the only aspect of Disney Star Wars to show genuine promise in the last few years was The Hunt for Ben Solo<\/em>; unfortunately Disney is totally incapable of making it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Oh, the scene? It’s a 4\/10. The fun argument Poe has with Rey over who damaged whose sentient machinery worse gains a few points, though why BB-8 doesn’t have any visible damage is unclear. I guess they ran out of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Next: Dead Leia, Wet Ben<\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Part 19 of 43 Individual Scenes from \u2018Rise of Skywalker\u2019 Shall we talk about Leia? Carrie Fisher sadly passed away in 2016, well before this film started shooting. And yet she is – supposed to be – one of the main characters. Test footage recording from The Force Awakens is used to composite Fisher into […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":646,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"45-skywalker","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":6,"footnotes":""},"categories":[94,96],"tags":[262,45,19,260,49],"class_list":["post-977","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article","category-media-criticism","tag-43ros","tag-media-criticism","tag-movies","tag-rise-of-skywalker","tag-star-wars"],"yoast_head":"\nScene #19: BB-8 crushed by a tree - fevered.earth<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/fevered.earth\/index.php\/2026\/09\/23\/scene-19-bb-8-crushed-by-a-tree\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Scene #19: BB-8 crushed by a tree - fevered.earth\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Part 19 of 43 Individual Scenes from \u2018Rise of Skywalker\u2019 Shall we talk about Leia? Carrie Fisher sadly passed away in 2016, well before this film started shooting. And yet she is – supposed to be – one of the main characters. Test footage recording from The Force Awakens is used to composite Fisher into […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/fevered.earth\/index.php\/2026\/09\/23\/scene-19-bb-8-crushed-by-a-tree\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"fevered.earth\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-09-23T19:21:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-09-23T19:22:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/fevered.earth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/image-wd-19-scaled.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"593\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Josh\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Josh\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/fevered.earth\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/23\\\/scene-19-bb-8-crushed-by-a-tree\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/fevered.earth\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/23\\\/scene-19-bb-8-crushed-by-a-tree\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Josh\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/fevered.earth\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/fbea2faefe3b1635fbf8b8ab5c63fc50\"},\"headline\":\"Scene #19: BB-8 crushed by a tree\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-09-23T19:21:39+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-09-23T19:22:37+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/fevered.earth\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/23\\\/scene-19-bb-8-crushed-by-a-tree\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":715,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/fevered.earth\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/fbea2faefe3b1635fbf8b8ab5c63fc50\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/fevered.earth\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/23\\\/scene-19-bb-8-crushed-by-a-tree\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/fevered.earth\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/image-wd-19-scaled.webp\",\"keywords\":[\"43ROS\",\"Media Criticism\",\"Movies\",\"Rise of Skywalker\",\"Star Wars\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Article\",\"Media Criticism\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/fevered.earth\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/23\\\/scene-19-bb-8-crushed-by-a-tree\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/fevered.earth\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/23\\\/scene-19-bb-8-crushed-by-a-tree\\\/\",\"name\":\"Scene #19: BB-8 crushed by a tree - fevered.earth\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/fevered.earth\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/fevered.earth\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/23\\\/scene-19-bb-8-crushed-by-a-tree\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/fevered.earth\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/23\\\/scene-19-bb-8-crushed-by-a-tree\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/fevered.earth\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/image-wd-19-scaled.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-09-23T19:21:39+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-09-23T19:22:37+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/fevered.earth\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/23\\\/scene-19-bb-8-crushed-by-a-tree\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/fevered.earth\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/23\\\/scene-19-bb-8-crushed-by-a-tree\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/fevered.earth\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/23\\\/scene-19-bb-8-crushed-by-a-tree\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/fevered.earth\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/image-wd-19-scaled.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/fevered.earth\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/image-wd-19-scaled.webp\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":593},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/fevered.earth\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/23\\\/scene-19-bb-8-crushed-by-a-tree\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/fevered.earth\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Scene #19: BB-8 crushed by a tree\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/fevered.earth\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/fevered.earth\\\/\",\"name\":\"fevered.earth\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/fevered.earth\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/fbea2faefe3b1635fbf8b8ab5c63fc50\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/fevered.earth\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":[\"Person\",\"Organization\"],\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/fevered.earth\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/fbea2faefe3b1635fbf8b8ab5c63fc50\",\"name\":\"Josh\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/fevered.earth\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/bafkreiaroxsj7d7t4kq6edzq2xwy3gyvbloa6cjzkf4kp7abqc4lmgtkmi.webp\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/fevered.earth\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/bafkreiaroxsj7d7t4kq6edzq2xwy3gyvbloa6cjzkf4kp7abqc4lmgtkmi.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/fevered.earth\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/bafkreiaroxsj7d7t4kq6edzq2xwy3gyvbloa6cjzkf4kp7abqc4lmgtkmi.webp\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":1000,\"caption\":\"Josh\"},\"logo\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/fevered.earth\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/bafkreiaroxsj7d7t4kq6edzq2xwy3gyvbloa6cjzkf4kp7abqc4lmgtkmi.webp\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/fevered.earth\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/fevered.earth\\\/index.php\\\/author\\\/admin\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Scene #19: BB-8 crushed by a tree - fevered.earth","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/fevered.earth\/index.php\/2026\/09\/23\/scene-19-bb-8-crushed-by-a-tree\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Scene #19: BB-8 crushed by a tree - fevered.earth","og_description":"Part 19 of 43 Individual Scenes from \u2018Rise of Skywalker\u2019 Shall we talk about Leia? Carrie Fisher sadly passed away in 2016, well before this film started shooting. And yet she is – supposed to be – one of the main characters. Test footage recording from The Force Awakens is used to composite Fisher into […]","og_url":"https:\/\/fevered.earth\/index.php\/2026\/09\/23\/scene-19-bb-8-crushed-by-a-tree\/","og_site_name":"fevered.earth","article_published_time":"2026-09-23T19:21:39+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-09-23T19:22:37+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":593,"url":"https:\/\/fevered.earth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/image-wd-19-scaled.webp","type":"image\/webp"}],"author":"Josh","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Josh","Estimated reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/fevered.earth\/index.php\/2026\/09\/23\/scene-19-bb-8-crushed-by-a-tree\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/fevered.earth\/index.php\/2026\/09\/23\/scene-19-bb-8-crushed-by-a-tree\/"},"author":{"name":"Josh","@id":"https:\/\/fevered.earth\/#\/schema\/person\/fbea2faefe3b1635fbf8b8ab5c63fc50"},"headline":"Scene #19: BB-8 crushed by a tree","datePublished":"2026-09-23T19:21:39+00:00","dateModified":"2026-09-23T19:22:37+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/fevered.earth\/index.php\/2026\/09\/23\/scene-19-bb-8-crushed-by-a-tree\/"},"wordCount":715,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/fevered.earth\/#\/schema\/person\/fbea2faefe3b1635fbf8b8ab5c63fc50"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/fevered.earth\/index.php\/2026\/09\/23\/scene-19-bb-8-crushed-by-a-tree\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/fevered.earth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/image-wd-19-scaled.webp","keywords":["43ROS","Media Criticism","Movies","Rise of Skywalker","Star Wars"],"articleSection":["Article","Media Criticism"],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/fevered.earth\/index.php\/2026\/09\/23\/scene-19-bb-8-crushed-by-a-tree\/","url":"https:\/\/fevered.earth\/index.php\/2026\/09\/23\/scene-19-bb-8-crushed-by-a-tree\/","name":"Scene #19: BB-8 crushed by a tree - fevered.earth","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/fevered.earth\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/fevered.earth\/index.php\/2026\/09\/23\/scene-19-bb-8-crushed-by-a-tree\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/fevered.earth\/index.php\/2026\/09\/23\/scene-19-bb-8-crushed-by-a-tree\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/fevered.earth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/image-wd-19-scaled.webp","datePublished":"2026-09-23T19:21:39+00:00","dateModified":"2026-09-23T19:22:37+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/fevered.earth\/index.php\/2026\/09\/23\/scene-19-bb-8-crushed-by-a-tree\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/fevered.earth\/index.php\/2026\/09\/23\/scene-19-bb-8-crushed-by-a-tree\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/fevered.earth\/index.php\/2026\/09\/23\/scene-19-bb-8-crushed-by-a-tree\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/fevered.earth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/image-wd-19-scaled.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/fevered.earth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/image-wd-19-scaled.webp","width":2560,"height":593},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/fevered.earth\/index.php\/2026\/09\/23\/scene-19-bb-8-crushed-by-a-tree\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/fevered.earth\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Scene #19: BB-8 crushed by a tree"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/fevered.earth\/#website","url":"https:\/\/fevered.earth\/","name":"fevered.earth","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/fevered.earth\/#\/schema\/person\/fbea2faefe3b1635fbf8b8ab5c63fc50"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/fevered.earth\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https:\/\/fevered.earth\/#\/schema\/person\/fbea2faefe3b1635fbf8b8ab5c63fc50","name":"Josh","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/fevered.earth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/bafkreiaroxsj7d7t4kq6edzq2xwy3gyvbloa6cjzkf4kp7abqc4lmgtkmi.webp","url":"https:\/\/fevered.earth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/bafkreiaroxsj7d7t4kq6edzq2xwy3gyvbloa6cjzkf4kp7abqc4lmgtkmi.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/fevered.earth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/bafkreiaroxsj7d7t4kq6edzq2xwy3gyvbloa6cjzkf4kp7abqc4lmgtkmi.webp","width":1000,"height":1000,"caption":"Josh"},"logo":{"@id":"https:\/\/fevered.earth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/bafkreiaroxsj7d7t4kq6edzq2xwy3gyvbloa6cjzkf4kp7abqc4lmgtkmi.webp"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/fevered.earth"],"url":"https:\/\/fevered.earth\/index.php\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fevered.earth\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/977","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fevered.earth\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fevered.earth\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fevered.earth\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fevered.earth\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=977"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/fevered.earth\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/977\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":987,"href":"https:\/\/fevered.earth\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/977\/revisions\/987"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fevered.earth\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/646"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fevered.earth\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=977"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fevered.earth\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=977"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fevered.earth\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=977"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}