The Rise of Skywalker had its problems. While I personally enjoyed the film, a lot can be said about the it’s structure and narrative choices. Fans sure have seemed to find just about anything to complain about with it. But there is one hill that I am ready to die on. And that’s that we were robbed…of more Beaumont Kin.
Who? You might be asking scratching your head and looking at your screen with confusion. But hear me out! Beaumont is actually a really interestingly crafted character and if his part had been extended in the film. It could have solved a lot of the other problems.
His Wookieepedia entry describes him as, “a human male historian who served in the Resistance during their war with the First Order as a Resistance Trooper. He participated in the attack on Kashyyyk and the battle of Exegol.” First of all, the fact that we had a good looking professor type character that they did absolutely nothing with is a shame in itself. But then again, I’m a gigantic Stargate fan and any excuse to introduce a Daniel Jackson type character into Star Wars, I am completely down for.
But what is more important is what he could have given us. In the movie he really only has one or two lines. And one of them is hypothesizing about Palpatine’s return. He questions if it could have been from “cloning” or “secrets only the Sith know”. This is a moment that goes by in a flash, and honestly doesn’t mean anything important to the audience. But if we had known his background, it could have meant a so much more.
According to the visual dictionary, Beaumont was “on track to become one of the youngest professors at the Lerct Historical Institute when the First Order destroyed the Hosnian system.” This was when he abandoned his studies and joined the Resistance. But here is the fascinating part, he was an expert on Sith and Jedi history and lore. In fact, it seems he was the one who helped Rey translate the ancient texts. If we had known this we might have been more willing to take his comments about cloning more seriously. And now we know according to the novelization of the film, that yes, cloning did play a part in Palpatine’s return.
TROS literally had a character that could have answered so many of our burning questions, but then never explained him and never let him do anything. Despite casting Dominic Monaghan who certainly could have given us a good performance as our sexy info dump. My only guess is that a lot of his role (unfortunately like too much of this movie) must have ended up on the cutting room floor. My only hope is that maybe we will see more of him in the future. I would love to see a series or comic on Beaumont Kin and Rose Tico’s research adventures! But for now, at least we had know that the Resistance did actually have some answers. Thanks to one space history professor.
