Mustafar and Exegol
The third film of the prequel trilogy and the third film of the sequel trilogy feature the two most hellish planets in the Skywalker Saga. In Revenge of the Sith, Mustafar is the red, volcanic planet on which Anakin Skywalker nearly burns to death after his turn to the dark side. At the beginning of The Rise of Skywalker, Kylo Ren journeys from Mustafar to Exegol, the blue, barren planet to which Emperor Palpatine was exiled after the fall of the Empire.
The differences between the two planets and between Anakin and Palpatine’s punishments on them reflect the physical and moral geography of Hell in Dante’s Inferno. Some of the regions of Dante’s Hell are hot, while others are cold, depending on the types of sins they exist to punish. For example, a river of boiling blood is the destination of those who commit murder, a sin that proceeds from hot-blooded passion when it overpowers reason. Meanwhile, the innermost circle of Hell encases in ice those who commit treachery, a sin that can only be carried out by coldly and callously misusing careful, calculating reason.
It is appropriate, then, that Anakin burns on Mustafar for impulsively murdering Jedi upon Palpatine’s command, while Palpatine is immobilized on Exegol – limited in movement by the life-sustaining machines to which he is attached – for spending a lifetime plotting the destruction of the Jedi and the Republic while pretending to be their friend and ally.
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Characters: Anakin Skywalker / Palpatine
Films: Episode III: Revenge of the Sith / Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker
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Concepts: cold and heat / fire / ice / passion / reason / treachery / underworld
Influences: Dante
Interpretive Tools: Tripartite Soul Theory
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