In the third installment of each trilogy of episodes, there is a confrontation between one of the heroes and a monster. In each case, the confrontation of hero and monster foreshadows a later confrontation between the hero and the film's villain, with the fate of the monster prefiguring the fate of the villain.
In the first half of Revenge of the Sith, Obi-Wan Kenobi confronts General Grievous, a cyborg with a breathing problem, and defeats him by setting him on fire. In the second half of Revenge of the Sith, Obi-Wan confronts Anakin Skywalker and defeats him by setting him on fire, turning him into Darth Vader – a cyborg with a breathing problem.
In the first half of Return of the Jedi, Luke Skywalker confronts the Rancor, which is enslaved by Jabba the Hutt. Jabba forces the Rancor to fight Luke below his throne; Luke kills it, but its keeper weeps over its death. In the second half of the film, Luke confronts Vader, who is enslaved by Emperor Palpatine. Palpatine forces Vader to fight Luke below his throne; Luke defeats Vader, but weeps over his death.
In the first half of The Rise of Skywalker, Rey confronts the Vexis Snake in a dark cavern. The Vexis Snake lashes out at her, but she calms it by using the Force to heal its wound, and it slithers out of the cave, creating an opening that fills the cave with light. In the second half of The Rise of Skywalker, Rey lashes out at Kylo Ren and stabs him, but then uses the Force to heal his wound. In response to this act of mercy, Kylo Ren comes out of spiritual darkness and into the light.
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Characters: Anakin Skywalker / Darth Vader / Kylo Ren / General Grievous / Jabba the Hutt / Luke Skywalker / Obi-Wan Kenobi / Palpatine / Rey
Films: Episode III: Revenge of the Sith / Episode VI: Return of the Jedi / Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker
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jaw dropping that I never noticed that. people often forget to give Lucas credit for his storytelling sense, focusing more on his questionable dialogue choices. (as I understand he wrote the script for ep. 3, not sure how much he was responsible for ep. 6.)