Episode VII is officially given a name... What does it mean?

Episode VII gets an official name..

But what does that really mean for the JJ Abrams Star Wars franchise?

Social media is all a-buzz with people voicing their opinions on what they thought it would or even should be called... and we all know how critical Star Wars fans can usually be. With that in mind, I'm taking a different, more positive approach.

Let's look back, shall we, into the names of all the former movies - and how those names set up the end result for each part of the story... we'll start with the first 3 movies - the original first 3 movies: A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi.

Episode IV- A New Hope: Even if you had no idea that this was the fourth installment in an on-going saga, A New Hope sets the tone for the series. With a name like that, you already get the sense that this universe is not doing so well, and this story is the beginning of a new era. Not too far into the film, you realize that the new hope they are referring to is Luke... and later down the line, the Rebel Alliancce.

Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back: "Empire" is commonly noted as the greatest Star Wars film, among many fans of the series (I am not one of those, however). This film takes us to the icy tundra of Hoth, where the Emperor's forces have discovered a rebel base - and strike back with a vengeance. They also end up capturing basically the whole team thanks to Lando, blow up C3PO, stick Han in carbonite, and pin Luke against Vader for the first time - leaving him with one less hand and some new daddy issues to deal with. The Empire really stuck it to them...hence, the title.

Episode VI - Return of the Jedi: As Randall so nicely stated in Clerks 2, "There is only one Return...". That's right folks, "Jedi" was my favorite of all six movies to date. You get Death Star, Ewoks, and Admiral Ackbar. You get Jabba, Leia in a metal bikini and Boba. You get Rangkor, Sarlacc Pit, and one of the best light saber battles between the light and the dark side components - period. This move has it all... plus the title gives away what you begin to see throughout the film. It's double entendre, too - if you ask me. Luke is obviously bringing back the ways of the Jedi BUT as Darth hurls the emperor into the bowels of the Death Satr, you also see Anakin return from the darkened mind of Vader. On top of that, you have Luke letting Leia in on the family secret...passing the torch perhaps, a little? The Jedi truly returns.

Now, on to the other ones...

Episode I - The Phantom Menace: Bad movie; great title. Even George Lucas was upset with his own decisions when it came to certain characters...ahem...Jar Jar. Fans tore this one apart... but I think it has one of the more dynamic titles. Obviously, from the posters that came out for the movie, anyone could see it was going to be about Anakin beginning his path. This is where the title gets lost though. Anakin is not the Pahntom. That dark and mysterious Darth Sidious is the real menace rising in the background. No one knows he is truly Senator Palpatine... yet... except for us.

Episode II - Attack of the Clones: No mixed messages here. The Clone army is being amassed to attack the bad guys... I'll spare you the idea of who ordered the army, and the fact that Boba Fett is actually just another Storm Trooper clone allowed to grow at a normal pace. So the Jedi take control of the Clones and lay waste to a Sith Alliance stronghold. Palpatine seems to be playing both sides...what a mess.

Epsiode III - Revenge of the Sith: Anakin goes all Darth on us, we find out that Sam L. is the reason Palpatine's face looks like a gastric bypass patient's stomach, Order 66 is given, the Jedi Temple falls, Luke & Leia are separated, Padme' dies and Yoda and Obi scatter to the winds never to be heard from again... for now. This film easily has the best lightsaber battle of this series (even though you had Maul in "Phantom", this one had lava!). The Sith most certainly got their revenge in this one.

So, that brings us to this new film that Abrams is currently working on: Episode VII - The Force Awakens. The title makes me think of a few things: Will more characters arise that have high metachlorian counts, after an era of darkness and Jedi-lessness? Will Luke's journey into true Jedi Mysticism reveal more masters hiding from the Empire's remnants? We'll just have to wait until next May to know for sure. I, for one, can NOT wait.

What are your thoughts? Chime in below.

By: Jay of Spoken Jays

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