With all nine of the Skywalker Saga films now available to stream on Disney+, what began with Star Wars: A New Hope in 1977 comes to a close with Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, the ninth and final chapter of the three trilogies.

Across these films, the iconic characters, moments, lines, musical themes, ships, and destinations are far too numerous to list. However, in celebration of the three trilogies coming to a close, here are nine iconic Skywalker family tapestry moments that make these films endearing, and exemplify three generations of Skywalker progressing through their respective journeys.

(For our Padawan learners to the Star Wars series, potential spoilers may lay ahead. Though some of the biggest twists and revelations are among the most pivotal, this list will attempt to avoid any exciting developments you’d experience in your marathon viewing.)

**Don’t Look Back (Star Wars: The Phantom Menace)**

Anakin Skywalker is an extremely gifted child. He’s talented behind the control of his podracer. He’s sharp with engineering and mechanics. He has even built his own protocol droid. Most importantly, Anakin is strong with the Force. He may be the one who the Jedi have long prophesied will bring balance to the Force. The difficult decision for Anakin to travel off-world and begin a new life is the catalyst for generations to come. With a swell of John Williams’ masterful Force theme, young Anakin Skywalker leaves his home behind to train with the Jedi.

**Across the Stars (Star Wars: Attack of the Clones)**

For the Jedi, love is forbidden. Anakin Skywalker and Padmé Amadala, as captives of the evil Count Dooku and the Geonosians, are carted into a gladiatorial arena to meet their fate. With the odds against them, the two proclaim their love for one another. The Skywalker lineage continues with a hidden and secret relationship, and later marriage, amid the backdrop of the start of the Clone Wars.

**Birth of the Twins (Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith)**

Anakin Skywalker turns to the dark side, proclaiming his allegiance to the now Emperor Palpatine. As the Jedi Order falls, Padmé secretly gives birth to twins on the remote planet of Polis Massa. As hope for the future is born in the next generation of Skywalker children, the menacing and masked Darth Vader, as Anakin becomes known throughout the galaxy, is also born.

**Binaural Sunset (Star Wars: A New Hope)**

Wanderlust-filled Luke Skywalker, who looks to join the Imperial Academy, spends a moment of contemplation outside his aunt and uncle’s home on Tatooine. Watching the dual suns set in the horizon, he finds himself at a crossroads. Little does Luke know that the imminent arrival of two droids will be his call to a hero’s journey.

**A City Among the Clouds (Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back)**

Celebrating its 40th anniversary, Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back is a turning point for the heroes of the original trilogy. Perhaps nothing is more iconic in the film than the carbon-freezing chamber on Cloud City. It is here where, after telling Leia he knows she loves him, Han Solo is frozen as bounty for Jabba the Hutt. It is also in this same chamber where Luke must face Darth Vader — and where he must also face a shocking truth about his father.

**With His Own Eyes (Star Wars: Return of the Jedi)**

Luke Skywalker knows there is still good in Darth Vader, and believes that his father can still be saved from the dark side. As the Rebel Alliance stages one last valiant effort against the forces of the Empire at Endor, Luke Skywalker is tempted toward the dark side by Emperor Palpatine. As the Emperor threatens to destroy Luke and all those he loves, Anakin Skywalker once again emerges to bring balance to the Force and save Luke.

**Now It Calls to You (Star Wars: The Force Awakens)**

The grandson of Anakin Skywalker, Ben Solo has been tempted by the dark side himself and becomes Kylo Ren. Where darkness rises, light rises to meet it. A scavenger named Rey heroically faces off with Ren in the snow of Starkiller base. With Luke Skywalker’s notorious lightsaber buried in the snow, Rey reaches out with the Force to call the sword into her hand, and a great power and ability long buried within her is awakened.

**Three Lessons (Star Wars: The Last Jedi)**

Luke Skywalker has exiled himself to the remote island of Ahch-To. Rey journeys to bring him back and fight for the Resistance, but Luke is reluctant. Continuing her Jedi lightsaber training on her own, Rey runs exercises by herself until Skywalker relents and agrees to teach her three lessons. Rey’s first lesson: attuning herself to the Force. Feeling the life and the death, the warmth and the cold surrounding her on the island. And in the middle of it all: the Force. She has just taken her first step into a whole new world.

**The Dyad (Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker)**

Under the watchful tutelage of Leia, Rey continues her training. She’s advanced far beyond her initial lessons with Leia’s brother Luke. In a dazzling display of her enhanced agility and her Force-guided instincts, Rey is able to vault over Kylo Ren’s TIE fighter. She slices a wing off the fighter with her lightsaber and sends Ren’s ship crashing to the desert of Pasaana. The moment incites a face-off of Force strength between the two.

Watch Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker and the entirety of all nine Star Wars films in the Skywalker Saga streaming now on Disney+!

Troy Benjamin

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