Wars. The reasons we keep coming back. Yes, you could define a “reason” to love Star Wars as directly as “it makes me happy” or “it teaches you a basic morality at a young age.” However, those textbook “reasons” jump out of the screen and off the page through these moments. The moments are the reasons we love Star Wars.
Let’s go back to 1983 and that Return of the Jedi trailer. An entire generation of fans soaked in every image over the course of two glorious space-minutes. Amongst the X-wings, yelping Ewoks, and exploding Death Star, I locked onto that brief image of Luke Skywalker. That was a moment, but the reason it made me love Star Wars is that, in one action-packed beat among many, I gravitated to the bigger adventure at play. A gallant figure was in the throes of action, but he wasn’t striking out in anger. This hero in black, lightsaber in hand, was standing proud against evil forces. Standing strong between them and his friends. He was in control. It was a picture of calm strength amongst the chaos of the galaxy rolling out before us fans. It was the pose of a hero. A reason to love Star Wars emerged from that moment and I have been fascinated with those moments ever since.
It should be clearly stated, though, that this is not a definitive list.
It can’t be.
And it shouldn’t be.
For one, it’s can’t even be final. Thankfully, the Star Wars saga lives on. We as a fanbase thought the last of the Star Wars movies had arrived in 2005 with Revenge of the Sith. That was supposed to be it. George had completed his saga, at least in terms of the big screen, and we were left with our memories, our collectibles, and the emerging digital media scene to analyze it forever. Sure, the excellent animated television series The Clone Wars launched with an uneven theatrically released movie that led us into the show—a show that did serve as an entry point into Star Wars for many fans and gave veteran fans more stories to chew on—but, for the most part, Star Wars was all wrapped up in a warm, nostalgic six-disc set. (Yes, with more variations and editions to come, but this isn’t THAT book.) It all changed in 2012. George Lucas sold Lucasfilm to Disney and new movies soon followed.
I remain forever grateful. New Star Wars movies means a large swath of new Star Wars moments that create even more reasons to love the saga. You’ll find a lot of those moments in the pages that follow, including moments from novels, comic books, animated TV shows, and video games. At the time of this writing, we’re all still waiting for Episode IX, a new trilogy from Rian Johnson, live-action shows (The Mandalorian and one focused on Cassian Andor), and a proposed series of movies from the showrunners of HBO’s Game of Thrones. The moments presented to you here represent a snapshot of fandom now. And, I guess, then. As Yoda said, “Always in motion, the future is.” (Do you like Star Wars quotes? Oh, good, stand by for a lot of those.) And so it is with Star Wars itself. This can’t be a definitive list because we’re just not done consuming new Star Wars. Thankfully.
This also can’t be a definitive list because one person is writing it. I certainly have lost nights and nights of sleep forming some kind of ranking here. (I’ve already changed my rankings three times since you started to read this book.) However, there was no scientific research that built the list you are about to read, no Buzzfeed polls to influence it, and we didn’t go door-to-door to ask every fan what moments they wanted here. This is one fan’s journey through the saga. Yet I’m not on a (Scarif) island alone here. One of the great things about celebrating Star Wars is that one’s fandom is both incredibly unique and wonderfully communal. You may have grown up in the American Midwest feeling like you were the only one that connected with the plight of Dak Ralter in The Empire Strikes Back, but, far across the globe, in Japan, England, or beyond, another fan felt the same way. Dak’s words of “I feel like I could take on the Empire myself” resonated with them as well. You got there yourself. So did they. And now you are both connected. That’s comforting. You have a large group of friends you have yet to even meet!
It can even be across time itself. Star Wars now expands across several different generations and will continue to do so. Star Wars is stronger when it is passed on to the fans that are coming up behind you. What inspired one fan in 1983 will organically inspire another in 2025. So, the moments that are about to roll out here started with me, but they’re now yours. To be shared, discussed and, yes, quite possibly debated.
It should be known, though, that while the list found here could easily change and most definitely be added to, there is one permanent thing to be found here: joy.
I love Star Wars. I was a one-year-old baby swaddled in my mother’s arms at a drive-in movie theater in 1977. My parents watched Star Wars that night and I certainly have no memory of that experience, but I was there. The franchise has been in my life the entire time. It hooked me in 1983 and despite a growing interest in other hobbies and pursuits, Star Wars remained strong in my heart. Baseball cards. Chasing an entertainment career. Romance. Not even Garbage Pail Kids—yeah, Garbage Pail Kids—could pull me away from Star Wars.
This does not mean that I believe everything in Star Wars is perfect. That there aren’t wrinkles in the stories and characters that deserve questioning or a deeper look. This doesn’t even mean that I don’t think one can poke fun at Star Wars. I do, actually. That’s part of being a Star Wars fan. However, above it all, I love Star Wars. Unabashedly. When Joseph Scrimshaw, Jennifer Landa, and I launched the ForceCenter podcast feed in 2015, it was for the sole and very specific purpose of celebrating Star Wars. And that was continuing with a theme that fueled Maude Garrett’s and my show Jedi Alliance in 2014. In 1983, I locked onto the image of a Jedi Knight high atop Jabba’s sail barge with a lightsaber in hand. It transfixed me. It enraptured me. It inspired me. I fell in love with this silly little space saga at that moment. And I still love it. I always will. So, here now, together, you and I, let’s discuss why we love Star Wars with one hundred moments that built a galaxy far, far away.
This is the point in the process I fear the most. You’re really about to read this book and before you turn the page and actually take this journey with me, I just want you to know that I’m feeling really vulnerable right now. I’m not asking for sympathy. Not even understanding. I’m just letting you know the truth. I’m being very honest and raw. I’ve wanted to write a book like this for a long time and now it’s here. You have it in your hands…or in your tablet…or in your ears with some really expensive voice-over talent reading it to you…and this is really happening.
Deep breath.
This is going to be a great experience for everyone AND apologies if I write in first person from time to time. (I was a stand-up comedian for years and we’re just way too comfortable writing, performing, and complaining in the “I, Me, Mine” form.) I just want to say a few more things while I have your attention and you’ve seen me at my most vulnerable.
Here are technical notes on the moments that are the reasons behind why we love Star Wars:
First, this is a “ranking” but don’t let that distract you from what you’re about to read. These certainly build on each other and the moments listed later on do carry a little more weight, but I truly believe these reasons all add up to the greater point at hand: loving Star Wars. No one reason can exist without the other. It’s like that one time Obi-Wan Kenobi told Boss Nass that the Gungans and people of Naboo are symbiotic life forms and they need each other. Yeah. Yeah. That’s exactly it. This book is just like the Gungans and the people of Naboo. Thanks, Obi-Wan.
Second, the moments, scenes, characters, sounds, music, and more are all based around the “new” canon of Star Wars. The canon that began in April 2014 when it was announced that Lucasfilm was starting over with a fresh slate of Star Wars stories beyond just the new movies coming down the pipeline. What was the vibrant and robust—and often confusing and, you know, what’s the
