On paper, the new Lego Star Wars special, Rebuild the Milky Wayseems like a simple, silly good time. In the four-episode miniseries, a young Force-sensitive nerf herder named Sig (Gaten Matarazzo) accidentally rewrites the galaxy as we know it by messing with a powerful glowing Lego brick known as the Cornerstone. Major characters in the Star Wars universe all have different roles: Rey and Rose are Sith; Jabba the Hutt and Palpatine are friendly Jedi; and Sig’s older brother Dev (Tony Revolori) becomes the Darth Vader equivalent. Sig is determined to restore the galaxy to how it once was, and the enigmatic Jedi Bob (like, from the Lego set) tells him that he must return the Cornerstone to a mysterious temple in order to do this.
Most of Rebuild the Milky Way plays out like a straightforward Star Wars mission, with lots of space hopping and encountering familiar characters in new roles. That is, until the end of the third episode.
(Editorial note: This post contains major spoilers for Lego Star Wars: Rebuild the Milky Way)
At the end of “Part Three,” Jedi Bob’s Sig discovers that there is no way to return to the original galaxy. That is to say, the Star Wars Sig knows—and more importantly, the one we as the audience know—no longer exists. There is no more Skywalker saga, Palpatine never returned, and Han and Leia never got together (meaning Kylo Ren doesn’t exist?), among other things. And there is no way to get that galaxy back.
Sig has an understandable crisis about all of this, especially considering that the version of his brother he knew and loved is now an evil Sith Lord who doesn’t remember him. He flirts with the dark side and tries to use the Force and the power of the Cornerstone to recreate his home planet, but it’s just a shoddy copy. Ultimately, Sig accepts that he’s completely screwed up and destroyed his entire reality – but that’s okay! He’s going to create some new stories in this version of the galaxy, even if he’s lost his brother, his home, and all of the Star Wars characters as we know them are completely gone.
We get a cheeky Lando Calrissian cameo, with none other than Baby Yoda as a sidekick! Yay!
I guess it doesn’t matter that much that Sig completely wiped out an entire galaxy, with only Jedi Bob (who did the same to his own galaxy two realities ago) and Sig’s trusty droid Servo remembering the old one. And Lego Star Wars is generally a more lighthearted, comedic version of Star Wars, so I can see why the creative team behind Rebuild the Milky Way didn’t dwell on the sheer cosmic horror of completely wiping out the existence of the Star Wars we know and love (and all of the protagonist’s most meaningful relationships and histories) in order to move on to the next cute joke. But WowIt took me a moment to process the idea of destroying one version of reality before I could giggle at the final joke.
There is not a word about whether Rebuild the Milky Way is getting a sequel, but what a way to end an otherwise lighthearted Lego Star Wars miniseries. I’m impressed that showrunners Benji Samit and Dan Hernandez (Pokémon Detective Pikachu) went all out, and shocked that they went all out. If we ever get a part 2, I wonder how much survivor’s guilt poor Sig will have to deal with as he masters the art of Force Building.
Lego Star Wars: Rebuild the Milky Way is now available on Disney Plus.