--I recently learned that the droids have their own motif. It pops up a few times in
Empire (YouTube link below), but Williams dropped it for some reason after that. While I wouldn’t want to second-guess him in an official production (more on that in a minute), this may be a case where some things can be added for fun just to see how they play. In particular, I’m picturing the droids’ first meeting in
Phantom Menace and the moment where Threepio “meets” Artoo for the first time before having his memory restored in
Rise of Skywalker.
--Perhaps the biggest point: Williams hasn’t always been happy with what filmmakers or studios did with his final project, as revealed in behind-the-scenes information that’s come to light. For instance, if I remember what I read correctly, Lucas lifted a few cues directly from
Phantom Menace and put them in
Attack of the Clones and
Revenge of the Sith despite Williams’ objections.
Williams also didn’t think Yoda’s theme fit the moment in
Rise of Skywalker where Luke lifts the X-wing out of the lake, but he was overruled by Abrams and by Disney (per a DVD documentary). Early reports indicated that Williams musically quoted all previous eight episodic films in his score for
Skywalker, including “Duel of the Fates” (a new arrangement of which can be heard in one of the trailers), but the final product only features OT and sequel music, suggesting that a lot of what he wanted got cut.
Based on what we know about Yoda’s theme, other choices in that film suggest that Williams was forced to make compromises to keep others happy. “Binary Sunset”/the Force theme is layered over many scenes where it makes little sense, such as the middle of an action scene where a Star Destroyer is blowing up, and over a scene of many characters (most non-Force users) celebrating near the end. Luke and Leia’s theme plays over Lando’s meeting with ex-stormtrooper Jannah, apparently as reference to the implication that they’re related, but Luke and Leia’s theme have notes that apply directly just to them, and Lando already has music associated with him that isn’t used here. If his hands weren’t tied, it seems likely that Williams wouldn't have made choices that seem, on a certain level, sloppy. It felt like the studio wanted to push nostalgia via the music and didn’t care if it didn’t fit together.
Certain puzzling statements by Williams make sense if the above is true. When returning to score Obi-Wan’s theme earlier this year, his stated reasoning was that he never got to write a theme for Ben/Obi-Wan, since he died too early in the original film. On the face of it, the statement seems absurd. Williams has said repeatedly since the 1970s that “Binary Sunset”/the Force theme is Obi-Wan’s theme, and Williams also got to score three prequel movies where the character was very much alive, starring the same actor as the Disney+ series, so he had plenty of time to write music for Obi-Wan if he didn’t have any. However, if Williams felt that his musical legacy had been tainted by
Rise of Skywalker, then I could see him wanting to end on a higher note (but stating it in a diplomatic way for Disney’s sake). To be fair, “Binary Sunset” may have become too associated with the Force and the Jedi in general anyway, problems with
Rise of Skywalker aside.