【Deborah Sullavan Archives】

One thing we know: the Star Wars must end. Well,Deborah Sullavan Archives the Star Wars as we know them, at least.

Buried in the official announcement of the Star Wars Episode IX cast -- masked by fan euphoria over the confirmed return of Mark Hamill (presumably as Luke Skywalker's Force ghost) and Billy Dee Williams as Lando Calrissian, behind the heart-rending detail that unseen footage of Carrie Fisher will be used to help send off General Leia Organa -- was this all-important detail.

The Skywalker saga, that episodic tale blasted onto screens around the world since 1977, will cease with this movie's release in 2019.

"J.J. Abrams returns to direct the final installmentof the Skywalker saga," the Lucasfilm announcement read -- emphasis ours. To drive the point home, Abrams added that repurposed Fisher footage was necessary for "a truly satisfying conclusionto the Skywalker saga."

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The Skywalker Saga is another name for all those numbered episodes of Star Wars -- in other words, every Star Wars movie except for Rogue Oneand Solo, both of which were dubbed "A Star Wars Story."

The original 1977 Star Warshad the subtitle "from the adventures of Luke Skywalker." But once it became a monster hit, George Lucas retroactively dubbed it Episode IVof what was informally known as the Skywalker saga. He was going for the sense that you'd walked into the middle of a matinee serial in the style of his boyhood favorite, Flash Gordon.

The official end of that epic story, then, is a momentous milestone in Star Wars history: the galaxy far, far away is finally standing alone without the storyline that created it.

Because of course this is far from the end of the franchise as a whole. There are brand new Star Wars trilogies in the works from Last Jedidirector Rian Johnson and Game of Throneswriters David Benioff and Dan Weiss.

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And Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy has suggested there will be more movies featuring Rey, Finn, and Poe, the stars of the latter third of the nine-movie saga. Given that The Force Awakensand The Last Jedireceived two of the 12 largest box office hauls of all time, it certainly doesn't make sense to end theirstory.

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable SEE ALSO: George Lucas' plan for the Star Wars sequels was ... WTF?

But for the star-crossed Skywalker clan, this is apparently it. From Anakin's virgin birth to a slave woman named Shmi Skywalker in Episode I, through Anakin's wife Padme dying of a broken heart after giving birth to Luke and Leia in Episode III, to Leia's son Ben/Kylo Ren killing his dad Han in Episode VII, it's been a wild ride.

And what a cursed clan it was. That virgin birth, we later found out, was likely brought about by the Emperor's manipulation of the Force to create his perfect apprentice. Anakin ended up more machine than man, even if he did have the minor consolation of becoming a Force Ghost at the end of Return of the Jedi.

Luke may have learned from his dad's mistakes and saved the galaxy one last time before he died, but he also ended up broken and alone; Leia ended up heartbroken and estranged from her son; both were scarred for life by their father's Dark Side fall and by Obi-Wan Kenobi neglecting to mention their dad's true identity in the first place. (Leia was literally tortured by her dad aboard the Death Star; Luke infamously lost a hand to his lightsaber.)

In short, it's fair to say we won't see a Skywalker team competing on Family Feudany time soon.

Technically, the Skywalker name died out in Last Jediwith the death of Luke, who was as far as we know the last person in the galaxy to be using it. But Mark Hamill's casting in Episode IX suggests Luke will at least keep his promise to his Dark Side nephew, Kylo Ren -- that he would "see you around, kid."

Star Wars is about to let its past die. And it will kill the Skywalker clan if it has to.

The end of the saga won't necessarily mean the end of that order of space warrior monks, the Jedi, either. Luke made it clear at the very end of Last Jedithat he would not be the last, and that Rey was now a Jedi herself. The galaxy-wide spreading of the story of how Luke took on the whole First Order may well lead to a heroic rebirth of the order he shunned.

But it doessuggest that we might see the last of Kylo Ren in Episode IX. He's the only character who still looks backwards, the only one who seems to care about his Skywalker heritage, idolizing his grandfather's alter ego, Darth Vader. Also, Kylo is the Supreme Leader of the First Order now, and you don't reach a "satisfying conclusion" to a space fantasy fairy tale without bringing the bad guy's edifice crashing to the ground.

Ironically, Kylo's most famous line -- "let the past die, kill it if you have to" -- could end up applying to himself and his family's history.

Facing a brave future of brand new trilogies set elsewhere in space and time, Star Wars is about to let its past die. And it will kill all the Skywalker clan if it has to.

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