“The Last Jedi” really should have devoted more time to its first set of sisters

We were so excited going into The Last Jedi for, like, a billion reasons. We’re human after all! A major reason was that we were finally going to meet Star Wars’ very first sisters: Paige and Rose Tico.

Ahead of Last Jedi‘s release, it was revealed that Paige (Veronica Ngo) is Rose’s (Kelly Marie Tran) older sister, that she works in the Resistance as a gunner on the frontlines. Rose, meanwhile, works behind the scenes to make sure the Resistance has what it needs to fight the First Order.

That all sounded ah-mazing to us. Not only would we be getting #SPACESISTERS in Last Jedi, but it appeared we’d be getting even more strong, empowered women in the Star Wars universe — following on the heels of Leia, Rey, and Jyn. Not to mention, we’d see a whole new dynamic to these new female forces to be reckoned with, and how exciting is that?!

So exciting…in theory.

* WARNING: THIS IS WHERE SPOILERS KICK IN *

While we do technically meet our very first Star Wars sisters, we never see them on-screen together. Paige dies in the opening moments of the film, while executing an attack on the First Order. And it’s only after her death that we learn she’s related to Rose, when Finn stumbles upon Rose crying and she clues him in.

Paige was so strong and brave in that initial attack, as is Rose — someone who usually isn’t at the front of the action — in her subsequent attempts to defeat the First Order, picking up where her sister left off. Maybe this is me, an only child, trying to vicariously live through Star Wars (again), but it would’ve been nice to see something, anything from these two together.

Sure, you could say that Star Wars has devoted quite a bit of time to siblings via Luke and Leia, and maybe the filmmakers didn’t want to be redundant. OR, maybe they just wanted to give Rose’s story some emotional weight from the start, concisely putting her on the hero path in a film in which there are, like, a thousand other characters and storylines to address. I hear this and I understand this. But if we knew Paige and Rose as sisters — even just a scene of Rose seeing Paige off to battle — her story (probably) would have had even more emotional weight.

I will say, Paige’s presence is felt throughout, because she frequently informs Rose’s decisions. At one point, Rose even offers up a necklace she and Paige shared for the sake of the greater good. And of course I was very invested in Rose’s story, and was rooting for her to succeed. All I’m saying is, if you’re going to introduce your very first set of sisters to the Star Wars universe, why not take a moment to explore that dynamic, you know?

Here’s hoping for a little flashback action in Episode IX.