JJ knocks on the door of George's impressive Skywalker Ranch estate. A few seconds pass before George Lucas opens the door.

"Hi, George! I'm here to discuss episode nine."

"Oh.. hi. Come in, JJ."

They enter the lounge. JJ looks around and notices something a little odd.

"George, where is the Star Wars stuff? Ya know, some statute or artwork on the walls. I can't see any."

"I'm not bothered with all that. I've moved on. Take a sit."

JJ sits on a comfy chair. There is a slightly awkward pause.

"So... you're probably wondering why I wanted to speak with you."

"It's a bit surprising. No-one at Lucasfilm or Disney has contacted me since before episode 7."

"And here we are at episode 9! That's why I'm here, George, to ask you about episode 9."

"What in particular?"

"Well... Rian Johnson screwed it up with episode 8. He killed off Snoke. He was meant to be a renegade Sith. This was the big reveal for ep 9. I even wrote it down in my notes back in 2013."

JJ shows George his notebook full of some amateurish drawings of Snoke. The character looks like nothing like the character in the movie.

"You see, Snoke was going to be revealed as a Sith Lord but was expelled from their order. That's why no-one had heard of him. We were gonna do a detailed backstory flashback at the start of ep 9 to explain it all, get the fans on board with the idea but Johnson ruined it all up by killing him."

"Can't you bring back him back in ep 9. Perhaps he survived."

"We can't really because we saw him cut in half. Andy Serkis - he did the mo-cap and voice - was upset the character was killed off and refused to come back. Kathleen Kennedy didn't feel Snoke lived up to his potential so we all agreed we need a new villain for episode 9. I was just wondering if you don't mind if we bring back the emperor?"

"Palpatine? But he died at the end of Jedi. His death marked the closure of the original trilogy."

"Yeah, but that was back in 83. Most of the fanbase these days are millennials - the Facebook generation - and don't watch old movies like yours. No offence meant. They're not that bothered with continuity. We thought we'd bring him back via Kylo Ren. Ren is haunted by visions of Palpatine and he manifests as a ghost. He fights Luke who also is a ghost in the final act."

"Sounds more like Ghostbusters to me."

"No, no, it's gonna be good. We got it all planned out. Mark Hamill likes it because it gives him something to do. He spent most of his time on ep 8 complaining about Luke so we thought we'd beef up his role just to shut him up and stop him trolling Disney on Twitter. And much of Palpatine will be a motion capture stuntman because Ian McDiarmid is too old. It will work. So... are you on board with the idea, George?"

"I think it's a terrible idea. Go for it."

"What do you mean, terrible?"

"You don't get it, JJ. I hate Star Wars. I hate the fans. I hate the whole damn thing. That's why I sold it to Disney so I could escape it. Bring back Palpatine. Better still, bring back Vader. And the Ewoks. I. Don't. Care."

There is a long, very awkward pause.

"Well, that's great, George. It's good to know you're on team Disney. It's er... great seeing you. Send my regards to your wife, Mellody. I'll... er... be going then."

George's face doesn't move.

JJ leaves the house and returns to his car. He cell-phones Kathleen Kennedy:

"Hi, Kath, JJ here. Just to say I've met with George and he loves the idea of Palpatine returning. He's given us his blessing. I know, it's great. Yeah.. I'll see you later at the studio. Okay. Bye."

JJ gives a wry, cynical smile. He starts his car and races out of the Skywalker ranch.