While it is common to debate if sequels are ever better than the originals, one point most people tend to agree upon is how sequels, and specifically the second chapter of a trilogy are the darkest entries. While Hollywood has been making sequels for nearly as long as movies have been around, it tends to be the release of The Empire Strikes Back that shifted what audiences expected from a sequel.

While now arguably the most beloved Star Wars film, at the time of its release it was not as well regarded for the very factors that people love about it now. It was darker than the original Star Wars, pushed the franchise in a more mature direction by digging deeper into the characters, and had a more somber ending than the rapturous conclusion of the first film.

Star Wars sequel The Empire Strikes Back
20th Century Fox

Describing the second installment of trilogies and franchises as "The Empire Strikes Back" is so commonplace it was even used to describe season two of Apple's comedy Ted Lasso. It immediately strikes a chord in people's minds that it is a darker chapter. As Hollywood has become more franchise driven, the sequels to many popular franchises tend to go for an Empire Strikes Back approach by offering a more cerebral, lugubrious chapter.

It is so commonplace the second film is inherently a darker installment, the second film following Batman Begins is called The Dark Knight (and let's not forget the uproar over how dark Tim Burton's sequel to Batman, Batman Returns). Yet why is the sequel the darkest installment? Is it always the case?

Trilogy Structure and Relationship to Three-Act Structure

Unaltered Original Star Wars Trilogy to Be Re-Released Before Last Jedi?
20th Century Fox

The most common form of franchise blockbusters is a trilogy, telling one story across three installments with each entry functioning as an act. This made sense considering that was the popular form of dramatic storytelling for millennia, corresponding with the Three Act Structure that was popularized by Syd Field and has its roots in Aristotle's Poetics, which is the earliest surviving form of dramatic and literary analysis around. Aristotle laid out how any work of dramatic writing needs a beginning, a middle, and an end. Since then, over thousands of years, the trilogy has been a popular way of telling a large story.

Related: Avatar: The Way of Water: Where The Third Film Could Go

The middle or second act of a story is often referred to as the midpoint or confrontation. As it sounds, this is the act with the most conflict, as act one is typically about setting up the world and introducing the characters while act three is about resolving all the major plot threads. Act two typically sees the protagonist encounter obstacles that prevent the character from achieving the dramatic need, and is also the point in a story when the character reaches their lowest point.

The Character Death

A scene from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
Paramount Pictures

In corresponding with the three-act structure layout and the second chapter being act two of the larger story, that act often ends with the hero at their lowest point and the villain gaining the upper hand. This has been popularized in sequels by featuring the death of a major character. The Empire Strikes Back does not end with a death, but it does feature Han Solo being frozen in carbonite and his fate left up in the air; in narrative terms, it is a death.

Two years later, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan shocked audiences by killing off Spock. These two films would lay the groundwork for many sequels, ending with the death of a major character from Jean Grey in X2: X-Men United, Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, Hiccup's father in How To Train Your Dragon 2 and Rachel Dawes in The Dark Knight die just to name a few.

Related: Spider-Man 2: Here Is Why It's the Best Superhero Sequel to Date

It is worth noting that many of the above sequels mentioned above would later retcon the deaths in later sequels, the impact of the deaths in their respective installments still carries emotional weight and impacts the audiences going into the third installment. With a major character dies, that lets the audience know that going into the final chapter, no character is safe.

Sometimes the Second Entry Isn't the Darkest

Before Sunset movie with Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy
Warner Independent

While it is common for people to say "the sequel is darker," it isn't inherently true of all sequels in a trilogy. In Richard Linklater's Before trilogy, the third and final entry Before Midnight is the darkest due to how the trilogy structured itself: the first film is about young love, the second film about two people reconnecting, and the third about the cost and difficulties of maintaining a relationship, with Before Midnight being an emotionally devastating finale.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is one giant franchise, but also one composed of various smaller individual trilogies throughout. While Captain America: The Winter Soldier might be darker than Captain America: The First Avenger, that is more due to the difference in style, and one could argue Captain America: Civil War is just as serious as its predecessor. The Avengers films are a set of four (about to be six with the upcoming release of Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and Avengers: Secret Wars) and Avengers: Infinity War with its cliffhanger ending featuring the death of countless heroes has more in common with The Empire Strikes Back than Avengers: Age of Ultron.

This is all to show that not all second entries a darker, and that it is that way for all movies. It is a guideline but not a set rule and with more franchises that are growing to become sagas like The Fast and the Furious, Jurassic Park, and John Wick, it is becoming more unclear which entry specifically is "The Empire Strikes Back" of the series.