Last week, Lucasfilm announced the title for the next Star Wars film and with it came plenty of speculation. The name of episode eight is “Star Wars: The Last Jedi.”
But what does that even mean?
Star Wars’ cast members aren’t giving away hints anytime soon. In an Instagram video, Daisy Ridley, the actress who plays Rey in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, was confronted by her Murder on the Orient Express co-star, Josh Gad, as to what the title meant. Ridley avoided the question by simply stating, “We can’t have this conversation.”
But that doesn’t mean that we can’t have this conversation. I believe that the title means the previous Jedi. I refuse to believe that there will only be only one more Jedi in the movie series. In the last scene of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, we see Rey climb a mountain to find Luke Skywalker just standing there looking out into the distance. When he turns around, there’s Rey holding out his classic green lightsaber.
This could mean that Luke Skywalker will make his return and face the Empire’s Kylo Ren. The backstory is that Kylo Ren was a student of Skywalker’s before turning to the Dark Side of the Force and slaughtering the rest of Skwalker’s students. After the murders, Skywalker went into hiding before being found by the Rebel army.
This could also mean that Luke Skywalker takes on more of a “Yoda role” of some sorts and becomes a mentor to Rey which would make here the last Jedi. Not as agile as he used to be, Skywalker trains the young Rey to become a Jedi and defeat Kylo Ren and the Empire. However, this is unlikely and there’s no basis or reasoning behind it.
Lastly, the title could mean the last Jedi is whole group of people. It’s not just a single Jedi, but it’s an army of Jedi’s that includes Skywalker, Rey and others as guardians of peace in the galaxy.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi is set to hit theatres on December 15, 2017 and our questions will soon be answered. As for this Star Wars fan, that day can’t come soon enough.