Finally, after months and months of eager waiting we have a title for Star Wars: Episode VIII. Fans have been anticipating the title ever since the hype for The Force Awakens died down. And the wait has been awfully long for a few little words. Episode VIII will be called… The Last Jedi. The title was released with a poster showing the Star Wars logo outlined in red against a starry background. These tidbits of information sent the internet into a flurry of speculation. Who is the last Jedi? What does the change in font color mean? What does this mean for Rey and Luke? What does this mean for Kylo Ren? We have some guesses as to what these scraps of information imply. We won’t be able to say anything for sure until the movie proper comes out. But for now, let’s have fun speculating until the next teaser comes out! Here are 8 Things The Star Wars: The Last Jedi Name Reveal Could Mean For Episode VIII:
Luke Is the Last Jedi
Let’s get the obvious out of the way; Luke Skywalker is the last Jedi the title is referring to. The original trilogy focused on his journey to become a member of the nearly-extinct order. By the end of the saga, he is the only living Jedi we know of since Obi-Wan and Yoda died. When The Force Awakens came out, it was revealed not much had changed. The Force users we knew of had either rejected Jedi teachings (Kylo Ren) or were untrained (Rey and Finn). This left Luke as the only character who qualified as a Jedi. Since the title probably refers to Luke, it’s a pretty solid guess that he will have a large role to play in the film. He won’t just stand around on his island waiting for a student to show up! He’ll be instrumental to both the plot and to kicking Dark Side ass. And we cannot wait to see what he does!
Rey or Finn Are the Last Jedi
Despite all of the evidence above, Luke might not be the Last Jedi the title is referring too. There could be a double-meaning in the title! Luke may be the last Jedi currently, but to paraphrase Yoda, “There are others.” Rey and Finn showed signs of Force-sensitivity in the last movie, Rey more so than Finn, obviously. Luke could die after training Rey, making her the last of the Jedi. Then she could go on and teach others, passing the title of Jedi onto others like Finn. Rey might have to grapple with once again being alone after finding a family in Luke (or finding out that Luke is literally her family). If Rey has to bear the burden of being the last Jedi, what will that mean for her character? Will she retreat into isolation? Or will she try to rebuild anew with Finn and other Force sensitives? We’ll find out in December!
Light Side Force-Users Will No Longer Be Jedi
There is a way that Luke could live, train Rey and still be the last Jedi. It’s a little far-fetched, but plausible. Rey could decide to build a new order, influenced by the Jedi but distinct and separate. And this might be a good call. In the movies, the Jedi haven’t exactly had a great record as stable organizations. In the prequels, we saw the order fall and it fell again between the Original and Sequel Trilogies. Luke might decide that the Force doesn’t want the Jedi to be rebuilt. Or Rey might decide that something needs to take the Jedi’s place. Of course, this is just speculation. Luke could decide that it’s not worth it to create new Jedi, but considering his whole character arc is based around rebuilding them, it’s not likely he’ll just throw that all away.
Leia Is Not Force-Trained
This will be disappointing to a lot of Leia and Expanded Universe fans. In the EU, Luke trained his sister to become a badass Jedi wielding a lightsaber. And a lot of people liked that idea. It gives a kick-ass character more ability to kick ass! And besides, why should Luke get all the glory as a Jedi? But, despite all of this, It doesn’t look like Leia becoming a Jedi will be the case in the new canon which is a shame. It would have been cool to see Leia rise to her full potential, and go beyond her role as a general. But would it have been necessary? Leia is a general, a princess, a soldier and a politician. She’s badass enough without adding ‘Jedi’ to her resume and we are all excited to see her in Episode VIII no matter what role she takes on.
There Aren't Any Survivors of Luke's Jedi Academy
There was some hope that a few of Luke’s students had survived Kylo Ren’s massacre. Maybe they hid under the kiddie slide or something. After all, Kanan, Ahsoka, Obi-Wan and Yoda escaped the first Jedi purge in the Prequels, why should Luke be the only survivor of his own academy? Were none of of his students strong enough to stand up to Kylo Ren, the guy who got his butt beat by an untrained Force-user? It seemed like it. If the new title is The Last Jedi, then the films will focus on the fact that Luke is the last trained, light aligned Force user in the galaxy. If there are students who survived, they probably turned to the Dark Side and joined the Knights of Ren. After all, Luke’s Academy would have been a great place for Snoke to recruit Force users to the dark side. Hopefully the film will give us more information about Luke’s Academy, the Knights of Ren and the relationship between the two.
We Might Not See Force Ghosts
Like we said in the previous entry, it seems like the films want to focus on Luke as the last of the Jedi. They would undercut this point if Force ghosts were included. Luke wouldn’t seem like the last Jedi if Obi-Wan, Anakin, Qui-Gon Jinn and Yoda were running around ghosting up the place. He would seem like the last living Jedi, but not the last one entirely. This prediction might bum some fans out. We all love Ewan McGregor and Frank Oz. Who wouldn’t want to see them back as their iconic characters? It can seem like a waste not to bring these actors back-- we know Ewan McGregor wants to come back as Obi-Wan, why not bring back his Force ghost? At least excluding the Jedi of the past will give the film more time to focus on Luke, Rey and any others who decide to walk the Jedi path.
Dark Side Users Will Play a Prominent Role
The font is no longer bright happy yellow on the Episode VIII poster, but rather blood red, a pretty popular color with the darkside. It’s the color of all their lightsabers. In Revenge of the Sith Anakin’s “baptism” as Darth Vader takes place in red, hot lava. We think it’s fair to guess that the dark side is going to play a big role in The Last Jedi. It could come in the form of Rey overcoming (or succumbing, wouldn’t that be a twist!) her darker impulses. Speaking of twists, maybe the surprise for this film is that Luke’s team Dark Side (making his character arc in Return of the Jedi pointless)! Or it could come in the form of Snoke, Kylo Ren, and his knights playing a bigger role in the story. We’re all excited to see where this story goes and how the Dark Side of the Force plays into it.
The Film Will Try to Be More Like Empire Strikes Back
All sequels want to be like Empire Strikes Back. They want to be grittier and have a more emotional depth than the movie that came before. Some flicks will go as far as to have an ending that’s a downer like Empire’s was. Maybe the red font indicates that The Last Jedi will try to be the Empire of the sequel trilogy. Revelations about family will be made, beloved characters might not make it out alive and the battles will be bloodier. This could turn into a conveluted, grimdark mess. But if The Last Jedi pulls this off half as well as Empire Strikes Back did, then we’re going to have one hell of a movie!
What do you think the Star Wars: The Last Jedi name could mean for Episode VIII? Leave us a comment below!