Star Wars: The Last Jedi - Top 10 Fan Theories You Need To Know Before Watching the Movie

Time for more Skywalker - Solo family drama! If there is one thing that the latest trailer, movie posters and press briefings have done well is excellently tease us on what The Last Jedi's story is going to turn out. There has been a total of seven Star Wars saga films that have come out before this and also five anthology films. So audiences who are not very familiar with the previous films might be a little confused on what is going on. So, here is a list of Top 12 fan theories you need to know before watching the movie. 

1) Luke is now the villain

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How many more hints do we need? There is that popular meme showing how the villains for each Star Wars film are always in the background, and Luke's face, in red (we will get to this later) is in The Last Jedi's background. Daisy Ridley also mentioned, "It's difficult when you meet your hero because it might not be what you expect." Not to mention in The Empire Strikes Back, Yoda warns Luke that if he leaves without completing his training to become a Jedi, he might turn to the Dark Side like Vader and become an agent of evil. Convinced? Well, if that's not enough, Luke actually says in the trailer, "It is time for the Jedi to end." One of the Super Carlin Brothers on YouTube theorizes that perhaps Luke is not a classic villain with evil motivations but he will be more of an anti-hero who is trying to stop the Jedi's ongoing resistance to restore peace in the galaxy. 

2) Rey might turn to the Dark Side

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Yes, everybody might be turning evil. Upon closer inspection of the trailer, you can see that it is hinted that both Rey and Kylo might turn out to be not what we expect them to be. Supreme Leader Snoke tells an unseen character how he has finally found them. It is unlikely to be Kylo who he already knows and has trained to be on his side. Then, could it be Rey, whom in the trailer scares the heck out of Luke when she uses the Force to crack the rocky ground? Next, we finally see Snoke in person telling someone (a female, because the Taiwanese trailer uses a female pronoun as a substitute for the English 'you') to accept their destiny and then we cut to him torturing Rey. The entire trailer is edited in a way to make us question the nature of these two characters and how they might turn out to be. Towards the end, we see Kylo extending his hand towards what seems to be Rey, although that might just be clever editing to mislead us. 

3) Captain Phasma is actually good

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See? Not everybody is turning evil in Star Wars. Captain Phasma, the first female villain in a Star Wars movie, is a high ranking Stormtrooper but everything she does seems less than smart, ultimately making things easy for the Resistance. This begs the question; is Captain Phasma actually good? It is hard to tell with actress Gwendoline Christie wearing a helmet all the time. First, she has to ask whether she needs to kill some villagers or not, as if killing them would not help her cause. Later, she orders Finn to put his helmet back on and report to her division. This could be a threat but it could also mean she has found an ally. But best of all, when confronted by Finn, she lowers the shield of her base without putting up a struggle despite being more highly trained than him. Also, notice when Finn is threatening her with a gun, she simply says, "You're making a mistake" instead of something more sinister, probably because she is actually on their side. Then, she even warns them that breaking into her base will not be so easy. Once again, this might not just be a threat but a warning. 

4) Leia is going to die 

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The late Carrie Fisher has left us in real life so it does make sense to kill of her character since her CGI younger version in Rogue One was not very well received. Kylo Ren has already killed his father Han, unless you believe the theory that suggests otherwise. But now, in order to complete his conversion to the Dark Side, he has to kill his last surviving parent, his mother. In the new trailer, Kylo is shown driving a jet and heading towards the ship carrying his mother, presumably to kill her. One theory from the Star Wars Theory channel suggests that Snoke gains his powers by absorbing the life force out of the Jedi. Leia, who is Force-sensitive, might be abducted by Snoke towards the climax of the new film in order for him to steal her life, and this will ultimately kill her.  

5) Watch out for the colour Red

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In Star Wars, red is always the colour of the villains. This is most apparent in the colour of their Lightsabers. The members of the Sith almost always have red Lightsabers. Just like wand ownership in the Harry Potter saga, it is the Lightsabers that choose their owners and they are not inclined towards those on the Dark Side. Instead, most of those on the Dark Side steal their Lightsabers from others or theirs get corrupted once they convert to the Dark Side. Red is also used predominantly in not just the latest trailer but also in many promotional materials. For instance, the IMAX poster with our heroes on it heavily features the colour red. In the trailer, we see Crait, a small mineral planet covered with a layer of white salt over its bright red soil underneath. The font of the title on the poster is also red, perhaps to indicate the villains will have the upper hand in this film. This is perfect in order to set the stage for the final third movie in this new sequel trilogy. 

6) Who is the Last Jedi?

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The most obvious candidate is Luke, since the opening scroll of The Force Awakens calls him that following the events of Return of the Jedi. However, there are a few other candidates. Between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens, Luke was training a new generation of Jedi until one of his pupils, his own nephew Kylo Ren killed all his classmates and turned to the Dark Side. However, Kylo was feeling a pull towards the Light Side in the last movie, meaning he could betray the Dark Side and eventually redeem himself by becoming the last Jedi.  Another candidate is, of course, Rey. In the new trailer, we see Luke training her to use the Force, just like how Yoda trained him and Obi Wan trained Anakin. Let's not forget one more candidate, Finn. In The Force Awakens, Finn is not shown to possess the Force but he does win one when he is using a Lightsaber against Kylo Ren despite loosing most of his other fights. Now, all these is possible if the last Jedi is singular. The meme on whether Jedi in the latest film's title is either singular or plural has already gone viral. Perhaps they all are part of the last Jedi, a once powerful and influential organization.

7) Han and Leia are Rey's parents 

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In order to understand each main character's origins, it is important we understand a quote from Star Wars creator, George Lucas. He once said something along the lines of Star Wars being like poetry, meaning each trilogy parallels the trilogy that comes after and before it like a fixed rhyme scheme of sorts. When Rey first flies the Millenium Falcon, it was a nice throwback to the time Han was flying it, suggesting he is her father. In addition, Kylo does mock Rey for imagining Han as the father she never had. Furthermore, when Kylo first learns that there is a girl at his base, his reaction is so deadly he almost kills the messenger who brought him the news. Later, when he has captured Rey, he is surprised to see that she still wants to kill him. Still? But they only just met. Could it be the two of them share some history? Siblings, perhaps? If the original trilogy was about a brother and sister duo, perhaps this new trilogy is also about a brother and sister duo. Finally, when Leia hugs Rey before they part, the screenplay describes it as a "mother's embrace." But then again, throughout The Force Awakens, Han and Leia talk about their son, Kylo but make no mention of a daughter at all.

8) Obi Wan is Rey's father 

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Next candidate is Obi Wan Kenobi, who is the only Star Wars human protagonist (C3PO is a robot) apart from Rey to have a British accent. In the trailer, we can hear Obi Wan's voice when Rey appears on screen. Yes, he was already quite old in the original trilogy, but think about. Other British actors in Star Wars like Liam Neeson, and John Boyega use American accents. Why do only these two good characters sound British? But then again, she probably got it from Unkar Plutt, the Jakku resident she was raised by. Speaking of the original trilogy, it was there where Obi Wan presented Luke with his father's Lightsaber. And now, decades later, who else better to return it to him but another Kenobi. In addition, the original and prequel trilogies featured a Kenobi training a Skywalker. Perhaps in this new sequel trilogy, we could see a Skywalker training a Kenobi. Poetry, remember? However, this could be debunked since Obi Wan was already quite old in the original trilogy and the Jedi are supposed to remain celebate.

9) Luke is Rey's father 

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The candidate  who is the Internet's favourite for this position is no other than Luke Skywalker himself. Mark Hamil, who plays Luke, let slip during a press briefing that when he sees Daisy Ridley, who plays Rey, he sees his daughter. Maybe he could be trolling us for fun. But them, remember in the last movie, his Lightsaber specifically summons Rey, possibly because the Force senses that she is connected to him in someway. Also, notice the parallels between Rey, Luke and Anakin. Not only are their costumes strikingly similar, all three of them were raised in dessert planets. Poetry! But here is probably the most convincing piece of evidence; balance. At the end of the day, the entire Star Wars story comes down to one character; Anakin Skywalker, the Chosen One who was supposed to bring balance to the Force. So, just imagine the final war ultimately between Rey, the daughter of his son, and Kylo, the son of his daughter. BALANCE. But then again, he is a Jedi too, so there is that whole celibacy thing. Or perhaps just like Anakin, Rey is conceived by the Force? Who knows.


10) The first Jedi temple contains ancient texts

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In the latest trailer, we are shown the first Jedi temple which houses a set of ancient texts that might be the Journal of the Whills. In order to speculate what this journals might be about, it is possible to consider how the Jedi institution is more like the Hindu warriors knows as Kshatriyas than Samurais. Just like the Ksyathriya, the Jedi are trained in warfare with high spiritual and ethical values. Just like the Force, Hindu's believe in Shakti, the primordial cosmic energy that represents the dynamic forces which exists in all of us. However, only a few can control their inner Shakti through long periods of training. The Jedi's training system is also similar to the Hindu Gurukula system, where a Guru or teacher, trains his or her students according to the righteous way of life. Lastly, the goal of life for every Hindu is to serve God by serving their fellow humans selflessly in order to enter heaven and achieve Moksha, which means the union with God. For the Jedi, their ultimate goal is the harness the Light Side to serve the Galaxy and ultimately unite with the Force. Why is this important? Because balance. In Hinduism, a balance of good Karma and bad Karma will always exist in the universe. This is why the final showdown in the last movie of this trilogy will be between Rey and Kylo.

11) Snoke is a Fallen Jedi

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Before the Sith was established, a Jedi who turned to the Dark Side was considered a Fallen Jedi. Now, we need to stress how the identity of Snoke, who has witnessed the rise and fall of the Galactic Empire, needs to create a huge impact. If not, this would beg the question, where has he been this whole time? After discovering that Kylo, like his grandfather, possesses the right balance of the Dark and Light sides of the Force in him, Snoke chose him as his follower. Strangely, unlike Emperor Palpatine before him, Snoke is interested not just in the Dark Side of the Force but in the embodiment of a balance with the Light Side as well. Despite being a very powerful user of the Force, Snoke is shown to be more comfortable having those under his command do his bidding by communicating with them through holograms. This is probably because, for some reason, he is not in his strongest form. However, when he appears live in this trailer, we see most of the scars in his face have mostly healed, suggesting that he is slowly growing strong.



12) Kylo Ren is pulling a Severus Snape

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Not only do they look, sound and dress the same, but both Kylo and Snape might have similar character arcs as well. While confronting his father, Han Solo, Kylo Ren says in tears, "I know what I have to do but I don't know if I have the strength to do it. Will you help me?" They then both hold his Lightsaber and Kylo shockingly stabs his own father with it. How could have Han be so naive to think his son might spare him? Perhaps that is not the case. It might be more possible that Han committed suicide. Kylo, during his last moments with his estranged father, clearly showed that he still had some Light in him. Earlier in the film, he even says to Darth Vader's helmet that he can feel the Light. It is likely he might be a double agent for the Resistance. In order to convince Snoke that he has truly turned against his family, he has to prove himself by killing his own father. Not being able to do it, Han helped his son by taking his own life and making it appear like his son killed him.