There is no fandom quite like that which surrounds theStar Warsfranchise. Most people don’t truly get excited for a movie until a trailer, or at least a few set photos arrive, but notStar Warsfans. When Disney and Lucasfilm finally announced thatStar Wars 8is officially titledStar Wars: The Last Jedilast week, the internet went crazy and speculation about what that title could mean has been a big topic of discussion. A new theory poses that the identity of “the last Jedi” may not be so obvious. It may actually be Supreme Leader Snoke.
The theory showed up recently on the fan theoriesRedditpage and was put forward by a user who goes by the name of AnakinKardashian. Given that Luke Skywalker was referred to in the opening crawl ofStar Wars: The Force Awakensas “the last Jedi” and Snoke called him that during a conversation he had withKylo Ren, it seems all but certain that Luke is who the titleThe Last Jedirelates to. Assuming there is any validity to this new theory, things may not be that simple. Here is AnakinKardashian’s theory.
“It was pretty cool how we saw Jedha in Rogue One. But was there also a strategic reason? What if we are supposed to get in the mindset that the jedi order is very, very ancient? In one of the most recent star wars novels, Palpatine sends someone to Jakku to uncover an ancient secret. In The Force Awakens, we see that luke is looking for the original jedi temple. What’s with this sudden obsession with jedi history? In the force Awakens novel, snoke reveals that he is very old. But we don’t know how ancient he is. Kylo Rens lightsaber is confirmed to be an ancient version of the lightsaber. Where did he get it? Snoke. Now keep in mind the title of episode 8, the last jedi. What if we are learning about early jedi because we are going to find out how different the ancient jedi order is? What if what we know as jedi are not really jedi after all? What if snoke is the last jedi, in its original form? It makes sense that we are learning about early jedi. It makes sense that kylo Ren has this ancient version of the weapon. It makes sense that luke went to look for the original jedi temple in order to learn about snoke.”
Even before this latest, probably not true but definitely interesting theory surfaced, the true identity of Supreme Leader Snoke has been a big, lingering question fans have had since seeingStar Wars: The Force Awakens. This would be a pretty unique, if perhaps a bit convoluted, way of tying Snoke intoold Star Wars loreand it would offer a chance for the Jedi’s history to be explored in the new canon on screen. As the theory points out, we have seen touches and glimpses of this in bothThe Force AwakensandRogue One: A Star Wars Story, but there is a lot to explore there. In the old canon before Disney reset it a few years back, the Jedi had a very complex history and someone like Snoke could tie back to that and bring something likeKnights of the Old Republicinto the new canon. But again, it is very likely that “the last Jedi” refers toLuke Skywalkerand that this Snoke theory is mostly nonsense. But this theory gets points for creativity, that’s for sure.
There are other things to consider. For one,Jediis both the singular and plural form of the word, soStar Wars: The Last Jedicould mean more than one, but that also isn’t overly likely. Were that the case, it seems like they probably would have titled the movieStar Wars: The Last of the Jedi, or something along those lines. The title could also have something to do with Rey, since it is very clear she is one with the Force and is probably going to be training as a Jedi with Luke inEpisode VIII. Also, there is the Kylo Ren angle, since he is a Skywalker descendant. But, since he spoilers killed Han Solo and is on track to complete his training as a Sith lord, he is pretty much full-blown Dark Side of the Force at this point and probably isn’t going to be a Jedi. Ever.
As far asStar Warstheories go, this one is definitely one of the more interesting ones that have been put forth since the new title forStar Wars 8was announced, but the odds of it being true are slim to none. We’ll probably find out more once the first teaser forStar Wars: The Last Jedisurfaces, which is likely to happen atStar WarsCelebration in April.Star Wars: The Last Jediis written and directed byRian Johnsonand is set for release on December 15.
