Star Wars Episode VIII title released

Star Wars episode VIII will be titled The Last Jedi which will be released later this year on December 15. The news came via Star Wars‘ official Twitter.With the Star Wars series being the number one series in Box Office history, people have been anxiously waiting for new information to come out. The title is the first major piece of news. We should be getting the trailer within the next few weeks. At worst, the next few months.

Producer Kathleen Kennedy  said that the trailer will be released “soon” as of December 15, 2016. She went on to say it would be ideal to give Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, which was released on December 16th, some “breathing room,” so it does lose any attention with the revealing of the new trailer for the highly anticipated Episode VIII.

Until then, the fans can only wait and speculate.

So what does the The Last Jedi even mean?

Episode VII: The Force Awakens spoilers ahead.

Basically Episode VII was set around 30 years after Episode V in which Luke Skywalker helps transform Darth Vader, his father, back to the light side moments before the Sith Lord reached his ultimate demise. Later in life, Luke Skywalker goes onto train others to become Jedi, and one of them, Kylo Ren, becomes seduced by the dark side of the force, kills his peers, and then goes onto fulfill Darth Vader’s former evil mission. However, Kylo Ren is not the leader of the charge, and he is still an apprentice in Episode VII. The identity of his master, Supreme Leader Snoke, is still a mystery (I’ll elaborate more on this later) since he is only scene through a hologram in The Force Awakens .

Luke Skywalker feels defeated after Klyo turns evil, and performs the typical Jedi practice of going into a long-term, self-imposed exile to meditate on one’s failures.

The Force Awakens is really about the good guys, or the the Resistance, trying to find an astray Luke Skywalker to help them fight a refueled dark side known as the First Order. Arguably the most important revelation in the movie is the main character, Rey, discovering that she has the force (hence The Force Awakens). Remember, she is not a Jedi yet because she has not gone through any training. The force is a something few have: at this point in the story the only others we know who have it are Kylo Ren, Snoke, and Luke Skywalker.

The movie ends with Rey finding Luke, approaching him at his hideaway, and handing him his light saber.

Most of the stuff I touched upon is pretty common knowledge for a Star Wars fan, but it does not hurt to refresh the mind.

Back to the original question on the meaning of the movie title.

The title is obviously referring to Luke Skywalker since he is the only Jedi left, and the the opening crawl of The Force Awakens actually proves that he is “the last Jedi.” It seems like the kid from Tatooine is going to be center stage this December. The title does cause some worry for Star Wars fans. Does this mean that we will never have another Jedi after Luke Skywalker? Or he is just currently the last Jedi? Regardless, the next movie has the potential to shake the Star Wars universe when these questions are answered.

However, Luke is not the only character that Star War’s fans will be dying to get a more in depth look at. The background of Rey and the identity of Supreme Leader Snoke will probably be the most game changing revelations of the new movie.

The only way someone can posses the force is if it’s inherited from a parent. It is revealed that Rey’s parents were taken away by the First Order when she was very young. No one really has a clue who they are. The most common assumption is that it is Luke, but that seems too obvious. Another assumption is that Leia and Han Solo, the parents of Kylo Ren, are also her parents – which would also be a predictable outcome.

Obviously if her parent(s) has the force, he or she must be quite important since few people are known to posses that virtue.

I am at a loss for words on Rey; her parents won’t be the obvious contenders, but their identity will be crucial and most likely carry a lot of weight as the story continues.

We are almost guaranteed to get to know Snoke more in the next movie. He said, “Leave the base at once and come to me with Kylo Ren” though a hologram to one of First Order generals at the end of The Force Awakens. So who is he, and what do we know so far?

In Episode VI, it was thought that all of the evil, force wielding Sith Lords were done away with after the Deaths of Vader and Emperor Palpantine. Yet, Snoke must have been around at that time because he has created a unit, The First Order, quit similar to the Galactic Empire, and Snoke looks very old – he was definitely around in Episode VI which is 30 years before Episode VII.

However, his connection with the Vader and the original series goes even deeper. Snoke’s apprentice, Kylo Ren, is obsessed with Darth Vader and Vader’s mission. Ironically enough, Darth Vader turned to the light side, and it would seem that Luke would have made this clear to Kylo before Kylo betrayed him.

So how did Kylo develop such a strong knowledge of Lord Vader to the point where he almost worships him? There must have been somebody close enough to Vader to convey such information, and that person must have been Snoke.

Does this mean that the creators of Star Wars are trying to tell us that there was another powerful, force controlling person who reigned along side Vader that we never even knew about? Wouldn’t that really throw a wrench in the original series? Would they really have to guts to change a 40-year old story line? Would it work?

All I can say is that Snoke had to have been around during the original series, and he had to have a pretty close tie with Darth Vader. Therefore, it seems we may be getting some major plot enhancement or changes to the original trilogy. I have confidence in Disney since they have been knocking Star Wars movies out of the park with The Force Awakens and Rogue One. Yet, dipping back into the sacred trilogy is risky business that may receive harsh criticism no matter how good the final product turns out to be.

On the contrary, maybe Snoke was not in power during Episode VI; maybe he was just an apprentice, so they won’t be messing with original trilogy too much. But he still has to have a strong connection to Darth Vader. After you take that into consideration, you can just let your mind run wild with who this person may be – the internet has been for over a year.

Here’s a theory: the First Order discovered that a family possessed the force and they needed someone to lead them after Vader and Palpatine were compromised and defeated. The First Order then finds Rey’s parents (but leaves her for some unknown reason). The First Order forces her force sensitive dad, Snoke, to become evil and try to take control of the galaxy. Obviously, this is an awful theory because Snoke is not even a human like Rey, and I did not even explain where the mom could have gone. My point is, these are the types of thoughts that will be bouncing around my head for the next 10 plus months.

I started off by discussing the movie title, and I ended up here. Wow, Star Wars really does take you to a galaxy far, far away…