A lot of the events of The Last Jedi left us wondering what could possibly happen in Episode IX. However, there was one clear clue of a future storyline. There might even be some more clues as to how it could play out. Let’s discuss.
The clear story line I’m referring to is that presumably will be explored is Rey’s future as a Jedi, and how she will potentially start a new Jedi order.
I recently was reminded about something that happened in The Force Awakens trailer. Watch it again and take a trip down memory lane.
I’m talking about the verbal exchange that appears to come from Rey and Maz:
Who are you? -Maz
I’m no one. -Rey
What’s interesting about this is although it is never said that Rey was “no one”, in The Force Awakens, it wasn’t until The Last Jedi that we heard the quote from Kylo:
You come from nothing. You’re nothing. But not to me. -Kylo
In a way, it almost felt like the trailer for TFA had a bit of foreshadowing for TLJ. This of course makes me wonder if there were any quotes from Rey in the TLJ trailer that never occurred in the movie, and could possibly be foreshadowing for Episode IX. I didn’t find what I was looking for, but I did find something in the TLJ teaser. Remember this exchange?:
Light, Dark, Balance – Rey
It’s so much bigger -Luke
We didn’t get this exchange directly on film, but it could be part of a deleted scene. It could have been related to Luke’s quote about the island having balance, “powerful light, powerful darkness“, or possibly to the notion of how the Force was so much bigger than the Jedi. Luke said that the Force is the tension and it is the balance.
These lines intrigued me for a while because it sort of hinted at what the future of Force-users could be in the Star Wars universe. This was around the same time as the Bendu in Rebels, and Ahsoka’s return to Rebels as a non-Jedi Force-user, which lead to the conjecture that “balance” is the next big thing in Star Wars. I’ve always wondered whether Ezra would survive Rebels to join Ahsoka as a non-Jedi Force-user. We’ll see very soon if that happens.
While we didn’t see anything about Rey’s new Jedi order, we did see that she has the sacred Jedi books, and Yoda even had a line about Rey having the books. It is presumed that Rey will go off to start her own Jedi order. Recently, with the release of the TLJ illustrated book, a snippet about Rey and Kylo made me think:
This is really interesting to me because it’s the first time that I’ve seen it suggested that both Rey and Kylo would rebuild the Jedi order together, and it has serious possible implications for Episode IX. Was it lost in translation from Spanish, or was there more? Obviously, the movie didn’t end up that way, but it could at least been part of Rey’s original plan. After all, Ben Solo was once a Jedi, so if he were to come back to the light it would only make sense that he would help Rey rebuild a new Jedi order.
We already know that one of the reason why Snoke wanted Kylo for an apprentice was because of his balance of light and dark. And now with TLJ, there is a notion from Snoke about Rey being the light-side power that has emerged to balance Kylo:
Darkness rises, and Light to meet it -Snoke
If this is the case, and if in Episode IX, Rey and Kylo ultimately get together and join forces (which is kind of more and more where I see this going), then would this bring a balance to a future “new order of Force-users”? If Rey and Kylo really are sort of a yin and yang to each other, and are “linked” by some mysterious connection because they are meant to balance out each other, then could an outcome that together they will create a future era of Force-users more like the Bendu, and are a new group that dip into the ancient teachings of both the Jedi and the Sith? It’s sort of an exciting outcome, and definitely would lead the saga in different directions. It’s as if the Prequels end with the Dark side taking control, the Original Trilogy ends with the Light side taking back control, and the Sequel trilogy ends with balance taking control. It would be an interesting landscape for another sequel trilogy, Episodes X, XI, and XII, that begins with this new era of these Force-users that straddle the line between light and dark. This of course raises all sorts of questions. Would they be called Jedi still if they balance light and dark? Presumably not. There are no gray Jedi. May they’ll bring out the “Bendu” name for this new order?
Then there is the “prime Jedi”. The image of the prime Jedi, definitely connotes the yin and yang. So we have this theory that the original Jedi order may have balanced light and dark:
Now that Rey has the books, presumably she will read about this original Jedi order and the prime Jedi. It could be interesting to hear more about this guy. If they end up delving more into the history of the Jedi while Rey reads those books, it makes you wonder if his teachings will be part of this emerging “balance” motif. At this point, it’s anyone’s guess. It’s also possible that JJ will take a completely different angle with the new order. Time will tell, and the speculation is half the fun!
Brought to you by @davestrrr. Stay tuned to SpoiledBlueMilk.com for the best of Star Wars!