What to Expect from Luke and Rey in Star Wars: The Last Jedi
Entertainment Weekly just dropped an article in correlation with this week’s Fall Movie Preview issue that sets the stage for what to expect with the Luke/Rey relationship dynamic in The Last Jedi (Dec 15). EW spoke with Luke Sywalker (Mark Hamill) himself and jedi-in-training Rey (Daisy Ridley) as they gave some interesting comments concerning their characters’ relationship in the upcoming film.
(quotes from EW):
Hamill gave a few words about Luke and his change as a character:
“The fact that Luke says, ‘I only know one truth. It’s time for the Jedi to end…’ I mean, that’s a pretty amazing statement for someone who was the symbol of hope and optimism in the original films,”
“When I first read it, my jaw dropped,” the actor says. “What would make someone that alienated from his original convictions? That’s not something that you can just make up in an afternoon, and I really struggled with this thing.”
Ridley discusses Rey’s expectations and disappointment in meeting Skywalker:
“She’s so hopeful to everything,” Ridley says. “And obviously there’s a hint of, ‘What the hell?’”
Luke’s brush-off makes Rey miss the gruff warmth of Han Solo, Ridley says, giving us a peek inside the head of her character: “’Oh my God, this other man that I lost within a couple days was somewhat of a father figure. Now he’s gone, and instead I’m with this grumpy guy on an island who doesn’t want me here.’”
“I don’t think one girl, who he doesn’t know, turning up with a lightsaber is gonna make him go, ‘Oh, s—, yeah, of course I’ll get back into the action,’” Ridley says.
What to expect:
The article from EW teases even more that a big part of Rey’s journey will be to discover things about her past that will shape her future. She will discover past connections and perhaps even why she was abandoned on Jakku. Along with her solo journey, she will have to come to terms with how the pieces of her own life fit with those of the cynical old Jedi master. Maybe together, two broken people can become whole again. In the eighth episode of the saga, Luke is doubting his own connection to the Force and begins to question how much he really got right about it in the first place.
Hamill also made an interesting comment about why Luke is in the place we find him in The Last Jedi:
“[Luke] made a huge mistake in thinking that his nephew was the chosen one, so he invested everything he had in Kylo, much like Obi-Wan did with my character,” Hamill says. “And he is betrayed, with tragic consequences. Luke feels responsible for that. That’s the primary obstacle he has to rejoining the world and his place in the Jedi hierarchy, you know? It’s that guilt, that feeling that it’s his fault, that he didn’t detect the darkness in him until it was too late.”
Luke is about the same age as Obi-Wan was when Luke stood where Rey now stands. But the Jedi is very different from his predecessor. Yet, in spite of his change over the years, there are apparently still remnants of that farmboy who gazed off into the double sunset on Tatooine all those years ago. Perhaps Rey will help him find that part of himself once again.
EW promises more to come on The Last Jedi, so stay tuned to SWNN as we keep you updated on their articles.
Jordan Pate is Co-Lead Editor and Senior Writer for Star Wars News Net, of which he is also a member of the book and comic review team. He loves all things Star Wars, but when he's not spending time in the galaxy far far away, he might be found in our own galaxy hanging out in Gotham City or at 1407 Graymalkin Lane, Salem Center, NY.
So the “Chosen One” is still in play. I’m curious how Luke learns about this concept and why he wouldn’t think it was Anakin.
We do see a copy of what could be the journal of the whills in lukes hut. Since he has no knowledge of his fathers “virgin birth”, I could easily see him reading the prophesy for himself and not know it had already been fulfilled. Even the original jedi might have misinterpreted it. That of course becomes less plausable if he is in contact with force ghosts who could just TELL him. However they might be using ‘chosen one’ more loosely in this interview. It would be surprising and a little disapointing if they really went down the chosen one gone wrong plot again. I can just see luke now yelling “you were the chosen one!!!” a la obi-wan in episode 3 lol.
Hopefully he’s just using ‘chosen one’ as ‘golden boy’ rather than referring to that dumb prophecy thing.
Anakin lost his “chosen one” status when he murdered all the Jedi and Children. Period. A Chosen One is not a mass murderer. YES Anakin saved Luke from Palpatine, which redeemed him at the end, but does not a Chosen One make him.
“Anakin lost his “chosen one” status when he murdered all the Jedi and Children.”
You don’t know that. Nowhere in the story is it suggested that being the Chosen One is some sort of earned designation that can be revoked if you’re nasty. All we’re really told is that the Chosen One was meant to bring balance to the Force. That’s it.
Well he didn’t bring balance to the Force b/c the Dark Side is still going STRONG heyo
That has very little to do with what I said. Or, for that matter, what you said. You said that Anakin “lost” his Chosen One status. I argued that it wasn’t some sort of rank that one could gain or lose. His fulfillment of the prophesy (or failure to fulfill the prophesy) is a different matter entirely.
Star Wars was supposed to end at VI under George Lucas, let’s not forget.
No. Anakin was the chosen one party BECAUSE he slayed the Jedi.
Not true. You are literally insane. Killing off INNOCENT JEDI does not make you the CHOSEN ONE for the Jedi. Period, end of dialogue, you lose.
Insane? Really, you want to talk about other mental facilities while throwing that around.
Actually, being the Chosen One has nothing to do with an individual being nice. The Force chose Anakin to fulfill the prophecy (unless VIII changes the meaning.) The jedi order was getting corrupt and had to be eliminated in the larger picture. Think of it as one of those “god works in mysterious ways” type of things.
The Jedi Order wasn’t corrupt per se. They were being manipulated by a corrupt Chancellor and took steps to remedy that when they (too late) realized it.
Except that’s pure conjecture on your part.
George Lucas himself has confirmed that “Balance in the Force” refers to LACK of dark side.
Yes, I’m not sure why you think I’m disputing that.
George Lucas HIMSELF has confirmed that “Balance in the Force” means LACK of dark side. The Force is “imbalanced” when the DARK is manifested.
That’s true. Though it seems the Prophecy was about the Sith, which is more specific than just the Dark Side. There are no Sith anymore. I think this movie will expand on the nature of the Force/Jedi/Sith and that might be what Luke is talking about when he says “it’s so much bigger.” The Jedi weren’t bad, but they had a limited view.
I’m not saying I’m right but my idea allows for the Prophecy not needing a retcon, honors what Lucas did, and raises the stakes the way a sequel should.
Right – “Balance in the Force” does not mean 50% Light and 50% dark. Just like “Balanced Health” does not mean your body is HALF healthy and HALF cancerous.
Yes the dark side is the very corruption of the force. And what did Anakin do? He destroyed all Sith and left the purist of Jedi.
But he also confirmed Anakin was the Chosen One. You can’t use “Lucas confirmed” when it suits your argument and completely dismiss it when you want to argue the exact opposite of what Lucas confirmed.
No
Yes, the Jedi of the prequel trilolgy had lost their way. They allowed the corruption of war and politics to influence their decisions in the order. As harsh as it sounds Anakin murdering all the Jedi and ultimately destroying the Sith left a clean slate allowing Luke to lead the next generation of Jedi and start over.
Yes, thank you for explaining it. It seems like most people don’t understand the most fundamental aspects of Star Wars.
They didn’t really lose their way, they were fooled. But they served the Republic and democracy and tried to arrest the Chancellor when they realized what was happening. They weren’t omniscient gods, but you make it sound as if they were evil.
Dude even Yoda realized they fucked up when he went into exile..they weren’t evil but they weren’t what the Jedi were supposed to be. This was something Anakin struggled with during the clone wars, especially with what happened with Ahsoka, that probably solidified his beliefs.
Failing doesn’t mean losing your way.
It does when you factor that part of your failure was misguiding your order and straying away from your core beliefs.
What exactly did they do wrong? They served a democratically elected government and then took action against it’s leader when they realized what he truly was.
“They served a democratically elected government.” The Jedi have no business in politics. It would have been a good dynamic to carry over to the ST. If Luke had an established Jedi order, it would’ve been nice to see him and Leia bicker about their different views. Obviously Leia being a general would expect her own brother to help, but Luke learning from the mistakes done in the past would have decided to stray away from all political affairs and have the Jedi be the keepers of the peace in the name of the force and not choose a specific “side” in government.
“For over a thousand generations, the Jedi Knights were the guardians of peace and justice in the Old Republic.” Had they lost their way back then? Were they misguided then? Was Luke wrong to side with the Rebellion? Should he not have played favorites and split his time between helping the Rebellion and Empire? I know the temptation to say there’s no good or bad but Star Wars was never like that. The Empire was always shown to be ruthlessly evil, as was Palpatine. The Republic gave people rights and representation. Why would the Jedi not support that same cause? Why would you want to give up your rights to a vigilante group of super-beings and trust them to do whatever they, not you, felt was best?
Its like saying “well we need to see things from Hitler’s perspective. Who’s to say democracy is better than genocide and invasion of sovereign nations?” Hypothetically, do you think Jedi would have supported the Allies, Axis, or simply took a knee and stayed uninvolved?
Hey I’m not the one who created the ideology of the Jedi so you’re asking those big questions to the wrong person lol. But yes the Rebellion was obviously the way to go for Luke because they’re the ones fighting against the Evil empire he was seeking to destroy. If you’re a Jedi I think it would be obvious to stop a super power running the Galaxy using fear and destruction, because that obviously would be a disturbance to the peace, correct? The Jedi ARE the keepers of the peace but they’re not stupid, they can stop evil without having to side with political affairs. That’s what I’m trying to get at.
The US Armed Forces can do the same, but I still think accountability to the people it serves is best.
“The Force” would never choose a person to kill off it’s innocent members. Period. That’s pure “Dark Side” mentality. Shame that the Prequels get you guys so confused on how this all works.
There would have been many ways to do what Anakin ultimately achieved, unfortunately his method was a dark and twisted one but it got the job done.
This whole conversation is why the prophecy plot was eye-rolling.
lol – haven’t we learned from that and the Matrix not to overuse these things?
What to expect from Luke & Rey in the Last Jedi: Too much contrived-dialogue, large amounts of wasted screen-time, not enough heroic-action, and ultimately damage to both beloved characters.
Once again, making unfounded griping claims about a movie you haven’t seen.
I can tell from how uncomfortable Mark Hamill and Daisey look in the interviews. This is going to be a strange strange film. I would LOVE to be wrong here, but I have a bad feeling.
We should embrace a strange film. Especially after the biggest criticism of 7 is that it wasn’t original enough.
Eh. I’ve seen strange already in the Prequels, it sucked.
What was strange about the Prequels in your opinion
It might be worth considering the possibility that you WERE a Star Wars fan but aren’t currently one. There’s nothing wrong with that. There are plenty of other entertainment options available.
Actually, I am a SW Fan. I loved the OT. I loved TFA. I liked Rogue One. The Prequels were embarrassing.
Some people liked the Prequels, some didn’t. But I’m curious as to what you think was strange about them.
Here we go again….
Sounds great, deal me in.
What to expect from a Kent Kaliber comment: unfounded criticisms and completely unnecessary hyphens.
My criticisms, though preemptive, are based on the reactions of Mark Hamill and Daisy Ridley. I would love to be wrong about this, but I see a bizarro-RianJohnsified-world ahead for us in TLJ….and I don’t like that.
I love this dark depressed version of Luke. It shows that not even the greatest heroes are perfect. He’s almost become like the dark knight returns. I’m sure Rey will pull him out of it to his former glory and he will train her just as obi wan and yoda did so long ago
“Luke] made a huge mistake in thinking that his nephew was the chosen one…”
Say again?
Right, cause Anakin’s not it LOL
You know for someone who drools at the mention of Vader on almost every comment section, one would think you would actually WANT him to be the chosen one.
I wish I had not read this article. I feel like they said too much. It is one thing to speculate about what the situation might be, it is another to be told what the situation is and take away some of that anticipation.
i always thought Luke was the chosen one..and it looks like this trilogy is going to show him fulfill the prophecy by bringing balance back…the grey jedi.. When Maul finds Obiwan on tatooine in Star Wars: Rebels, right before he dies he asks Obiwan if Luke was the chosen one…and Obiwan said ” he is”…. and as far as Luke and Rey journey being different than Obiwans…i dont really think it is..you are forgetting Obiwan and Anakins Journey….and how Obiwan must have felt and battled inside of his mind about Anakin falling to the darkside and destroying everything..Luke experienced the same thing Obiwan did….. kinda lame how they are mirroring everything…..
I believe George Lucas has said that Anakin was indeed the Chosen One, and he fulfilled the prophesy when he destroyed the Emperor.
Obiwan saying that Luke was the Chosen One is only showing what Obiwan thought at the time. It does not mean it is accurate.
Can you explain what you mean by “grey jedi” and how it makes any sense?
Unless Luke thinks the chosen one is brought back every time the force is outta whack, what the fuck? Has no one told him about his father?
Obi-Wan also thought Anakin was the chosen one and was later betrayed by him, but that didn’t stop him from training Luke. Why should Luke’s disappointment with Kylo make him go into exile and reject Rey ? RJ will have to come up with a better explanation if he wants to satisfy SW fans.