Warning: There are major spoilers ahead for Star Wars: The Last Jedi.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi broke from tradition by picking up immediately where The Force Awakens left off, and that’s not the only thing that it broke! Director Rian Johnson and his creative collaborators took some pretty extreme chances that may completely change the shape of the franchise heading into Star Wars: Episode IX. Today’s Nerdist News is examining Jedi sacred texts to see if Episode IX will feature a significant time jump to chart the future of the new trilogy.
Join host and the galaxy’s top porg chef, Jessica Chobot, as she runs down the reasons why Episode IX can’t simply begin right where The Last Jedi leaves off. For starters, the Resistance is pretty much gone at this point, aside from the people who safely made it onto the Millennium Falcon. As General Leia herself might say, that’s a whole lot of dead heroes. (R.I.P. Admiral Ackbar! You’ve gone to that eternal trap in the sky.)
Aside from the Resistance needing to rebuild and regroup, the story needs some space between the deaths of Han Solo and Luke Skywalker before dealing with the fact that Carrie Fisher‘s demise means that Leia has been lost as well. We suspect that Poe Dameron‘s failures in this movie may have finally taught him the necessary lessons to take on a more active leadership role in Leia’s absence.
As for Rey, she may now be the Last Jedi… until she isn’t. Luke’s sacrifice seemed like a passing of the Jedi torch to Rey, but the ending of the film suggests that Rey isn’t the only Force-user left who still believes in following Luke’s example. Given a few years, Rey might have a few apprentices of her own while fully embracing her new Jedi Order.
Finally, we’ll need a time jump to see the final evolution of Kylo Ren. The man formerly known as Ben Solo may not have been able to kill his mother, but her death means that the last piece of his lingering humanity is gone. Now that Kylo Ren has seized control of the First Order, he could achieve his dream of surpassing Darth Vader‘s legacy. He may even declare himself to be the new Emperor. And if Rey’s powers expand after a few years of training, you can bet that Kylo Ren will be more powerful as well when he meets his rival in battle for the last time.
How do you feel about Episode IX‘s potential time jump? Let us know in the comment section below!
Images: Lucasfilm
