Ever sinceStar Wars: The Force Awakenscame out, we have been dying to know what is going to happen in the next installment of the Skywalker saga. Most notably, we want to know what Luke is going to say since he didn’t utter a single word inEpisode VII. There is still a lot of mystery surroundingStar Wars: The Last Jedibut we now know whatLuke Skywalker’s first wordsare and oh man, there is a lot to dig into.
In case you missed it, a description of the very first footage fromStar Wars: The Last Jediwas revealed byThe Los Angeles Times. The footage features a lot of landscapes, Chewbacca, Leia, Finn and most importantly, Luke Skywalker talking to Rey. With his mouth. Using actual words. He only says three words, but those three words are very, very important. Here is how reporterDaniel Millerexplained it.
“We just saw more “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” footage. In it, Luke asks Rey, “Who are you?” Then we see her deftly handle a lightsaber.”
Okay so aside from the excitement of knowing that we are going to actually see Luke Skywalker say and do things inStar Wars 8, those three words are monumentally important and it is very important to look at what they could mean. The most obvious and truly revealing thing is that Luke doesn’t know who Rey is (or at least he doesn’t seem to) and that pretty much takes a few theories in regards toStar Wars: The Last Jedioff the table. For one, it is fairly safe to say that Rey is not Luke’s daughter, which has been speculated quite a bit but if he doesn’t know who she is, there is almost no way that is the case.
Luke Skywalker isn’t just aJedi. He is an insanely powerful one and likely stronger than we are even aware of, given his years spent honing his skills sinceStar Wars: Return of the Jedi. It stands to reason that a Jedi that powerful, who has dealt with some complex family issues in the past, would recognize a member of his family standing right in front of him. The Force would probably be tipping him off to some degree. That does raise other questions, though. Did he have nothing to do with leaving Rey on Jakku even if he isn’t her father? Does this mean that he really has absolutely no idea who Rey is and didn’t even sense a disturbance in the Force of some kind? Has he lost his mind? Or are Jedi just not as tuned as most think. After all, Luke didn’t know his father was Darth Vader when he first comes in contact with him. And he had to be told who his sister was, even after he’d presumably become a master of the Force in Jedi. Perhaps he can’t feel whom she is, because he’s never had this power, and she is much old than the last time he would have seen her, if he’s in fact, ever seen her at all.
All that said, it is pretty well documented inStar WarsthatForce-sensitive beings, specifically Jedi and Sith, can sense a specific presence. For example, when Darth Vader senses Obi-Wan’s specific presence on the Death Star after all of those years of not being around him. It stands to reason that if Luke had encountered Rey at some point in the past, even if he didn’t recognize her now that she’s older, he would sense her presence. So it really seems like Luke and Rey have no link whatsoever. At least not that they are aware of. That would also point to Rey not being related to Luke at all, daughter or otherwise. So she probably isn’t connected to Leia, Han or Anakin Skywalker either. Yes, there is a theory that Rey is a reincarnated Anakin. There is almost no way Luke wouldn’t sense something there if that were the case, so while we can’t say for sure that theory is off the table, we can safely put it in the bin labeled “probably not.”
What are some other possibilities? Well, it is possible that Luke is testing her. He could be a little paranoid and messed up from everything that has happened and even if he does sense her and know who she is, it could be his way of vetting her. Sort of like Yoda did with Luke inThe Empire Strikes Back. That seems less likely, but not impossible by any stretch of the imagination.
It may only be three words, but as anyStar Warsfan knows, three words can mean a lot. LikeThe Last Jedi, for example. Luckily we won’t have to wait that much longer for a little more context as the first teaser forStar Wars: The Last Jediis likely going to debut atStar WarsCelebration next month. Will we see Luke say more than just these three words? Probably not, but getting to see him talk at all will be a big deal.Star Wars: The Last Jediis written and directed byRian Johnsonand is set for release on December 15.
