Warning: MAJOR SPOILERS for Star Wars: The Last Jedi Below!
Star Wars: The Last Jedi answers a couple of the biggest questions surrounding the current Star Wars trilogy - but leaves many more unanswered. Episode VIII has received widespread critical acclaim, although not without the widest divide ever for a Star Wars movie between critics and fans, many of whom are taking Rian Johnson's sequel to task for the way he has chosen to address - or not address - several mysteries the writer-director inherited from J.J. Abrams' The Force Awakens.
To its credit, The Last Jedi tackles the backstory surrounding Luke Skywalker's exile on Ahch-To head on as well as provides a surprising answer to the mystery of who Rey's parents are. However, there remain huge questions that fans hoped would be answered in The Last Jedi left unresolved.
Related: The Last Jedi's Ending Explained
Today we're going to dive into some of the biggest confounding elements - ones that hopefully J.J. Abrams addresses in Episode IX.
The Skywalker Lightsaber Problems (This Page)
How did Maz Kanata Get Luke's Lightsaber?
The diminutive but resourceful Maz Kanata makes a brief but welcome appearance in The Last Jedi. Finn (John Boyega), Rose (Kelly Marie Tran) and Poe (Oscar Isaac) turn to her to help them find a codebreaker who can disable the locked door to the device that allowed the First Order to track the Resistance's ships through lightspeed. Maz was busy fending off a rather violent looking "union dispute" so she couldn't lend them her services personally.
However, at no point in her limited screen time is the lingering question posed to Maz: How did she acquire the blue lightsaber that once belonged to both Anakin (Hayden Christensen) and Luke Skywalker? Granted, the lightsaber question isn't a concern of Poe, Finn or Rose, not when they had a crisis that had to be dealt with immediately. Still, it's disappointing this huge plot hole from The Force Awakens still isn't addressed in The Last Jedi.
Maz told Rey how she came in possession of the lightsaber is "a story for another time." Fans hoped The Last Jedi would be that time. Since it was J.J. Abrams who posed that question in The Force Awakens, it would be ideal if he provided the answer at last when he comes back to direct Episode IX even though that lightsaber has now been destroyed.
Related: Why Luke Still Has His Green Lightsaber
Why Did Luke's Lightsaber Call to Rey and Give Her a Vision?
The Last Jedi provided the answer to who Rey's parents are. It turns out that despite numerous fan theories about Rey being a Skywalker, a Kenobi, or some kind of immaculate birth by the Force like Anakin Skywalker was, the answer turned out to be none of the above. Rey has no genetic or legacy ties to the Skywalker family.
Related: What Does The Last Jedi Reveal About Rey's Parents?
Therefore, every Star Wars fan can now join in on Maz Kanata's confusion regarding Rey that Luke's lightsaber "called to you?!" The lightsaber didn't just call to Rey, but it offered her a vision of the night Kylo Ren and the Knights of Ren destroyed Luke's Jedi Temple. Rey not being a Kenobi or a Skywalker makes the fact that Obi-Wan's voice can be heard calling Rey's name and saying "these are your first steps" even stranger.
The lightsaber may have ultimately been a means for the Force to initiate Rey's discovery of her abilities and fuel her desire to fulfill her destiny. If so, the Force chose an odd and roundabout way to go about it, but then, the Force moves in mysterious ways.
Why Was There A Map To Luke Skywalker?
To hear Luke relate his reasons to Rey as to why he placed himself in exile on Ahch-To, he had no intention of ever leaving nor of ever being found. Luke planned to spend the rest of his life on at the first Jedi Temple and take the thousand generation legacy of the Jedi with him to his grave. This does not sound like the actions of a man who wanted someone to come find him.
Why then was there a map to Luke Skywalker, and why did Lor San Tekka (Max Von Sydow) have it at the start of The Force Awakens? If Luke never wanted anyone to find him - and Rey's sudden appearance on Ahch-To was an unwelcome intrusion for the last Jedi Master - why would he leave even a piece of a map behind that would lead right to him?
Related: Star Wars: The Force Awakens: Opening Sequence Details Revealed
Unfortunately, Lor San Tekka was one of the very first casualties of the new trilogy so he's no longer around to provide an answer. Now that Luke himself has joined his Masters Obi-Wan (Alec Guinness) and Yoda (Frank Oz) as part of the Force, the answer to this mystery is now moot and likely will never be addressed.
What Is The State of the Republic?
The Last Jedi places the ragged remains of the Resistance on the run from the First Order for the duration of the film. As such, there's no time to address the huge questions about the state of the Galaxy after Starkiller Base destroyed Hosnian Prime, which was the capital world of the New Republic, and the surrounding planets in the Hosnian system.
Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) and the Resistance desperately seek to contact their remaining allies in the Outer Rim, but the questions about what is left of the Republic linger. If the governing body of the Republic is really gone, does this mean the First Order is in charge of the Galaxy? Supreme Leader Snoke (Andy Serkis) was much more interested in destroying the Resistance and finding Luke Skywalker. Neither he nor the other leaders of the First Order ever address conquering or replacing what's left of the Republic and establishing their rule.
Even with change in the leadership of the First Order that occurs in The Last Jedi, we wonder whether the villains will actually assert military and political dominance over the Galaxy, or whether they'll just continue expending all of their resources chasing the Resistance across space. Whether a new New Republic can rise up from the ashes is anyone's guess.
Where Are The Knights of Ren?
The Knights of Ren are presumably the other students of Luke Skywalker whom Kylo Ren didn't kill and took with him when he destroyed the Jedi Academy. However, besides the fact there are "Knights of Ren" and Kylo is called the "Master of the Knights of Ren" by Snoke, we still have no idea who the Knights are or even where they are.
Related: Kylo Ren's REAL Backstory Explained
Are the Knights even still alive? Or did Kylo and/or Snoke kill them all for some reason? If they are alive, why haven't they made an appearance outside of Rey's vision of them? Where are the Knights and what have they been doing for the last two films? It seems strange Kylo Ren didn't turn to his minions when Snoke admonished him for his failure at Starkiller Base against Rey.
Perhaps, now that Kylo Ren has usurped the title of Supreme Leader of the First Order, he will call upon his missing buddies to help him destroy Rey and the Resistance once and for all in Episode IX. If he does, will he also make them all abandon wearing their Darth Vader-inspired masks like Kylo himself has?
How Can Rey Be So Powerful Without Training?
One thing Rey and Kylo Ren could agree upon was that Rey needs a teacher in the ways of the Force. Luke even told Rey she needs a teacher before refusing the job. Ultimately, Rey received three lessons from Luke before leaving Ahch-To. Luke then set off to burn the Jedi Tree and the books of ancient Jedi knowledge. Now that Luke has become one with the Force, Rey is left without a teacher. Yet it seems like she hardly needs one.
Related: Yoda's Force Ghost Raises Some Problematic Questions
After Rey defeated Kylo Ren in a lightsaber fight, fans hoped The Last Jedi would provide direct answers as to the source and reasons behind Rey's abilities. After all, the Star Wars saga has spent years indoctrinating fans into the very specific rules of how Force-sensitive padawans become a Jedi Knights and the myriad trials they must endure to gain mastery over the Force. Rey seems to fly in the face of all of that tradition, having access to so much power and the ability to wield it as the plot requires without the specialized training fans have seen every other Jedi require.
Yoda indicated to Luke that Rey "already has everything she needs inside of her." Perhaps she is indeed a new kind of Jedi and the old rules don't apply to her, but it's easy to see how that can annoy many Star Wars diehards.
What is Snoke's Real Story?
Supreme Leader Snoke was the focus of a great deal of fan speculation. Everyone wanted to know the story behind mysterious, deformed master of the Dark Side and the First Order. The Last Jedi... provided no answers. None.
Related: What Does The Last Jedi Reveal About Snoke's Backstory?
We did spend a good deal of time in the physical presence of Snoke, unlike his previous appearance via hologram. The most we learned, however, is that Snoke is a very tall alien being and possesses great power over the Force - enough so that he was able to create a psychic bond between Rey and Kylo Ren. Soon, however, his hubris got the better of him and in a shocking moment, Snoke was suddenly dead.
It was established that Princess Leia, Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and Luke were all aware of Snoke, especially in regards to his influence over Kylo Ren. But actual details about who the Supreme Leader is, his origins, and how he came to control the First Order are nowhere to be found. Unless Episode IX contains some kind reading of Snoke's last will and testament or Kylo decides to recite some of Snoke's biographical data, the continuing mystery surrounding Snoke may be something that infuriates fans for quite some time.
Next: Star Wars Theory: Is Snoke The FIRST Jedi?
