The Revolutionary Hyperspace Jump in ‘The Last Jedi’ Foreshadows Rey’s Destiny
Part of the appeal of Star Wars has to do with the complex ways in which the series’ most iconic moments are rolled into action. From happy accidents predicting the dark turn of specific characters to calculated nods about where the franchise’s future is headed, the Star Wars films are ripe with clues about the franchise’s future of events.
One event from The Last Jedi, however, has fans wondering whether it was deliberate or not.
Foreshadowing in ‘Star Wars’
For a modern audience who just discovered Star Wars, the franchise’s strange release sequence might not hit in the same way that they did as they came out organically.
If someone were to watch the film in the order of their places in the story, the foreshadowing that occurred in the prequels might not be as evident as it would have been otherwise.
From A New Hope to The Phantom Menace and beyond, the entire franchise rides on the back of certain visual and audio clues that show the fate of the characters involved. Lucas made no qualms about this as he spoke on the franchise. Drawing from the likes of Akira Kurosawa while packaging them as serialized fiction, Lucas didn’t create a film. He created mythology.
From Anakin’s foreboding dialogue throughout the prequel series to hints about the relationship between Darth Vader and his kids, these details have shaped the Star Wars mythos since the first film was released to theaters and changed the movie-going experience forever. The latest trilogy, however, has not skimped on these types of details.
From call-backs to the original films to explanations about its many plot holes, the trilogy aimed to fit right in with all of the other movies in the saga.
One particular moment in The Last Jedi helps to bring this point home.
Foreshadowing in ‘The Last Jedi’
When JJ Abrams was brought on to rejuvenate the Star Wars franchise, fans knew that his film would offer the same type of foreboding that was accustomed to the franchise. This was, after all, the man who gave people Lost and the Cloverfield franchise. At the time, Abrams was supposed to work on just a single film. However, he used that film to recapture the original’s magic and ask new questions in the process.
As the franchise continued and Rian Johnson took the second film’s reins, some of the questions were thrown out, while others were expanded on. However, one pivotal moment in the movie may have shown us everything that happened in the next film.
When Rey and the film’s antagonist, Kylo Ren, defeat the evil Snoke, several visual clues appear to show the characters’ fates in the future. Whether these were accidental or not, however, Reddit fans had a field day picking these apart. ]
The Holdo Maneuver
Reddit user NoKenjataimu pointed out a striking similarity between the visual language used when a lightsaber breaks and when a flagship is destroyed later on.
“Accidental foreshadowing: Not only did Ben Solo fail to redeem himself in this scene (the lightsaber breaks), but Rey Palpatine also “failed” to ascend the throne (the flagship breaks). Both are split between the Dyad.”
Fans chimed in about how that sort of trope would fit the franchise, but likely was a happy accident that was still saying a very similar thing. At its core, Star Wars is a story about a broken galaxy that needs fixing, and several times throughout the series, this is shown through a variety of different methods. Regardless of whether this particular one was intentional, it riveted an audience.
As more films come out doing their own thing with the Star Wars universe, more fans will come forward with theories. Sometimes these theories will be based in fact, while others will be mere speculation.
Regardless, instances such as this help define Star Wars and let fans know to keep their eyes peeled. They might find something even the filmmakers missed in the process.
