International Titles Confirm 'Star Wars: The Last Jedi' Is Plural
The initial reaction to the news that Rian Johnson's upcoming Star Wars movie would be titled Star Wars: The Last Jedi went something like this: "Ooh. That's a cool title! But what does it mean? Who is the last Jedi? Is it Luke? Is it Rey? Wait...the plural form of Jedi is Jedi, so maybe it's referring to both of them? Well, I guess we're going to have to wait until the official international translations arrive, which should shed some light on this English language predicament!"
And here we are: the international translations have arrived and Star Wars: The Last Jedi is plural, meaning that the title is in reference to more than one Jedi Knight.
This is probably a silly thing to care about, but it's definitely interesting and sheds just a little more light on what The Last Jedi will actually be about. After all, Yoda noted that Luke would be the last Jedi on his deathbed in Return of the Jedi and the opening crawl to Star Wars: The Force Awakens directly referred to the exiled son of Anakin Skywalker as "the last Jedi." However, the confirmation that this is plural rather than singular makes it clear that Luke is not the final Jedi in existence – he is one of the few final Jedi in existence, which is a far more hopeful reading of that title. Plus, it confirms that Rey's Force abilities are no fluke and that she's being counted amongst those few.
A reader directly contacted us on Twitter with this news, noting that the Portuguese translation of the title confirms The Last Jedi is plural:
@slashfilm It's plural! There is more than one Jedi. Legit image, just posted on the Portuguese #StarWars FB page! pic.twitter.com/njMl7rzUsq
— Ricardo Detroit Rock City (@RicardoDuToit) February 17, 2017
And just to make sure this isn't a mistake or a fluke, let's look to the Spanish title. Yep. That checks out, too.
They've translated "The Last Jedi" into Spanish as "Los Ultimos Jedi" using the plural. So that that as you will. #starwars
— NewbieDM (@newbiedm) February 17, 2017
And just in case those two magnificent languages weren't enough evidence for you, the Germans have also gotten in on this plural Jedi business.
Because of how the Germans use grammar, we now know that "Jedi" is plural in "The Last Jedi". Vielen Dank. pic.twitter.com/QupIQb4K8X
— Peter Austin (@ThatPeterAustin) February 17, 2017
And wouldn't you know it? The French translation aligns with the others as well.
The French title for the next Star Wars movie ("The Last Jedi") in English is "Les derniers Jedi" — so plural. https://t.co/wcbztCMXgc
— Olivier Knox (@OKnox) February 17, 2017
And just in case you're not convinced, here's Italy to wrap this all up for us.
So this is veeeeery interesting. The Italian translation of "The Last Jedi" indicates that it's meant to be read as plural. pic.twitter.com/fsQgbvChuF
— Bria LaVorgna (@chaosbria) February 17, 2017
Star Wars: The Last Jedi is set to open on December 15, 2017. Mark Hamill and Daisy Ridley will star as those last Jedi, with Carrie Fisher, John Boyega, Adam Driver, and Oscar Isaac all returning as the non-Jedi.