Ridiculous 'Star Wars: Episode 8' Theories: What If Rey...

Between answering the unanswered questions and trying to uncover all the easter eggs, my head has been stuck deep inside the Star Wars: The Force Awakens hole this week. I can't stop thinking about the new Star Wars movie, and like many of you, I want to see what comes next. Episode VIII is 520 days away, and that seems like forever. I've been chatting with friends and theorizing about possibilities of what we might see, and I've collected some thoughts on the matter below. So what might come next?

What follows is my (and others) ridiculous fan speculation. If you're the kind of person like me who sometimes enjoys "what if"s and thoughtful fan theories, this is for you.  I have no insider knowledge about the storyline for Episode VIII at this time, so this is just basically fan fiction.

It should be stated that Episode 8 writer/director Rian Johnson probably has far more creativity in one finger than I do in my whole body (as evidenced by his filmography). So I think it is very unlikely that I have stumbled onto anything that he may be planning for the next installment. I'm not suggesting any of these things should even happen, just putting them out there as part of the conversation.

That said, what I speculate about could possibly happen, so if you're spoiler-phobic about slight possibilities, don't read any further. Also, don't read the following unless you have seen Star Wars: The Force Awakens as it contains spoilers for that film. So let's get to the Star Wars Episode 8 theories.

In my extensive unanswered Force Awakens questions piece, I asked this question and presented four main possibilities:

Since writing that article a friend shared with me an interesting new possibility: What if Rey was the daughter of Supreme Leader Snoke?

Okay, before you freak out, let me present the evidence:

But we also don't know if Snoke is a human, capable of creating human offspring. He looks almost like an alien, but maybe that is the result of the dark side of the force deteriorating/consuming his body, much like Emperor Palpatine.

I like this idea for a couple reasons: No one is expecting it and it gives our main hero more personal conflicted stakes in this new Star Wars trilogy. That said, it seems unlikely. Kathleen Kennedy has said the Star Wars saga will continue the Skywalker story. And while Kylo Ren is most definitely a Skywalker, and if this trilogy mirrors either of the previous ones, Kylo will end up redeeming himself by the end of Episode IX — so that story could continue. But it seems much more likely that Rey is a Skywalker.

As for Luke Skywalker, on the next page I explore a rumored ending for this film which didn't happen.

Next up, I wanted to share one of the biggest spoilers I heard for The Force Awakens that didn't end up being true. To be clear, covering Star Wars in the way I do, I took a deep dive into the spoiler pool and knew pretty much all the big twists and turns of the movie. We tried to cover the film without spoiling any of the major reveals and twists (although we may have slyly alluded to them in the spoiler sections at some points).

But there was a couple spoilers that began circulating the movie websites that I made a big fuss over. I advised readers to watch out and avoid the possible spoiler. But now since it didn't come to pass, I thought it would be fun to share one of them with you. It doesn't seem like an option for Episode VIII, but who knows. Here goes:

We always knew that Rey goes to an island in search of Luke Skywalker, but one rumor claimed the meeting would be a reveal. Luke put himself in exile because he was afraid the dark side was consuming him. But isolating himself from everyone made things worse. Rey finds out that Luke has been consumed by the dark side and has been secretly been using the dark side of the force to control Kylo Ren remotely. The twist being that Kylo Ren is actually a good guy not under his own control and setting up Luke Skywalker as this trilogy's big bad.

The only reasons I like this idea is because of the twist and because we know Mark Hamill is great at playing a bad guy. Of course, the pieces to this one don't quite add up. It would have been an interesting twist/surprise, but I'm not sure it would have transcended gimmickry and resulted in a good story.

My third theory involves the Knights of Ren. They are mentioned in Star Wars: The Force Awkens as Kylo Ren is mentioned as the "master" of the organization by Snoke, and we even see the mysterious group briefly in Rey's vision.  But we learn very little about Kylo's descent to the dark side. It seems like such an interesting story to just gloss over. At first I wondered if they might explore that story in one of the A Star Wars Story standalone movies. But then the idea came to me: why not explore it in Episode VIII?

The Star Wars saga has always been moving forward (aside from the prequels, but those are presented in episode number order), and we haven't even seen a flashback in the films. Sure, Rey's force vision has the taste of a flashback, but it's not a flashback. So how could you explore the story of Kylo Ren's seduction by Snoke, descent to the dark side, the tragedy of Luke Skywalker's Jedi Training Academy, and the Knights of Ren without doing it in dialogue or as a flashback?

Kathleen Kennedy recently confirmed the returning cast for Episode 8, which included Harrison Ford. Was that a slip-up, an effort to protect the spoiler of his death in The Force Awakens, or could it be possible that he appears in a flashback of some kind?

Remember when Force Awakens co-screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan described Rian Johnson's script as "some weird thing"?

What if Episode VIII began not where we left off with Rey on the island with Luke Skywalker, but instead back in time, presenting that story before we catch up to our current moment in the galactic history. I'm not sure I like this idea because it feels so unlike Star Wars, but it could be interesting.

But another conspiracy theory has been making its way around the inter webs follows, after the jump.

Okay so we know that Star Wars: Rogue One is about a small group who sets out on a mission to steal the plans for the Death Star, essentially making it a prequel to A New Hope. But what if its also somewhat a prequel to The Force Awakens. The above image has been making its way around the internet, suggesting that Rogue One's group of soldiers might later become the Knights of Ren.

Let's look at the evidence:

Adam Driver has said that the Knights of Ren "was a group that existed before him, that he was a part of. Their place within everything is maybe more of a satellite group than I would say ... This is really tricky." So the group has existed for a long time, although the members would be as old as Luke, Leia and Han by the time The Force Awakens happens on the timeline. That said, the Knights of Ren's massacre of Luke Skywalker's Jedi Academy was probably ten to fifteen years after Return of the Jedi, judging from what we know.

Some of the weapons look the same, but even Rey has a staff. Sure this one looks more like the one we saw in the Knights of Ren shot from The Force Awakens, but it seems like it could just be a coincidence. It's not the first time fans have jumped on a conspiracy theory.

One of the big rumors going around before The Force Awakens went into production was that someone in the film would be playing an older version of one of the characters in the A Star Wars Story standalone movies. Most people clung to the idea that Max Von Sydow's character may be an older version of Boba Fett, with the bounty hunter's stand alone movie originally scheduled after Episode VIII. But what if Rogue One is partially used to set-up these characters who appear in the new Star Wars saga?

Director Gareth Edwards has said Rogue One won't feature any Jedi or Force powers, which pretty much rules out this theory assuming the Knights of Ren are Force Sensitive.

In the end, I just don't buy this theory, although it's fun to think about.

I'd love to hear what you think about each of these "What Ifs" and in particular the idea of Supreme Leader Snoke being Rey's father (which sparked this meandering post).

If you enjoyed this feature on Star Wars: The Force Awakens, you may want to check out some of the following articles: