Force Awakens Theories: Snoke's Identity, Arthurian Legend, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Rey's Name, George Lucas And More

Okay, so we've already tried to answer some of the unanswered questions of Star Wars: The Force Awakens and also offered some of our own ridiculous theories. Today I thought I'd take a look at some of your ridiculous (and not so ridiculous?) Force Awakens theories.

After the jump you can see some more theories about the possible identity of Supreme Leader Snoke, connect the dots between Arthurian legend and The Force Awakens, find out what Obi-Wan Kenobi's legacy may have to do with the future of this franchise, wonder if Rey is even her real name, speculate on whether Max Von Sydow's Lor San Tekka is a metaphor for George Lucas, and lastly dig into a theory involving a "subtle relationship" between two same-sex characters. All this and more, after the jump.

Warning: The following article discusses spoilers for Star Wars: The Force Awakens and theorizes on how things may come into play in Star Wars Episodes VIII and IX.

We've theorized at length about Supreme Leader Snoke's origins in the past, and I've attempted to debunk the theory that he is Darth Plagueis (the Sith lord and former master of Palpatine who is mentioned in Revenge of the Sith). One of the other theories I've seen floating around is that Supreme Leader Snoke is actually the Grand Inquisitor from Disney XD's Star Wars Rebels. And it's not out of the question as the Rebels creators have said it's possible for characters from the animated TV series to crossover into the live action films.

Those of you who watch Rebels know that the Inquisitors were commanded to track down and kill any remaining Jedi. The Grand Inquisitor answered to Darth Vader himself, and was tasked to hunt down a Jedi named Kanan and his apprentice Ezra. At the end of season one (spoilers coming up), Kanan and the Inquisitor have a final duel and the Inquisitor falls off a bridge over a reactor core on the verge of exploding. Moviepilot, however, theorizes that the Inquisitor didn't die:

The dark side is very strong with the Inquisitor, so the force could have protected him... somewhat. Hence the scarring of Snoke. Snoke looks to have a form of a Pau'an being (from Utapau), which is The Grand Inquisitors race as well. Star Wars Rebels has a different animation style than the big screen movies. So Snoke could very well be Pau'an. Snoke has severe scarring — Maybe from an explosion? But still has a Pau'an look to him. Snoke is obviously strong with the Force — as was the Inquisitor. He was highly trained in using the Force to control his lightsaber throws as well as interrogate prisoners. Snoke specifically wants to find Luke Skywalker. Possible Jedi hunting continued after Vaders death. Snoke is 7 feet tall according to Andy Serkis. And the Grand Inquisitor is approximately that height as well. Snoke as an Inquisitor makes more sense. Plagueis would have a different approach to alliances. In this case, the Knights of Ren. (Like an evil Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.) Plagueis, as stated earlier, would be wiser in his choice of an apprentice rather than a gamble on Kylo Ren.

They go on to theorize how the Inquisitor might have joined forces with General Hux and the First Order, fitting their theory into what we know about the backstory of Hux and the First Order:

General Hux's father Brendol Hux was the Commandant over seeing special cadets at Arkanis Academy. (A branch off the Imperial Academy.) It was used for finding talented individuals that showed above average skill in the military. It also was a place where Inquisitors were trained to hunt and kill Jedi! The Grand Inquisitor was overseeing the operations of finding Force-sensitive recruits to become Inquisitors! Which means most likely, Brendol Hux and the Grand Inquisitor knew each other. As they were stationed at the same base and were high-ranking authorities. After the signing of the Galactic Concordance (Peace Treaty with the Empire and New Republic after the Empire lost the Battle of Jakku), Brendol Hux and others defected or fled. Skip ahead 30 years later. Brendol Hux's son, General Hux is the military leader of the First Order and Snoke (the Grand Inquisitor) is the Supreme Leader of the Order. Which explains why Snoke listens to General Hux. He knew his father!

While the image is a clever presentation and the theory is fun and all, it just doesn't add up for me.

And speaking of Snoke theories, our friends at Star Wars Minute did a good job of summing up some of the theories and presenting the evidence for and against, in a short 5-minute video. I like the suggestion that if Supreme Leader Snoke was Darth Plagueis, it weakens Palpatine as a character and undermines his abilities and legacy as a master manipulator. He goes on to explain how Star Wars Aftermath might give us some clues about Snoke's origins on the very dark edge of the galaxy.

On Reddit, Fantoman posits that Star Wars: The Force Awakens is an adaptation of Arthurian legend. This theory is more of an interpretation than a hypothesis, but it's still interesting to read:

I believe the real purpose of Kylo's saber is for the medieval imagery, to subconsciously remind us of Arthurian tales. The tri-sword obviously resembles a medieval broadsword. On top of that, Kylo also wears more of a tunic than robes like we've seen in the past, his cape on one shoulder is also reminiscent of what we see in some medieval movies. He has long curly hair like Jon Snow. Kylo is basically a Mordred/Sherriff of Nottingham type character. His helmet is much like a black knight. Maz Kanata is in a castle, which is decorated with banners much like medieval times, and we see lots of huge stone blocks — the appearance is very simlar to something we would see in England. Stormtroopers have shields. Kylo has his own Knights (like an evil Knights of the Round Table), which wear medieval style armor and helmets. Phasma has metallic armor like a knight. The sword fighting is now more medieval style, with large swings and heavy hits.

Fantom goes on to explain how even the locations in this film are almost like the European settings of the King Arthur tales, set on planets with forests and lakes rather than the emptiness of space. He doesn't explain the desert planet of Jakku which takes up the majority of the opening of the movie.

You could imagine a LOTR or Game of Thrones battle happening in front of Maz's castle, in the snowy woods, or Luke's island. Luke of course, would be Merlin. So then we have Rey, who is basically a poor peasant. She comes along and basically takes what Kylo believes is his birthright. He thinks his bloodline grants him the right to rule the galaxy like Vader because he is Vader's grandson. He probably had Snoke filling him with ideas of grandeur throughout his youth, like an evil Morgana/Morgan le Fay (Snoke was even supposed to be a woman at one point). But Rey is the true heir to Skywalker's legacy, like Arthur (Even with a British accent!). She was hidden when the Empire/Kingdom fell apart, but now has returned from obscurity to take her place. Mordred who Kylo is probably based on is famous for being King Arthur's traitorous nephew. Maz tells her the sword belonged to Vader and Luke, and now it calls to her — Maz bestows the sword that she has been saving all this time to Rey like the Lady of the Lake. Kylo sees the sword later and says it belongs to him. But then they have a sword in the stone moment and he can't pull it to himself. We are surprised when it suddenly flies out past him and to Rey instead. The sword chose her. The sword is much like Excalibur, a legendary sword with great importance and symbolizes Rey as the true successor.

And finally, Fantoman tries to compare the island that Luke Skywalker is found at the conclusion of the film to that of Avalon:

In King Arthur there is a magical island called Avalon where Arthur goes to hide after losing in battle to his nephew Mordred. It is a place associated with magic and Excalibur was forged there. After recovering from his wounds he returns from Avalon to lead his allies against his enemies. This parallels Luke losing to his nephew and leaving to find the ancient Jedi Temple, which happens to be on an island.

I really dig this theory, and some of these concepts might very well be intentional on the parts of J.J. Abrams and co-writer Lawrence Kasdan. And this isn't the first time Star Wars has been compared to Arthurian legend, as the stories that are the basis of George Lucas' movies come from the foundation of mythic storytelling.

Mr. Sunday Movies has put a video together elaborating on my theory that Rey might not be Luke Skywalker or Leia Organa's offspring, but instead the granddaughter of Obi-Wan Kenobi. He has a lot of good evidence and presents it in a nice visual way.

As for Rey's parents, someone on Reddit compiled all the theories into one GoogleDoc.

One of the biggest questions people have after seeing The Force Awakens is who Max Von Sydow's character is supposed to be. We attempted to answer the question at length in our unanswered mysteries feature, but now Redditor vertical_suplex has a fun theory that claims that Lor San Tekka is simply a homage to George Lucas.

Lor San Tekka (G Lucas) is handing the series over to Poe (JJ Abrams). The more I think about it the more it makes sense that if we never learn anything about Lor San Tekka, it's just that he was there to pass along information..... just like George passing the franchise on to the next generation. this is also evident when he converses with Kylo "You know what I've come for." (the Franchise) Kylo represents Disney, coming to take the map to Luke (aka the franchise from George.)  "I know where you come from, before you called yourself Kylo Ren." (G Lucas already wrote these stories with Vader's grand kids in mind and here is the grand kid confronting him. Of-course Disney didn't want to acknowledge this and wanted to continue down its own path) Then Disney (Kylo) ended Lucas (Lor San Tekka) once and for all.

And let's not forget the first line of dialogue from the film, which is Lor San Tekka saying, "This will begin to make things right." It's a fun reading, but most likely just a projection by the viewer and not intended by the filmmakers (for the most part, as I'm still not sure the first line of the film isn't a slam on the Star Wars prequels).

Hypable has published a theory suggesting that Oscar Isaac's character Poe Dameron could be the first gay character in the live-action Star Wars movie universe. You might recall that earlier this year, the first official out LGBT character was introduced to the Star Wars galaxy in one of the new novels. And Hypable theorizes that Dameron might be the first gay representation in the movies. They pulled the following quote from an interview Isaac did with his fellow castmates on Ellen:

"I think it's very subtle romance that's happening. You know, you have to just look very close — you have to watch it a few times to see the little hints. But there was." Isaac sounds seemingly honest with this statement, then goes on to make a few jokes with the others of the 'we can't spoil you, so we're getting ridiculous' variety. However, Ellen comes back to Isaac to confirm: "So it's subtle, but you were playing romance. When we're watching you, that's what we should be aware of." Here's where it gets good — Isaac agrees, but teases that he won't say with which character, gesturing between Ridley and Boyega.

While Isaac could be alluding to the seeds of a potential romance between John Boyega and Daisy Ridley's characters Rey and Finn, that seemed rather obvious to me and most people I've talked to (honestly, I hope they don't go there — I like that their story is about friendship and not a romantic relationship). Hypable theorizes that Isaac is talking about Finn and Poe:

But if you've seen Star Wars: The Force Awakens already, you'll know that, if Isaac was being serious, the romance that he mentioned playing as Poe was directed towards his male, not his female, co-star. There's every chance that Isaac wasn't even trying to hide this fact. Maybe he was outright referring to Poe and Finn's relationship as a romance in a tongue-in-cheek fashion — he even checks with Boyega who agrees, once they start messing around. But a) at this point, we didn't know anything about how Finn and Poe would interact in the movie, so there was no big homoerotic subtext-y in-joke to wink and nudge elbows at, and b) Oscar Isaac really doesn't seem like the kind of guy who would play up a no-homo bromance for laughs. He may make a lot of dick jokes, but this is a man who also recently called out a journalist about trying to assign gender to droids, with an approach I'm starting to recognize as his trademark — he seems to address such issues head-on with a progressive, sharp and dead serious attitude, spun with just enough of a laugh to keep it playful, before bringing it back to the genuine point he wants to hammer home.

I'm not sure there is evidence in the movie to suggest anything more than a friendship, and I don't think there is enough in the ambiguous quote for a definitive ruling. The Force Awakens has been very progressive in its casting, especially compared to other big-budget blockbuster films, and it would be interesting if the movies pushed the envelope by including characters of not just every gender and race but also every sexuality. Hypable goes much much MUCH further into the speculation, and you can hit their site if you want to do the deep dive.

What if the main protagonist in The Force Awakens isn't named Rey? Redditor Patojavier speculates that Kylo Ren and Rey represent different aspects of Anakin/Darth Vader, the Light and the Dark:

Kylo, represents Anakin's anger, fear, jealousy, etc is named Ben (Vader's ultimate enemy) and Rey represents love, compasión, forgiveness, etc; is named Padme (Anakin's true love, even in Vader's state)

He goes on to say that the word "rey" means "king" in Spanish, which suggests royalty. While I love the almost surface symbolic nature of Daisy Ridley's character's name (a ray of light enters the darkness, an awakening in the force) it might make sense that her name was changed after she was abandoned/hidden on Jakku. While its possible that Rey isn't her given name, I don't think there is any evidence to support that she has another name, never mind "Padmé".

But I included this theory in this round-up anyway because it never occurred to me that Rey's name might not be Rey at all. I mean, if someone was hiding her on Jakku it makes sense for her to go under an alias or a name she came to herself.

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