'Star Wars Episode 9' May Reveal Luke's Final Lesson To Rey
One of the biggest mysteries that will remain around Star Wars: The Last Jedi is Luke Skywalker's unseen "third lesson." On Ahch-To, the exiled Jedi Master begrudgingly agrees to teach Rey three lessons. No more, no less. But, as well all know, he only got to two.
So what is Luke's final lesson? Was it thwarted by Rey leaving the island? Did it exist in the first place? Will we ever learn? Some of those questions get answered in the new deleted scenes that will be available on The Last Jedi's Blu-ray and DVD release. But that last question may be something we don't receive the answer to until 2019.
The Deleted Caretaker Raid
We learned back in December that one of the deleted scenes from The Last Jedi dives deeper into this missing final lesson. After Rey and Luke's talk in the cave, Rey looks down at the shoreline and sees a line of lights arriving by sea. Where they land, there is fire and commotion.
That is a group of bandits, Luke tells her, coming to raid the Caretaker village. Concerned, Rey is eager to save the village, but Luke is impassive. If you help them now, they will only come back with stronger forces, he tells her. A true Jedi Knight would do nothing to maintain the balance of the Force. So, does she still want to be a Jedi?
Furious, Rey ignites her lightsaber and dashes toward the shore — a scene that we saw in the making-of featurettes for the film. Luke calls out to her, but she ignores him. But when she arrives at the shore, she finds not a raid, but a party.
Fans would assume that this is the third lesson: That the Jedi must remain impassive in the face of violence and injustice. But that's not the case, director Rian Johnson told Entertainment Weekly. Johnson said:
"Originally it was just a breaking point for her. Okay, he's gone too far. This is the point where she finally says, 'Okay, if you're not gonna help, then I've wasted too much time here."
The scene would lead into Rey's final Force-connected conversation with Kylo Ren, where she learns that Luke had drawn his lightaber on Kylo. Angered, she would flee the island and try to turn Kylo to the Light. But Johnson cut it because it made Luke seem like too much of an a**hole. So instead, we get a more crushing transition from a hopeful relationship between Luke and Rey, to one of betrayal.
Looking Forward to Episode 9
So what is the third lesson? Johnson admits that it's not fully addressed in Last Jedi. But there are things that fans can choose to interpret as Luke's final lesson. The obvious one: Rey cannot trust Luke.
But Johnson hesitates to say more, because this is something that J.J. Abrams may explore in Star Wars Episode 9. So is this Abrams' problem now?
"Not problem, but possibility," Johnson clarifies to EW. "There are no problems, there's only potential."