Episode VIII and time skips

[Rowan Sjet]

Between every episode so far, there has been a significant amount of time passing, as little as the year between TESB and ROTJ and as much as the 30 years between ROTJ and TFA.

The way TFA leaves off, you'd think it would pick up straight away, but can we actually expect that?

 

[Timelord79 (he/him)]

I actually expect time jumps or flashbacks in Episode VIII, to explain at lest Rey's and Kylo's backstories if not more of the galactic happenings.

 

[ancient]

Episode 8 opening scene:

Rey is still trying to hand Luke the lightsaber, as night falls on the island. The awkwardness intensifies as Luke believes she is a hobo trying to sell him something & if he touches it he will be obligated to buy it.

 

[The Old Mixer]

As the sun sets, a pipe band marches in from the distance....

[yt]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AcZVRiB9AQk[/yt]

 

[JirinPanthosa]

I suspect that the things that happened between VI and VII were intended as one of those side story movies. Though I'd much rather see them as part of VIII. I would be happy if VIII had Godfather II style pacing.

There might be some time skip between VII and VIII but I hope not too much. Just because I really want to see what Ren's 'final training' is and not just have him step out and say 'Welp, that was some good final training! I'm no longer tempted by good now.'

 

[The Wormhole]

I'm expecting Episode 8 to be a non-linear story with the main events taking place some time after TFA with flashback scenes picking up from TFA's ending spread throughout the movie.

 

[YellowSubmarine]

We know that after ESB Luke's severed arm ended up floating in space holding his lightsabre. I think at this point we are owed a five-six-hour movie explaining the arm's journey.

I was surprised that we didn't get a quick flashback to moments of the times we hadn't seen. Or maybe we got and I missed them? Don't tell me, I am going to watch again today. Got the best seats in the galaxy, and hopefully I won't get distracted this time.

Spoiler: Maz Kanata's understory

Actually, that's the first film in years where I didn't get distracted, which speaks volumes to the job J.J. has done here, but...

I still missed the fact that the pub was Maz's, once inside my brain totally forgot we weren't in Jabba place – and the “Don't stare” comment didn't help me there. So when the flashback voices started, I imagined quite horrific things going on in the cellar, and I expected Rey to get involved in a heroic confrontation of sorts with somebody down there.

I didn't expect a flashback sequence, or a chest with a lightsabre in it. I didn't realize until I saw the chest this was a moment from Rey's childhood (I think?), so I kinda missed the thing until that moment. Not sure if that was on purpose...

It would have been a great place to show the Battle of Jakku (or maybe it was?).

 

[ancient]

We know that after ESB Luke's severed arm ended up floating in space holding his lightsabre. I think at this point we are owed a five-six-hour movie explaining the arm's journey.

Got stuck in Bespin garbage chute.

Garbage ship hauling it to garbage planet

Garbage ship contractors are lazy and dump it wherever.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

A time skip isn't impossible. Start with something else - Fin, Leia, Ren, who knows and then cut to Luke and Rey training, making it clear they had been doing it for weeks.

I don't think it'll happen, though, since Rey's journey is the most logical path to take. Unlike the original movies, which felt very Rebel-centric (so the new base and all that was a logical starting point), this one feels more personal and more Jedi-centric. It wasn't meeting the Rebellion but meeting Luke that was the goal.

 

[Ithekro]

Perhaps start with the First Order regrouping after the loss of StarKiller Base. Show what happened to Kylo Ren after they picked him up. Then drop in on Rey and Luke. Then probably see what Finn gets up to after he gets out of his coma.

Start in space with a Star Destroyer, get us up to speed on what is going on with them. Then move on to the heroes.

 

[YellowSubmarine]

OK, here's what I am thinking right now: The stars in the opening sequence will be the sky Luke and Rey are looking at, with only a minor time skip there. But we never learn what happens when they meet.

 

[RoJoHen]

I hope it opens immediately after TFA, and the first scene will be a closeup of the lightsaber as Luke wraps his hand around it, picks it up, and studies it for a moment. Then he walks away without saying a word. Rey, now confused and frustrated, says something like, "Where are you going?" Without looking back, Luke replies, "Follow me and find out."

I also expect to learn a lot more about Snoke his backstory with Kylo Ren.

 

[The Old Mixer]

The next film is likely to have its own story to get rolling with the opening scene...it's not going to be a two-person film that focuses solely on Rey's training.

As for Luke's reaction...living in isolation for so long, he's likely not used to others making demands on his time and attention.

REY: I've come to fulfill my destiny by learning the ways of the Force.

LUKE: But I was going into Toshi Station to pick up some power converters...!

 

[Ithekro]

Of Mark Hamill could start with his old Yoda impersonation voice and be silly for a bit.

 

[DWF]

We know that after ESB Luke's severed arm ended up floating in space holding his lightsabre. I think at this point we are owed a five-six-hour movie explaining the arm's journey.

Got stuck in Bespin garbage chute.

Garbage ship hauling it to garbage planet

Garbage ship contractors are lazy and dump it wherever.

So, should expect a cameo by Adam Quark in the next Star Wars movie?

 

[Alidar Jarok]

OK, here's what I am thinking right now: The stars in the opening sequence will be the sky Luke and Rey are looking at, with only a minor time skip there. But we never learn what happens when they meet.

I agree with the last part. I'd be frankly surprised if we literally see their first meeting beyond what we saw.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

I actually expect time jumps or flashbacks in Episode VIII, to explain at lest Rey's and Kylo's backstories if not more of the galactic happenings.

Has Star Wars done flashbacks? I can't think of any, seems like it's always in the moment.

 

[Ithekro]

Technically Rey's visions could be called a flashback from a certain point of view. Usually we see visions of the future, but this time it was the past.

 

[YellowSubmarine]

Technically Rey's visions could be called a flashback from a certain point of view. Usually we see visions of the future, but this time it was the past.

Spoiler: flashback / vision

She had a proper vision of the future, at least one – she foresaw her sabre fight with Kylo Ren. Which was nice, when I was watching for the first time, I assumed she saw seeing a past (or even a future) fight from someone else's eyes, and I would think so did she. And it didn't occur to me it was a vision until I watched for a second time.

Also only two of the other flashbacks are certain to be flashbacks – her meandering through Bespin corridors as Luke's fighting Vader (mostly because I doubt they would be rebuilding the Bespin corridor set with such precision), and the moment she was left on Jakku.

The other two (one with Luke and one with Kylo Ren) seem to be from the past, but could be future as well. Luke touching R2-D2 seems to be in the vicinity of a past battle that, given it's placement in the trailer, is very similar to the assault on the village in Jakku. At the same time, isn't R2 now at the foot of the mountain? It could be a vision from the evening following Rey's arrival, perhaps an underwater volcano erupting to account for the fireworks. They could re-make any of that to be a misdirection retroactively.

There was also a collapsing building flashback in there. I don't seem to recall that one fully, because after it happened she immediately found herself confronting Kylo Ren IIRC. That one could be a vision of the collapse of Maz's pub, except I think it was at night, so it may be the collapse of some part of Starkiller Base. It's also undefined in time.

Speaking of the ending.

OK, here's what I am thinking right now: The stars in the opening sequence will be the sky Luke and Rey are looking at, with only a minor time skip there. But we never learn what happens when they meet.

I agree with the last part. I'd be frankly surprised if we literally see their first meeting beyond what we saw.

Spoiler: first Jedi temple? Jedi training? Luke unhappy? crazy/stupid prediction for the next film

I assume we're going to go to the first Jedi temple, or ruins of. I think we already did, but it passed so quickly that I missed it. Twice. Some of the rock formations appeared man-to be made structures, but I noticed them after they were no longer on-screen. Wookiepedia says that was the Jedi Temple, but there's no actual confirmation of that as far as I can tell.

Anyway, Luke seemed very disturbed by Rey's arrival. Perhaps it's because he wished nobody found him, perhaps it's because she's his daughter he's seeing as an adult for the first time, perhaps because she knows she will have to get involved in the coming fight. He saw the Millennium Falcon, without any doubt he sensed her presence, and yet his eyes showed unpreparedness for her arrival. I am pretty sure he would be extremely reluctant to train her as a Jedi, after that look, and after what happened with Kylo Ren.

So maybe he will refuse to train her in the usual sense, probably even claim he's not Luke Skywalker. He may sit her around a camp fire, as she pleads to be taught and he drags the conversations, only to take her to the ruins of the Jedi temple and tell her of how the Jedis have crumbled like the ruins themselves, while giving her constant warnings of the path to the darkness.

But that, in ways both similar and opposite to Luke's meeting Yoda at Dagobah, may end up being her training. She already got some very good chops with the force herself, however unpolished. Much of Yoda's (and Obi-Wan's even) training consisted of him forcing Luke to finding those on his own, and realising he can already do it by accessing the force. For this Rey had much more powerful teacher in TFA – necessity, she was forced to find them on her own because otherwise the whole world was crumbling. So Luke may have to teach her backwards – where not to go, and how to avoid paths to the darkness.

I know it sounds silly, but would be fitting if Episode VIII was to channel ESB. ☺