We already know Kylo Ren has dark side chats with the ghost of Darth Vader, and it’s entirely possible that the ghost of Anakin Skywalker could join the conversation with his dark alter-ego and tortured descendant in Star Wars: Episode VIII.
Rumors have been swirling for nearly a year that Hayden Christensen was called back into “training” for some Star Wars-related work. Translation: He could reprise his role as Anakin in Episode VIII. But how? While some fan theories have Kylo Ren taking a trip through time so he can watch Anakin in action, time travel isn’t necessary for Anakin to appear. Based on the extended library of Star Wars stories, time travel is maybe possible, but it’s a little far-fetched. Especially since Episode VII already gave us a perfectly reasonable way for Anakin could come back.
From Episode VII, we know that Jedi artifacts like Luke’s lightsaber carry powerful — almost magical — memories. Just think of the maelstrom of emotion that hit Rey when she got within inches of Luke’s saber. It’s not much of a stretch to think that Luke’s lightsaber isn’t unique to this phenomenon, that Jedi and Sith artifacts scattered throughout the galaxy might hold similar, vivid memories.
In Episode VIII, Kylo Ren will absolutely continue his quest to understand his grandfather’s motivations — how and why he became Darth Vader. The fledgling Dark Lord with a penchant for computer-destroying temper tantrums has already amassed a collection of Darth Vader’s old junk. There’s no reason to think that he’ll give up his collection.
In other words, it’s entirely possible that Kylo Ren will stumble upon something that belonged to grandpa Anakin and be treated to an illuminating bit of the old man’s history. We’ve already seen it happen once before.
Anakin Skywalker’s existence has an impact on everything that happens in the Star Wars universe, and there’s no reason to think thats going to change in Episode VIII just because he’s dead.
