Luke Skywalker is apparently going to expand and change everyone’s view of the Force in The Last Jedi, and a canon Star Wars book coming next week might hint at why he’s so obsessed with breathing in the latest trailer. Basically, it’s connected to bringing balance to the Force.
On Wednesday, a reddit user posted pages from an early copy of the forthcoming young adult book Star Wars: Guardians of the Whills. Apparently, several pages of the book are simple quotes about the nature of the Force and the Jedi and the Sith, making the whole thing a kind of collection of meditations about the Force. There’s stuff about the Sith being all about passion, as well as Chirrut Imwe’s now-famous mantra, “The Force is with me and I am with the Force.” But, the most interesting quote/poem connects to breathing. Here’s what it says:
The moment between breaths.
Is the balance of the Force.
Between life and death.
Rest and action.
Serenity and passion.
Hope and despair.
Now, the The Last Jedi trailer finds Luke Skywalker telling Rey to “breathe” repeatedly, which is good advice for anyone in stressful situations, but now it might have some added significance. Sure, the forthcoming Guardians of the Whills book is for younger readers, and presumably fills in a little of the back story about Baze and Chirrut in Rogue One. But, as a concept, Guardians of the Whills themselves supposedly have a lot of ancient knowledge about the Force. In The Last Jedi trailer, Luke suggested that the Force is “more” than just light and dark, implying there’s a kind of in-between or third way to look at this mystical energy field that may or may not control everyone’s destinies.
The new passage makes a big statement by saying, “The moment between breaths is the balance of the Force.” Translation: The balance of the Force doesn’t come from the extremes of the Jedi and the Sith, but instead, some other, calmer way of seeing the universe. All of this also seems to suggest that the books Luke has in The Last Jedi trailer are probably various writings from the Guardians of the Whills themselves.
The Guardians of the Whills book comes out next week. The Last Jedi opens on December 15.
