The Jedi Knights were “the guardians of peace and justice in the Old Republic” for over 1,000 generations — at least, according to Obi-Wan Kenobi in Star Wars: A New Hope. But what came before that? A newly revived Star Wars theory suggests Snoke might be the key.
On January 23, the same day as the official announcement that Star Wars: Episode VIII was called The Last Jedi, Reddit user AnakinKardashian posted a theory that gained a lot of traction at the time, and has since been reanimated, most likely due to people looking for any and all explanations about Snoke’s identity.
The theory, backed up and expanded upon in the comments, is this: Everything in recent Star Wars canon has been pointing to ancient Jedi and the old ways of the Force; Luke Skywalker has been hunting down the first Jedi Temple, The Force Awakens novelization hints that Snoke himself is incredibly old, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story introduced the Guardians of the Whills and their ancient order, Timothy Zahn’s Aftermath trilogy poses that Palpatine sensed some sort of ancient, threatening force in the galaxy back in the day, and Kylo Ren’s lightsaber has been confirmed as being of an old and powerful design.
All of these in-world references to the history of the Star Wars galaxy has a lot of fans thinking that, naturally, the latest trilogy’s largest threat would connect to these ancient practices. And here’s where it gets really interesting (or crazy, depending on your outlook on fan theories).
This Reddit theory posits that Snoke is “the last Jedi,” hinted at in the film’s title.
Now, since this theory was posted, The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson has said that Snoke wouldn’t be expanded upon too much in the film. So, as long as Johnson isn’t straight-up lying or side-stepping the point with some cleverly crafted bullshit, it seems most Snoke fan theories for The Last Jedi are bunk.
But, assuming that Snoke will still play a large part in the latest trilogy, this fan theory asks: What if Snoke is the last of the Jedi in the Jedi’s “original form.”
“What if we are learning about early jedi because we are going to find out how different the ancient jedi order is?” the theory continues, perhaps referencing, as the comments point out, the non-canon Je’daii Order. The Je’daii, introduced in now non-canon Star Wars novels, were an ancient organization of Force users thought to be the predecessors to the Jedi best known in the Star Wars universe. They were more balanced, taking into account the Ashla (Light), the Bogan (Dark), and the Bendu (balance) of the Force — and if that sounds a lot like The Last Jedi teaser trailer, you’re not wrong.
Je’daii who went too far in one direction and strayed from Bendu (the balance) were exiled to meditate until they’d achieved balance again. Maybe, the theory suggests, Snoke was one of these Je’daii who strayed too far into Bogan (the Dark side) and never returned to Bendu. Hence, Snoke is “the last Jedi” of this ancient order.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi premieres in theaters on December 15.
