'Star Wars 9' Leak Reveals Shocking Link Between Luke and a New Character

It wouldn’t be Star Wars without a bounty hunter, and The Rise of Skywalker is filling that role with a brand new character named Zorri Bliss. Played by Keri Russell, we still know almost nothing about the role, but a fresh leak could reveal some huge details about Zorri and how she fits into the broader Star Wars plot, including a surprising connection to Luke Skywalker.

Warning! Spoilers for Star Wars: Episode IX ahead.

The latest Rise of Skywalker leak comes from the Making Star Wars podcast, a weekly show where the trusted Star Wars leakers share their latest theories and findings. You can listen to the entire episode online, but a quick breakdown from redditor u/Organic_Structure reveals the key takeaways. It’s mostly details we already knew, but one bit of information about Episode IX stands out:

Their sources say Keri Russell filmed with Mark Hamill but don’t know how this fits. This was potentially filmed in August and not on the snow planet.

This connection between Russell’s character and Hamill’s is a huge deal for a variety of reasons, and it raises some very interesting possibilities over her role in both Rise of Skywalker and the Star Wars universe in general. Do we have your attention? Great, let’s dive in.

How is Zorri Bliss connected to Luke Skywalker?

Clearly, there’s some connection here. Otherwise, Hamill wouldn’t be filming scenes with Russel. And assuming that Luke is a Force ghost in Episode IX (and the rules of Force ghosts haven’t changed), then that means Zorri must also be Force-sensitive. Otherwise, she wouldn’t be able to interact with Luke’s ghost, right?

This, of course, leads to another intriguing possibility: Could Zorri be Luke’s daughter? It might sound ridiculous, but remember that in the Expanded Universe (which was de-canonized by Disney), Luke ended up marrying Mara, who was also a Jedi Master. We’re not saying Rise of Skywalker is going to reintroduce this character, but the movie could take some inspiration from that storyline to reveal that Luke has a secret Force-sensitive child.

The actors’ ages also support this theory. Hamill is 67. Russell is 43. So if Luke had a daughter shortly after Return of the Jedi, she’d about about Russell’s age in The Rise of Skywalker.

Zorri even kind of looks like Mara, just, you know, with a big helmet covering her face.

Do you see the family resemblance? Granted, it’s tough since we don’t have any pictures of Zorri without that helmet on, but they’re both wearing purple. That’s definitely something…

What if Zorri Isn’t a Jedi?

Remember that old guy from the very first scene in The Force Awakens? The one who gave those secret coordinates to Poe Dameron? His name was Lor San Tekka and he was a member of a secret religious group called the Church of the Force that allied with the Jedi during times of darkness.

We haven’t heard much from the CotF since that opening scene in Episode VII, but considering that J.J. Abrams is back for Episode IX, it makes sense that he’d resurrect the idea. In that case, it’s possible that even if Zorri didn’t inherit her father’s lightsaber skills, she’s still a member of the Church of the Force. That would also explain why she became a Bounty Hunter instead of a Jedi.

Of course, if Zorri isn’t Force sensitive then it’s unclear how she’ll be able to interact with Luke in Episode IX. It’s possible she’s got some latent Jedi abilities, like Leia, but it’s just as likely that The Rise of Skywalker will introduce some new Force technique to allow the two characters to meet.

What This Means for That Other Zorri Theory

Another recent Star Wars theory, also from Making Star Wars, claims that Zorri was personally responsible for bringing Rey to Jakku prior to the events of The Force Awakens. It’s unclear exactly why, but it’s possible that she was protecting the young child from some evil plan concocted by Emperor Palpatine.

Now that we know Zorri is connected to Luke, this makes even more sense. It’s easy to imagine a scenario where Luke discovered Palpatine’s plot to kidnap or even kill a young Force-sensitive girl and called on his Bounty Hunter daughter to step in.

In that case, this scene between Luke and Zorri could be the moment in Episode IX where we finally learn Rey’s true origin story, and the fact that it wasn’t filmed on Zorri’s frosty home planet of Kijimi opens up the possibility that this scene could even take place on Jakku!

Of course, this is just speculation, so take everything with a grain of salt, but the mere rumor that Mark Hamill and Keri Russell filmed a scene together has huge implications for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. What it means exactly for this mysterious new character remains to be seen, but it might just be the biggest reveal in Episode IX.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker hits theaters on December 20.