The time has finally arrived. After two years of impatiently waiting,Star Wars: The Last Jedihas finally arrived in theaters. Disney and Lucasfilm were surprisingly careful about not revealing too much about the movie in the marketing materials, even though this is a massive movie they want to promote and verify tons of people see. After seeing it, and all of its many massive spoilers and big reveals, it’s pretty clear why Disney and Lucasfilm were so careful.
Director Rian Johnson made sure to include a lot of big surprises for fans inThe Last Jedi. It’s now very easy to see why he was careful to warn fans about avoiding spoilers, and even some of the marketing materials, for the movie. There have been some big twists in the history of the franchise, but this movie may have some of the biggest ones to date. And that’s saying something.
Warning: there are massive spoilers ahead forStar Wars: The Last Jedi. So if you haven’t seen the movie yet, turn back now. In case you missed anything, or just need a little refresher, here are all of the biggest reveals and most shocking spoilers inStar Wars: The Last Jedi.
17Leia uses the Force.
Leia Organa and Luke Skywalkerwere separated at birth, but they both come from the same bloodline. Darth Vader’s blood, Anakin Skywalker’s blood, runs through their veins. So we’ve always known that Leia must have some Force sensitivity. Though, up until now, we’ve never really seen her use the Force on screen. That changes withStar Wars: The Last Jedi. In an early action sequence, Kylo Ren and some Tie Fighters attack the bridge of Leia’s Resistance ship. Unfortunately, everyone on the bridge dies and is blasted into the cold vacuum of space. Or so it would seem. As it turns out, Leia manages to use the Force to save her own life and guide herself back to the ship. She’s hurt, yes, but she manages to survive. Leia may not be a Jedi, but she can use the Force for real.
16Rey and Kylo Ren have a Force connection.
One of the biggest, developing relationships explored inStar Wars: The Last Jediwas between Rey and Kylo Ren. Though the duo spent very little time, until the third act of the movie, in the same place, they were working through their rather complex problems throughout the entire runtime. This was via a very strong Force connection the two were revealed to share. Such a strong Force connection has never been explored on screen, at least not in the way that it was explored inThe Last Jedi. As we learn, this connection was facilitated by Snoke, which makes the whole thing even more interesting. It all has to do with director Rian Johnson doing a lot to expand the mythology of the Force in this latest movie.
15Kylo Ren kill Supreme Leader Snoke.
There’s a lot to unpack with this particular reveal, but easily one of the most shocking moments inStar Wars: The Last Jediis when Kylo Ren uses the Force to strategically position Rey/Luke’s old lightsaber to kill Supreme Leader Snoke. This, after a redemption arc for Kylo Ren, aka Ben Solo, had been teased throughout the movie, via this connection with Rey. After Snoke dies, we see that Kylo Ren just wanted to assume power for himself and attempt to convert Rey to start a new order. Not the Jedi. Not the Sith. Something new entirely. That’s crazy enough, but perhaps the most fascinating part is that Snoke is dead. That may seem obvious to say, but considering how much Snoke has been built up, the Supreme Leader is dead and we still know next to nothing about him.
14Luke turned Ben Solo into Kylo Ren.
Ever sinceStar Wars: The Force Awakens, fans have wondered precisely what transpired in order to turn Ben Solo into the evil Kylo Ren. As revealed inStar Wars: The Last Jedi, it’s shockingly explained that Luke Skywalker is actually responsible. During a flashback, we see that Luke senses a growing darkness in Ben Solo. At night, while he’s sleeping, Luke goes to him and, in a fleeting moment of panic, he ignites his lightsaber and considers killing Ben Solo. In the midst of this,Ben Solowakes up and catches Luke. This is the moment that turns Ben Solo into Kylo Ren. He buries Luke in rubble, kills several of his future Jedi and takes a handful of the students with him. While Luke wasn’t actually going to go through with killing his nephew, this fleeting moment of doubt created the evil monster known as Kylo Ren.
13R2-D2 replays Leia’s Message to Obi-Wan.
During the beginning ofStar Wars: The Last Jedi, Luke is very reluctant to train Rey and return to help the Resistance. While pondering what to do, he wanders onto the Millennium Falcon to take a trip down memory lane. He runs into his old buddy R2-D2, who tries to convince him that he must help Rey and the Resistance. In order to accomplish this goal, R2-D2 plays the message that Princess Leia made for Obi-Wan Kenobi inStar Wars: A New Hope. This serves as a touching moment and also helps convince Luke to help Rey. Also, since this is Carrie Fisher’s last performance as Leia, it really plays into her legacy as the character.
12Yoda appears as a Force ghost.
For months, it had been speculated that Yoda was going to appear inStar Wars: The Last Jediin some way or another. Many fans even looked at a rock on the island of Ahch-To in the teaser trailer that looked a little likeYodaand tired to make something of it. Ultimately, the Rock didn’t turn out to be Yoda, but nonetheless, Yoda did appear as a Force ghost inThe Last Jedi. At a crucial moment, when Luke is about to burn down the oldest relics of the Jedi order, Yoda appears to help guide his old pupil. Even though he’s a Force ghost, this is most definitely the Yoda fans know and love. It’s a puppet and that puppet is being played by the legendary Frank Oz. This is one of the most meaningful scenes inThe Last Jediand one that’s enough to make anyStar Warsfan well up with excitement. And possibly tears.
11Rey’s parents are revealed.
Without question, ever since Rey was introduced inStar Wars: The Force Awakens, the question of her parentage has been one of the biggest things fans of the franchise want to know.Star Wars: The Last Jedididn’t disappoint, in that it did reveal who her parents are. However, the answer isn’t what many, if any fans were expecting. It turns out, despite all of the crazy theories, which ranged from Rey being a Kenobi to her being somehow related to Palpatine, that Rey’s parents were just junkers from Jakku who sold her for alcohol. This is likely to be a polarizing bit ofThe Last Jedi, but it is, no matter how you look at it, a rather shocking reveal and, though a bit unassuming and glanced over very quickly by Kylo Ren in the movie, one of the biggest spoilers inThe Last Jedi.
10Admiral Ackbar dies.
This is another thing that was glossed over rather quickly inStar Wars: The Last Jedi, butAdmiral Ackbar, the fan-favorite character who first appeared inStar Wars: Return of the Jedi, is now dead. During the attack on Leia’s Resistance ship, when Leia is blown into space, everyone else on the command deck was killed. Admiral Ackbar, the Mon Calamari best known for heroically yelling, “It’s a trap,” was one of those who died in the attack. This is revealed via a very quick line before Admiral Holdo is introduced. We don’t see a body. Nobody takes any time to mourn him and Ackbar does not die a hero’s death. He’s just dead. RIP, Admiral Ackbar.
9Admiral Holdo uses lightspeed as a weapon.
Admiral Amilyn Holdo, played by Laura Dern, is one of the key characters introduced inStar Wars: The Last Jedi. She takes over for Leia, following her brush with death, and does a fine job. However, when the Resistance needs to board the shuttles in order to make their way to Crait, Holdo stays behind to pilot the ship. Once the First Order starts attacking the shuttles, Holdo makes a daring move and turns the Resistance cruiser toward the First Order fleet. Instead of just flying at them foolishly, she aims precisely and makes the jump to lightspeed, crashing into Snoke’s ship and the rest of the First Order fleet in the process. This does considerable damage to the First Order’s fleet and is something we’ve never seen in aStar Warsmovie before. Talk about going out in a blaze of glory.
8The blue lightsaber is destroyed.
A lot of key characters die inStar Wars: The Last Jedi. Even though a lightsaber isn’t a living, breathing character, Luke’s blue lightsaber is, in a way, a character, as it is the first lightsaber we ever see in the franchise and carries with it a lot of meaning and history. Well, so much for that, as Rey and Kylo Ren destroy it during their battle in the movie. After defeating all of Snoke’s guards, Kylo Ren and Rey set their sights on one another and have a bit of a Force duel for the blue lightsaber, first used byAnakin Skywalker. Evenly matched, the two wind up destroying the lightsaber in the process.
