Star Wars: Rian Johnson Breaks Down Importance of 'The Last Jedi's Twin Suns Scene

The release of The Last Jedi brought with it massive revelations for Luke Skywalker, one of which [...]

The release of The Last Jedi brought with it massive revelations for Luke Skywalker, one of which being that he turned his back on the Jedi Order to embrace a life of exile on Ahch-To. By the end of the movie, Luke finds redemption in how he's able to aid the Resistance, becoming one with the Force like Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda before him. In these final moments, Luke sees what appears to be two suns, mirroring what he saw on the horizon on his farm as a kid. Writer/director Rian Johnson recently shared with the Empire podcast what those moments mean to the character.

"It's slightly ambiguous as to whether this is a flashback he's having, whether this is in his mind, or whether he's actually seeing the two suns at the end, I guess it doesn't really matter," Johnson confessed. "We've never seen two suns over the island before. And it's the only shot in the whole island where you see two suns and it's slightly ambiguous as to whether he's actually seeing it."

Fans of the franchise quickly picked up on the similarities between the shot we see of Luke in the original Star Wars, looking upon the horizon and feeling frustrated with his lot in life. This sequence happens shortly after Luke purchases C-3PO and R2-D2, which unknowingly kicked off his adventures with the Rebel Alliance.

Despite Luke's reluctance to get involved with the Resistance, he eventually reconnects with the Force to project his visage across the galaxy long enough to "confront" Kylo Ren, allowing what remains of the Resistance to escape.

"The idea is, physically...he's set it up a little bit with Kylo's line earlier in the movie where he says to Rey, 'You're not doing this, the effort would kill you.'" Johnson noted. "Even just to do the less powerful connection they're doing, so the notion of doing this new projection thing, the notion that this would take everything out of him."

More than just buying his sister and friends some time, Luke's act will help ignite hope across the entire galaxy, something we're sure to see the ramifications of in Episode IX.

"It's mostly about Luke," said Johnson during a Q&A session with Entertainment Weekly's Anthony Breznican. "To me, it shows that the act Luke Skywalker did, of deciding to take on this mantle of 'the legend,' after he had decided the galaxy was better off with, had farther reaching consequences than saving 20 people in a cave… Now the Legend of Luke Skywalker is spreading. Hope is reignited in the galaxy."

The Last Jedi is in theaters now.

[H/T Empire]

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