The Last Jedi Teaser May Reference An Original George Lucas Idea

Ever since Lucasfilm was purchased by Disney and they decided to continue telling stories in the Star Wars Universe, fans have been wondering how closely the new canon would tie to George Lucas’ original plan.

The writer and director recently detailed his thoughts and plans to extend the universe beyond his original intentions and how he had to search through a minefield of ideas to find the core story.

Among all of these ideas throughout myriad sketchbooks and scribbles was a chronicle of the Universe as told by an omniscient narrator—a storyteller years removed—in a book known as the Journal of the Whills.

Lucas’ original idea was that the Star Wars stories would be written down in the titular Journal and told to the audience, as if Lucas himself was the storyteller in a more figurative sense than writing and directing the films. These chronicles would allow a form of interpretation to occur and would indicate that these are stories being told.

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The creator ended up getting rid of the mentions from the original draft and framing the stories in a different way, but the idea persisted. And when the new canon began with the Force Awakens those ideas came back in a huge way.

Acclaimed sci-fi author Alan Dean Foster wrote the novelization of A New Hope as well as the Force Awakens so many years later. The latest novelization began with a journal entry that reads:

“First comes the day
Then comes the night.
After the darkness
Shines through the light.
The difference, they say,
Is only made right
By the resolving of gray
Through refined Jedi sight.”

This entry is specifically stated to be a quote from the Journal of the Whills.

And then, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story introduces us to the Guardians of the Whills, specifically in the form of Donnie Yen’s fan-favorite character Chirrut Imwe. The blind, Force-sensitive Rebel is said to be a member of the Guardians—a position that is further defined in the prequel book by Greg Rucka which focuses on Chirrut and his BFF Baze Malbus, simply titled “Guardians of the Whills.”

So what does all of this have to do with Star Wars: The Last Jedi?


In the scene where Luke Skywalker guides Rey, the young maybe/maybe-not Padawan explains what she sees: “Light, darkness, the balance.”

As she says that last line, a voice over of Yoda plays in the background and the visual shows Rey running her fingers over an ancient text with the classic Jedi Order symbol. Could it possibly be a text of the Whills?

The Star Wars Storygroup has been mining George Lucas‘ original ideas for the future of the series, incorporating Darth Vader’s lava castle on Mustafar as depicted by Ralph McQuarrie for Rogue One, adding in characters and concepts like the Darksaber in Star Wars Rebels, and other various additions Lucas made to the canon.

To see his original concept of the Journal of the Whills take on a more significant role would certainly impress even the most die-hard Star Wars fans, but it would also allow the story to expand in certain directions otherwise unexplored in the movies.

We’ve already spoken about the possibility of Luke becoming a gray Jedi in the future, and though they might not use that term specifically the concepts are already in place. Allowing Rey to read the Journal of the Whills might open her to a new perspective moving forward.



Sure, we might be seeing the Last Jedi, but we’ll also be on the verge of something new taking its place.

MORE STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI NEWS:
·The Last Jedi Director Clarifies If the Title Is Singular or Plural
· Princess Leia | Obi-Wan Kenobi | Yoda Easter Eggs
·Internet Reacts To First Teaser Trailer
·Someone Translated The Text On Finn’s Healing Pod

Star Wars: The Last Jedi, from writer/director Rian Johnson, is in post-production now for a December 15, 2017 release. The film follows-up and continues the story of the next generation of the saga as Rey, Poe, Finn, and Kylo Ren find their place in the galaxy and follow the legacy of Luke Skywalker, Leia, and Han Solo. Daisy Ridley returns to star as Rey, with other returning stars John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Adam Driver, Domhnall Gleeson, Gwendoline Christie, Peter Mayhew, Andy Serkis, Anthony Daniels, Lupita Nyong’o Mark Hamill, and Carrie Fisher as General Leia Organa. Benicio Del Toro and Laura Dern join the cast in as-yet-unrevealed roles.