Entertainment

This 'Star Wars' Dilemma Is Finally Resolved

by Mary Grace Garis

If your head was spinning when the title for Star Wars VIII was unveiled as The Last Jedi, I finally have some comforting news for you via countries far, far away. On Friday, the official Spanish title of Star Wars Episode VIII was revealed, and there's something interesting about it. Star Wars: Los Últimos Jedi uses language that infers the plural form of Jedi is being used. And you know what? The same goes for the German title, Die Letzten Jedi, and French title, Les Derniers Jedi. It's been a lot murkier for us here in the United States (without any proper plural signifiers in our language), but it's so great that this is finally cleared up.

So, why is this important or even debated? After all, diehard fans already know that Jedi is both a singular and plural noun. But lest we forget, when the title was originally announced, Twitter had a collective freak-out just thinking that it could be singular and, as such, would be the foreshadowing of doom for the franchise's original protagonist. Did "last Jedi" refer to Luke Skywalker specifically, or did it mean that Luke would be killed in the next Star Wars installment? This is a slight assurance that for at least the bulk of this film, "Jedi" likely refers to both him and Rey (who will undoubtedly become his apprentice).

But the larger, more interesting implication is that it could mean there are Jedi beyond these two. Yes, it's stated that Kylo Ren slaughtered all of the Next Gen Jedi years back. Yet if the remarkably Force sensitive Rey is wandering Jakku alive and well (or, um, at least one of those things), then clearly he did a terrible job of trying to destroy that fleet. There could absolutely be other Jedi hiding out somewhere, and perhaps Luke and Rey's next mission will actually be about tracing them within the vast galaxy.

The second part is a big if, because it always seemed like being a Jedi was like being a special elite club, especially in the prequels when it... literally was. Still, there's something good in being assured that Luke, for now, is probably not going to pull an Obi Wan on Rey (and thank god, because the original trio is almost completely decimated as it is). And even bigger than that, I'm excited to see if there are any other last Jedi remaining when Star Wars: The Last Jedi hits theaters on Dec. 15.