Episode VIII Predicitions

With the end of episode VII, it set up for a very interesting future for the saga. The movie ended with the First Order and New Republic reeling from very hefty destruction being wrought (one with a loss of government and military and the other a loss of a major superweapon). You have Rey finding Luke Skywalker and Kylo Ren being brought back for training.

It's a set up for a very interesting sequel to the Force Awakens.

What I will do with this post is talk about my predictions on what will happen in the hereto unnamed Episode VIII. What my thoughts will be on the future of different aspects of the Star Wars galaxy at large.

Status of the First Order, Resistance and New Republic

First, we shall tackle the First Order.

The Galactic Empire still lives on in the hearts of the faithful

Highly do I doubt that the First Order has suffered a mortal wound. The military leadership more or less escaped Starkiller base intact, with Kylo Ren not being killed, but only wounded. Even then, his wounds I don't think were nearly as sever as we are initially led to believe.

The loss of Starkiller base actually seems to be of minimal interest to Supreme Commander Snoke and we can be certain the Finalizer, our newest variation on the Star Destroyer design, is merely the flagship in a whole line of these beasties. We also know that a good deal of the military hardware (mainly vehicles such as starships) also escaped and we see that they are pretty good pilots, if their flying in Jakku, Takodana and Starkiller Base are any indication.

A very interesting idea to note is just how wealthy the First Order really is. They built an entire planetary weapon that is capable of draining stars. They've built star destroyers that dwarf their predecessors. Kylo Ren even makes an off-handed comment about, "Perhaps Supreme Leader should consider using clones." 

The clone Grand Army of the Republic was not inexpensive by any means and all but bankrupted the Old Republic during the Clone Wars. The fact that Kylo Ren talks pretty lightly about using a clone army suggests that either the First Order has the tech to create a clone army or are rich enough that they can actually afford a clone army.

We can also assume that the First Order has a good deal of influence, planetary wise. With the loss of the New Republic's leadership and military, we could see that the First Order actually grows in strength during the time between The Force Awakens and Episode VIII.

Next let us move onto the Resistance.

A singular victory by the Resistance doesn't mean it's going to be stronger later on

The Resistance is in a better bad way by the end of TFA. They lost roughly half the pilots they sent against Starkiller base and they weren't a very large organization beforehand. At no time was it indicated that the Resistance had really much in the way of support.

The Resistance was created for a two fold purpose. The finding of Luke Skywalker and the hindering of the efforts of the First Order. 

However, despite the hefty responsibility it had, the Resistance really was given very little with which to do their duty. With the loss of the Republic's leadership and military, we are going to see either of two options happening here. The Resistance will either step in to lead the New Republic with which it is a Republic run military organization or two, the remnants of the New Republic's military will join the Reistance without it taking over the leadership of it. Either way, I highly doubt we will be seeing much in the way of the Resistance really recovering from the losses they incured during TFA.

Last but not least the New Republic.

I am not sure I liked how they've handled the New Republic up to this point in the new canon. Frankly, the new EU has really poo-pood the Republic. Instead of learning from the past, they are managing to fudge it up. During the really awful book Aftermath there is a scene that Mon Mothma decides that it is in the best interests of the Republic that at the end of the war they will cut back the military by a massive 90 percent. 

You read that right. Despite they are facing the antagonistic remnants of the Empire which never cuts back it's own military output and actually has the majority of the economic and industrial worlds under their control  by the end of the conflict (according to the book Lost Stars), the Republic decides to cut back dramatically. Therefore, it is very easy to understand why their entire military would be wiped out by a single blow to the Republic.

Even in the novelization of TFA, it is revealed that the New Republic was about to implode. Most of the planets that fell under Republic control after the conflict actually preferred the Palpatanian Regime's telling them what to do and didn't like the democratic ways of the Republic. 

I think that the remnants of the New Republic will either have more or less dissolved by Episode VIII or they will rally together under the leadership of the Resistance but either way, it's going to be a very weak Republic that's going to enter the new movie. As stated above, the First Order will probably find itself with a lot more control by the new movie, having proved their superiority over the larger government.

The Training of Jedi and Knight of Ren

Most people commenting have been excited over the prospect of Luke taking on the mantle of teacher with Rey. I also find it a very alluring prospect. However, we seem to have forgotten Kylo Ren in the mix. But, let us start with talking about Rey.

Going from scavenger to Jedi never took such little time

We never have seen Luke in the capacity of trainer before. But before we get excited by the prospect, let us remember he failed to keep his nephew from falling to the Dark Side. Nor did he prevail in saving his Jedi Order from the Knights of Ren. Frankly, Luke is a failure as a teacher and as a Jedi Master.

We are going to see a ton of reluctance on the part of Luke to train Rey. Eventually he will and Rey will be on par with the pre-Endor ROTJ status Luke was by the end of the movie. I think that perhaps Luke himself will be far more powerful as he is at the First Jedi Temple and that Rey will a very fast learner. 

Personally though, despite all that, I am actually much more excited to see what will happen with Kylo Ren. 

A lot rides on Episode VIII for Kylo Ren

Up to this point of time, we have never witnessed Dark Sider training in the movies. It had its place in the Clone Wars series but the movies have never gone in depth with the training of evil. Personally, I don't follow the theory that states that Kylo Ren is acting as double agent, working for Snoke but taking his orders from Luke. Why would Luke encourage the massacre of his new Order?

Kylo Ren lost a lot of his street cred with the audience in TFA. He lost to a girl who had no Force training. He lost to a girl whose only actually combat experience prior to the movie was against low-end thugs. As a villain, the movie destroyed him and it will take a sizable victory over Rey in the next movie to really get him back into our collective good graces.

But I am interested to see how his murdering his father will affect him. Will it cause more turmoil for him? Or will our friend Snoke be able to purge him of the emotions of regret and push him further into the dark?

Rian Johnson as director

I am actually very intrigued by the idea of Rian Johnson being the director. He is a director that always writes the script for what he directs, which makes him very unique in a world where the scripts are usually doled out to someone else. Also his work on the movie Looper resulted in one of the most unique and unpredictable sci-fi films of all time. 

What I think will happen in the movie

First off, I don't think it will be so adherent to plot-points from Empire Strikes Back. Unlike Abrams, who apparently wasn't given much creative control, Johnson does have the creative control and we will see a very original movie compared to it's predecessor.

This will very much be a Rey/Ren movie.

I think the closest thing it will resemble ESB is the Jedi training. But with the induction of Sith training, I think we will see two very similar but different plots in VIII. We might have a war very similar to ESB with the First Order, resurgent from the defeat at Starkiller base hunting down the Resistance. Yet, unlike ESB, I think the Resistance will be much more of a fight than its ESB counterpart.

I think we will also learn who Snoke is. While I am holding out for a Plagueis the Wise, I'd be kinda fine if he was a very different character. However, Andy Serkiss has confirmed he has a connection with the Old Republic and even the novelization of TFA states he saw the Republic fall and the Empire rise and was observant of the controlling Sith.

We will also learn who the parents of Rey are. In some ways, I hope it is Luke. The dynasty of the family directly linked to the Force I highly doubt would be allowed to die off by the Force. However, it would nice if there was also someone not of the Skywalker linage who was the main Jedi of this trilogy.

I think we shall also see Captain Phasma and Hux getting more of a due in this movie and not so underutalized. But who knows?