Summary
One massive lingering question from theStar Warssequel trilogy era must be addressed inStar Wars’upcoming movies. AmongStar Warsmovies and TV shows, the sequel trilogy is still highly criticized. In fact, many still consider the sequels to be some ofStar Wars’worst movies, although much of the harshest backlash about the trilogy has died down over the years.
Nevertheless, this era is an integral part oftheStar Warstimeline, and it introduced a number of canon-altering changes to the franchise. One of the most significant reveals of the sequels, signaled by the title ofStar Wars: The Last Jedi, was that Luke Skywalker (and then Rey) seemed to be the sole surviving Jedi at the time. However,this glaring absence of other Jedi in the sequel trilogy raises serious questions about the New Republic era.
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There Are Many Jedi Around During The New Republic Era
Star Warsshows have proven thatLuke Skywalker was far from the only Jedi alive in the New Republic era. Rather,Ahsokaalone revealed that Ahsoka Tano, Sabine Wren, and Ezra Bridger were all active Jedi in the period betweenReturn of the JediandStar Wars: The Force Awakens. Now,theSkeleton Crewtrailerhas revealed that Jude Law’s character, Jod Na Nawood, possesses the Force. While that may not mean that he is a Jedi, it’s quite possible that he is.
This would represent yet another Jedi who was alive during the New Republic era. Presumably, given this trend and the nature of the Force, there were countless other Force-sensitive beings alive at the time and perhaps even many more Jedi. After all, not allsurvivors of Order 66have been accounted for. Therefore, given that a mere 30 years pass betweenReturn of the JediandThe Force Awakens,it’s difficult to understand where exactly all these Jedi went.
Rey Skywalker
What makes the Jedi of the New Republic era confusing is thatRey is meant to be the last Jedi in the sequel trilogy. While there were clearly other Force-sensitive people at the time (such as the boy inThe Last Jediwho used the Force to pull a broom toward him), formal Jedi training seemed to have ended with Luke Skywalker and his fallen Jedi Temple before Rey arrived. This was also in keeping with the Skywalker Saga, at least what had been shown on screen, butStar Wars’TV shows have thrown a major wrench in that.
What happened to all the New Republic era Jedi?
Clearly, other Jedi existed outside of Luke’s Temple prior toThe Last Jedi. While, sure, this could be chalked up to a misnomer for the movie’s title, there are other signs that there were no other Jedi at the time of the sequel trilogy. Most notably,no Jedi came to help the Resistance fight the Final Order on Exegol. If Ahsoka, Ezra, Sabine, and other Jedi were alive duringStar Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, surely, they would have come to help. This raises the major question: what happened to all the New Republic era Jedi?
The Mandalorian Movie May See A Massive Jedi Sacrifice
Presumably,Star Warshas two options in its upcoming movies. Either the franchise can create a massive retcon that explains away why the Jedi were absent in the sequel trilogy and why no one knew they existed, or the new movies will need to kill off every remaining Jedi. While the latter seems a bit unimaginable given its magnitude, it isn’t out of the question. In fact,this would essentially be a new generation’s Order 66 on a much smaller scale.
Ahsokamay have even introduced how this could happen in the upcomingThe Mandalorian & Grogumovie. Specifically,Ahsokaset the stage for the return ofGrand Admiral Thrawn, an Imperial remnant and a major threat to the galaxy. It’s possible that this could open up a galactic war that could take out the lingering Jedi. This would even make sense withSkeleton Crew’spotential Jedi, asSkeleton Crewis concurrent withThe Mandalorian.
However, issues remain even with this explanation. For one, there is no mention of such a war in the sequel trilogy, which would be more than a little odd. Moreover, it’s still a bit unrealistic that every single Jedi would fight and die in such a battle. Clearly,Star Warsstill needs to identify and offer an explanation for this discrepancy between the New Republic era and the sequel trilogy, which the franchise will hopefully do in its upcoming movies.
