Fans of Star Wars will know Luke Skywalker as the upbeat, positive hero of the original movies. But three decades later in the sequel trilogy and Rian Johnson introduced a grumpy cynic. Even Mark Hamill struggled with the character choices made in the subversive and controversial The Last Jedi.
And now a bizarre new The Rise of Skywalker fan theory believes this can all be explained away if Palpatine had possessed Luke on Ahch-To, instead of the theory he was just Snoke all along.
Reddit user davidj1985 argues: “If Snoke had Darth Sidious’ spirit in TLJ, could Darth Sidious have done the same to Luke? It would explain the following.
“Luke in TLJ was not the same character as Luke in the original trilogy… Mark Hamill even told us that!
“At the end of TLJ, Luke ‘dies’… maybe it was Darth Sidious’ spirit returning to his original body.”
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They continued: “And right when Anakin fell to the Dark Side, he was brutally mangled and not an ideal suitor.
“He knew Luke existed and gamble he’d turn and be as strong as his father.”
And of course, Luke saw Anakin Skywalker redeemed, as the latter threw Palpatine to his apparent death.
“But now that Leia, the daughter of Anakin, has had Ben Solo aka Kylo Ren – it seems, as this fan argues, that “Kylo would be his last shot.”
Maybe he tempted him to the Dark Side through Darth Vader’s helmet and Snoke for this purpose?
But at the same time, it’s possible that Anakin’s Force ghost has been tempting Ben to the Light Side simultaneously.
Perhaps Anakin and Palpatine will have a final showdown as the Skywalker saga’s key players across the three trilogies?
Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker is released in UK cinemas on December 19, 2019.