Hints and Allegations, Part 2

In a previous post (linked below), I speculated about some of the possible connections between kyber crystals, the planet Ilum and the group of beings known as the Whills. Now that the trailer for The Last Jedi has been released, I have a few more ideas.

Hints and Allegations

1. I finished reading Ahsoka. While it provides a little more information about Ilum, there's not a whole lot of detail with which to work. It seems that the Empire stripmined that planet, but we still don't know with any certainty if it was converted into Starkiller Base. My gut tells me yes, but my brain can't corroborate that.

2. Do we finally see the Journal of the Whills in the trailer for The Last Jedi? A couple of different articles online tipped me off to that possibility. Given the reference to it in the novelization of The Force Awakens, and the fact that Chirrut Imwe and Baze Malbus are described as former Guardians of the Wills in Rogue One, my money here again is on yes.

3. The end of the novel Aftermath: Empire's End introduces a big, fancy computer in a hidden facility on Jakku that the Emperor was using to plot expeditions into the Unknown Regions. What is more, the beings who seemed destined to found the First Order were headed into that area at the end of the novel. It seems clear that this is where we'll see the base of operations to which Supreme Leader Snoke orders General Hux and Kylo Ren to return. It's curious that we don't see any of them in the new trailer, though.

4. What's not so clear is the possible connection between the Chiss species in general, and Grand Admiral Thrawn in particular, to activity in the Unknown Regions. Timothy Zahn explored that in his novel Outbound Flight, so I wonder if the creative team from Lucasfilm is bring back some of those elements along with the blue-skinned, red-eyed, art-loving officer.

5. In Aftermath: Empire's End there's also a reference to a ship called the Eclipse. This seems like a throwback to the old Dark Empire comics, in which the Eclipse was a Star Destroyer that put even Super Star Destroyers to shame.

6. Finally, the new trailer includes Luke's line about the Jedi needing to end. Could this be a reference to the Jedi Order's old rule of celibacy that caused so much trouble for Anakin Skywalker? That may be a stretch, but it could be his intention to create a new organization in which Force-users are more integral parts of their communities. Could that, then, be the notion of bringing balance to the Force?

I'll add: One of the biggest questions about Episode VII is that of Rey's heritage. Maybe the "New Jedi Order" will be one in which Force-users can raise their own children, instead of turning them over to a monastic order?

This is all, of course, speculation. If you have feedback or ideas of your own, then please share them as comments.

-Nate