One of the things many of us did this Christmas was see Star Wars: The Force Awakens in theaters. The first movie in the new Star Wars saga is a massive hit, and fans have been dissecting the film ever since it came out, trying to find clues and figure out answers to some of the burning questions we all have after having seen the movie.
There are many fan theories that look to provide background for the events of the movie and its characters, including Rey, Finn, Poe Dameron and Kylo Ren, but also Leia, Han, and Luke. Disney won’t say anything, and will make us wait until May 2017 when Episode VIII is set to premiere to learn anymore details about them.
In the meantime, the official script from the movie was finally released, and it reveals certain details surrounding the events of the film. Spoiler alert: If you haven’t seen The Force Awakens, then you shouldn’t read anything beyond this point.
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Seen by SlashFilm, the Force Awakens screenplay was apparently sent to members of the Writers Guild of America. The script excludes any deleted scenes, showing only lines that were used in the film as well as improvisations.
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©Lucasfilm 2015
The script reveals that Rey is left on Jukku with Unkar Plutt, the annoying dealer we meet at the beginning of the movie. It’s not clear who abandons her on the planet or why Plutt is chosen to be her guardian. SlashFilm says that one plausible theory is that Han Solo gives Plutt the Millenium Falcon in exchange for looking after the girl. If that’s the case, it’s possible Han Solo kept an eye on the ship for all these years, and only realizes Rey is his daughter when she tells him her name.
At the same time, this theory seems to be debunked by Rey in the movie, who says that Plutt stole the Falcon from the Irving Boys, who had stolen it from Ducain.
The script also reveals certain details about Rey’s visions. The first image is that of a hallway in Cloud City, mentioning a “mechanical breathing sound” and “disembodied voices [filling] the air.”
A “burning temple at night” is shown in Rey’s vision, likely portraying the attack on Luke Skywalker’s new Jedi Training Academy. Also of note, the man stabbed with a lightsaber isn’t Constable Zuvio, but an unidentified “warrior.”
Finally, the men surrounding Kylo Ren in her vision are indeed the Knights of Ren.
Rey quickly becomes comfortable with the Force in the movie, but the path to the light side isn’t clear. Unsurprisingly – at least for veteran Star Wars enthusiasts – the Dark Side is waiting to grab her as she fights Kylo Ren near the end of the movie. Should she have killed him, she may have been consumed by the other side.
“And she could kill him — right now, with ONE VICIOUS STRIKE! But she stops. Realizing she stands on a greater edge than even the cliff — the edge of the dark side. The earth SHAKES. The earth splits. A gully forms,” the script reads.
SlashFilm says that in the official novelization Rey actually hears a voice inside her saying “Kill him,” a voice that’s “amorphous, unidentifiable, raw.” In the audio version of the book, the voice seems to belong to Supreme Leader Snoke.
Kylo Ren is described as a “fearful man, a large burn scar slashed across his face,” in the final duel with Rey. But he has a moment of weakness earlier in the movie, immediately after he kills his father. Ren is horrified after killing Han Solo. “Kylo Ren is somehow WEAKENED by this wicked act,” the script reads. His “shock” is broken only when Chewbacca cries out.
The script also offers answers about the mysterious ending of the movie when Rey meets Luke on an unknown planet. Called “Ahch-To,” the planet has a “pristine and mighty OCEAN,” with “endless BLUE, dotted with random beautiful mountainous BLACK ROCK ISLANDS, dotted with countless GREEN TREES.”
Ahch-To is wordplay that seems to either tease “Act Two” of the saga – Episode VIII, in which Luke will appear. It also could be a hint about the relationship between Luke and Rey, since “ahch” is Hebrew for “brother.”
Interestingly, the script pretty much says that Luke knows who Rey is. He looks at her with “kindness in his eyes, but there’s something tortured, too.” He “doesn’t need to ask her who she is, or what she is doing here.”
“His look says it all,” the script says.
The lightsaber that Rey pulls from her pack is “An offer. A plea. The galaxy’s only hope.”
“HOLD ON LUKE SKYWALKER’S INCREDIBLE FACE, amazed and conflicted at what he sees, as our MUSIC BUILDS, the promise of an adventure, just beginning…” the end of the script reads.
