The Surprising Reason Why The Last Jedi Is Not Actually Anti-Jedi

“It’s time for the Jedi to end”

That is what Luke Skywalker told Rey when she met him back on Ahch-To. The idea was that not only he, Luke, needed to go, but the entire Jedi Order should die along with him as well. It was a sign of just how far into despair Luke fell, that he was giving up not only on himself, but the entire Jedi ideal as well. It was the idea that everything about the Jedi should die in order for the war to die.

Because of these lines many Star Wars fans have taken the message of The Last Jedi to be an anti-Jedi message. That the idea of the film is that the Jedi philosophy should end, and that the order should end along with it. However if one really looks at the message and who is portrayed in the right or the wrong, it is clear that the idea of the Jedi ending is not what the message of the movie is all about. In fact despite Luke challenging the idea of the Jedi, Rey, the last light of hope, shows the Jedi might have a future after all.

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"I will not be the last Jedi"

Who is the hero of The Last Jedi? It is obviously Rey. What is Rey's ideological position throughout the whole movie? That Luke Skywalker, Jedi Knight, needs to come back and join in the fight once again. She is, throughout the whole movie, a big believer in the idea of the Jedi regardless of the dogma.

Luke characterization of the Jedi honestly has nothing to do with Jedi dogma or even the Order itself. Much of Luke’s demoralization with the Jedi comes merely as lashing out against himself and his own personal failures while training his nephew, Ben Solo. He goes so far as thinking that it was not just him who failed Ben, but that the whole Jedi teachings failed him.

However, Rey, our hero, doesn't believe that Luke or the Jedi failed Ben and that Ben failed him and the Jedi. This is something that the movie sticks with by having Luke come back out of the fold, realizing that at the end of the day, the galaxy needs a legend, and while he may not be the one to continue the Jedi path, as Rey is still very much that person, she can not only move beyond the dogma of the Jedi but she represents the best that the Jedi have to offer.

If the film truly was an anti-Jedi movie then it would have ended the Jedi name permanently. Even Yoda's line that “the greatest teacher failure is” isn’t really about ending the Jedi, but continuing to evolve and learn from the mistakes of the past. Even when he destroyed the tree, the sacred Jedi Texts survived, as Rey stashed them in the Falcon. It shows that Rey is still willing to teach the ways of the Jedi as well.

"I am all the Jedi"

As The Last Jedi is part two of a trilogy, then the third part reinforces what the last movie said. Rey taking on the mantle of not only Skywalker, but the entire Jedi Order in Rise of Skywalker doubles down on the fact that The Last Jedi doesn't have an anti-Jedi message as well. Rey at the end of the day continues down the Jedi path, defeats Sidious, and will continue to lead the Jedi in the future as well.

The disillusionment of the Jedi has never been a message of Star Wars in general, but instead a focus on future generations learning from the mistakes of the past, not getting stuck in dogma, and always evolving and pushing forward. For that is the true story of Star Wars.

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Written by Joel Davis

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