Alternative Character Interpretation in The Last Jedi.
- Kylo Ren:
- His goals at the end: is he an extremist genuinely trying to create something new out of the supposed failures of the past by the Jedi, Sith and Republic through the forceful imposition of balance in the galaxy? Or is this just a facade for spreading the influence of the Dark Side through the First Order? Some measure of both? Does he genuinely think this is the best thing to do or is he only doing it to break out of his family's (specifically his grandfather's) shadow by swerving as hard off the path as he can? Again, some measure of both? In addition, was his betrayal due to feelings for Rey, or out of anger towards Snoke?
- In the final act, was Kylo really planning to take Snoke's place as Supreme Leader all along, or was he initially just planning to free himself from Snoke and save Rey, with the rest of it being more along the lines of 'making it up as I go' and opportunism?
- Is Kylo's decision not to rejoin the light solely out of desire for power and vengeance, and general villany? Or is it partly out of pragmatism? When one considers the context: the Resistance is looking pretty screwed, they being down to only a few transports and fleeing to Crait, where they’ll be sitting ducks unless their allies come to their aid (Kylo doesn't know about Holdo's upcoming Heroic Sacrifice). He and Rey would also still have to get off the Supremacy, which would be difficult, if not impossible, to pull off considering the place is full of heavily armed stormtroopers and security and whatnot, who probably aren't just going to let them walk into the hangar bay (Rey does manage to escape later by nicking Snoke's escape shuttle, but this is likely because everyone is distracted by Holdo cutting the ship in half at lightspeed; again, Kylo has no way of knowing about this). And finally, even if, by some miracle, Kylo and Rey made it to Crait and the Resistance weren't immediately wiped out, Kylo is still technically a war criminal who has killed, tortured and/or injured many Resistance members...in fact, he was doing exactly that just hours ago. Although Leia and Rey would probably defend him and thus prevent him from being shot on sight, the Resistance aren't just going to forgive him and roll out the welcome mat. Taking this into account, Kylo's Redemption Rejection starts to look almost sensible from a coldly pragmatic point of view; heck, DJ does the exact same thing when he sells out the Resistance to save his own ass when he, Rose and Finn get captured. From Kylo's viewpoint, going along with Rey's plan is not only counter to his personal goals, beliefs and mental/emotional state, but would be downright suicidal.
- DJ's actions in the final act. Was his betrayal premeditated, leading Finn and Rose into a trap so he could sell their information to the First Order? Or was it a heat-of-the-moment decision after he was captured? His actions on Canto Bight certainly make him seem like the kind of person to pull the former, but his Jerk with a Heart of Gold moment where he gives his down-payment back to them seems genuine, and he seems to have at least a hint of remorse as he leaves. Additionally, the camera focus on why they got caught is on an inquisitive droid seeing BB-8 fail at disguise with no tell that it was DJ's fault. And then there's Finn seeming to notice a different logical hole in his story and he sounds genuinely confused more than anything and there's DJ's rather enigmatic "maybe" as his final line. In keeping with the second interpretation; Some fans have speculated that DJ secretly gave BB-8 info on First Order weaponry, thus explaining how and why BB-8 was able to commandeer that AT-ST. DJ represents a true unaligned party, and Benicio del Toro doesn't consider him a villain.
- Admiral Holdo:
- Her decision to withhold the information about her true plan to save the Resistance from Poe and the rest of the crew, to the point of not even letting it be known that there is a plan (which led him to devise his own plan that only succeeded in wrecking hers). Was it because Holdo didn't trust Poe due to his Military Maverick altitude? Did she believe there was a spy on board? Was it Leia's plan for only Holdo to know? Or did Holdo withhold the information purely out of incompetence? Or, worse yet, was it Leia's plan and Holdo didn't even know? Or, this may have been simply a rare (for Star Wars) moment of military realism: a three-star admiral is under no obligation to explain herself to a mid-ranked fighter jock, especially one who was just demoted and stripped of his command for disobeying a direct order from his commander-in-chief (Leia). The novelization depicts her reasoning as deciding that "the fewer people who knew, the better" rather than a distrust of Poe specifically.
- Assuming one believes Holdo acted wrongly, when she saw the transports being destroyed, did she realize that her poor leadership was a major cause? Her Heroic Sacrifice can be interpreted as Redemption Equals Death.
- Assuming one believes that Holdo is right with how she acted, could telling Poe the plan be demoralizing as it would reveal that the Resistance is running away with its tail between its legs because they ultimately cannot fight the First Order? In this case, is this an attempt to prevent mass Despair Event Horizon that goes horribly wrong?
- There is even the slim possibility that Holdo was actually a character that planned on defecting to the First Order as soon as the opportunity presented itself. She does decide to stay behind while everybody else flees, and if the Holdo maneuver was really a one in a million chance, is it really impossible that she was just trying to flee or even surrender herself by going to a neutral world? Before she accidentally commits suicide?
- Poe's attitude. Was he always a loose cannon, or is his behavior the result of mental strain? There's evidence for both. Expanded Universe material depicts him as willing to disobey orders if he thinks it's best, but in the films he endured physical and mental torture, crashed from orbit, and fought two aerial battles, and given the absence of a Time Skip between films, apparently went through all of that on the same day as the opening scenes of The Last Jedi, without any semblance of time to recover.
- As this video
argues, several plot points make more sense if you watch the movie assuming that Rose is a double agent working for the First Order. It would explain how the First Order was able to find the Resistance fleet so easily (since we never actually see the "hyperspace tracker" that supposedly makes it possible), why Vice Admiral Holdo was so reluctant to tell the Resistance their true destination (even when it could have prevented a mutiny), and why she was willing to ram Finn's speeder at top-speed to prevent him from sacrificing his life to destroy a First Order laser cannon—which could potentially have saved many Resistance fighters' lives. - The Praetorian Guard (i.e. Snoke's faceless red-suited bodyguards) get quite a bit of this, given what little we see of them.
- Violent fanatics serving a cruel tyrant, or noble warriors who place honor above everything? Snoke's assassination effectively renders them all free, yet they all charge Kylo Ren and Rey at once. Was it a moment of panic, having just seen two enemies of theirs kill the master without even lifting a finger? Or was it something more complex, righteous anger to avenge their master, or even suicidal rage at no longer having a purpose?
- Near the end of the fight with Kylo Ren and Rey, when Kylo has one of the last three guards at a disadvantage with his lightsaber and an energy pike, the other guard who's not fighting Rey seems to charge in without a weapon and blocks Kylo's lightsaber with his armored gauntlets, albeit briefly. Suicidal Overconfidence, or a desperate and terrified warrior throwing himself on Kylo's blade to save his friend?
- Furthermore, Supplementary material confirms the armor they wear is incredibly painful to fight in, which adds a completely different interpretation of their actions into the mix. It doesn't seem the slightest bit out of character for Snoke to control his soldiers through the scummiest methods possible, so are they even fighting of their own free will?
- Luke Skywalker:
- Luke's personality change in this film could suggest that he is suffering from depression or PTSD, perhaps related to his failure to teach Kylo Ren, or perhaps due to his rebellion experiences. Alternatively, Luke's personality change in this film may be due to the fact that he was aware that he was dying.
- When Luke orders Rey to leave the island after catching her with Kylo, is it because he's actually trying to protect her, believing she will be drawn to the dark side and suffer the same fate as Kylo if she stays and he will be unable to prevent it? During his conversation with Yoda, the latter actually reassures him he won't lose Rey to the dark side, indicating this is a fear he has.
- Furthermore, in the aforementioned scene, Luke can see Kylo but during the previous Force bond scenes, he apparently couldn't. Is it because he's reconnected with the Force again? Or is it possible Snoke let Luke see Kylo and Rey together in the hopes of sowing discord between him and Rey?
- Did Luke initially go to Ahch-To seeking guidance after the destruction of his Jedi Order, but finding no obvious or helpful answers, gave into despair and decided to exile himself there and cut himself off from the Force?
- Is Rey a sterling strong female character because she won’t take Luke’s guff and acts to try and save the day by reaching out to Kylo Ren? Or is she an abused and traumatized victim of Snoke’s forcing her to connect with her assaulter? Or is she capricious and uncaring towards her friends for the previous film and simply biased towards Kylo at Han and Finn’s expense? An awful lot of this depends on how feasible and emotionally resonant her faith in Kylo seems. Where some see it as making perfect sense, others see it as requiring incongruous decisions on her part, such as being desperate enough to think Kylo can save the day but not desperate enough to try capturing or killing him when he lies unconscious at her feet after telling her no.
