One painfully underutilized Star Wars’ most layered villains, for example. And yet, there were plenty of things to nitpick about, especially concerning Palpatine’s surprising resurrection.

One key player in Palpatine’s return deserved a bigger role in the story: Supreme Leader Snoke. Snoke’s death in Star Wars: The Last Jedi was undeniably memorable, as it marked a significant shift in Rey and Kylo Ren’s relationship, but his demise nevertheless felt unceremonious and sudden. Andy Serkis’ performance deserved more screen time, and the character’s potential was wasted. However, there’s no denying that, despite Snoke’s short-lived role in the wider Skywalker saga, he accurately predicted the Jedi’s and the franchise’s future – in a roundabout way, at least.

Supreme Leader Snoke Predicted That Skywalker's Return Would Bring Back The Jedi

Star Wars: The Force Awakens may have largely been a retread of A New Hope’s original storyline, but it also set up this generation’s new characters with fascinating potential developmental arcs. Sadly, of course, not all of those character stories were properly followed up on – John Boyega’s Force-sensitivity was never explored the way it deserved to be, especially after his lightsaber moment during The Force Awakens’ climactic duel – but one character did receive the story and development she deserved: Daisy Ridley’s Rey.

After The Force Awakens, Rey became the central figure of the new Star Wars trilogy, the same way Luke Skywalker and Anakin Skywalker were before her. In fact, Snoke predicted her future in The Force Awakens, though he – and presumably, the writers, given the sequel trilogy’s development was famously unplanned – didn’t realize he was referencing her potential at the time. In the film, Snoke says: “If Skywalker returns, the new Jedi will rise.” His concern was obviously about Luke Skywalker, who was missing throughout The Force Awakens – but that doesn’t mean he was wrong.

Luke Was Not The Last Jedi At All

Of course, Snoke – essentially a clone-like extension of Palpatine – believed that Luke Skywalker would one day return to lead the Jedi into a new era. Palpatine would have been concerned by Luke’s potential reappearance, given he was the reason his star pupil, Darth Vader, turned on him and kickstarted the destruction of the Empire. They were focused on Luke’s individual return, not how Luke might influence a new generation of Jedi without taking on a leadership role himself.

As the aptly titled Star Wars: The Last Jedi proved, Luke was never meant to be the last Jedi. As a character, his role in the franchise had always been to bring back the idea of the Jedi and what they stood for – he became one during the original Star Wars trilogy, then decided to train a new Jedi Order during the New Republic era, and subsequently lost that dream at the hands of his nephew.

When Rey showed up on Ahch-To, it became clear that Luke was never meant to be the last Jedi. She was connected to the Force, she just needed to learn how to wield it.

Though Luke stumbled and arguably left the galaxy in turmoil when he went into hiding, his story wasn’t over yet. Of course, it wasn’t – he was a Skywalker, after all. When Rey showed up on Ahch-To, it became clear that Luke was never meant to be the last Jedi. She was connected to the Force, she just needed to learn how to wield it.

Even though there was always the looming possibility that Rey would turn to the dark side and Kylo Ren – though really, was Star Wars ever truly going to be brave enough to go down that route? – Rey was meant to be the next Jedi. Neither the audience nor Snoke realized that she was meant to be the next Skywalker Jedi, though.

The Skywalkers Really Are Bringing Back The Jedi

In Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Rey adopts the Skywalker name during a touching scene on Tatooine, as she buries the lightsabers of both her former Masters, Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa. All Rey ever wanted was a family, a sense of belonging, and she found it with them. She even briefly found it with Leia’s son, Ben, once he shed his Kylo Ren identity and ed her on Exegol to take down Palpatine.

In true Star Wars fandom fashion, however, Rey’s name change proved to be a contentious decision. Some believed she hadn’t earned the Skywalker name, others felt that Star Wars was simply relying on nostalgia and banking on the Skywalker saga’s profitability. Whatever the underlying reason may have been, Rey officially became a Skywalker at the end of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, indirectly fulfilling Snoke’s prediction from The Force Awakens.

Now, Star Wars is taking that prediction one step further. Not only did Rey Skywalker bring back the Jedi because she became a new Jedi herself, but she’s bringing back the Jedi Order in Star Wars’ Rey-centric and tentatively titled Star Wars: New Jedi Order movie. Announced at Star Wars Celebration 2023, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy is set to direct the film, with Daisy Ridley returning to her pivotal role.

Though very little is currently known about the Star Wars movie, Snoke’s prediction of a Skywalker leading the “new Jedi” might give us a little insight. After all, Luke realized that trying to resurrect the Jedi Order with all its arguably archaic rules and beliefs was futile. They were a product of their time, and their staunch refusal to change or adapt led to the Jedi Order’s tragic destruction following Order 66 in Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith.

Hopefully, Rey will try to create a genuinely “new” Jedi Order, one with fewer restrictive rules and a different sense of right and wrong.

Hopefully, Rey will try to create a genuinely “new” Jedi Order, one with fewer restrictive rules and a different sense of right and wrong. Rey has tasted both the dark side and embraced the light – as one of half of a Force Dyad, she arguably understands the Force better than most other Jedi. Armed with that knowledge, Luke and Leia’s insights, and having learned from the Jedi’s history and mistakes – she did take the ancient Jedi texts from Ahch-To, after all – Rey has everything she needs to be a Jedi leader unlike any the galaxy has seen before.

What this new Jedi Order will look like is anyone’s guess, but at least Supreme Leader Snoke was right to be worried about the return of the Skywalker name. He just didn’t know which Skywalker he was talking about when he predicted the rise of the new Jedi in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. I can’t wait to see what Rey is up to in her Star Wars movie.