If you haven’t seen Episode VII yet, what are you doing with your life? Love it or hate it, you have to admit that there is much to discuss with the film ,and since the film’s release four months ago, the internet has been ablaze, searching for any information regarding Episode VIII. Since it’s currently filming (And we know the chances of leaks are very, very slim at this point) then it’s only a matter of time before we get any information on the film.

Of course, the biggest points of discussion in the film seems to be Rey’s lineage and the steps she will be taking to become a Jedi. One of the most discussed aspects of her character seems to be drawing from the vision she undergoes upon finding the Skywalker lightsaber. One scene in particular stands out, in which it shows Kylo Ren stabbing someone, as well as giving a brief glimpse at the Knights of Ren, who stand menacingly behind him like villains typically do when there’s lightning flashing. Many have believed this to be a glimpse at the slaughter Kylo took part in at Luke’s Jedi school, however Pablo Hidalgo, the Creative Executive in Lucasfilm’s Story Group confirmed on Twitter earlier this year that the scene was not what we all believed it to be.  Hidalgo states that it is “somewhere else” and that the character killed was a “clan leader.” At least, that’s what they’re calling him over there.

So if not a vision at Kylo’s actions in the past, then when is it? Quite simply, it is a flash forward, specifically at a moment in which Rey faces defeat.

Let’s assume Rey is a Skywalker or related to the Skywalkers in some way for a moment. Star Wars follows a sense of poetry, in which I, II, and III follow situations, events, and many more themes that IV, V, and VI convey, almost paralleling one another. In Episode I, Qui-Gon dies, whereas in Episode IV Obi-Wan dies. The mentor-figure ends up dying in the first movie, continued with Han Solo dying at the hands of a dark side adept. There are many more instances, of which they can be viewed in the (beautiful) video below.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7ZW1gtCljs[/youtube]
The reason I bring this and Rey’s possible Skywalker lineage up is because both Anakin and Luke face defeat in Episode II and Episode V respectively. Episode II sees Anakin duel Count Dooku the first time and ultimately lose, as he loses his arm. Episode V has the famous scene in which Luke loses his hand in a duel with Darth Vader on Cloud City. Even if Rey is not a Skywalker, it seems the central Jedi-protagonist of Star Wars ends up in these situations in the middle of their character arc.

But that is not the first time the situation has been thought of. Regardless if Rey should lose a limb or not in her next confrontation with Kylo, it is very possible that is the scene in which she not only stands before him but also the other Knights of Ren.

In that same vision, Rey later ends up in the forest in which the film’s climactic duel takes place. Rey predicts this moment, which is essential in her development of her character as she accepts becoming a Jedi. If Rey was able to foresee this pivotal moment for herself, then why should she not be able to see another in which she faces defeat?

Thus, Episode VII not only tells us that Rey would confront Kylo again in the next movie, but she will facing odds that don’t seem to be in her favor. Of course, this still leaves questions: who are the individual Knights of Ren? Who or what is Ren? How are the Knights of Ren going to play into Episode VIII? With how little we know about Episode VIII based on the threads Episode VII left us, the best can do is only hypothesize, and this seems like a good indication of what the cast meant when they said the film would be darker: legitimately dark, raining, and with lightning.