[quote="Trajector"]
Foote: I love it!
Makes me think: What if Kylo Ren IS the main focus of the new arc? What if his interaction with Rey as a foil causes him not to be redeemed to the Light Side, nor to fully embrace the Dark Side...but to be the first to successfully blend and meld both together into a synthesized, balanced Force? That would be an interesting way to go.
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If Kylo was finally able to strike balance of the force, wouldn't that be a sort of redeemtion for him? He would finally have the one thing he desires most of all - Anakins Legacy.
Another thing is that, if indeed JJ and Co. are planning on making Rey and Kylo character foils, then if Kylo is struggling to fight the innate lightside within him, we will likely see Rey try and fight off a growing inner darkness. This kinda goes back to my current working theory on Rey. She might be the product of large amounts of Dark Side energy, which would nessesitate the hypothesised mind-wipe and bread crumb trail that Luke may very well have done himself in hopes she can forge her own good path away from the sway of early indoctrination from either Jedi or Sith teachings. A story like that obviously draws a lot of paralells to Revan, but I think this new Trilogy is certainly drawing materiel from EU sources to rewrite them (Ben Solo / Jacen Solo) after dismissing them as non-cannon. And not for nothing, but Revan's story is one of the greatest Star Wars stories ever told outside of the original trilogy, so it makes sense to me to use the core of that narrative. This could become even more plausible if we find out that the planet that Rey finds Luke on is Rakkata Prime. Think about that possibility for a moment.
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The question that prompted JJ to take the job and helm the next Star Wars trilogy was "Who is Luke Skywalker?"
Moving forward in the new trilogy, Luke's exile will be a topic of much curiosity. Was Luke filled with so much sadness, anger, and fear after the destruction of his new Jedi School that he forced himself into seclusion to stave off the draw of the dark side that courses through his familys blood? Was it that he didn't want to be found because the mere sight of Kylo Ren after what he did would illicit such strong emotions and Luke is afraid he wouldn't be able to control it leading to an inevitable fall to the dark side? I can't see this not being part of it somehow. But what kinda has been overlooked in all the hype over Kylo/Rey/Finn/Poe and others, is that Luke is looking for something, and it has to do with very old Jedi Temples (it might even be the first Jedi Temple, but I need to rewatch the film again).
What could he possibly be looking for, and why is he looking for it? The new trilogy might be ultimatly about Rey's journey, but Luke is the trilogys McGuffin. The search for Luke was the mcguffin for the whole first film, and I would expect that the thing he is looking for will be the central thing driving the narrative forward to the conclusion of Episode IX.
There is a strong possibility in my mind that it has everything to do with this "awakening" in the Force. Consider the fact that connection to the force was at an all time low during the events of the prequel and original trilogy movies, mostly due to the Sith temples that the old Jedi council was standing on (Palpatine mentions something like this in the prequels and uses it to hide his presense and ultimately do what he did). By the looks of things, the Sith are done. We do not know just yet whether Snoke is indeed going to be revealed as the former Darth Plagueis, but I think the fact that Ben Solo and the military arm behind him bare the surname "Ren". To me this seems like a deliberate departure from Sith teaching and philosophy. Sure, you can argue that Kylo Ren is no where near trained enough to earn the moniker of "Darth" given by the Sith, but Ben taking on the new name of Ren to try and embrace dark side teachings points to a different teaching philosophy all together, something new (or maybe really old, who knows).
Going back to Luke for a second, how much of the old Jedi order and teachings does he actually know? He really only had time to cover the starting basics with Obi-Wan before he chewed on Vaders lightsaber, and Luke never fully completed training with Yoda before he had to take off. It took old Jedi years upon years to train in the old order where they had archives and multiple masters and a plethora of knowledge to give. Jedi code and teachings were given to Luke in bite sized pieces and chunks, and where I'm sure he understands the fundamentals of it all, if he were to try and rebuild the Jedi I'm positive it wouldnt resemble the old ways at all. It would be in his image and understanding of it. It would be something new.
With the Sith likely extinct and the last remaining Jedi is really Jedi in name only, the Force explodes itself back into prominence since it has wayned for far too long and seeks equilibrium. Luke is without doubt very strong with the force and feels this awakening. This could prompt him into searching for the old Jedi temples, to seek out the knowledge he was never taught, to find a way to teach others without them falling like his father and his newphew have, what his bloodline seems destined to do.