I got a bad feeling about this.
Following the success of The Force Awakens, the eagerly anticipated Star Wars: Episode VIII is currently filming, which means the possibility of set and script leaks.
For example, Reddit user LouEvilOne has apparently stumbled upon an unsubstantiated leak of the film’s script, and it’s pretty ridiculous.
The Redditor reveals that the film’s working title is Echoes of the Dark Side, and that the movie’s overall story will feature parallels to The Empire Strikes Back in the same way The Force Awakens echoed A New Hope, just not to the same degree. Nothing too farfetched so far.
LouEvilOne continued to break down the leak in the post using bullet points, so we’ll summarize it here:
The film sees Rey training with Luke in the ways of the Force to become a Jedi. Meanwhile, Finn and Poe are on mission in “a beautiful city” for the Resistance.
While being trained, Luke reveals to Rey her origins and true parentage:
Apparently, when Ben Solo (Kylo Ren) was seduced to the dark side by Snoke, he killed most of his fellow students being trained by Luke. A very young Rey was one of these students, but Luke saved her, and she was sent to Jakku. Rey’s mother perished in Ren’s attack.
This revelations prompts Rey to ask Luke if he is her father, to which he responds (get ready):
“No, you are my father.”
Uh-huh, sure. Let’s hear the explanation:
“Rey is the reincarnation of Anakin Skywalker. Luke went to the first Jedi temple to better understand how the process works. He learned that the spirit of the chosen one is reincarnated by the Force every time the universe is thrown out of balance, which apparently happens on a semi-regular basis (Anakin was hardly the first time the chosen one reincarnated). This is why she’s so crazy powerful with the Force (remember that Anakin blew up the Trade Federation donut ship by himself when he was like 8 years old).”
Also, Rey, now Anakin 2.0, is also apparently a “virgin birth,” and is a “child of the Force,” similar to Anakin, thus why she has no father.
Alright, the worst of it is over, (with the exception of a Force Ghost cameo from Hayden Christensen), but the rest of the “””leak””” goes like this:
Finn and Poe continue on their mission with the help of a Resistance contact named Chala. A romance between her and Finn blooms, until she betrays the two and hands them over to Kylo Ren. Rey senses Finn is in danger, and leaves with Luke to save them, leading to a climatic battle, which is not divulged in the post.
First off, there is absolutely no creditably to this “leak” at all, the user even points this out in a comment, but for some reason, this post has been blown out of proportion, with numerous other news sites reporting this fan fiction as if it’s a definitive guide to the upcoming movie.
We love Reddit posts like this, it shows fan passion and creativity (even if Rey being Anakin reincarnated sounds like a George Lucas wet dream). However, this post is not a “leak,” it’s a rumor at best.
A great Latino Review article breaks down this post, as well as the multitude of other supposed Reddit Star Wars leaks, and how all of them are just eager fans speculating and creating narratives they hope are taken as truth.
Please, use your best judgement when reading content labeled as “leaks.” This is just a goofy rumor. However, next winter we’ll be eating our words if Rey declares she “hates sand.”
Star Wars: Episode VIII hits theaters on December 15, 2017.
