Rian Johnson’sThe Last Jediis beginning to wind down it’s epic box office run, which means that he’s able to talk more openly about the decisions that he made while making the movie, since nearly everybody has seen it. Many of the director’s decisions have been savagely picked apart byStar Warsfans. One of the more controversial decisions inThe Last Jediwas the way that Supreme Leader Snoke was portrayed, but now, Johnson is giving some insight into a key scene that left many fans shocked. There are SPOILERS forThe Last Jediahead, read at your own risk.
Rian Johnsonspoke about the controversial Snoke scene in a new Q&A where he revealed Kylo Ren’s state of mind during the scene. The director has spoken at great length about why he did not delve more into Snoke’s backstory and insists that the movie is supposed to be based around the characters of Kylo Ren and Rey, and Snoke was a plot device to get a particular point across about Kylo Ren. Ultimately, Kylo is able to kill Snoke, but when did he decide to do it?
Rian Johnson revealed thatKylo Renknew beforehand that he was going to betray Snoke, but he didn’t know the exact time that it would happen. It wasn’t until he brought Rey up to Snoke that he knew that it was time, but he still didn’t know how it was going to go down. Johnson explains.
“In my mind, he walks in there knowing basically that he is going tobetray Snokebut he doesn’t know yet exactly what the mechanism is and what his opportunity is going to be. But he’s gone in there with the intent of, whether it’s now or whether it’s later or whenever it is, when he brings Rey in there, he’s had that connection with her and what he says in the elevator… from that, in my head I thought, Okay, he knows he’s going to do this but he doesn’t know how yet and when he sees that opportunity with that lightsaber next to him and sees Snoke distracted and realizes he can give this an attempt, he goes for it.”
ThroughoutThe Last Jediwe see Kylo Ren’s conflicts in his head aboutwho he’s supposed to be. We finally see him trash his superficial homage to Darth Vader and begin to come into his own, which means that Snoke had to go.
Now that we know what was going through Kylo Ren’s head, it’s safe to say that he never consideredjoining the Resistance. It’s at this point that his thirst for power has only started to be fulfilled, it’s a time where he can see himself as Darth Vader powerful. It’s going to be really interesting to see how J.J. Abrams addresses the quest for power inStar Wars 9because Rian Johnson set him up to go down a pretty dark path, which is really saying something since he killed his dad inThe Force Awakens.
While Rian Johnson was quick to share Kylo Ren’s thoughts during the Snoke scene, he was not as open when asked about the end of the movie where he’s shown on Crait with Han Solo’s holographic dice when the Millennium Falcon speeds away. That scene is open to our interpretation, but it could be some regret after being beaten by his uncle in hologram form, regret that turns into even more anger and rage. You can check out the rest of what Rian Johnson had to say aboutThe Last JediviaSleemo’s Tumblr.
