Plot episode VIII

It will be interesting whether they continue the story immediately after the FA, or if some years will pass by since we reach the next movie. In some ways it would be easier if in the next episode some time has passed.

I agree with @ArynCrinn on the theme being identity as TFA left so many secrets with the characters: It hinted their past but didn't reveal them.

Phasma is coming back, so she must be on a personal vendetta against Finn. Kylo, I bet, will be hellbent to get Rey. Maybe these two characters will have some sort of an alliance (I do not know what Hux's role will be here, I guess he will continue being sort of an antagonist for Kylo). I am also curious about BtD's character -- whether he will be someone like Thraw, or mercenary as I think I read in some leaks/speculations weeks ago? The mercenary could work: he might end up being someone like Boba Fett that FO hires to get to Finn/Rey?

 

The biggest question for me in regards to where it all goes from here is... will episode 8 continue straight on from 7?

all of the films before this one have jumped forward a block of time (ESB -> ROTJ was a short gap, but still a year IIRC).

Whilst i fully expect that time will have passed between 7 & 8, so that Ren can recover... First Order can get their crap back together etc
How could they NOT give us that first conversation between Luke & Rey? surely we will see it? they wouldn't do that to us.. would they?

 

Let's try this:

First off, I hope we're not going to see another Rey/Kylo confrontation. Let's save that for Episode IX. Both of them will receive training from their masters, which is going to give Luke an opportunity to give some background information about certain stuff that happened in the past 30 years.
I'd like to see Kylo Ren train on Moraband and find some ancient Sith knowledge, delving more into that world.

We'll see more Poe Dameron, possibly buddy-copping it with Finn. I think we should see more Leia and that means the two of them will have to stick around or they'll have to introduce some new character(s) so that Leia has people to interact with.

We'll get Del Toro as a new addition, and I'm expecting him to be a Thrawn-type character, taking the wheel from Hux. We'll probably get more of him and Cpt. Phasma.

However, there are also a lot of characters I don't know what they're going to do with. Right now Chewie is with Rey, but if she's going to be trained by Luke, where does that leave Chewie?

And what is going to form the action part of the movie? There's going to be some clashes, but between who? Are we going to see more Knights of Ren? Can we expect a (Force Ghost) cameo?

Im excited as to where they're going to take this story. TFA was a very good movie, but it built on the familiair. Perhaps a tad much. I'd like to see more original ideas.

 

Unfortunately I think that most of Rey's training will take between 7 and 8. Maybe it will get covered in say a comic

 

i know your right, and i can almost see the next crawl saying "meanwhile.. Luke Skywalker has been training Rey in secret"

with the pair of them staring at each other without talking and the film ending... that's actually a rather upsetting thought! i almost have a 'need' to see that conversation lol

 

This is really all I need.

Well, this too.

 

Love the idea of Poe and Finn buddying up. Both have some great humerous lines in TFA and would go down a treat as a pair.

 

I think (and hope) that's how these characters were designed. I really enjoyed the introduction of all the new characters to each other, Poe and Finn being no exception.

And didn't Issac say something about their fates being intertwined forever, or something? Especially with Rey off doin' Jedi stuff, I think there's a great opportunity to build a duo in Ep. VIII, possibly involving Phasma.

 

Some ideas:

STRUCTURE

I agree with those who speculate the film will have diverging hero storylines, similar to the Luke / Han-Leia split of ESB. I think Rey and Finn will be the focal points of this split, and won't be reunited until the 3rd act, again mimicking ESB.

WORLD-BUILDING

Both the Republic and First Order were decimated by the events of TFA, and the Resistance didn't look like much. I suspect there'll be some chaos as various groups seek to fill the power vacuum. Perhaps we'll see Leia struggle against rivals within the Republic, or new groups (such as Hutt-like mafiosos) emerge to challenge both the Republic and First Order. In any event, we should get a better contextual understanding of the state of the galaxy (this was glossed over in TFA) now that the characters have been established.

MAIN PROTAGONISTS

We've heard they're casting a female opposite Boyega. If true, I wonder if they will throw Rey and Poe into a conflict together in order to develop a relationship between them, similar to Han and Leia in ESB, or if Rey will have more a loner spiritual journey, similar to Luke in ESB, leaving Poe and Finn free to explore their bromance.

I wonder if Finn will become cybernetically enhanced from all the repair work on his spine and body? This would be a way of giving him moderate "super powers" without necessarily making him force sensitive.

Assuming Luke is Rey's father, it's possible one plot line may involve Rey's search for her mother (unless her mother is unquestionably dead).

Will Luke join the adventure, or will he be a homebody?

VILLAINS

It wouldn't surprise me if Rey and Finn both have personal antagonists chasing them across the galaxy. Kylo will be obsessed with finding Rey, similar to Vader obsessing over Luke in ESB, and I suspect Phasma will be disgraced and booted out of the First Order for her cowardice, and will become a vengeful, rogue villain hunting down Boyega. Perhaps this will be an opportunity for her to earn the comparisons to Boba Fett.

I think it'd be fresh and exciting if we delved into dark side lore and they showed us some dark side training, since Kylo is still a student. In fact, they might give him an arc that's like an inverse of Luke's arc in ESB -- perhaps he abandons his training early to go after Rey?

Kylo might need a new mask if his was lost on Starkiller -- maybe we'll get a bit more history about the dark side and he'll pick up a pre-Sith ancient relic to wear?

Will we get to meet the Knights of Ren and see them terrorize the galaxy?

As for Benicio Del Toro, perhaps he is the head of either the Kanjiklub or Guavian Death Gang? Or a dark side elder who trains Kylo? Or a rival Knight of Ren? Or a nefarious Lando type who governs a space the heroes must cross? Or a bounty hunter going after Finn and/or Rey?

 

I'm hoping that Poe ends up as the new pilot of the Falcon with Chewie. What a pair they'd make.