Surprising Moments for you in TLJ

The Last Jedi has been dubbed the most shocking Star Wars movie in history. So, which moments actually surprised/shocked you?
Good surprise, bad surprise, both.

-Kylo killed Snoke
Most shocking part for me, I guess. I really did not see that coming cause I thought they'd be fighting Snoke in IX. I mean, I knew he'd go against Snoke but never thought Snoke would be dead as early as the middle chapter.

-Reylo were gonna kill each other (?) right after Kylo's proposal
Gosh, my heart was beating so fast at this moment, I was like "Noooooooooooo"
I mean, I knew it wouldn't be that easy to turn Kylo.... but Rey reaching for the lightsaber???  

-Reylo's parents sold her off for drinking money
Though the truth is still vague and questionable, but I will accept this as the truth for now, and this is a nice twist for me personally. The very first Reylo fanfic I read had Rey's parents as nobody, innocent villagers who were killed in mass slaughter by the FO and I liked that idea, it had somehow became headcanon for me. So the twist that Reylo's parents ARE nobody, but instead of innocent, they're actually horrible parents and might be lowly criminals too, is a really nice twist for me.

-Poe's rebellion against Holdo.
I didn't read spoilers, so I didn't see that coming. It's quite a new thing for Star Wars... I mean, a split in the Resistance, we never had that before.

-Suicidal Finn.
I was like, "omg no no no no, Rian pls don't kill Finn!" .....phewww, Rose saved him... that was quite a shocking moment for me

That's all I can remember for now.

-Kylo killing Snoke.
-Luke's death  
-The way they portrayed the Force Bond! (I thought they would only hear each other's thoughts, it never crossed my mind that it could be so physical).

Force bond!

RENPEROR
It was like watching a train wreck the first time around.

Projecting Luke
So freaking cool.

Hand scene and the PG fight gave me the biggest chills, though.

I read almost all the spoilers going in so nothing was really surprising to me when I watched it lol but I'll say projection Luke was probably the most surprising when I read the spoilers.
I was surprised we never got a reunion between Leia & Ben since so many of thought that it would happen after the bts footage came out and we saw them standing together, in costume, on a set
I was also surprised Hux didn't die. And that he had a bigger role.

Well I learned everything from reading spoilers before I saw it, but I was surprised when we found out that Kylo killed Snoke and Renperor happened. I really wasn't predicting that trajectory, yet here we are. I always thought he'd ultimately kill Snoke, but not as early as TLJ and not that he'd become the "big bad" in Snoke's place. Well, I was aware that Renperor was a theory and a distinct possibility, but it was one of my least favorite possibilities so I ignored it for the most part.  

But my biggest shock was what they decided to do with Kylo's backstory. I really didn't expect them to have Luke betray him in such a way. Luke's death wasn't nearly as surprising as that. I was convinced that they wouldn't dare kill off Luke after Han, but all three of the OT trio dying was always in my mind as an avenue they might go. But the 'I considered killing my nephew in his sleep before he'd done anything' was like, wow. I now know why Mark Hamill really had reservations, and it wasn't about Luke deciding that the Jedi should end like he claimed before.

I did not expect the reylo bond scenes to be so accelerated. I was totally shocked by how frank and "at home" they felt. Shirtless kylo totally baffled me. Oh the hand sex scene of course...like whoa...I couldn't believe how much reylo I was getting. That and snoke's death and also how well rey took her parentage story. I thought she'd combust but no, she was like o wells.

I think Renperor both surprised and disgusted me the most on my first viewing. I was so into the overt Reylo story that was being told in such a beautiful way that I felt the break-up as I now like to call it pulled the rug out from underneath me. I walked out of TLJ thinking that was it - this was the most depressing movie in cinematic history. Now I’ve had time to digest it, complete with two more viewings, this isn’t the end of Reylo nor Ben’s redemption by a long shot. The Battle of Crait happened solely because Ben was jilted by his girlfriend. I have a feeling they’ll probably make up or make out sometime in the middle of the IX...

Reylo (with shirtless Kylo, #handsex...I didn't expect them to go there so more power to them that they did ) and Renperor.

Luke dying. I honestly expected them to milk the character even beyond IX (spin offs, etc).

Renperor. Never in a million years... but it's a brilliant way to get fanboys on Ben's side and it was cathartic AF for me to watch his jilted lover meltdown, so I'm on board.

MeadowofAshes wrote:Renperor. Never in a million years... but it's a brilliant way to get fanboys on Ben's side and it was cathartic AF for me to watch his jilted lover meltdown, so I'm on board.

@MeadowofAshes

Had my third viewing tonight and I found myself laughing almost all the way through the Battle of Crait, which I will tell you wasn’t the case Thursday night.  The way Hux is like “F*** my life” is comedy gold...

IoJovi wrote:

MeadowofAshes wrote:Renperor. Never in a million years... but it's a brilliant way to get fanboys on Ben's side and it was cathartic AF for me to watch his jilted lover meltdown, so I'm on board.

@MeadowofAshes

Had my third viewing tonight and I found myself laughing almost all the way through the Battle of Crait, which I will tell you wasn’t the case Thursday night.  The way Hux is like “F*** my life” is comedy gold...

@IoJovi

I didn't think a movie could possibly make me like Hux, yet here we are.

I also find Kylo's adolescent raging antics and the First Order's reaction to it ("Right away, sir") comedy gold.

I was also mostly spoiled so these were the most surprising for me:
How quickly Rey believed Kylo could be redeemed
Poe's character-I knew he'd clash with Holdo but not like that
Kylo not actually going to Ahch-to
Luke thinking about killing Ben backstory
Snoke claiming he did the force bond
Leia giving up on her son

Apart from the Luke reveal, I thought post lightsaber tug-of-war scene when Rey's already gone was really surprising.

IoJovi wrote:

MeadowofAshes wrote:Renperor. Never in a million years... but it's a brilliant way to get fanboys on Ben's side and it was cathartic AF for me to watch his jilted lover meltdown, so I'm on board.

@MeadowofAshes

Had my third viewing tonight and I found myself laughing almost all the way through the Battle of Crait, which I will tell you wasn’t the case Thursday night.  The way Hux is like “F*** my life” is comedy gold...

@IoJovi




I would not be able to get through the next 2 years without everyone on this forum.

@SheLitAFire - Me too.  


Biggest surprises were mostly related to Luke:  his thoughts of killing Ben, his projection, his death.


I get it that the Skywalkers do the whole "meeting your fate on the road you take to avoid it" thing, like Anakin and the death of Padme, but after Luke's forgiveness of Vader, I'm having a hard time wrapping my brain around that.  Not even a conversation first?  Or taking out Snoke?  Some family therapy?  I know, it was a moment of weakness, but I'm having a hard time seeing Luke, son of Anakin Skywalker, getting to that point.


Along those lines, after Bloodline, I thought Ben getting attacked by his friends for the Vader reveal was going to be where he lost it and went Dark.


That Rey would start falling for Ben while he's still a "monster" was also a surprise, but they made it make sense.

- Snoke's death, because it has been all fast and sudden and because I thought that he would have been the big bad villain in the next movie. The common enemy.

- Kylo and Rey fighting after the PG fight. It was surprising, also because after all what they shared, after what he had done (killing Snoke and basically saving her) I found the whole scene so strange and anticlimatic. Expecially on Rey's side and certainly not what I expected.

- Renperor for the same reason.

- Hux still surviving. He had more scenes than I expected and maybe now he has a greater goal for the next movie, plotting against Supreme Leader Kylo.

- Luke's death and hologram Luke at the end

- all the time spent with Poe

- The explicit and almost erotic way Reylo evolves during the movie. With shirtless Kylo, handsex, all the heavy breathing, the intense glances. I just expected some civil dialogues between them, maybe some prolonged eyecontact... How could I have been prepared for all of this?!

- Rey's parents. I hoped they were nobody, but I expected that their behavior had something to do with Rey's raw power. I imagined a story where they tried to protect her or, on the contrary, they were afraid of her powers and decide to abandon her. Something like that, but in the end they were just bad parents and drunkards. Ok.

"Jedi Academy Massacre" above all.

In my wildest dreams I didn't thought for a second they would have dared to go there.

Simple. Powerful. Tragic.

The Skaywalker family drama in a nutshel.

Kylo's physical presence on Ahch-To through the Force Bond
==> very clever way to have Kylo and Rey quickly bonding, avoiding to spend the whole movie traveling through the galaxy first to go to Ahch-To,  then Supremacy, then Crait. Before I saw the movie, I thought Kylo would be the one who would travel the most during the movie. And I realize that he spends a good portion of the movie doing anything else than connecting with Rey and totally losing focus on his initial goal: find Luke and kill him. Boy is in love! Interesting to note that he is the only one projecting in Rey's surroundings, not the contrary. But then, she goes to find him.

Luke's hologram
==> clever way from Rian to have Luke confronting Kylo, giving Luke the death he wished, protecting Kylo from another family murder and saving the Resistance from the FO

Leia aka Supergirl
==> Big WTF moment

Leia's relationship with Ben
==> Rian should have clearly told that Leia thinks her son is truly gone because she believes he is the one who shot her. And Ben not sensing that his mother is alive in the base is kinda awful: it looks really like he doesn't care at all about her.

So few information about Ben's background (relationship with Snoke, relationship with his parents, etc...)
==> Hope that it will be developed in the next movie or at least in the TLJ novelization

So few information about the Force and the purpose Kylo and Rey are supposed to achieve together
==> But since Rey stole the Old Jedi texts, we have a chance to learn more in the next movie

Since I was spoiled, there weren't a lot of big surprises. But when the projection Luke stuff leaked, I thought it was the stupidest FAF ever comparable to sloth Anakin. I've never been so delighted to be wrong, I loved Luke's projection.

I was also surprised with what they did with Luke and Ben's backstory and how they revealed it.

I read most of the major plot points before, so the biggest surprise for me was the shirtless scene I guess I just didn't expect the movie to flash Not Platonic in quite such a blatant manner. Plus it's just shocking to see Kylo uncovered after he spent the entire previous film under five layers of clothing.

IoJovi wrote:I think Renperor both surprised and disgusted me the most on my first viewing. I was so into the overt Reylo story that was being told in such a beautiful way that I felt the break-up as I now like to call it pulled the rug out from underneath me. I walked out of TLJ thinking that was it - this was the most depressing movie in cinematic history. Now I’ve had time to digest it, complete with two more viewings, this isn’t the end of Reylo nor Ben’s redemption by a long shot. The Battle of Crait happened solely because Ben was jilted by his girlfriend. I have a feeling they’ll probably make up or make out sometime in the middle of the IX...

@IoJovi

Who would have thaught of that whie we were trying eagrly to nail down the timeline fot TLJ.


And yeah I was also among those who wanted it play SAFE AND CORRECT, hence my fall to the dark side after my first viewing.
I mean literally, even on the meta level: When I sat in my car in the theater's garage the lights went out down there for whatever reason - you may imagine my state of mind at that moment.

Darth_Awakened wrote:

IoJovi wrote:I think Renperor both surprised and disgusted me the most on my first viewing. I was so into the overt Reylo story that was being told in such a beautiful way that I felt the break-up as I now like to call it pulled the rug out from underneath me. I walked out of TLJ thinking that was it - this was the most depressing movie in cinematic history. Now I’ve had time to digest it, complete with two more viewings, this isn’t the end of Reylo nor Ben’s redemption by a long shot. The Battle of Crait happened solely because Ben was jilted by his girlfriend. I have a feeling they’ll probably make up or make out sometime in the middle of the IX...

@IoJovi

Who would have thaught of that whie we were trying eagrly to nail down the timeline fot TLJ.


And yeah I was also among those who wanted it play SAFE AND CORRECT, hence my fall to the dark side after my first viewing.
I mean literally, even on the meta level: When I sat in my car in the theater's garage the lights went out down there for whatever reason - you may imagine my state of mind at that moment.

@Darth_Awakened

Right? I agree 100% with this one. What surprised me the most is that while I did expect some overt Reylo scenes (which we got in abundance), the time line in which they happen, and in which everything falls to pieces was not what I expected AT ALL. I expected everything in a neat little package - Ben’s redemption first and Reylo second. We know how that went...

SheLitAFire wrote:

IoJovi wrote:

MeadowofAshes wrote:Renperor. Never in a million years... but it's a brilliant way to get fanboys on Ben's side and it was cathartic AF for me to watch his jilted lover meltdown, so I'm on board.

@MeadowofAshes

Had my third viewing tonight and I found myself laughing almost all the way through the Battle of Crait, which I will tell you wasn’t the case Thursday night.  The way Hux is like “F*** my life” is comedy gold...

@IoJovi




I would not be able to get through the next 2 years without everyone on this forum.

@SheLitAFire

Think I can collectively say, we LOVE you too. ;-) Gonna be a fun two years!

Hux surviving and being set up to become a bigger player in IX is a big surprise. And a welcome one! FO is so much more interesting than the Resistance.

Kylo no going to Ahch-to. Clever of Rian to bring Adam to film Force Bond scenes there.

Battle of Crait basically being one big nothing. With the exception of MF taking out some TIE fighters, the Resistance didn't hit a single ground target but got obliterated like little ****es.

That the Resistance dropping crystal blocks on AT-AT rumor didn't materialize. It seems to me that there was a plan but they opted out of it. Same with Finn cutting Phasma's arm. I guess they didn't want to have feminist outcry about domestic abuse cause a guy cut a hostile-armed-woman-intended-to-kill-him arm so they went with safer helmet smash and than ground opening at the right moment to swallow her.

vaderito wrote:Hux surviving and being set up to become a bigger player in IX is a big surprise. And a welcome one! FO is so much more interesting than the Resistance.

Kylo no going to Ahch-to. Clever of Rian to bring Adam to film Force Bond scenes there.

Battle of Crait basically being one big nothing. With the exception of MF taking out some TIE fighters, the Resistance didn't hit a single ground target but got obliterated like little ****es.

That the Resistance dropping crystal blocks on AT-AT rumor didn't materialize. It seems to me that there was a plan but they opted out of it. Same with Finn cutting Phasma's arm. I guess they didn't want to have feminist outcry about domestic abuse cause a guy cut a hostile-armed-woman-intended-to-kill-him arm so they went with safer helmet smash and than ground opening at the right moment to swallow her.

@vaderito



I finally figured out Kylo wasn’t coming to AchTo two days before I saw the film. I had read the VD leak and knew about the Force Bond. After realizing we had not a single shot of Kylo on AchTo, I had a feeling they’d go that route. I also think the crashed Silencer from the Ireland filming was a decoy meant to misdirect prying eyes.