Summary
The original Star Wars script featured a different Skywalker as the first Jedi, and upcoming projects could bring this vision to life.
George Lucas envisioned Skywalker not as a name, but as a role tied to the Force, hinting at a deeper origin of the Jedi in the Star Wars universe.
The Rise of Skywalker introduced a new concept of what it means to be a Skywalker, paving the way for potential new Skywalker stories in future projects.
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George Lucas’ earlier Star Wars script featured a different Skywalker who was the galaxy’s first Jedi and the founder of the Jedi Order, and upcoming Star Wars movies can make that original plan a reality. Although the Skywalker Saga officially concluded with the end of the Star Wars sequel trilogy, it seems that may not have been the true end of the Skywalker history in Star Wars’ movies and TV shows. In fact, one upcoming project in particular could elucidate how that first draft Skywalker factors into the story of Star Wars’ most prominent main characters.
Many of A New Hope’s preliminary plans have become well-known, including that Lucas toyed with the name Starkiller rather than Skywalker, but early drafts of the first Star Wars movie show that Skywalker has a more complicated legacy even than that. With the upcoming Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi movie slated to become the origin story for the Jedi, the movie could tie into Lucas’ original plans. Based on some key points from early Star Wars scripts, this could mean a connection to Lucas’ very first Skywalker who hasn’t yet come to be.
Related George Lucas’ Original 12-Movie Star Wars Plan & Story Explained George Lucas produced six Star Wars films before handing the reigns to Disney, but his original plan told a much larger story across 12 movies.
George Lucas Envisioned The Skywalker As The First Jedi
Neither Anakin Nor Luke Was Star Wars’ First Skywalker After All
Initially, George Lucas didn’t just envision Skywalker as the last name of a family; rather, the Skywalker was a distant figure who had uncovered the Force itself. According to The Secret History of Star Wars, written by Michael Kaminski, in an earlier draft of the original Star Wars movie, in fact, Luke was meant to say:
“In another time, long before the Empire, and before the Republic had been formed, a holy man called the Skywalker became aware of a powerful energy field which he believed influenced the destiny of all living creatures…”
This description is fascinating because it means that the original plan for Star Wars was to unveil the origin of the Force itself. Although Obi-Wan Kenobi does describe the nature of the Force in broader, somewhat vaguer ways in A New Hope, the story is mainly focused on this particular Imperial Era in the galaxy’s history. However, the earlier draft’s quote is also interesting because referring to this being as ‘the’ Skywalker is significantly different than Skywalker being his name.
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By using ‘the’ Skywalker, the quote implies that Skywalker isn’t who someone is but more so what they do; essentially, it’s a role one takes on. This particularly makes sense given the name itself. A Skywalker is conceivably someone who wields this incredible power. This would also imply that this first Skywalker Luke would have described was in fact the very first Jedi — or, the Prime Jedi.
“Skywalker” isn’t who someone is but more so what they do.
Star Wars Continues To Honor Some Of Lucas’ Early Ideas
Ashla And Bogan Are Signs That Lucas’ Original Ideas Still Matter
While ultimately that plan didn’t come to be in A New Hope, Star Wars has implemented some of Lucas’ other ideas from that time. In the same draft of Star Wars, Luke would have explained that the Force had two halves, “Ashla, the good, and Bogan, the paraforce or evil part.” While these aspects of the Force didn’t quite come to fruition in the same way Lucas’ original draft intended, both Ashla and Bogan’s names have appeared, especially in more recent projects.
Ashla, in particular, has appeared multiple times in Star Wars’ canon TV shows and in some non-canonical stories as well. Interestingly, many of these references tie specifically into Ahsoka Tano. In E.K. Johnston’s Ahsoka novel, which follows Ahsoka’s story in the Dark Times as one of the survivors of Order 66, Ahsoka takes on an alias to protect herself in exile. She chooses the name Ashla, which ties into Star Wars’ original plan for Ahsoka’s name. Canonically, there also was a young Togruta Jedi Padawan named Ashla in the prequel trilogy.
Bogan and Ashla have also been canonized, though a bit more obscurely, in The Mandalorian. During The Mandalorian season 2, Din Djarin and Grogu travel to the planet Tython, which was established in Star Wars Legends to be the birthplace of the Jedi. Notably, Tython has two moons, named Ashla and Bogan. While George Lucas’ original plan may not be fully realized with that alone, it’s clear the franchise is beginning to re-introduce and re-work many of Lucas’ initial ideas. The Skywalker himself may even be one of them, based on some of the sequel trilogy’s plot points.
Modern Star Wars Has Reinterpreted The “Skywalker”
The Rise Of Skywalker Changed What It Meant To Be A Skywalker
Although met with considerable controversy, the ending of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker has already begun the work of making George Lucas’ original Skywalker plan canon. At the end of Rise of Skywalker, Rey introduces herself to a stranger as Rey Skywalker, taking on the name that had just died (by bloodline) with Ben Solo. While many found this to be a poor ending for myriad reasons, it did open the door for Lucas’ original intention for the Skywalker to come to be.
Rey’s new Jedi Order movie will likely make clear what Rey’s adoption of this name truly means to her and for the larger galaxy, but for the time being, it seems that Skywalker has become something separate from the bloodline of one particular family. Instead, Skywalker may very well become synonymous once again with a powerful Jedi or one who possesses the Force. Whether or not it ultimately reinforces Lucas’ original plan, it has effectively become distinct from the conventional Skywalker line, reinforced by the fact that The Rise of Skywalker marked the end of the Skywalker Saga.
The Prime Jedi Could Still Be A “Skywalker”
Dawn Of The Jedi Makes A New Skywalker Story Possible
Rey’s new movie isn’t the only Star Wars project that could integrate this original plan. The upcoming Dawn of the Jedi movie will chart the path of the Prime Jedi, and will therefore necessarily identify who the first Jedi was. Because Star Wars has made clear that the Skywalker Saga is over, it’s unclear whether the franchise will give the Prime Jedi that name or lineage; however, it’s certainly a possibility. In fact, given Rey’s choice of the name, this may even be likely, offering a sort of continuity even if both movies are separate from the Skywalker Saga.
The upcoming
Dawn of the Jedi
movie will chart the path of the Prime Jedi.
Were that to be the case, the Prime Jedi may very well even be a Skywalker by blood, which would have interesting implications for the entire Skywalker line and for Star Wars more broadly. The same original Star Wars draft stated:
For this reason, the Skywalker entrusted the secret of THE FORCE only to his twelve children, and they in turn passed on the knowledge only to their children, who became known as the Jedi Bendu of the Ashla: “the servants of the force”. For thousands of years, they brought peace and justice to the galaxy.
In this version of Star Wars, it seems that the Jedi themselves originated from one family in particular, beginning with the Skywalker. In some sense, this could connect to Anakin and Luke, perhaps helping to explain why they are so powerful in the Force, but in another, this essentially makes the Skywalker the ancestor of all Jedi. This is also interesting because it isn’t at all in line with the prequel era Jedi Order’s perception of family and attachments; this suggests that family lineage was instead essential to the origins of the Jedi.
It remains to be seen how Dawn of the Jedi or even Rey’s new Star Wars movie will continue to build upon or divert from the Skywalker line that has dominated so much of Star Wars thus far. However, these fascinating origins of the Skywalker, despite ultimately being scrapped, offer the possibility that the Prime Jedi might be revealed to be a Skywalker after all. Particularly given that George Lucas intended the very first Jedi to be a Skywalker, it’s possible that future Star Wars projects will introduce another Skywalker into the mix.
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