6 Wildest Fan Theories About ‘Star Wars’

The “Star Wars” franchise started a long, long time ago. Since then, we’ve been blessed with three great movies, three Marvel movies masquerading as “Star Wars” movies, three movies that are only exciting because of the fan service (and no, I will not elaborate any further), a killer prequel spinoff, a mediocre origin story spinoff, multiple animated series, a Christmas special, a LEGO Christmas special, more video games than you can shake a joystick at, and, recently, a slew of exciting live-action series featuring some of our favorite “Star Wars” characters from the last 45-plus years.

For years, fans have been trying to connect all the dots between various “Star Wars” stories. While some connections started as theory and were later confirmed by a show or series, some connections require a little more faith in the Force. Let’s take a look at some of the wildest “Star Wars” fan theories.

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Say what you will about “Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace” — it gave us some memorable characters, like the villain Darth Maul and every 7-year-old’s favorite character, Jar-Jar Binks. He’s clumsy, kind of dumb, and somehow always walks away unscathed. His accidents rarely seem to have negative consequences and tend to turn the tide of a fight, if only momentarily.

What if this “dumb luck” is actually the Force and the bumbling, goofy way Jar-Jar carries himself is all just an act? We routinely see Jar-Jar capable of physical feats that are characteristic of a Jedi, like huge jumps and flips, so what else could he be capable of? Could he be capable of other tricks, like Jedi Mind Control?

Assuming that Jar-Jar is capable of Jedi Mind Control, then his political career in the later parts of the prequel trilogy is even more suspect. If he’s a bumbling fool, how do we explain away his rapid rise to the galactic senate? Why would Palpatine keep Jar-Jar around unless the two were in cahoots?

Rewatch the prequels (godspeed) through the lens of “Jar-Jar is actively manipulating everyone around him, and all his actions are deliberate,” and tell me he doesn’t seem incredibly sinister.

Despite the fact that they look like teddy bears, Ewoks are brutal and clever combatants. We see them setting traps for Stormtroopers, executing ambushes, and taking down Imperial walkers. Ewoks manage to capture Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, and Chewbacca, and what do they do next? Tie the rebel heroes to a spit to hang them over a fire.

After the Ewoks help the rebels during the Battle of Endor in “Return of the Jedi,” we see them using Stormtrooper helmets as drums, but we never see a Stormtrooper body. The Ewoks always seem to dine off-screen. Coincidence? I think not. It’s entirely plausible (and even likely) that many a Stormtrooper fell into an Ewok trap and found himself tied to a spit without Leia or C-3PO to save him from his fate.

Anakin, as his mother, Shmi, tells us in “The Phantom Menace,” never had a father. In “Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith,” Palpatine tells Anakin about a Sith Lord, Darth Plagueis, who was able to extend his own life and the lives of his loved ones and even create life using the Force. We know that Palpatine was Plagueis’ apprentice, and it stands to reason that Palpatine learned how to create life.

When we connect these dots, it looks very likely that Anakin, a massively Force-sensitive child with no perceivable biological father, was Palpatine’s Force-creation. If we factor in story threads from the sequel trilogy, where Rey is eventually revealed to be Palpatine’s granddaughter, we get the idea that Palpatine is trying to pass on the family business (of galactic tyranny) by any means necessary or that he’s trying to create, using the Force, his means of cementing his power.

Luke’s aunt and uncle were found burnt to death in their Tatooine home. There’s only one character in the original trilogy we see using a flamethrower, and that’s Boba Fett, who Darth Vader has to remind “no disintegrations” in “Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back.” This remark cements Boba Fett as a ruthless killer, and when we factor in how notoriously inaccurate Stormtroopers are (regardless of whatever Obi-Wan seems to think), it makes sense that Boba Fett would have been dispatched to assist in tracking C-3PO and R2-D2 through the desert. Their trail would have led Fett to Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru’s moisture farm for one last family barbecue.

Early in “Star Wars: A New Hope,” Obi-Wan Kenobi insists that “only Imperial Stormtroopers are precise” while he and Luke inspect a destroyed Jawa Sandcrawler. Yet throughout the original trilogy, we see Stormtroopers shooting around their targets, but rarely at their targets. If they’re so precise, perhaps they’re missing on purpose, which suggests that Vader, Palpatine, or someone in the chain of command knew that our rebel heroes Luke and Leia were Vader’s children.

This one makes a ton of sense. Han Solo’s son, Ben, trained under Luke before turning to the dark side and becoming Kylo Ren. We know Leia was also Force-sensitive, which could explain why she and Han were drawn together. Having some heightened connection to the Force could also explain Solo’s prowess as a pilot, which we’ve seen from Force-users like Anakin Skywalker (and this prowess continued as he took on the mantle of Darth Vader), Luke Skywalker, and Rey.