Since 1977, the Star Wars franchise has been bringing generations of fans to that galaxy far, far way. It’s produced 11 live-action films so far, with additional movies reportedly in the works. Franchise creator George Lucas gave us six movies between 1977 and 2005, two trilogies that joined together to tell a six-part story. Disney took the reins from Lucas and delivered five more movies, plus an endless stream of television shows on Disney+ like the recently polarizing The Acolyte.
That’s not even including the plethora of comic books, video games, and other expanded merchandise and marketing ploys meant to fill in the gaps of this huge and ever-expanding universe. Yet somehow, even with all this content across the lifespan of a middle-aged human being, there are still lingering questions that have gone unanswered. Here are ten burning questions that we’re waiting for Star Wars to answer.
10 What Is Yoda’s Species?
Yoda is a Jedi Master and a major player in the first two Star Wars trilogies. But don’t let his diminutive size fool you. He’s arguably the strongest Force user in the franchise — not only because of his immense power and extremely high midi-chlorian count, but also because of his deep understanding of and connection to the Force.
We see a lot of alien species throughout Star Wars, and most of them have names. But we never actually learn the name of Yoda’s species. In fact, we know next to nothing about this mysterious alien race, like where they come from or how many of them exist.
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We meet only two other members of Yoda’s race: the adorable Grogu, also known as Baby Yoda, and Yaddle, a female Jedi Master from the prequel trilogy. All three characters seem to have an affinity for the Force. Does Yoda’s race naturally possess a high midi-chlorian count? Are all of them strong with the Force? Is there a planet out there that’s filled with these little, green critters, pulling off mind-boggling stunts?
Yoda’s species is one of the most alluring mysteries of Star Wars. It’d be interesting to learn more about their origins. But unlike other questions on this list, we’re OK if this one remains unanswered, keeping Yoda as mysterious as the power he wields.
9 What Did Finn Want to Tell Rey?
One of the main protagonists in this new trilogy is Finn (John Boyega), a stormtrooper who goes rogue and aligns himself with the Resistance. Despite appearing in all three films, Finn’s role decreased as the movies went on, and big picture ideas for his character fell by the wayside. For instance, Finn tries to share a secret with his Force-sensitive companion Rey (Daisy Ridley) but is repeatedly interrupted.
To this day, we still don’t know what Finn was going to tell her. Was it a confession of love (Finn seemed to have a crush on Rey throughout the trilogy)? Perhaps. Most fans speculate that he was going to admit to being Force-sensitive, something that was hinted at during the trilogy. But since Finn never actually comes out and says it, this remains only speculation.
8 How Did Maz Kanata Get the Skywalker Lightsaber?
Maz Kanata (Lupita Nyong’o) is introduced in A Force Awakens as a sort of stand-in for Yoda, an ancient extra-terrestrial who’s wiser than everyone else despite her goofy appearance. After studying Rey and sensing her connection to the Force, Maz hands Rey Luke’s lightsaber — the original blue lightsaber that Luke lost, along with his hand, in Cloud City during his first duel with Darth Vader.
How the heck did Maz find it and come to possess it? “A good question — for another time,” she tells Rey when asked that very question. It’s been over ten years. and we’re still waiting for the right time for Maz to answer this question.
7 Why Didn’t Obi-Wan Hide Luke Better?
At the end of Revenge of the Sith, it’s decided that the newborn children of Anakin Skywalker, now known as Darth Vader, will be raised in secret to hide their identities from the Empire. Leia gets a new last name, Organa, and is sent to a foreign planet to be raised by total strangers. Meanwhile, Luke retains his father’s last name, Skywalker, and is sent to Anakin’s home planet, Tatooine, to be raised by Anakin’s stepbrother.
Why did Luke get the raw end of the deal? Obi-Wan, who made it his mission to guard Luke from afar, was never worried about Darth Vader returning to Tatooine? Couldn’t they at least give the kid a different last name to better protect him?
6 Why Did Luke Leave Behind a Map to His Location?
Star Wars fans let out a collective groan when the first movie in Disney’s sequel trilogy, The Force Awakens, opened with the words, “Luke Skywalker has vanished.” And they let out another groan when this iconic character didn’t show up until the finale. The Force Awakens explains that Luke exiled himself after his apprentice and nephew, Kylo Ren (Adam Driver), turned to the dark side. Doesn’t sound like the Luke Skywalker that we know.
But if Luke planned to exile himself to a remote planet where he’d never be found, and if he never intended to return to the action, then why would he leave behind a map to his location?
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R2-D2, the sassy droid who served as Luke’s companion in the original trilogy, played a pivotal role in the Jedi’s disappearance. As soon as Luke went missing, R2 shut himself down. Why? We still don’t really know.
Even stranger, R2 was holding an integral piece of the map to Luke’s location the entire time. Why didn’t R2 share this information with his old Rebel friends before deactivating himself? And why would Luke go through all the trouble of turning his location into a puzzle that needed to be pieced together?
5 Why Did Obi-Wan Let Darth Vader Kill Him?
In A New Hope, we’re treated to our very first lightsaber duel: Obi-Wan Kenobi (Alec Guinness) vs. Darth Vader. Sure, it doesn’t look impressive when compared to the lightsaber duels we get today. But the significance and emotion behind this battle still makes it one of the most memorable lightsaber duels in the franchise.
Audiences gasped when Obi-Wan locked eyes with Luke, who was watching the battle from afar, and willingly lowered his defenses, allowing Darth Vader to kill him. But wait, we say once the shock of this moment subsides, why did Obi-Wan let Vader kill him in the first place? His sacrifice seems to imply that he’s fulfilled his purpose and has taken Luke as far as he can. But that’s clearly not true, since Luke has had minimal Jedi training.
Even if Obi-Wan couldn’t defeat Vader, why not try to escape and stay alive to train Luke? Or, at the very least, why not keep the fight going to give the Millennium Falcon more time to escape? At one point, Obi-Wan tells Vader, “If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine.” Did this have something to do with his decision?
4 How Does Leia Remember Padmé While Luke Doesn’t?
In Return of the Jedi, Luke discovers that Leia is his twin sister. Before revealing this, he asks Leia, “Do you remember your mother, your real mother?” Leia replies, “She was very beautiful. Kind but sad.” This led viewers to believe that Leia was raised by their mother, Padmé (Natalie Portman), during her early childhood. But as revealed in Revenge of the Sith, Leia was a newborn when Padmé died — and so was Luke.
How can she possibly have any memories of Padmé? Some fans point to Leia’s connection with the Force to explain this. But Luke is a Jedi and is undoubtedly more powerful with the Force than his sister. Shouldn’t he be able to conjure up the same feelings and images about Padmé as Leia did?
3 Why Didn’t Anakin’s Body Vanish When He Died?
When Obi-Wan is killed by Vader, his body vanishes into thin air as he becomes one with the Force. This correlates to a skill that allows a Jedi to become a Force ghost in the afterlife. We see this happen again when Yoda passes away in Return of the Jedi and when Luke himself dies in The Last Jedi.
But when Anakin perishes in Return of the Jedi, his body doesn’t vanish. Luke seemingly brings it back with him to Endor and burns Anakin’s body inside his Darth Vader suit.
Despite all of this, Anakin reappears as a Force ghost not ten minutes later. If Anakin possesses this Jedi skill like Yoda and Obi-Wan (which he clearly does), then shouldn’t his body have disappeared, too?
2 Who Are the Knights of Ren?
There was a lot of hype and excitement around the Knights of Ren when they were briefly introduced in The Force Awakens. The Knights of Ren are a group of masked dark side warriors, who are led by Kylo Ren. We keep waiting for them to show up, hoping to learn more about this seemingly badass clan. But the Knights of Ren don’t officially appear until the last film, The Rise of Skywalker. And when they do, they’re killed off in a matter of seconds by Rey and a converted Kylo.
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The movies never flesh out their characters, leaving us with a mess of questions. Who are these masked warriors? What is their purpose? Where do they come from? Why don’t they wield lightsabers? If they existed during the time of the Empire, then are they really former students of Luke Skywalker, as indicated in The Last Jedi? And why didn’t we meet them beforehand?
Hardcore Star Wars fans might glean some answers from the comic books or internet. But the average Star Wars fan who only watches the movies and TV shows is still looking for answers to these questions. The Knights of Ren is just another “mystery box” element from the sequel trilogy that could’ve been so much better had J.J. Abrams and company just sat down and made a plan.
1 Why Don’t R2 and Obi-Wan Recognize Each Other?
Here is perhaps the biggest mystery in Star Wars, our most burning question: how can R2-D2 and Obi-Wan not recognize each other when they cross paths in A New Hope? These two characters spent countless hours together in the prequels, enduring battle after battle, adventure after adventure.
How could they possibly not remember each other? Lucas provides an explanation as to why C-3PO doesn’t recall Obi-Wan; his memory was wiped at the end of Revenge of the Sith. R2’s memory, however, remains intact. So what’s the deal? Unfortunately, the most plausible answer is also the lamest: this was probably nothing more than lazy writing, which has since led to one of the most gaping plot holes in Star Wars.
