Earlier this week I rewatched Star Wars Episode VII. It is really great. Most of the criticisms of the film do not hold up well. It is fun, engaging the entire time, and the actors are perfect. And the film fits in perfectly with the other 3 originals.
One thing I’m surprised about, and was reminded of while watching Episode VII, is the ongoing "who is The Last Jedi" discussions that I’ve seen ever since the next movie’s title was announced.
Multiple times during Episode VII – including during the opening crawl – Luke Skywalker is referred to as The Last Jedi.
Some would think that Rey may become the last Jedi. But she isn’t one. Far from it. It took Luke three films to be a Jedi (and even then, it is questionable whether or not the Council would have ever approved him). Rey isn’t a Jedi simply because she closed her eyes once and bested the loose-canon Kylo Ren.
The next movie will be Luke’s movie. While he’s teaching Rey he will be not be on the sidelines.
That being said I believe Luke at his word in the trailer. It is time for the Jedi to end. A new order of things seems to be on the brink. Perhaps someone without so much fear and hate. Someone filled with hope now that Maz Kanata was straight with her regarding her family ever returning. Someone not tied to the Skywalker lineage and thus not having Vader’s rage in them. Perhaps someone like Rey. But what will this new "thing" be? I’m excited to find out.