Is there a Hidden Clue in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker‘s International Title?

Once the title for the 9th and final film in the Skywalker saga was revealed a million fan theories were born. The title Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker begs a lot of questions. The first, of course, is what Skywalker are we talking about here? It’s been generally accepted that Luke Skywalker’s return in J.J. Abrams’ film will be as a force ghost. We all watched Luke use everything he had to project himself to Crait to fight Kylo-Ren and help keep his sister, Leia, and the rest of the resistance alive in Rian Johnson’s The Last Jedi. Luke had been on Ahch-To the whole time. We then saw the actual Luke collapse on his adopted home planet with a beautiful backdrop of two setting suns, a call back to his start on Tatooine all those years ago.

So, Luke died in The Last Jedi. His return as a force ghost in The Rise of Skywalker wouldn’t seem to qualify as a “rise,” per se. This naturally begs the question of whether or not Rey is a Skywalker. Yet we also learned in The Last Jedi that Rey’s parents were decidedly not Jedis or Skywalkers. “They were filthy junk traders,” Kylo-Ren told her. “Sold you off for drinking money. They’re dead in a pauper’s grave in the Jakku desert. You come from nothing. You’re nothing, but not to me.” If we’re to believe Kylo-Ren, then the title isn’t referring to Rey. Yet we also know that Rise of Skywalker will delve more deeply into Rey’s lineage. So, maybe it is her? (That would be a pretty massive retconning of Rian Johnson’s film, though.)

Theories abound. Kylo-Ren was lying and Rey really is a Skywalker. Or, “Skywalker” refers to a child’s first name. Then there’s the fun theory that “Skywalker” refers to Broom Boy, glimpsed at the end of The Last Jedi summoning his trusty cleaning aid with what appeared to be Force power. Or the title refers to Kylo-Ren himself, who will eventually ditch the dark side. What everyone seemed to be in agreement over was that the title does not refer to Luke.

And now the film has gotten an international translation, and it throws all of this into question. The Polish title for the film is Gwiezdne: Skywalker Odrodzenie, which translates into Star Wars: Skywalker Resurrection. Obviously “resurrection” implies that the Skywalker in question could be Luke.

Of course, it’s also possible that this is simply a matter of trying to translate “rise” accurately and settling on “resurrection” without any hidden meanings. But where would be the fun in not speculating?

We’ll find out one way or another on December 20, 2019, when Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker hits theaters.

Featured image: C3PO (Anthony Daniels), Finn (John Boyega) and Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) in STAR WARS: EPISODE IX. Courtesy Lucasfilm/Walt Disney Studios