How Accurate Were The Last Jedi Spoilers? We Fact-Check The Leaks

Player.One tracked Star Wars: The Last Jedi rumors and supposed set leaks since early in 2016, nearly two years before the film’s eventual release. Many leaks originated at sites like Star Wars News Net and Making Star Wars. Some sounded plausible, many sounded ridiculous. But how reliable was the Episode VIII rumor mill? We took a look back through the archives at the spoiler predictions made for The Last Jedi. Here’s what we found.

Prediction: Luke meditates on a rock and observes a binary sunset on Ahch-To.

‘Star Wars: Episode 8’ Set Leaks Showcase Luke Skywalker’s Jedi Spirituality

Early photos leaked from the Ahch-To set included what cast and crew referred to as “Meditation Rock,” where it was rumored Luke Skywalker sat and observed the binary sunset of Ahch-To. While the leaks didn’t guess at the purpose of Luke’s meditation (revealed to be a tricky astral projection technique in The Last Jedi), they were otherwise 100 percent accurate, all the way back in June, 2016.

Verdict: True

Prediction: After a major attack, Leia uses the Force to save herself.

‘Star Wars: Episode 8’ Spoilers: Verified Leaker Explains General Leia Organa’s Role In The Movie [RUMOR]

Even more remarkable than the early reveal of Luke’s meditation rock may be the early leak of Leia Organa’s character arc by an IMDb commenter who claimed to work at Pinewood Studios on The Last Jedi set. According to the commenter, Leia uses the Force in Episode VIII (it didn’t yet have a title) to survive an attack early in the movie. Nailed it! Though this seemed, at the time, like a highly dubious rumor, it now looks like some of the most early and accurate The Last Jedi leaks were real.

Verdict: True

Prediction: There are several new alien species on Ahch-To and Rey fights one to prove herself to the island’s caretakers.

‘Star Wars: Episode 8’ Set Leak Video Reveals New Alien At Luke’s Jedi Temple

‘Star Wars: Episode 8’ Rumors: Are Creatures Of Ahch-To The New Ewoks?

A number of Last Jedi rumors were based on far-away photos taken of the Skellig Michael set, the location for Ahch-To, where Luke hides from the galaxy at the site of the original Jedi Temple. While these leaks had obvious real-world roots, complete with leaked photos, interpreting them didn’t always result in the best predictions. While the leak-attentive knew about both porgs and even the island’s caretakers (those adorable nuns), some strange predictions spun out from there, especially a persistent rumor that Rey would fight a sea monster to gain the trust of the island’s caretaker natives. While a sea serpent can be spotted in the background of The Last Jedi, the rumors are more likely to have sprung from the puppet of a very different creature: the big, beached quad-nipple creatures Luke Skywalker milks for sustenance.

Verdict: Half-True

Prediction: Luke Skywalker is Supreme Leader Snoke

‘Star Wars: Episode 8’ Plot Theories: Is Luke Skywalker Supreme Leader Snoke? Director Rian Johnson Responds

Okay, no one ever actually believed this one.

Verdict: False, but never really fooled anyone.

Prediction: Snoke is very tall and played by a puppet.

‘Star Wars: Episode 8’ Set Leak Reveals Supreme Leader Snoke Details

It was persistently rumored that Snoke would be played by a very large puppet. But while the puppet doesn’t seem to have made an appearance, Snoke’s rumored 8-foot height seems close to what actually appeared on screen, though his slouch and slight frame didn’t strike the most intimidating pose.

Verdict: Half-True

All of the above predictions were made in 2016, over a year before The Last Jedi’s release date. The remaining rumors and leaks all came out in the year leading up to its premiere.

Prediction: Supreme Leader Snoke’s home base is on a red planet covered in a thin layer of snow.

'Star Wars: The Last Jedi' Spoilers: Do New 'Episode 8' Leaks Describe Supreme Leader Snoke's Planet?

A leaked planet description sounds a lot like Crait, but it describes snow, rather than salt. The leak also got the planet’s purpose wrong. It was surmised that this unnamed planet was the location of a First Order base, possibly even where Hux and Kylo Ren would rendezvous with Supreme Leader Snoke after their defeat on Starkiller Base.

Verdict: False

Prediction: Tom Hardy smacks Finn’s butt.

'Star Wars: Episode 8' Plot Spoilers: 'Last Jedi' Leaks Have More To Do With Finn’s Butt Than You’d Think

Everyone wants to be in a Star Wars movie, so it sure sounds like The Last Jedi is loaded with secret cameos. Similar to Daniel Craig’s appearance as a Stormtrooper in The Force Awakens, it was rumored that Tom Hardy appears as a Stormtrooper buddy who recognizes Finn aboard Supreme Leader Snoke’s flagship, even giving his old pal a smack on the butt. I think I would’ve remembered this. Still, this rumor seems too specific to discount entirely. It seems likely this will emerge in a deleted scene at some point.

Verdict: False

Prediction: Yoda appears in Star Wars: The Last Jedi.

Yoda In 'Star Wars: The Last Jedi'? Sounds Like His Force Ghost Is Coming To 'Episode 8'

While Frank Oz’s non-denial denial that Yoda would return in Star Wars: The Last Jedi was a pretty thin reason to posit the Jedi Master’s return, this particular rumor turned out to be true: Yoda shows up for one of the more moving scenes in the movie to teachhis final lesson to Luke Skywalker.

Verdict: True

Prediction: Mustafar, Tatooine, Endor are locations in Star Wars: The Last Jedi and Star Wars: Episode IX.

'Star Wars: The Last Jedi' And 'Episode IX' Spoilers: We're Not Done With Tatooine Yet

This rumor was strange, because it could still prove true (but it probably won’t). According to Star Wars News Net, the series would return to Mustafar, Tatooine and Endor’s forest moon from Return of the Jedi at some point in either The Last Jedi or Star Wars: Episode IX. Specifically, Kylo Ren would make a pilgrimage to Vader’s castle on Mustafar. Obviously, none of this came to pass in The Last Jedi. And now that Episode IX has changed hands, from director Colin Trevorrow to J.J. Abrams, it seems unlikely this rumor still holds any water.

Verdict: False

Prediction: Kylo Ren burns the Force Tree.

'Star Wars: The Last Jedi' Spoilers: Kylo Ren May Destroy A Jedi Order Relic

‘Star Wars: Episode 8’ Set Leaks: Luke Skywalker, Meet The Knights Of Ren [SPOILERS]

One major leak that seemed foundational to our in-production understanding of The Last Jedi was a supposed battle on Ahch-To between Rey, Luke and the Knights of Ren, including Kylo. So when leaked set photos showed a gnarly-looking tree going up in flames, it made sense to blame the Jedi-hating Kylo and his compatriots. We now know that it wasn’t the baddies, but Yoda who torches the sacred tree on Ahch-To, one of the last remnants of the original Jedi Temple. For now, the Knights of Ren remain a mystery.

Verdict: False

Prediction: There’s a new model of AT-AT called a “Gorilla Walker.”

New 'Star Wars: The Last Jedi' First Order Walker Looks Like Gorilla Cylon

Yep, this was leak was spot-on. The AT-M6 (All Terrain MegaCaliber Six) Gorilla Walker appears on Crait, where the last of the Resistance make their final stand against the First Order.

Verdict: True

Prediction: Justin Theroux plays a computer hacker in The Last Jedi.

Oh No, 'Star Wars: The Last Jedi' Has Computer Hacking

After Justin Theroux was cast in Star Wars: The Last Jedi, a rumor quickly emerged that he would be playing a “slicer,” the Star Wars universe equivalent to our computer hackers. And indeed, Theroux makes a quick appearance in The Last Jedi as the debonair hacker Maz Kanata recommends Finn and Rose recruit to break through the First Order’s security grid. But while the content of this leak proved out, it radically misplaced the emphasis: Theroux was little more than a one-shot joke, while Benicio del Toro played the plot-important slicer.

Verdict: Half-True

Of twelve total predictions made from set leaks and rumors, four were true, another three were half-true and five were false. But even many of the false rumors seem to have some legitimacy and might even pop up in scenes deleted from The Last Jedi. While leaks often feel very thinly sourced, it’s surprising just how much the rumor mill got right in the run up to Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Far more mistakes were made interpreting facts than obtaining them, with a surprising lack of outright fabrications.

That said, we were more judicious in which rumors we chose to report than many sites and may have dodged some of the more obvious bullets out there, such as the many, many rumors and “leaks” dealing with Rey’s supposed parentage.

Overall, it looks like it will be worth paying attention to the swirl of leaks and rumors sure to emerge as Star Wars: Episode IX enters production.