You think Snoke is going to be the next Palpatine (ie. big bad who dies at the end of the third film), but he’s not.
You think Luke is going to mentor Rey but he doesn’t.
You think Leia is dead but she’s not.
You think someone or something on the Light Side is connecting Rey and Ren, but it’s Snoke, but it’s again not really.
You think Finn is going to destroy the tracker but he doesn’t and gets caught. You think there’s no way out except then BB-8 shows up in a chicken walker.
You think Poe is going to save the cruiser but he doesn’t.
You think it’s the Vice Admiral coming through the door but it isn’t.
You think Luke is on the planet fighting Ren but he’s not.
You think Ren is going to kill Rey but he doesn’t—he does exactly what Vader wanted to do in ESB but couldn’t.
It’s the best thing about the film. It keeps throwing curve balls.
Oh, and that business about Rey’s family being nobodies from nowheresville, Ren told her that. There is no guarantee that he was not lying. But even if he wasn’t, I like the idea that not the whole of the The Force hinges directly on descendants of the House of Skywalker (as many people speculated that she was a daughter of Luke or Leia).
Good analysis. The best I’ve read so far! I loved the film. The code /casino plot were the weakest part but everything else was superb. Highlights were Lukes version of the night he almost killed Ben / The Rey-Ren connection / the throne room scene and the final showdown between Luke and the FO.
I hope Ep IX centers around Rens desire to capture his mother ALIVE and the accidental death of her during a capture attempt bringing him back to the light. But we’ll see. I’d also love to see Luke haunt Ben as he said he would rather than train Rey.