Star Wars Episode IX alleged spoilers divide fans on where Rey will go

A Reddit user posted photos of what is rumored to be a filming site for Star Wars Episode IX. The question is: where exactly is this in the universe?

Star Wars fan span across the globe by the millions so the creators of Star Wars Episode IX can forget about keeping their filming in secret because we are out there. Reddit user YenaMagan posted pictures in the Star Wars Leaks forum of what they allege is one of the filming locations for Star Wars Episode IX located in Wadi Rum, Jordan, a vast desert nature preserve.

The Reddit user, who took the photos Oct. 5, was on their way to a camping site when they passed by rigs that looked like land speeders, alien cutouts in colored robes that look like actors in the sand, and what he believed was an actress getting a tour on a camel with a heavy police presence. Could this be Daisy Ridley on set? While there’s no way we can fully verify that these pictures are indeed for Star Wars, we do know rumors had production setting up shop in Jordan. For the time being, we can theorize on the what-if’s, as the Reddit community did almost immediately after the pictures were posted.

The first question to address in reviewing these photos as a serious spoiler is as to where exactly is this in the immense universe that George Lucas created. The franchise is no stranger to desert terrain with Tatooine, the sandy planet that Anakin and Luke Skywalker both call home. But other desert areas could be explored in the Star Wars universe, and Reddit fans concluded that it is more than likely that the pictures are of Jedha or Jakku.

We’re no stranger to the desert moon Jedha that was featured in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. Its location is clearly of importance because the Kyber crystals that power lightsabers can be found on this moon. From what we saw in Rogue One, those crystals have the power to fuel something as big as the Death Star. While it’s possible that Rey visits Jedha on a Kyber-crystal-related mission. However, it’s unclear whether this really is the source of the photos because Jedha is also known for cold temperatures. Other then the robes on the cutouts, which could be for religious purposes, there is no way of telling if it’s cold.

The best case scenario made by several Reddit users is that these photos are in fact Jakku. Jakku also is a location we’re familiar with as this was where we first saw Rey. And to support the theory, Reddit user GoWashwiz28champ added that the cutouts, which are stand-ins for future extras to be digitally inserted, could actually be Anchorites known to inhabit Jakku. Anchorites initially were religious hermits tied to the Light Side when Jakku was a rich vegetative planet. However, with the loss of water and vegetation and the overall takeover of a desert environment came practices more aligned with the Dark Side — one of which is to raise children as slaves, which would explain the child-sized cutouts in the photos.

The importance of Jakku in Star Wars history brings light to another theory made possible if the photos are indeed of Jakku. Reddit user 500Republica pointed out that Senator Palpatine’s Observatory was located in the Plaintive Hand Plateau on Jakku. And although Palpatine executed plans to destroy the planet, a project that was later foiled, he remarked that the core of the planet disgusted him, signaling that it had Light Side origins. There’s still a lot of mystery there to unfold, and Rey may be the one to uncover it.

Reddit fans even went as far as trying to figure out Adam Driver’s schedule to confirm that he had also been there for filming. YenaMagana stated that the day after they took the photos, they were set on an alternate route due to pyrotechnics being used at the site. Since Driver plays Kylo Ren, he could be Rey’s opposition in a lightsaber battle, so it made sense to try to pin down his location for a confirmation that this is indeed Star Wars spoiler material. However, actors can fly in and out on the drop of a dime, and there’s no way of knowing if Driver was in Jordan.

StarWars Episode IX won’t be out till 2019, but if these pictures are any clue as to how the creators will be building this story, we are going to be in for a huge treat.