ST Who Destroyed the New Jedi Academy?

We are told by no less than Han Solo what happened to the New Jedi Academy and Luke:

“He was training a new generation of Jedi. There was no one else left to do it, so he took the burden on himself. Everything was going good, until one boy, an apprentice, turned against him and destroyed it all. Everything Luke had worked toward: gone. Luke felt responsible. He walked away from everything.”

It seems obvious Kylo destroyed the New Jedi Academy and Luke’s Students, right?

Aside from Han’s statement, we see Kylo, now working with Snoke’s First Order, destroy an entire village without a qualm. There’s the Force Back scene where Rey sees Kylo and the Knights of Ren. Why else would Han and Leia be estranged from their son and each other? Isn’t Kylo just like some deranged kid who shoots up his school? Possibly, possibly not.

After the Last Jedi Trailer, and several comments made on these boards, I’ve begun to question whether Kylo did destroy the Jedi Academy and Luke’s students.

What would make me think this? Rey breaking the rock without thinking. Luke’s own great powers, Snoke’s power and the as yet unknown DJ. In addition, to having seen Rian Johnson’s “Brick” which is a whodunnit full of misdirection.

While I agree, Kylo remains the most likely candidate for the destruction of the New Jedi Academy,
let me give you an alternate scenario demonstrating what I mean:

Ex: Ben leads one group of students, against another and to end the fight an angry Luke, inadvertently kills everyone but Ben who is powerful enough to protect himself unlike the other students. Ben escapes, tells his folks what happened and—guess what? They don’t believe him. This is Luke Skywalker, after all. The hero who defeated Vader and Palpatine. Against the word of their troubled, sullen son who throws violent tantrums? Who would you believe? Ben then claims he did do it and runs off to join Snoke, sealing his estrangement from his family.

But wouldn’t Luke have told Han and Leia the Truth? Not necessarily. Consider his shame. By that time, Luke might have gone into self imposed Exile. Fearful of his own power.

Ex: Alternatively, what if a young Rey is at the Academy sees the scary Knights of Ren approaching, who look like they mean to kill her and, unable to control her power kills her fellow students.

Then there is Snoke. Who knows how far ranging his power is?

Also there is the mysterious DJ. While I’m told his hat in Arabesh means “Don’t Join,” it doesn’t preclude him from being a Dark Jedi. BTW, if you don’t think “Dark Jedi” are canon, Read the in canon “Dark Disciple.”

We don’t know who DJ is or who he serves. If he is a Dark Jedi might he not have been instrumental in destroying the New Jedi Academy?

We do know that Snoke is seeking powerful Force weilders and will do anything to drive potential adversaries like the Skywalker Family apart and wants to keep New Jedi from rising.

As I look at more info, I hope to post more that might point us in the most likely direction.

 

I heard it was Donald Trump...but i'm not sure.

 

No. He only claimed to do so but was overruled by Supreme Court
Total desaster.

 

Twists here would be unwelcome. Kylo supposedly has raw power, so why wouldn't it be him who did the destroying?

He had the desire and the power. Some twist would just be arbitrary.

 

Knights of Ren is not an option?

 

I'm wondering if Kylo is as strong as advertised. Perhaps Snoke made a mistake with Ben, not realizing that the raw power he was sensing was coming from a young little Rey instead.

I've started to question if Kylo was indeed the one who destroyed the temple, and not Rey. Perhaps even Ben himself hid Rey and took her place, sparing her from becoming a dark side slave to Snoke.

 

I really hope that there is no twist here. Kylo did it, end of story.
Although I could see an argument that Snoke is essentially responsible because he turned Kylo.

 

Probably something like this:

1. Snoke ordered it
2. Kylo and/or KoR took out the academy students.
3. Captain Phasma destroyed the academy building.

 

I think Snoke used Ben to carry a tracking beacon so he led a New Republic strike force straight to Luke's Academy and blew it up.
Ben realising how badly he messed up has nowhere to go but follow Snoke.
Since even Leia couldn't go to the capital without fear of assassination because of her being revealed as the daughter of Vader then it makes sense they'd try to kill Luke and his new order.
Given how they're been talking about Snoke I figure Luke blames himself for not seeing the threat posed by Snoke.
So used to being worried about not repeating the mistakes of the Jedi Order he didn't realise the Jedi and Sith aren't the only Force Traditions so Snoke's elaborate and careful manipulation of Ben, the New Republic and his First Order that he was totally unprepared for what happened.
Now Leia has sent him a Padawan to train, one who clearly has had training and he has no idea who she is, who taught her and whether this is another machination of Snoke's!

 

i don't think it will turn out not to have been kylo. i think that's an important piece of the story.

i also think that it's important that not everyone have out-of-control powers. this is why i don't buy luke exploding the hut on ahch-to. is he a jedi master who has self-control or is an out-of-control nutcase? and if he is the latter he could very well be referring to himself when it comes to the scary powers, and if so i think he did something at the jedi temple as well. so luke becomes the *problem* in the story. did he conceal his part in destroying his own temple? that's rather dark side of him. and i am not getting the dark luke vibes.

and this doesn't fit with kylo as his story suggests he had problems controlling his powers. he's the one "credited" with destroying luke's jedi temple. he's the one who shatters his helmet by force punching it into a wall with such impact there's a blinding flash of light. he's the one in the novelization where it said much of his training was about operating in the absence of emotion (why? probably because his emotions make him create "force disasters"). he's the one with the anger/temper issues. everything suggests that it's kylo and rey (not rey and luke) with the out-of-control powerz to me.

it can't imo be all three of them. luke and snoke offer opposing guidance paths about how to deal with this.

if luke has out-of-control super powers he's not a jedi master imo. he's lost it. if you can't master yourself and your powers, you are no master.

 

Kylo all the way. RAW power baby!

 

Kylo attacks.
He kills many younglings.
Kid Rey defends. Kills many KoR, but Kylo escapes.
But Kid Rey can't control emotions. She can't stop. She is The Hulk. Blasts everything down with Force Rage.
When Luke climbs out of the rubble, he suggests dropping her off on a distant desert planet.

Then, holy crap, she found her way back!

 

So, world war hulk.

 

I'd prefer people keep politics out of the Star Wars forums. Don't assume everyone agrees with the established narrative. I don't want threads to get derailed.

 

but the forum banner of armitage trump is my favorite...

 

How can that relate to the academy massacre?



If Ben Solo did help destroy the academy he did it as one of Luke's apprentices, as Han says. Seems unlikely he'd be dressed in full Kylo Ren gear back then. Also the environment & weather here looks nothing like the shots we've seen of the burning academy building.

Regarding Rey's vision, people refer to it as a "Force-back" but they forget that it was also a "Force-forward". She sees Kylo attacking her in the snowy forest on the Starkiller planet. So she also envisaged some future events. Therefore I think the scene above with Kylo & the KoR is also from the future. From TLJ in fact. It's been speculated that Kylo & his goons arrive on Ach-To to find & attack Luke. To me it would be cool if they recreate a similar shot to the one above in TLJ. The rocky environment could easily suit Ach-To, & this would add another nice touch to Rey's vision in TFA.

 

Yes, I agree. That makes the most sense.

 

They are!

I just forgot to add them.

If there are twists, it will be for a good reason. Many people refused to believe Vader was Luke’s father when ROTJ first came out. But it made for an emotionally satisfying resolution to the OT.

While TLJ Trailer appears to be Snoke talking to and about Kylo, many think this is a misdirect and he may be talking about Rey or maybe DJ or Luke himself. Though “raw” applying to Luke after ROTJ is iffy. It might even be Leia. We know she has untapped raw Force powers.

We have seen that Kylo has strong Force powers, including mind manipulation. No need for a mind probe droid with him. Something Kylo has that Grampie Vader didn’t. But we didn’t see examples of Kylo’s raw power the way we see Rey in the trailer.

 

It’s certainly possible it takes place in the future but :

1) if you look in the background there are bodies on the ground.
2) the ground is muddy, and looks nothing like Ach-to surface. There is also a structure in the background that looks like the temple.
3)Also we see Kylo in full Kylo garb when we know he destroys his mask and is shown wielding his light saber in TLJ Trailer on Acht-too without his mask.
4) In Rey’s vision, we are seeing as if from her POV as a KoR is about to strike when Kylo shoves his blade into his fellow KoR then stalks towards the camera. The next shot is little Rey with Unqur Plutt screaming at a departing ship.

All of which conveys the past.

 

Zuvio did it. That elusive fiend!

 

I like nonesuch's idea of Ben going "nuclear" when The Big Reveal happens. Imagine the mother of all Kylo tantrums except it more resembling the ROTS moment when Vader finds out Padme's dead. "NOOOOOOOOO." But instead of a bunch of medical equipment and droids imploding, it's as powerful as a TNT blast and it just incinerates everything in its path. Luke just happens to survive because Ben force tossed him away (after Luke tried to reason with him), trying to protect himself or just sheer luck.

Regardless, the idea of it being a manifestation of Ben's raw power is harrowing. And a much more realistic way for Ben to have "destroyed" Luke's work.

 

With the scarse information information we have at this point, my vote is for the Knights of Ren, with Kylo leading them.

 

I think Kylo did it for sure. I recently considered maybe it was Rey, but I think that would be too much of a stretch, especially since Han said "a boy." I know that doesn't seal the deal completely as it's just hearsay, but still...it would be a really big stretch.

But, I am starting to think that we are going to get some very unexpected and scary information about Rey's background in The Last Jedi. I can just tell there's so much Rian is hiding. I couldn't believe when I saw some people complaining that the trailer gave "too much away"...um, it didn't give away ANYTHING new at all. And what it did show could be complete misdirection.

I think it would be interesting to learn that maybe Rey did some bad things when she was young, inadvertently, and that's part of why she was left on Jakku. Meanwhile, Kylo feels the pull back to the light in The Last Jedi while Rey becomes haunted of her past.

 

In which part of the trailer is he definitely shown on Ahch-to?