When the Star Wars Episode 9 teaser trailer premiered this morning revealing the title of the film to be Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, many fans began to speculate who it referenced or what it meant. Director JJ Abrams gave an interview following the reveal and assures fans that it’s “the right title for this movie” and vaguely hints at why. He also mentions that he met with George Lucas before filming began and seems to (if you read between the lines) provide an explanation for Emperor Palpatine’s return. Find out why, after the jump.

Who Is The Skywalker Who Rises?

Entertainment Tonight‘s Ash Crossan asked JJ Abrams, “who is the Skywalker [in the title], is Rey the Skywalker, what is going on?” Abrams responded:

“Well, the title feels like it’s the right title for this movie. I know it’s provocative and asks a bunch of questions but when you see the movie you’ll see how it was intended and what it means. But in the flow of titles this title had a very big responsability — it had to be the end of not only three movies, but nine movies. The idea of incorporating the movies that come before strangely is the story of the movie. It’s the characters in the film inherriting everything that’s come before in previous generations, wether it’s the sins of the father or the wisdom that they’ve acquired, and the question is, is this new generation up to the task, can they stand up to what they have to. So in a way, we came to this movie having inherrited a lot, and the question can we do it is a question we ask ourselves everyday.

Ash also asked Abrams if he would be changing Rey’s parentage from what was established in The Last Jedi and Abrams deflected by saying that he can’t wait for people to see the movie to find out what happens. While that’s a great deflection, part of me thinks that if it remained the same Abrams would be reassuring but vague. The fact that he completely deflected indicates to me that Rey’s parentage will evolve somewhat in this final Skywalker saga film.

But on the other hand, he wouldn’t even answer if Porgs would be in the film, which seems like a no brainer since they became inhabitants of the Millenium Falcon in The Last Jedi, so he might just be deflecting any question about what’s actually in the movie and what is not.

Our own Hoai-Tran Bui speculated on what the Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker title might mean, but my theory is it’s a combination of things. First, it’s the rise of the Skywalker legacy and Rey and Kylo’s relationship to that legacy. I’m not sure if Rey has Skywalker blood in her, but I do think Abrams will give us some clarity (as John Boyega says it) and if Abrams’ filmography is any indication, it won’t be exactly what we expect.

George Lucas’ Involvement and A Reason To Bring Back Palpatine

In another interview with IGN (above), Abrams mentions that he sat down and talked with George Lucas before he went and filmed Episode 9. He also reiterates his goal to take the previous eight movies and “give an ending to three trilogies.”

“I want a kid to watch episodes one through nine and see that one story.”

I think this further explains why you would potentially bring back Emperor Palpatine for this film. If Palpatine was the puppetmaster for Snoke and Kylo, then his rise and fall would provide a good villain arc for the entire Skywalker saga.