Star Wars: The Last Jedi heavily inspired by The Empire Strikes Back

Star Wars: The Last Jedi drew inspiration from The Empire Strikes Back, from a most unlikely place.

So many, fun and illuminating tidbits of information have been surfacing concerning Star Wars: The Last Jedi. One of the fun details we’re now privy to is the origin of Rose’s big line near the end of the film.

Rose Tico’s most iconic line in The Last Jedi is indubitably the final thing that she says to Finn in the film:

"“That’s how we’ll win this war, not by fighting what we hate, but protecting what we love.”"

As it turns out, this line comes from a mysterious out-of-print book that details the “making of” Empire Strikes Back.

The words are inspired by something that Irvin Kershner, the director of The Empire Strikes Back, said in an interview detailed in the book. In a snapshot from Scott Collura’s twitter, we see a highlighted sentence from the interview where Kershner states that:

"“That’s the difference between the Rebels and the Empire. It’s possible to fight because you love, not just because you hate.”"

The attention to detail speaks to Rian Johnson’s involvement with, and awareness of the franchise.  Johnson, in reply to Collura’s tweet, said that a friend gifted him the book while the film was in production. This exchange shows that Johnson did his research by studying the making of what many fans consider to be the best entry in the saga.

Yet another example of a director influenced by an Expanded Universe book as Ron Howard was apparently influenced by a Han Solo novel while working on the upcoming Solo film. It may not be official anymore, but the EU lives on through these directors.

Next: TLJ novel clues on Kylo Ren's possible redemption

Soon, Star Wars: The Last Jedi will be available to watch in the comfort of your own living room, with the Blu-ray hitting stores March 27. 

You can pre-order your copy here.