Spoilers on the ending of The Rise of Skywalker below.
Spoilers on the ending of The Rise of Skywalker below.
How Rey turned out to be the Chosen One instead of Anakin Skywalker
Let’s just get this clear, when I was a teenager watching The Phantom Menace for the first time in Palmerston North, New Zealand and the Jedi Council started talking about a prophecy about a Chosen One who was to bring balance to the Force, I was like, eh, what a plot contrivance. I have a distinct memory about that moment.
And also the ‘always a bigger fish’ moment.
Balancing the Force = the destruction of the Sith.
With the prequels casting young Anakin Skywalker as 'The Chosen One', Vader’s redemption at the end of The Return of the Jedi when he supposedly kills the Emperor Palpatine and brings balance to the Force is made to feel even more special, more worthy or certainly a moment of more significance.
Especially so after the next two prequels showed Anakin’s turn to the dark side of the Force - “A prophecy that misread could have been…” said Master Yoda to Mace Windu in Revenge of the Sith.
And even though Return of the Jedi presented Vader as bringing balance to the Force thus signaled he was the Chosen One (A fact confirmed by director and writer George Lucas several times) perhaps the little Green Guy was right all along in his assessment of the misreading of the Prophecy.
Why? How did this happen?
Enter Rey.
A lost soul, stranded on a desert planet, yearning for something more from her life.
A grand adventure or two later she’s suddenly had some brusque Jedi training by the damaged Luke Skywalker and is deemed herself to be a Jedi.
The last one in fact...
The Rise of Skywalker’s conclusion sees Rey take part in the final Jedi versus Sith battle.
It’s important to note that Kylo Ren (Ben Skywalker) is not a Sith Lord nor a Jedi. This film has revealed that he has effectively been a puppet of Sith Lord Darth Sidious.
So, let’s cut to the chase.
The final confrontation between Rey, Kylo and Sheev Palpatine sees the Sith Lord seeking to take the lifeforce from Rey and Kylo so he can rejuvenate to ‘full power’ and begin to take back his Empire across the galaxy which he lost when ‘died’ at the hands of Vader.
Rey lands a mortal blow on Kylo. She heals him with Force power but Palpatine dispatches Kylo down a pit to his death.
Rey and Palpatine then duke it out with some Force lightning. Rey’s pretty much done for at this point, and Palpatine has the upper hand.
It should not be lost on you at this point that there’s a symmetry to the finale of Return of the Jedi at play here.
It’s all going deja vu for Palpatine here as SUDDENLY Kylo climbs out of the pit (which is a Skywalker rising) - Ben is no longer Kylo Ren but Ben Skywalker). He uses the last of himself to heal Rey and then he dies.
As the only Jedi left, urged on by a group of Force ghost observers, Rey is now able to use both her and Ben’s lightsabers to repel the Sith Lord’s Force lightning attack and kill Palpatine.
The Sith Lord is FINALLY dead.
Rey has ended that particular disturbance in the Force - by removing Palpatine’s control over the Force, it’s balance is finally restored.
Meaning Rey was the Chose One, it was never Anakin Skywalker (or even as sometimes argued Luke).
It was only ever Rey.
Rey, the granddaughter of Palpatine.
Which puts the Skywalker destiny in quite the bind.
Especially so after the next two prequels showed Anakin’s turn to the dark side of the Force - “A prophecy that misread could have been…” said Master Yoda to Mace Windu in Revenge of the Sith.
And even though Return of the Jedi presented Vader as bringing balance to the Force thus signaled he was the Chosen One (A fact confirmed by director and writer George Lucas several times) perhaps the little Green Guy was right all along in his assessment of the misreading of the Prophecy.
Why? How did this happen?
Enter Rey.
A lost soul, stranded on a desert planet, yearning for something more from her life.
A grand adventure or two later she’s suddenly had some brusque Jedi training by the damaged Luke Skywalker and is deemed herself to be a Jedi.
The last one in fact...
The Rise of Skywalker’s conclusion sees Rey take part in the final Jedi versus Sith battle.
It’s important to note that Kylo Ren (Ben Skywalker) is not a Sith Lord nor a Jedi. This film has revealed that he has effectively been a puppet of Sith Lord Darth Sidious.
So, let’s cut to the chase.
The final confrontation between Rey, Kylo and Sheev Palpatine sees the Sith Lord seeking to take the lifeforce from Rey and Kylo so he can rejuvenate to ‘full power’ and begin to take back his Empire across the galaxy which he lost when ‘died’ at the hands of Vader.
Rey lands a mortal blow on Kylo. She heals him with Force power but Palpatine dispatches Kylo down a pit to his death.
Rey and Palpatine then duke it out with some Force lightning. Rey’s pretty much done for at this point, and Palpatine has the upper hand.
It should not be lost on you at this point that there’s a symmetry to the finale of Return of the Jedi at play here.
It’s all going deja vu for Palpatine here as SUDDENLY Kylo climbs out of the pit (which is a Skywalker rising) - Ben is no longer Kylo Ren but Ben Skywalker). He uses the last of himself to heal Rey and then he dies.
As the only Jedi left, urged on by a group of Force ghost observers, Rey is now able to use both her and Ben’s lightsabers to repel the Sith Lord’s Force lightning attack and kill Palpatine.
The Sith Lord is FINALLY dead.
Rey has ended that particular disturbance in the Force - by removing Palpatine’s control over the Force, it’s balance is finally restored.
Meaning Rey was the Chose One, it was never Anakin Skywalker (or even as sometimes argued Luke).
It was only ever Rey.
Rey, the granddaughter of Palpatine.
Which puts the Skywalker destiny in quite the bind.
If Palpatine caused the birth of Anakin Skywalker to be born, as was alluded to quite strongly in the official novel version of Revenge of the Sith, then what was the whole point if he was to die at the hands of his own granddaughter? One could argue Anakin was created as a 'device' to help take over the galaxy...
The point, from the viewer's perspective, is that Rey, as The Last Jedi, is the mantle of hope for the inhabitants of this far away galaxy from this point on.
The point, from the viewer's perspective, is that Rey, as The Last Jedi, is the mantle of hope for the inhabitants of this far away galaxy from this point on.
She, like Luke has become a symbol, that ‘spark’ Princess Leia so desperately needed.
Rey takes the Skywalker name as the symbol of that mantle.
Yes, she hardly knew the Skywalkers as a family but she knows what Luke and Leia stood for, what they fought for and what they died for.
In taking on the name Rey, as the granddaughter of Palpatine, is saying to the universe, "this is who I am, I was the chosen one, I brought balance to the Force and now, I am a Skywalker."
Rey takes the Skywalker name as the symbol of that mantle.
Yes, she hardly knew the Skywalkers as a family but she knows what Luke and Leia stood for, what they fought for and what they died for.
In taking on the name Rey, as the granddaughter of Palpatine, is saying to the universe, "this is who I am, I was the chosen one, I brought balance to the Force and now, I am a Skywalker."