Warning: Includes massive spoilers! You have been warned.
The Skywalker saga has to be one of the most legendary sagas ever, taking fans through an incredibly long journey, across 9 episodes in 42 years, and it’s now time to finally say goodbye to it. Or so we thought.
We sat in cinemas to eagerly watch The Rise Of Skywalker and the end of a saga, and while there is no doubt that we love it, we left the theatres with a gazillion questions unanswered.
Because let’s face it – regardless of which trilogy you love, each has their own unanswered question, such as, when and why did the Empire move from using clones to conscripting Stormtroopers, and when do bodies of dead Jedi disappear, or not.
Here are 16 of them.
#1. Who are the Knights of Ren?
The movie starts with Kylo Ren. We saw sad emo boy turned soon-to-be daddy-killer with pecs fighting off stormtroopers left, right and centre. Soon after, we were introduced to the Knights of Ren, a team of warriors who play a huge role in the making of Kylo Ren – that is, if you read the accompanying comics since the first movie in the new trilogy.
They were key in luring young Ben Solo to the dark side but we barely know anything about them apart from the fact that they’re followers of Kylo and helped him take down Luke’s Jedi Temple. In The Rise of Skywalker, the Knights of Ren tails Kylo, fixes his mask for him and.. stand ominously in the middle of deserts. For characters that look so badass, we’re bummed that we didn’t get the chance to know more about them and their backstories on screen.
#2. What did Finn want to tell Rey in the quicksand?
In one of the desert scenes, the group fell into quicksand and were slowly sinking when Finn shouted out to Rey “I never told you” before getting swallowed whole. When they finally came through the other side, Finn didn’t fess up. Poe gets annoyed and so did we because we never found out what Finn was going to say. We think it could be Finn trying to confess his feelings for Rey as he did seem to have a little crush on her in The Force Awakens. Finn also spent much of the whole movie protecting and following Rey around like a little puppy dog. But as major FinnPoe shippers, we think he might be trying to tell his dear friend that he may be Force-sensitive instead. Which brings us to the next question.
#3. Is Finn Force-sensitive?
Throughout the movie, Finn keeps talking about being able to feel the Force, starting from that little back story about former stormtrooper deserting the First Order. At one point he even feels Rey’s presence (or lack off) when she temporarily dies. Only Force-sensitive characters would have been able to feel disturbances in the Force so it’s interesting to see how this ex-Stormtrooper could suddenly feel the Force in his later life.
#4. How did Finn and Rey confuse the transport that Chewie was in?
Here’s another flaw we see in the desert scene. Finn sees a group of stormtroopers capture Chewie and load him into a transport in the middle of the desert. He runs to point the ship out to Rey and she and Kylo played a game of tug of war over the ship. Rey accidentally blasts it with Force lightning and the ship bursts into flames, supposedly killing Chewie. Our hearts, B R O K E instantly. But we were able to piece those pieces back together right away because it was revealed mere minutes later that Chewie was on another transport, alive and well. What? How? Firstly, we only saw one transport in the scene. It was a giant black transport in the middle of an empty desert in broad daylight. Where was the second transport?
Secondly, even if there were two transports, and one of them happened to be invisible or cloaked, how did Rey, Finn and Poe not hear or sense the ship leave? Lastly, if Rey was able to sense that Chewie was still alive on Kylo’s ship, how did she not sense if he actually died? Ugh, so many questions but we’re just glad our favourite wookie is alive.
#5. How did Poe go from Spice Runner to Rebel Pilot Hotshot?
No, we’re not talking about a fan-favourite smuggler turned Rebellion hero aka Han Solo. We run into Zorii at Kijimi, when the trio were looking for a droidsmith named Babu Frik. She revealed that she and Poe had some history and told his friends that he used to be a spice runner before joining the Resistance. Research tells us that Poe’s mother was an ex-pilot and that he joined the Spice Runners of Kijimi as a boy when his parents died, but how and why he chose to join the resistance much later and leave his life of crime behind was not looked into.
Poe is without a doubt an interesting character and we think the films only scratched the surface of who he is. There must be a reason why this reformed smuggler chose to serve the resistance as a pilot and is always so headstrong and stubborn all the damn time.
#6. How did Zorii survive the destruction of Kijimi?
Seriously… the planet was BLOWN UP. KABOOM. We know, you may think that she could’ve left the planet earlier but how could she? Zorii doesn’t have the means to leave the planet. She threatened to turn in the group to the First Order for a handsome sum – this insinuates that she doesn’t necessarily have a financial savings of sorts to buy herself a ship to leave Kijimi before it blew up. She also gave away her special token, her one-way ticket to travel through First Order space with ease, to the group before they left Kijimi.
#7. Who is Rey’s grandmother?
We not only learn who Rey’s parents are in The Rise of Skywalker, we learn that her grandfather is big bad Palpatine. And sure, that’s quite a big revelation but it got us thinking. Who did Palpatine do the nasty with? Who is Rey’s grandmother? And why in the name of all the Jedis and all the Siths in the galaxy did she get tangled under the sheets with Palpatine?
Unless…. nope, not going there.
#8. Why did Snoke/Palpatine instruct Kylo to kill Rey?
Families sure are complicated. Grandpa Palpatine’s ultimate plan was to tempt Rey into killing him out of anger. That way he could possess her body and she could rule as Empress with all the past Siths inside of her. This was his plan all along. But in previous films where he pretended to be Snoke and in the scene when Kylo finds him in Exegol, he instructed Kylo to kill his only living family member. Did he know Kylo wasn’t going to actually kill Rey? Was a betrayal planned for or foretold? In which case, he didn’t see his granddaughter lightning up his hooded ass?
Was he reverse psyching Kylo the whole time into leading her back to him? Or was grandpa just getting old and maybe a little senile? Who knows.
#9. Leia is a Jedi but not really a Jedi?
Speaking of old folks, we learnt that Leia trained to be a Jedi but stopped when she had a bad feeling about her mortality if she were to go down the Jedi path. If that’s the case, then she never really completed her training and become a Jedi, right? But how did she get her own lightsaber then? And how could she possibly train Rey and be her master if she wasn’t a Jedi?
#10. Why did ‘people’ show up for the Battle of Exegol, but not the Battle of Crait?
In the final moments of The Last Jedi, otherwise known as the Battle of Crait, Leia sought for help from people in the Galaxy. She was tragically ignored, establishing the fact that people in the galaxy needed more than blind optimism to hurl themselves into war. It was confirmed again in a couple of scenes in The Rise of Skywalker when members of the Resistance lamented over how no one is going to come and help. But when Lando got involved, everyone was suddenly up in arms for the Battle of Exegol – which, mind you, seems far more deadly and dangerous than the Battle of Crait. What changed? What did Lando do? And where can we learn to be as smooth and charming as him?
#11. What is a Force dyad?
It’s obvious that Kylo and Rey share a special connection. They sense each other through the Force and sometimes Force-FaceTime each other like loving long-distance couples. We get to see the extent of their connection when the two were at Exegol. While Palpatine and Rey were having cute grandfather-granddaughter chats, Kylo (who is now Ben) was busy trying to fight off the Knights of Ren saber-less. Rey senses his presence through the Force connection they share and sneakily teleported a lightsaber to him before pulling out another on Palpatine. It’s pretty cool if you ask us.
Palpatine later refers to this connection as a Force dyad. It’s a rare bond that unites two people and makes them powerful together. It’s a new term and concept that’s never been mentioned but we like to think that this is Star Wars’ dramatic way of saying that they’re each other’s one true soulmate. Isn’t that sweet? Kind of.
#12. Why did Ben have to die?
Wow. The Rise of Skywalker really taught us a lot about the Force. On top of Force-FaceTiming and teleporting objects, you can also transfer lives through the Force. We see it earlier in the film when Rey healed a serpent by transferring some of her life into it. Ben later did the same for Rey in the final scenes in Exegol. He transferred his remaining life into her in order to resurrect her, kisses her (YES, REYLO IS CANON FOLKS) and then dies. We’re over the moon that Reylo is real, but did Ben really have to die?
Couldn’t they have split whatever life that was remaining and then slowly heal and recuperate together after the whole mess? This is so Rose and Jack from the Titanic. Or, if we were to read it another way, director J.J. Abrams wanted to give fans what they want, and he did. Those who wanted Reylo got it, but Ben had to die. Those who wanted Ben to die had to deal with a final Reylo moment. J.J. gave us what we wanted, but be careful what you wish for.
#13. Why did Ben’s body disappear into the Force while Rey’s didn’t?
When Ben died, his body disappeared. So did Leia’s, Luke’s and Yoda’s. A body disappearing when they die usually means they become one with the force. But when Rey (temporarily) died, her body remained in place. Rey is an incredibly strong and talented Jedi so we would expect that her body would disappear too. Maybe it just wasn’t her time to die yet? That’s why Leia’s body didn’t immediately disappear, because of some unfinished business. After all, we needed the Skywalker to rise.
#14. Why didn’t Ben or Anakin Skywalker show up as Force ghosts in the last scene?
In the last scene, an old lady asks Rey what her name was. She turned to the side, saw Leia’s and Luke’s ghosts and decided that, from then on, she’d be known as Rey Skywalker. Since it was apt that the Palpatine in her died, and a Skywalker gave her new life and she had him in her. Eeeww, no, not like that.
While we don’t really have a problem with the new adopted name, why weren’t the other original Skywalkers present in the scene too? Ben – the man she smooched before he died in her arms and Anakin – the most problematic (and also dashingly handsome) Skywalker are key members to the family, but were nowhere to be seen.
If you’re going to take on a family name, you’ve got to take all the family members in it too, Rey.
#15. Is the balance finally restored?
The whole Skywalker saga stems on the idea of balance being restored. In the prequel, Anakin was “the chosen one” to restore the balance. He turned to the dark side and then redeemed himself by killing Palpatine to save his son, Luke – leading us to believe that balance has been restored. But balance means that where there is dark, there is light. So with the rise of Kylo, we saw the rise of Rey. But now that Kylo has redeemed himself (and is well, deceased) and Rey is the last Jedi to exist, would a new Sith rise?
If that’s the case, wouldn’t that mean the saga….continues? Or is Rey’s existence in itself the restoration of balance, since she is a Palpatine who died and became a newly appointed Skywalker, as a way to showcase the balance being restored.
#16. What is the significance of the yellow bladed lightsaber?
Lightsabers come in a number of colours. Kylo has a red saber, Luke and Leia has blue sabers and Yoda has a green one. Rey? Well at the end of the movie we see Rey has made her own lightsaber in yellow. But what does that mean? We might have a clue. Lightsabers are made out of coloured kyber crystals and each colour indicated different things. Blue lightsabers represented a Jedi who pursued the physical aspects of Force master, green lightsabers were for those who preferred knowledge and yellow were for those who seek a balance between violent and scholarly pursuits.
Just by this description, it seemed pretty apt that Rey holds a yellow lightsaber. In The Last Jedi, she’s always keen to learn more about the Jedi order and the Force from Luke, annoying him somewhat. Her curiosity and pursuit for knowledge continued on even after Luke’s death. She trained with Leia and read aplenty of Luke’s diaries. But having Palpatine’s blood flowing in her meant that she was constantly tempted by the Dark side and that she tends to respond violently whenever she’s angry and loses control of her powers. Much of Rey’s journey has always been striking a balance between light and dark, learning more about herself and the others around her and growing as an individual.
Look, we’ve got questions up to our sleeves but maybe 16 is enough for now. Brb while we look up for Reddit channels that may just have the answers to our questions.
Don’t judge a book by its cover, for behind all this makeup, is a geek just like you. To simply put it, superheroes, Star Wars, Harry Potter and all things gore and creepy makes this girly girl swoon.
Trinity Sun
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