STAR WARS: A CHARACTER STUDY OF REY (PART 2) TROS Spoilers

With my assessment in my official p review , I speculated that the sequence of events in all available footage relied upon Rey's development as a Jedi. Her facial expressions throughout the timeline would dictate her place during that journey. As time passes, she would learn to center herself and arise a hero and a self-assured woman. I was wrong. The order of events is flipped in the final film as she descends into a darkness which threatens her soul at every turn. Her mission to save the galaxy weaves seamlessly into her journey of self-discovery. The more she learns about her dark origins, the stronger that darkness grows within her.

Rey's originis one of the most widely debated subjects within the Star Wars fandom, providing an endless list of fan theories that consumed the internet for the four years since "The Force Awakens" premiered. While "The Last Jedi" revolves around Kylo Ren's crisis of faith , "The Rise of Skywalker", a film rich with symbolism and complexity, concludes this young heroine's journey with a deep identity crisis that nearly destroys her. This is Palpatine's master plan all along.

He never wants her dead, because he doesn't need her dead. The Sith's greatest weapon against the Jedi is doubt. What he needs is far more effective and complex: to destroy her resolve. He latches onto her greatest weakness and exploits it, just as he exploits Ben Solo through Snoke. He attacks her sense of identity, which renders her ineffective as a Jedi and as a Resistance fighter.

Since her escape from Jakku in "The Force Awakens", Rey struggles with her identity, desperately searching for someone to take the place of her parents, the people she knows in her heart would never return to her. After her failed attempts to connect with Han and Luke, she finally finds a place with Leia who agrees to complete Rey's training. Leia's tutelage provides Rey with more than a teacher.

Rey finds reassurance, comfort, and family. Her deepest desire fulfilled, she finds herself reluctant to leave the comfort of the Resistance hideout and earn her place in the resistance. She neglects her friends and the cause. Always training, never fighting. Her reluctance to emerge is frustrating to her colleagues. Until Palpatine draws her out with a message. However, this embodiment of pure evil isn't the only one searching for her.

Two agents of darkness constantly seek to crumble her resolve. Kylo Ren is also desperate to find her. Find her he does. Four times. Everywhere she turns, he is there challenging her resolve and enticing her to the Dark Side. Once out from under Leia's protective, comfortable wing, her resolve crumbles far too easily.

The simple truth of her heritage nearly causes her to fail her first mission. She abandons and alienates her friends at every turn, leaving them to the mercy of whatever trouble follows her. Because of this, the First Order almost kills Chewie, Finn, and Poe multiple times. Until she flies away from the mission to Ach-To where she is of no use to anybody. This single act of self-exile is enough to give Palpatine his victory. So long as there are no Jedi, he is free to reign.

Here's the most intriguing question of all: why does she insist on facing everything and everyone alone? Kylo Ren even offers her the opportunity of a lifetime. He already knows the way to Exegol. She burns a lot of time searching for her own Wayfinder when she could just hop onto Kylo's ship, and they could kill the Emperor together. This would amount to the same outcome and save her friends a lot of time and grief.

The answer lies with an interview with Writer/Director J.J. Abrams: "There's as much of a brother and sister thing with Rey and Kylo Ren as there is romantic.”

Meanwhile, Driver and Ridley both confirm that their characters want the same thing: FAMILY.

This is where the brother/sister dynamic falls into place. Rey wants to take her place in the Skywalker family, the role that Ben deserted. Meanwhile, Kylo Ren wishes to take Rey's place as heir to the Sith throne and ruler of the galaxy. Both yearn to take the other's place. Both hope not to take that place alone. However, Rey has no interest in the throne and Kylo has no interest in the Skywalker legacy. Thus, the eternal struggle between the two persists until one succeeds in their goal to turn the other.

Had she not succeeded in bringing back Ben Solo, her soul would be lost. She would sell her soul to Palpatine by embracing herself as a Palpatine. Instead, she chooses a brighter path.

She begins this path from the moments Anakin Skywalker's saber calls to her, long before Palpatine emerges from the shadows. Again, when she rescues Han Solo's ship from Jakku and wins his respect. She is the one person to pull Luke out of hiding and save Leia from ultimate doom on Crait. Most importantly, she saves Ben's soul and wins his heart. No one else in the galaxy can accomplish these things. Rey does it all. If that doesn't earn her a place in the Skywalker family, then nothing will.

Blood hardly matters in a worthy family.

That is the overall message of the Sequel Trilogy. Family legacy no longer defines the children of this remarkable galaxy. Not just Rey. All of them break free from the Empire's tyranny upon the end of the Galactic War. They choose their own legacy. They can make their own destiny.

The Skywalker saga ends with Palpatine's legacy erased, including his granddaughter who embracing an identity separate from him. She embraces the identity of his enemy. Thus, Palpatine is defeated once and for all, and the Skywalker family is free from the disgusting influence of Palpatine. The cycle of their tragedy ends with the death of Ben Solo. Rey breaks free from that cycle. By accepting the legacy of Skywalker, she allows the legacy of Palpatine to fade into obscurity.