Rey, some things are stronger than blood. Confronting fear is the destiny of a Jedi. Your destiny.
—Luke Skywalker, to Rey
Rey Palpatine was a Jedi Padawan during the Legacy Era and is the mother of Zayne Skywalker, who went on to be the architect and founder of a new generation of Jedi Knights in 50 ABY, restoring the order to its rightful place as the patrons toward of the light side of the Force.
Rey was born in 15 ABY during the rise of the New Republic. Her father was a bioengineered Strand-Cast cloned from the genetic template of Darth Sidious, the Sith Lord who ruled the Galactic Empire as Emperor Palpatine. The clone and Rey's mother chose to live as simple junk traders in order to hide their daughter, who inherited Sidious' connection to the Force, from his followers. After the deaths of her parents, Rey was forced to survive on her own in the Jakku desert, and became a skilled mechanic, pilot and combatant in the process. Her isolated life was disrupted shortly before war broke out across the galaxy in 34 ABY. Determined to help the Resistance, Rey gained several new allies including Finn, a renegade stormtrooper, as well as the veterans Han Solo and Chewbacca. In the course of their journey, she discovered her latent Force powers and sought guidance under Luke Skywalker, who taught her the art of the Force despite his decision to end the Jedi. After Skywalker used himself to save the Resistance, Rey assumed the mantle as the last Jedi's final apprentice and began officially training in the Jedi arts.
With the return of Darth Sidious in 35 ABY, Rey set out to find the dark world of Exegol and prevent the Sith from being reborn. It was through Kylo Ren that Rey discovered her origins as the Dark Lord's granddaughter, and upon confronting Sidious in person, she was nearly swayed to the dark side of the Force. However, Rey was saved by Ben Solo after he renounced his dark alter ego. Aided by the spirits of all the Jedi, Rey died vanquishing her grandfather, causing Solo to make the ultimate sacrifice in order to bring Rey back to life. The two embraced and shared a kiss as Solo peacefully vanished in Rey's arms. Although Solo was the last of the Skywalker bloodline, Rey assumed the name "Skywalker" to honor their memory, repudiating her own heritage as a Palpatine. With all this, Rey was the last Jedi, and graduated to rank of master, and went on to attempt to restore galactic peace, carrying on the legacy of the Skywalker family who accepted her.
Biography[]
Early Life[]
I have foreseen what she can become. For this young girl, known her whole life only as Rey, has more than just power. She has my power. And though she may fear what she truly is, I revel in that truth. She is a Palpatine. And soon, I shall make certain she embraces her destiny…
—Darth Sidious about Rey
Rey's father was a strandcast produced from the genetic template of Darth Sidious, making her the Sith Lord's "granddaughter."
Born in 15 ABY[1] on the planet Hyperkarn,[2] Rey was the daughter of a young man and woman, whose names were lost to history.[3] Her father Dathan,[2] was the cloned "son," a bioengineered strandcast, of the Sith Lord Darth Sidious,[4] making her the granddaughter of the fallen Galactic Emperor and Dark Lord of the Sith.[5]
Though Sidious had not anticipated his son's relationship with Rey's mother,[6] Miramir,[2] he sought to claim their child who, unlike his son, inherited his strong connection to the Force.[5] As a scion of the Palpatine bloodline,[6] Rey was a receptacle strong enough to hold her grandfather's spirit, which was trapped in an imperfect cloned body.[4] To protect Rey from her sinister grandfather and his followers, her parents escaped into hiding, choosing to become ordinary junk traders to keep their daughter safe,[6] whom they loved dearly.[3]
Hunted by Sith[]
Rey's parents had a difficult life; they struggled to survive on the desert planet Jakku while raising their daughter,[6] settling as moisture farmers, much like a profession on Tatooine.[2] Determined to capture his granddaughter,[4] however, Sidious dispatched the Sith cultist Ochi, to track down and find them,[5] to ultimately bring Rey to Exegol,[2] at any cost[4] for the girl was the ultimate key to the rebirth of the Sith.[2]
Rey's grandfather had forseen through the Force what she had the potential of becoming; Sidious recognized the strength within his grandchild, and that her power was not just power, but his own. Therefore he was determined to make certain that one day she would embrace her lineage and accept her role as the "genetic heir" to his legacy and his successor as Galactic Emperor.[5]
Rey was "abandoned" on Jakku by her parents, whom both died protecting her from Ochi, dispatched by Sidious for her.
In 21 ABY,[7] when Rey was still just a little girl at six years old,[2] her parents sold her to Unkar Plutt,[6] with their intention to keep her hidden from the Emperor's followers,[5] and to return after one galaxy cycle later to retrieve their daughter and then disappear.[2] They were later captured by Ochi however before they could; refusing to give up their daughter's location, they were both killed by the hunter on the Emperor's order.[8] Their sacrifice ultimately worked,[6] as Ochi never succeeded in finding Rey, and she would remain safely hidden away on Jakku[6] until her adulthood.[9] However, Rey was forced to grow up alone without her parents and endured years of isolation,[4] falsely hoping they would return for her.[9]
Life on Jakku[]
Rey living on Jakku in her teenage years.
In order to survive on Jakku, Rey became a scavenger in the employ of Unkar Plutt, trawling through the junk fields of the Starship Graveyard which was littered with the remains of starships and other military technology from the Battle of Jakku,[9] struggling to survive on the desolate planet.
At some point in her youth, Rey made her home in a downed Imperial All Terrain Armored Transport, left over from the Battle of Jakku.[9] By 25 ABY,[7] when she was ten years old[1] and her education in technology had already begun, Rey had started to become one of Plutt's most reliable scavengers.[7]
Selfless and independent, Rey survived off the meger rations she obtained through bartering or trading for her salvage at Niima Outpost.[3] Having seen many of her fellow scavengers work a meager, fruitless existence, she always believed that nothing more was gonna follow for her but the same, and so never dared to pursue an existence with greater meaning.[7] Rey's skills as a natural pilot, mechanic, and fighter ended up serving her well as she scowered the wreckages of Jakku;[4] something always attributed by her to be as luck, Rey unaware of her dormant Force powers.[7]
Awakening the Force[]
Escape from Jakku[]
Rey's life was changed by a fateful encounter with BB-8, a droid that possessed a fragment of the map to Luke Skywalker.
In 34 ABY,[10] when she was nineteen,[1] Rey's life would be forever changed on a day like any other;[7] one of the vessels that Rey scavenged from was the Inflictor, an Imperial-class Star Destroyer. Rey climbed throughout the massive vessel and brought parts back to Niima Outpost, where she cleaned them up and brought them to Plutt. The materials she brought him on this particular day earned her one quarter portion of food, which she brought back to her home. After eating, she heard the noises of an astromech droid and rushed to find that the source of the noise, BB-8, had been captured by a Teedo scavenger, also named Teedo. Rey rescued the tiny droid and learned that it was on a classified mission. Rey repaired BB-8's antenna, and pointed the droids towards Niima Outpost. After some convincing by BB-8, Rey allowed the droid to return home with her for one night, before it went on its way the next morning.[9]
Rey and BB-8 did go on to Niima Outpost, where she handed more salvage material over to Plutt. He offered her one half portion for everything, a collection that Rey reminded him was worth one half portion for each item only a week before. Though Plutt was unmoved, he did offer to give her sixty portions for BB-8. Rey almost accepted the offer, but she soon told Plutt that BB-8 was not for sale. Undeterred, Plutt sent his thugs after Rey to try to take the droid by force—this proved to be useless, however, as Rey made short work of her would be attackers. During the fight, BB-8 caught a glimpse of Finn, a stormtrooper who defected from the First Order, wearing the jacket that belonged to BB-8's master, Poe Dameron. BB-8 alerted Rey and a brief chase ensued. Rey managed to catch the young man, and accused him of thievery. Finn explained that the jacket belonged to Poe Dameron and that he was the one who helped the Resistance fighter escape from the Finalizer, an escape that cost Poe his life. He also explained that he too was a Resistance fighter, sent to help Poe retrieve a map that would lead to Luke Skywalker, a legendary Jedi Master who Rey assumed was only a myth. Rey accepted Finn's story that he was actually a member of the Resistance, while BB-8 lamented Finn's news of Dameron.[9]
Attacked by the First Order, Rey was forced to pilot the Millennium Falcon, an old starship she considered "garbage."
The trio was spotted by a small group of stormtroopers who were sent to recover the droid from Jakku. Rey and Finn attempted to flee their attackers after being fired upon by TIE fighters. Rey led Finn and BB-8 towards a shipyard attempting to commandeer a quadjumper moments before it was destroyed. With no other option, Rey led the two towards an old freighter (which she described as "garbage") that had not flown for years. None other than the Millennium Falcon, the ship had fallen into Unkar Plutt's ownership after being stolen from a number of other owners. Rey took the pilot's seat while Finn manned one of the quad laser cannons. Despite a shaky start, Rey piloted the ship out of the outpost and, on Finn's suggestion, remained at a low altitude in order to confuse the scanners on the TIE fighters. She led the fighters on a chase into the Starship Graveyard, where she was able to use the downed war vessels to her advantage. One TIE fighter crashed after Finn scored a direct hit, while the other followed Rey into the bowels of a Super Star Destroyer. The Falcon suffered damage and the turret was locked into one position, so, after flying out of the Super Star Destroyer, Rey moved the freighter into position where Finn could fire a direct shot. With the last TIE fighter destroyed, Rey flew the ship off of Jakku and into open space.[9]
Enter Han Solo[]
After leaving Jakku, Rey encountered Han Solo and Chewbacca, the original owners of the Millennium Falcon.
With the ship in the clear, Rey and Finn left their posts and congratulated one another on their hard-fought escape. They finally introduced themselves, having not learned each other's name in the commotion of escaping the desert world, but their joy soon turned to more urgent matters as the propulsion system began to leak. Rey started working to fix the problem, which risked flooding the ship with poisonous gas and killing them. While working on the propulsion system, Rey asked Finn for the location of the Resistance base. Unknown to her was that he and BB-8, as she worked, argued about revealing the location; Finn did not actually know its location and had to convince BB-8 to share it with Rey. BB-8 ultimately revealed that the base was in the Ileenium system, so Rey told them she would drop them off before returning to Jakku, much to Finn's annoyance.[9]
Suddenly, the ship began to lose power and the two realized that they were caught in a tractor beam. The Falcon was pulled into the cargo bay of a large freighterwhich Finn mistook as a First Order ship. The trio hid in a compartment beneath the floor and Rey planned to release the poisonous gas into the ship to kill what she assumed would be stormtroopers, but in reality it was two smugglers, and the original owners of the Falcon: the famed Han Solo and his First Mate, Chewbacca. Solo found the three fugitives in the compartment and Rey revealed they were the only ones aboard, and that she was the pilot. Solo asked where they got the ship, and Rey told him that it belonged to Unkar Plutt, who stole it from the Irving Boys, who stole it from Gannis Ducain—who, as Solo revealed, stole it from him. It was then that he revealed himself as Han Solo. Rey and Finn realized that meant the ship was the Millennium Falcon, the ship that Rey believed had made the Kessel Run in fourteen parsecs, to which Solo corrected her saying it was only twelve. The two correctly deduced that Solo was indeed the famous smuggler who became a General for the Rebel Alliance during the Galactic Civil War. Solo inspected the ship and talked to Rey about the modifications that Plutt had made on it, including a compressor on the ignition line, which they both knew put too much stress on the hyperdrive. Rey also told him about their mission to bring BB-8 to the Resistance, a mission that caught Solo's attention once he realized that the droid carried a map to his old friend and brother-in-law Luke Skywalker.[9]
The Eravana was soon boarded by the both Guavian Death Gang and Kanjiklub, two criminal organizations that Solo had swindled into loaning him money so he could smuggle rathtars to King Prana. Rey and Finn hid in the corridors beneath the floors as Solo unsuccessfully tried to talk his way out of the situation, and his predicament gave Rey the idea to shut all of the doors between the Corellian smuggler and the two gangs. She accessed the wrong door controls, however, and accidentally unleashed the monstrous rathtars, which ran loose across the ship. As Rey and Finn ran from the beasts, one of them grabbed Finn and carried him away. Rey found a control panel that allowed her to close a door onto the tentacles of the monster, severing the limbs and allowing Finn to escape. They reunited with Solo at the Millennium Falcon and escaped onto the ship. With Chewbacca injured in the fight against the gangs, Rey took the co-pilot's chair as Solo prepared the ship for launch. Though Rey questioned him on his ensuing plan, Solo jumped the ship into hyperspace from inside the Eravana, and they successfully escaped. Bala-Tik of the Guavian Death Gang, who had seen BB-8 and realized Rey and Finn were aboard, then had his men contact the First Order to let them know that the fugitives were aboard the Millennium Falcon.[9]
Rey, along with Finn, discovered through Solo that the legends of the Jedi Order, the dark side, and the Force were true.
Rey and Solo contended with even more damage to the ship once they were in hyperspace. There was an electrical overload and a coolant leak, so Rey suggested transferring auxiliary power to the secondary tank, which Solo had also come to the conclusion to do. Finally, Rey bypassed the compressor that Plutt had installed, solving the problem, ending their imminent danger, and impressing Solo. The group gathered in the ship's common area and BB-8 showed Solo the holographic map fragment that was in the droid's databanks. Solo, who pointed out that the map was incomplete, explained why Skywalker had disappeared in the first place. An apprentice—Ben Solo—turned against the Jedi Master and destroyed Skywalker's attempt to rebuild the Jedi Order. Afterward, Skywalker vanished from the galaxy without a trace. Rumors floated around about where he had gone, but those closest to him correctly guessed that he went off in search of the first Jedi Temple. Rey was surprised to hear that the Jedi were real, but Solo, who had once been skeptical of the existence of the Jedi himself, told her that the stories about the Jedi and the existence of the Force were all true.[9]
Discovering the Force[]
Solo, the estranged husband of Resistance General Leia Organa, did not plan to bring BB-8 to the Resistance base himself, so he set course for the planet Takodana, where he intended to enlist the help of Maz Kanata, a pirate and collector who had operated a pirate castle on the planet for a thousand years. As the ship approached the castle, Rey was taken aback by the lush green world that reminded her of the planets she saw in her dreams as a child, having never known that there was so much green in the entire galaxy. When they landed, the group exited the ship, where Rey looked out at the stunning vista that stood before her. Solo handed her an NN-14 blaster pistol, knowing she would be able to defend herself with it, and asked her what her name was. With the two formally introduced, Solo said he was considering bringing on a new crew member. Impressed with Rey's piloting and repair abilities, he said he would consider offering her a job as a second mate aboard the Falcon. Rey was flattered by the offer and briefly excited by the prospect, but she turned it down because she had to return to Jakku to wait for her family, claiming that she'd already been away for too long already.[9]
Solo led Rey, Finn, and BB-8 to the castle while Chewbacca stayed behind to watch over the ship. Solo explained that Kanata had the ability and the connections to get BB-8 to the Resistance. Once inside, their arrival prompted the attention of informants for both the First Order and the Resistance, alerting the respective groups that the fugitives were on Takodana. Rey and the others met with the diminutive pirate and told her about the map to Luke Skywalker. Kanata said she would not bring the droid to the Resistance because she believed Solo should, as he had been running from the fight for too long. Rey asked what fight she was referring to, and Kanata told her it was the fight against the dark side of the Force, one that had given rise to the Sith, the Galactic Empire, and ultimately the First Order. To Rey's surprise, Finn told Kanata that they could not win the fight against the First Order. Kanata sensed his fear, and Finn finally said that he could not bring the droid to the Resistance. He left to speak to two pirates, about exchanging work for passage to the Outer Rim Territories and, when Rey confronted him, he admitted that he was a former stormtrooper and not a member of the Resistance. She pleaded with him not to go, but he chose to leave the castle and head to the Outer Rim.[9]
Through the Force, Rey saw the destruction of the Jedi Order, an event that caused Luke Skywalker to retreat into exile.
As Finn departed, Rey felt something drawing her towards the lower levels of the castle. She made her way down the steps with BB-8 and found a collection of ancient artifacts. One box in particular called to her, and she opened it to find a lightsaber. Upon touching it, she was immediately confronted with a vision of events both past and present she did not understand. Rey first found herself in the halls of Cloud City, where Skywalker had once fought Darth Vader before learning Vader was his father. She heard Skywalker screaming in disbelief at the revelation, as well as the words of the late Jedi Master Yoda speaking about the energies of the Force. Rey then saw Skywalker himself kneeling before a burning temple alongside his astromech droid, R2-D2, before the vision shifted to one of death: Kylo Ren and the Knights of Ren killing many people. The vision then transported her to Jakku, where Rey saw herself as a young girl screaming for her family to return as they departed in a starship. Finally, she found herself in the middle of a snowy forest, where Ren ignited his lightsaber and stalked towards her. The vision came to an end, she fell to the floor, and she heard the voice of the long-deceased Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi telling her that these were her first steps.[9]
Rey was left shaken by the vision. Kanata found her scrambling away from the collection room, and Rey asked her what happened. She told the young woman that the lightsaber once belonged to Luke and Anakin Skywalker, and that it was calling out to her. Rey, overwhelmed, told Kanata that she had to return to Jakku, but the old pirate helped Rey finally admit what she knew all along: whoever left her on Jakku was never coming back, however, there was someone who still could. Upon hearing this, Rey replied to her: Luke. Kanata, who was Force-sensitive in her own right despite not being a proper Jedi, tried to guide Rey towards embracing the Force and letting the light guide her, as well as to take the lightsaber. Rey rejected it, however, and said she wanted no part in this cosmic destiny. She instead fled the castle, in tears, running into the heavy woods that stood just outside of it to be alone. BB-8 followed her and Rey told the droid to go back so Solo could help, but it was too late. Rey looked up and saw First Order transports and TIE fighters soaring through the sky.[9]
Capture and escape[]
Rey was captured by Kylo Ren, the dark apprentice of Supreme Leader Snoke, during the Battle of Takodana.
Rey and BB-8 returned to the castle, where they saw it under heavy bombardment from the First Order. She noticed stormtroopers approaching her position and fired on them, hitting two before running back into the forest. Rey told BB-8 to go on without her so she could fight them off, and she told the droid that she hoped to see it again. Rey continued through the woods until she heard the sound of a lightsaber coming to life. She was soon confronted by Kylo Ren, who used his lightsaber to deflect every shot she fired at him. After allowing her several shots, Ren used the Force to freeze Rey and her blaster in place, threatening her with his lightsaber while demanding to know where the droid was. He probed her mind with the Force, realizing that she had seen the map and that he would not need the droid—he could instead just interrogate her to find out what she had seen. Ren used the Force to render Rey unconscious and carried her to his command shuttle, which he used to escape as Resistance X-wing fighters—which had arrived to find BB-8—fended off the TIE fighters.[9]
Ren sensed Rey's loneliness and longing for family; likewise, Rey could sense that Ren was filled with conflict and pain.
Rey was taken to Starkiller Base, a First Order stronghold and a superweapon, built into the icy planet, that was capable of destroying entire star systems—a power it unleashed when Rey was on Takodana, using it to destroy the Hosnian system and deliver a crippling blow to the New Republic's government and starfleet. Rey woke up in a holding cell and found Ren by her side. She asked him what happened to Solo and Finn, though Ren did not know—which he suggested was a sign of relief for her, as he had not heard if they perished. Rey treated the dark warrior with scorn, calling him a "creature in a mask," and he removed his mask to reveal that he was a young human man with no disfigurements. He asked about the droid once again and Rey responded only with its technical specifications. Because she refused to reply, Ren used the Force to access her mind and her memories. Through connecting their minds, Ren unknowingly formed the prophesied dyad in the Force between the two Force-sensitive beings. He saw that she was lonely but also afraid to leave Jakku, and that she saw an island on an ocean in her dreams. He also saw that she was fond of Solo and that she felt like he was the father she never had, though Ren said that he would only leave her disappointed. What Rey did not know was that Ren's true name was Ben Solo, and that he was the son of Solo and General Organa. After more probing, Rey began to use the Force to push back and resist, keeping Ren from seeing any more of her memories. She turned the attack around on him and saw into his mind, finding that he was afraid that he would never be as powerful as his grandfather, Darth Vader. Ren rapidly withdrew, rattled by the experience, and left the holding cell.[9]
Escaping with assimilated Force powers from Kylo, Rey escaped and wandered Starkiller Base.
Only one stormtrooper was left to guard Rey's cell. Testing out her newfound Force abilities, Rey attempted to use a mind trick on the trooper in order to influence him to remove the restraints and leave the cell with the door open. The trooper was confused at first and, after her second attempt, said he would instead tighten the restraints. The third time she tried, however, Rey was successful. The trooper removed the restraints and began to leave the cell. He also dropped his weapon after Rey told him to, allowing her to leave the cell while armed with a blaster rifle. Rey made her way through the base, while Ren discovered that she was missing and ordered the First Order troops to be on high alert—the longer Rey went undiscovered while testing her abilities, the more powerful and more dangerous she would become to the First Order. Her intention, ultimately, was to commandeer a ship and escape from Starkiller Base, so she made her way towards a hangar where she found TIE fighters that she could steal. She was approached by several stormtroopers before she could get to the fighters, so she climbed down a chasm in the hangar to hide. Careful not to fall to her death, Rey opened a service hatch, climbed inside, and closed it behind her so she could make her way back through the base.[9]
Deeper into the base, Rey found Solo, Chewbacca, and Finn (who did not flee to the Outer Rim after all). They had arrived on Starkiller Base in order to rescue her and disable the base's shields so Resistance starfighters could destroy it. Rey embraced Finn when Chewbacca said the rescue was his idea, and she thanked him for coming back for her. With the shields already disabled as a result of Finn and Solo's actions, the group left the base to return to the Millennium Falcon, but they saw that the Resistance fighters were being cut to shreds and had been unable to destroy the thermal oscillator, which stored the energy that the weapon drained from stars. The group decided to stay behind to help destroy the oscillator. Rey accessed a terminal that allowed her to open a door, giving Solo and Chewbacca the opportunity to enter the oscillator and plant charges. Rey and Finn made their way towards their companions and found themselves overlooking a bridge, where Solo—who, along with Chewbacca, had already planted charges—found and confronted his son. Though Solo pleaded with Ren to turn back to the light, the dark warrior stabbed his father through the torso. Rey let out a horrified scream upon witnessing this, but could only watch as the famed smuggler fell to his death in the chasm below. Chewbacca, enraged over the loss of his friend, opened fire on Ren, managing to hit him in the leg, and set off the charges, damaging the oscillator and giving the Resistance the opening it needed to destroy the base.[9]
Fully embracing the power of the Force, Rey defeated Kylo Ren during the Battle of Starkiller Base.
Rey and Finn ran through the snowy forest towards the Millennium Falcon, but they were confronted by Ren who told them that they had unfinished business that Solo couldn't save them from. Rey denounced the dark warrior as a monster for his act of patricide and attempted to fire at him with her blaster, but Ren used the Force to toss her against a tree, temporarily knocking her out. Finn, who was given Skywalker's lightsaber by Maz Kanata on Takodana, engaged Ren in a lightsaber duel, but was bested and left critically injured. Seeking the lightsaber for himself, Ren attempted to call the saber through the Force, but it whipped past him, choosing Rey instead. Igniting the saber, Rey engaged Ren in combat and spent part of the duel in retreat, defending herself against Ren's advances. The two locked sabers and Ren told her he could train her in the ways of the Force. Rey, remembering what Kanata told her, drew upon the powers of the Force and moved onto the offensive, delivering several blows against Ren until she finally disarmed him and slashed him across the face, ultimately defeating him. A deep chasm formed between them, born out of the imminent destruction of the planet after the Resistance destroyed the oscillator, so Rey left Ren behind and returned to the injured Finn. Chewbacca soon arrived aboard the Falcon and carried Finn aboard, as Rey followed behind. The ship took off as the ground crumbled beneath it, and the Falcon and the Resistance fighters retreated from Starkiller Base as the planet imploded and became a star from all of the thermal energy the weapon had collected.[9]
Finding the last Jedi[]
Time on D'Qar[]
The Millennium Falcon then returned to the Resistance base on the planet D'Qar, where Finn was treated for his wounds. She was greeted at the base by General Organa, and the two embraced in a long hug. The Resistance forces celebrated their victory over the First Order, though Rey was left with a feeling of sadness. The events that had unfolded awakened R2-D2, who had been in low power mode ever since Skywalker disappeared and the droid combined the information contained within his databanks with the map that BB-8 carried to show a completed map to where Skywalker had gone. She also said goodbye to the unconscious Finn, kissing her friend on the forehead and stating that "they would see each other again someday."[9]
Rey needed a teacher and someone to help her understand the Force, so she decided to find the Jedi Master personally. Prior to departing, Organa told her that she was proud of what Rey was about to do. Rey felt the general's fear, however, knowing that Organa blamed herself for sending her son away to be with her brother only for Ben Solo to turn to the dark side. Nevertheless, Organa had confidence in Rey, believing she would not share in her son's fate. Before parting ways, Organa provided Rey with a beacon in order to find her way back to the Resistance. The two embraced in a long hug, and Rey left to find Skywalker.[11]
Discovery of Skywalker[]
Rey returned Skywalker's lightsaber to him, only to discover that the last Jedi wanted nothing to do with it or her.
After landing on one of the planet's small islands, Rey ventured throughout the island's ancient ruins and found the old Jedi Master in seclusion.[9] Skywalker, clearly haunted by the past, said nothing as Rey handed him his father's lightsaber, a symbol of the only hope the galaxy had left[11]—the return of the Jedi.[9]
Upon offering Skywalker his old lightsaber, Rey was shocked to see him discard the weapon after briefly examining it, and immediately leave the plateau. The entire way down, Rey desperately tried to recruit Skywalker to help the remaining members of the Resistance, but he blatantly refused. After recovering the lightsaber from some porgs, Rey discovered Skywalker's X-wing starfighter within a shallow bay and learned that he had stranded himself on the planet. She continued to follow him across the island, despite being ordered to leave. Eventually, she stumbled upon an old tree containing some of the last recorded Jedi texts from the very beginning of the Jedi Order, claiming the location was familiar to her. Intrigued, Skywalker asked Rey to elaborate, but she continued to press him to come out of hiding and help fight the First Order. Skywalker once more refused, explaining that he did not come to the planet to hide but to die where the Jedi Order first started. Later, when Skywalker arrived at the Millennium Falcon, Rey and Chewbacca informed him that Han Solo had been murdered, shocking Skywalker. Afterward, the old Jedi Master pressed Rey for her true motives for coming to Ahch-To. Rey explained that she had a power inside of her that she did not understand and was frightened of; she also sought a mentor to help her discover her place in the galaxy. That night, Rey woke to see Skywalker staring at her; he agreed to give Rey no more than three lessons of the Jedi Order and that they would start at dawn.[12]
Learning the ways of the Jedi[]
Skywalker reluctantly agreed to train Rey, but the scavenger's raw power reminded him of another Force prodigy—his nephew, Kylo Ren.
On the first day of her training with Skywalker, Rey awoke to find Kylo Ren sitting across from her. She instinctively aimed her blaster at him and fired, only to blow a hole through her stone hut. She could not harm him, yet neither could Ren use his powers to reach into her mind due to the actual distance between them. Rey was both terrified and infuriated to see the dark warlord, but decided to keep this new development between them from Skywalker, fearing that she would lose the Jedi Master's trust if he mistook her and Ren's newfound connection as a betrayal. She followed him to the first Jedi Temple where he described the Force as an energy that bound everything together, including the light and the darkness. After some miscommunication, Rey reached out into the Force with her senses and felt drawn to a cavern immersed in dark side energy.[12]
Having been effortlessly drawn to the darkness despite Skywalker's warnings, Skywalker backed away in fear as Rey's raw strength in the Force reminded him of another gifted prodigy—his nephew and fallen apprentice, Ben Solo.[13] At the same time, Rey sensed nothing from the Jedi exile and came to realize that Skywalker had blocked himself off from the Force.[12]
For her next lesson, Rey was made to listen to Skywalker's interpretation of the history of the Jedi Order, which he saw as an example of hubris and failure. He further credited his former mentor, Obi-Wan Kenobi, as the Jedi Master responsible for the training of Darth Vader and also blamed the Jedi for failing to stop Darth Sidious' rise to power. In spite of his arguments, Rey was adamant that the return of the Jedi Order was the galaxy's last hope against the rising power of the First Order. She also countered Skywalker's views by exclaiming how it was Skywalker himself who saw the light in Vader and fought to redeem him. Yet despite her assertions to the contrary, Skywalker felt responsible for his nephew's fall to the dark side, lamenting how he had once hoped to pass on his lessons to Solo and a new generation of Jedi. It was then that Rey learned about the night of Solo's betrayal as explained from Skywalker's point of view.[12]
Skywalker had been trying to teach Rey not to act on her emotions, and instead take action only when she can maintain balance.
A growing connection[]
As her training with Skywalker continued, her connection with Ren became stronger and resulted in more frequent interactions between them.[12] At first, Rey was inconvenienced by the fact that she was bonded with a man whom she regarded as a murderer and a monster.[13] To her surprise, however, Ren[12] no longer tried to hide his feelings of pain and misery from Rey.[13] At one point she inquired—while distracted by the sight of Ren stripped to the waist—as to how he could kill his own father, to which Ren replied by comparing Rey's experience with abandonment to his own. His knowledge of Rey's parents confounded her, as well as reminded her that the first contact between their minds had allowed them to access each other's memories. Ren then took the opportunity to share his recollection of the night he destroyed his uncle's temple, revealing to Rey that Skywalker had made an attempt on his life while he slept. She wanted to believe that Ren was lying, but her feelings told her that he was telling the truth.[12]
Determined to see her parents once again after so many years, Rey followed the pull to the dark side which led her to a cave filled with numerous mirror versions of herself. Staring into a clouded mirror of polished stone, she beseeched the Force to reveal her parents but was only met by her own reflection. Having failed to find the answers she sought, either with her parents or Skywalker, Rey began to despair as years of isolation began to weigh upon her. As a result, she turned to the one person whom she felt could relate to her sense of solitude and loss: Kylo Ren. The dark warrior listened intently as Rey recalled her experience in the cave, and he insisted she was not alone despite her sense of loneliness. Rey returned his gesture, in kind, and came to hope that it was not too late for him to return to the light.[12]
By then, their bond had reached an unprecedented level in strength and raw power[14] to the extent that Rey compared it to touching a live wire. She tentatively raised her hand to touch him, although she expected their hands to simply pass through each other. When their fingers actually touched, Rey gasped and grasped Ren's hand. At that moment, however, Skywalker—now reconnected with the Force—witnessed their bond with his own eyes and interrupted the connection. Confronting the Jedi Master, Rey demanded to know if he tried to murder Ren. The two fought until Skywalker admitted that he had contemplated killing his nephew after sensing the darkness within him. Unlike Skywalker, Rey did not believe that Ren was fully committed to the dark side as there was still much conflict within him. She therefore set out to confront him, in spite of Skywalker's warnings, under the belief that Ben Solo's redemption was the key to saving the galaxy.[13]
Unknown to Skywalker, Rey took the sacred Jedi texts with her aboard the Falcon before leaving Ahch-To. Upon returning to the beleaguered Resistance fleet, Rey ordered Chewbacca to launch her from an escape pod toward Snoke's flagship, the Supremacy, where Ren awaited her arrival.[12]
First Order-Resistance War[]
Confrontation aboard Supremacy[]
Sensing the conflict within Ren, Rey beseeched the dark apprentice to heed the call to the light, only to be tortured by his master on the Supremacy.
As they approached Snoke's throne room, Rey reminded Ren that he still had a chance to redeem himself. Snoke welcomed Rey and removed her handcuffs. He then Force-pulled her lightsaber to him and set it on the arm of his chair. Snoke gleefully remarked on the former scavenger and used the Force to pull her towards him, claiming he had created the Force link between Rey and Ren in order to find Luke Skywalker. When Snoke directly pried her for Skywalker's location, Rey boldly refused and tried to summon her lightsaber. Instead, Snoke merely redirected the weapon, hitting her in the back of the head.[12]
Amused with her spunk, Snoke brought her before a holo-projector showing the remaining members of the Resistance being destroyed and vowed she would join them. Rather than lose hope, however, the sight drove Rey to summon Ren's lightsaber and defiantly ignite it to challenge Snoke once more, promptly earning the Supreme Leader's respect. Complimenting her for her courage, Snoke finally acknowledged her as a genuine threat to his reign. Restraining Rey once more, Snoke returned Ren's lightsaber to him and ordered him to execute her, confident his apprentice would do so. Instead, Ren subtly used the Force to turn Rey's lightsaber and activated it, carving Snoke in two. Freed from the Supreme Leader's control and with her saber back in hand, Rey suddenly found herself in a temporary truce with Ren as they engaged and killed all the guards in the throne room.[12]
Ren indeed turned against his master, killing Snoke and standing with Rey against the vengeance of the Praetorian Guards.
With Snoke's personal guards dead, Ren offered Rey the chance to join him and "let old things die" and bring a new order to the galaxy. But when she pleaded with him to join the Resistance, Ren revealed what he thought was the truth about her parents; they were both junk dealers who traded her away for money and died on Jakku, buried in an unmarked grave. Ren once more offered her a place by his side to reshape the galaxy in their image. As on Starkiller Base, Rey once again refused and attempted to pull her lightsaber back to her. The pressure of the Force from both users proved to be too much and split the weapon in two, knocking them unconscious. The first to regain consciousness, Rey recovered both halves of the lightsaber.[12] Before she left the bridge, she looked over at the unconscious form of Ren and briefly considered killing him with his own lightsaber. Ultimately, Rey decided that it was not her place to take Ren's life and that the Force would ultimately decide his fate. She then flew away on Snoke's escape shuttle, using the craft's low profile and countermeasures to avoid detection.[13]
Rescue on Crait[]
During the Battle of Crait, Rey rescued the Resistance from the forces of Supreme Leader Kylo Ren.
From there, she regrouped with the Resistance fighters on the nearby planet Crait, who were holding out in an old Rebel Alliance base. They arrived right as the Resistance was taking heavy losses from the First Order's assault; with Rey manning the Falcon's turrets, Chewbacca was able to lure the attacking TIE Fighters away from the battle through the planet's crystallized caverns.[12]
Despite Rey's successful diversion of the First Order's air support, the Resistance was still ultimately pushed back by the Order's sheer firepower. As Skywalker delayed the First Order's final assault via a Force projection, the Resistance sought to escape through a network of tunnels behind their base.[12]
Seeing Rey disheartened by their losses on Crait, Leia Organa reassured her that they would succeed in starting a rebellion.
Following Organa's two-way beacon, Rey and Chewbacca landed near a back entrance to the old Rebel base covered with boulders. Trusting in the Force, she accepted her destiny as a Jedi and proceeded to clear away the boulders from the exit, allowing the surviving Resistance members to escape; here she reunited with Finn, and embraced him. As she was about to close the Falcon's doors once the Resistance was all aboard, she shared one more interaction through the Force with Ren,[12] but she closed the connection[13] and left on the Falcon. Safely in hyperspace, Rey reunited with BB-8 and took notice of the droid's new antenna. Upon reuniting with most members of the Resistance, Rey met Dameron and was warmly reunited with Organa. Both were able to sense that Luke had become one with the Force, but that he had finally found peace, and Organa assured her that the Resistance, and hope, would survive.[12]
The ways of the Jedi[]
After the death of Luke Skywalker, Rey continued her Jedi training under Organa, though he she struggled to control her anger and aggression.
Following their near destruction at the Battle of Crait, the Resistance regrouped under General Organa's leadership. Rey's presence among their ranks aided recruitment efforts, as word spread that the last Jedi was fighting for the Resistance cause.[7] As a result of Luke Skywalker's death, it fell to his sister Organa to oversee what remained of Rey's training.[8] It was a path that Organa had taken thirty years earlier,[7] having briefly learned the Jedi arts under her brother's mentorship,[6] before deciding that her future lay in a different direction. Organa therefore served as a mentor to Rey, whose compassionate nature and admiration for inner strength caused her to revere the general,[7] who also became her mother figure.[4]
Rey's training continued in the jungles of Ajan Kloss, a safehaven for the Resistance and the same planet where Organa took her first steps into the Force. The primeval rainforests formed a natural obstacle course to challenge Rey's physical and mental skills. She also utilized Skywalker's old tools that Organa once used while honing her own Force abilities—training helmets and practice remotes that had lain unused for years.[7]
Rey during Jedi training on Ajan Kloss.
A typical training regime concocted by Organa involved Rey capturing colored ribbons tied to trees that were defended by a trio of color-coded remotes. These training remotes tested Rey's evasion and deflection skills by flying about her on repulsorfields, firing sting-beams to distract her. The red remote was the most persistent, and therefore the most challenging to Rey's temper.[7] At this point, Rey successfully repaired the Skywalker lightsaber, though she also felt that she had not yet earned the right to wield it as her own weapon.[8] The repaired saber featured weld marks as well as Rey's wrist strap which had been repurposed to bind the broken shaft. The Kyber crystal inside had been healed using techniques that Rey learned from Jedi scripture.[1]
Motherhood[]
Zayne. Little one. Mommy loves you.
—Rey to her newborn son
After the Battle of Crait, Rey gave birth to her and Ben Solo's son, Zayne Skywalker.
Approximately nine months after the disaster on Crait, Rey gave birth to her and Ben Solo's son, Zayne.[15]
Prior to giving birth, Rey was immensely fearful and concerned for what her pregnancy meant, wondering if the child was to be like his father, Kylo Ren, and was also struggling with her own internal doubts, believing herself too young and reckless to be a proper mother, unready to care for a child.[15] With the guidance of her master, Leia Organa, who passed on valuable wisdom towards impending motherhood, Rey knew that she could not just abandon her child, or condemn him for the actions of his father or Darth Vader.
Throughout the nine months Rey carried her child, she could sense it was a boy, and the Force sang to her through the restless, exuberant unborn baby. She could sense his spirit; Zayne was a fighter, though innocent, and had nothing but the purest of light and a real capacity for compassion.[15]
Within her new baby son, Rey found the biggest source of motivation yet. To keep him safe, she wished to excel in her training and bring a swift end to the conflict against the First Order.[15]
Quest to find Exegol[]
Voice of Emperor Palpatine[]
One year had passed since Zayne's birth and the Battle of Crait,[7] a mysterious message was broadcasted across the galaxy, announcing the return of the long dead Sith Lord Darth Sidious.[8] When word of Kylo Ren's journey to Exegol reached the Resistance, courtesy of a spy within the First Order ranks, it became instantly clear to Rey how the Supreme Leader undertook the voyage to find the ancient Sith redoubt. She had read about the Sith wayfinders in the pages of the Jedi texts, specifically the red-covered Rammahgon, which had been annotated by Luke Skywalker. The Jedi Master had chronicled his efforts to find the Emperor's wayfinder, while tracking down fleeting mentions of Exegol during his explorations of the galaxy. Studying Skywalker's notes, Rey learned that a wayfinder would have to be used at least once to find a chartable path through the Unknown Regions to Exegol; the route could then be saved within a standard navicomputer for future use.[7]
Determined to finish what Anakin Skywalker began, Rey would set out on a quest to find a wayfinder and reach Exegol, where the former Emperor was readying an armada of Xyston-class Star Destroyers, armed with planet-killer weaponry, for deployment. Though she intended to travel alone, believing the mission was too dangerous for her friends, they nonetheless decided to accompany Rey on her quest.[8]
Shortly before departure, Rey tearfully bid her son a goodbye and almost backed out twice just for his sake, kissing his little hands and feet at least a dozen times, and hugging so close and ever so tight. But she knew he would be safe there and that he had his grandmother, so all the same.[15]
Deserts of Passana[]
Rey on the desert planet of Passana.
Accompanied by her friends Finn, Dameron, and Chewbacca, as well as the droids BB-8 and C-3PO, Rey followed Skywalker's path to finding Exegol, which ended on the planet Pasaana. She welcomed the sense of calm that Pasaana gave her, still feeling most comfortable on desert worlds. In contrast to her desolate homeworld of Jakku, however, Rey found Pasaana teeming with culture. Her arrival coincided with the Festival of the Ancestors; as Rey wandered through the festival, her bond with Kylo Ren reconnected the two Force users, allowing them to see and hear each other across the stars.[8]
Ren told Rey that the Emperor wanted her dead; when she accused him of serving at another master's bidding, Ren denied it,[8] having sacrificed too much to be subservient.[7] He did not want to kill her, though he also wanted to know why Rey had refused his offer, when he knew that she wanted to accept. Instead of answering Ren's question, Rey asked him why he saved her life instead of killing her when he had the chance. Knowing the full story behind Rey's lineage, Ren was certain that if he made the same offer again, Rey would accept it if she knew the truth. Before their connection ended, Ren seized possession of a husk necklace, causing it to teleport to his location through the bond. The necklace had been gifted to Rey by the Aki-Aki reveler Nambi Ghima and as such the First Order discovered that Rey was on Pasaana.[8]
While attempting to avoid First Order troops, Rey and her companions were found by Landonis Balthazar Calrissian, whom Organa had reached out to for help. Having accompanied Skywalker on his search for Exegol, Calrissian pointed the group in the direction of the Bestoon Legacy, an abandoned starship that belonged to the Sith assassin Ochi.[8]
As they traveled to the ship, they were ambushed by several First Order jet troopers but they managed to defeat them. Approaching the ship, they were caught by the Shifting Mires and they began to sink; Rey heard Finn call out to her but they all sank underground within the muck, dropping into an underground cave system. After regrouping, Rey asked Finn what he tried to say to her but it was brushed aside "for another time." They discovered Ochi's bones alongside an old dagger that had several Sith runes inscribed into the blade, and, although C-3PO was capable of translating it, he could not due to his programming restriction on speaking the language. A large reptile known as a vexis suddenly appeared. Though the snake appeared hostile, Rey, seeing the animal was injured, used the Force to heal its wounds, thus taming and calming the creature and causing it to reveal a way out of the tunnels the beast had created under the sand.[8]
Rey unintentionally destroyed the transport with Force lightning.
Rey agreed that they should extract the data from C-3PO and, anticipating the First Order had taken the Millennium Falcon, prepared to leave aboard Ochi's ship; however, she sensed the arrival of Kylo Ren and left the group to confront him. Rey waited for Ren to attack in his TIE whisper, and subsequently destroyed it by slashing its wing with her lightsaber while leaping over to avoid being hit. After disabling Kylo's fighter, Rey discovered that Chewbacca and the dagger had been captured by the Knights of Ren and taken by troopers aboard an AAL-1971/9.1 Troop Transport. Rushing to help, Rey attempted to stop the transport carrying Chewbacca and the stolen Sith dagger using the Force. Kylo Ren tugged back, and the subsequent struggle resulted in Rey destroying the ship with a sudden burst of Force lightning, greatly shocking them both. Horrified by what she had done and thinking she had killed Chewbacca, Rey barely managed to escape in time.[8]
Dark revelation[]
Rey attacked Ren through their bond when he tried to tell her the truth about her origins.
Rey followed Finn and Poe to Kijimi to get C-3PO to read the message inscribed on the dagger. However, the group was stopped by Zorii Bliss, a local spice runner who formerly worked with Poe and recognized him. When Zorii threatened to capture the team, Rey attacked the woman with her staff and held her lightsaber against Zorii's throat. Zorii told Rey that although Rey probably didn't care, she thought she was okay, to which Rey told her that she did care. Zorii led the group to Babu Frik, where in his workshop, he successfully completed the procedure on C-3PO, wiping the protocol droid's memory in the process. When the First Order arrived at Kijimi, Rey sensed where Kylo Ren was and learned that Chewbacca was alive, initially believing he died on Pasaana.[8]
Arriving on the Star Destroyer to rescue Chewbacca, Rey confused two stormtroopers with a Jedi mind trick and joined Finn and Poe in finding the captive Chewbacca, but is drawn away by the presence of the dagger, telling the others that she knew that they needed it somehow. As Rey made her way to Kylo Ren's quarters, she encountered the mask that once belonged to the Sith Lord Darth Vader. Seeing the dagger along with Chewbacca's bowcaster and bandolier, she went over to retrieve them. When Rey grabbed the dagger, it induced another vision; this time of what happened to her parents. Ochi, who was to find and recover Rey, killed her parents as they got in his way. A short duel against Kylo ensued as he and Rey connected through the Force dyad. Their bond allowed them to see and fight physically even from afar, eventually revealing her presence in his quarters when their fight caused his table of ashes holding Darth Vader's helmet to fall in front of him. When Kylo realized where Rey was, Rey grabbed the dagger and Chewbacca's things before running towards the hangar.[8]
Rey discovered the truth about her lineage and the nature of her bond with Kylo Ren.
When she made it to the hangar, she found that Finn, Poe, and Chewbacca had not returned. She saw Kylo land and told BB-8, C-3PO, and D-O to locate them. As stormtroopers surrounded them, Rey confronted Ren in the hangar bay. She asked him why Palpatine wanted to kill her. Ren replied by saying she had his power, revealing to her that her father was the son of the Emperor, just as Ren's mother was the daughter of Vader. Ren also revealed that he and Rey were a dyad in the force, two Force-sensitive beings that were paired to become one in the Force, and together they could defeat Palpatine and take the Throne of the Sith for themselves. Ren prompted her to make a decision, Rey said that she already did to a special person in her life as the Falcon arrived. Rey jumped out of the hangar bay towards Finn on the Falcon's ramp, and the Resistance made their escape.[8]
Kef Bir[]
Rey battled a vision of herself if the dark side took control of her life.
Rey followed the group to Kef Bir, meeting a group of former stormtroopers led by one who called herself Jannah. Using the Blade of Ochi of Bestoon against the silhouette of the DS-2 Death Star II Mobile Battle Station wreckage, Rey located the area where the Sith wayfinder should be located. She wanted to leave right away, but Jannah warned them that the seas were too dangerous and that they would leave in the morning. Unbeknownst to her companions, Rey impatiently piloted a sea skiff to the ruins. She walked and climbed her way through the dilapidated hallways and chasms of the wrecked Death Star, and eventually entered the Emperor's Throne Room, the place where Luke defeated his father and where Anakin fulfilled the prophecy. She approached the throne of her grandfather. Just then, a door beside the throne opened. Rey walked through the door as it closed behind her. Exploring the vault, she discovered the wayfinder. Once she grabbed it, she encountered the dark side version of herself. The dark vision told her not to be afraid of who she was, echoing the words of her master. Her dark side activated her saberstaff, and they engaged in a duel. The vision of herself was beginning to spew venomous taunts and warnings, or omens, of what happened if she did embrace this darkness. The one she made the most infuriated and whipped Rey's emotions into a storm within her was the taunt that Zayne would be even worse than her and that he would be an agent of evil, something Rey as a mother could not even bear to have suggested. She was overwhelmed, nearly no match for her inner darkness, and she tumbled out the vault and dropped the wayfinder. Ren was there, and caught it in his hands.[8]
Ren had come to Rey without his mask. The scavenger had a feeling that he would never wear it for her again. His voice betrayed feelings of contempt as he noted Rey's desperation to prove herself as a Jedi to his mother. But in embracing her darker emotions, Ren believed that Rey had become as isolated as he was, and that she was no longer able to return to Organa any more than he could. Yet Rey continued to defy him, confusing the Supreme Leader. He was surprised that she could still resist, but continued to provoke her nonetheless, asserting that the dark side was in their nature. He urged her to surrender to it. Rey ordered Ren to give back the wayfinder, even pushing with the Force, but her attempted mind trick had no effect on Ren. She panicked as she sensed his next move. Ren declared that she would never find Exegol unless she joined him, and with that he shattered the wayfinder in his hand.[6]
Rey was cornered by Ren in the ruins of the second Death Star, where their respective grandfathers met their demise.
Infuriated, Rey lashed out with her lightsaber and attacked Ren. Rather than igniting his own lightsaber, Ren leapt out of the way of Rey's blow, ducked under the next attack, and whirled away from her. The fact that he was not fighting back further enraged Rey, who had all but lost herself to her own fury. Bringing his own lightsaber to bear, he began blocking Rey's blade while she continued to swipe, slam and stab her weapon at him. He eventually gave ground, dropping into a shaft with Rey leaping after him without a second thought. Leaving the throne room, the Dyad dueled ferociously along the watery trenches of the Death Star ruins. During the duel, Rey sensed Finn nearby, attempting to bring her back. Alarmed by his presence, Rey was overcome by an instinct to protect her friend from Ren. With no thought at all, she pushed Finn with the Force, sending him flying away in the opposite direction toward Jannah. During their lightsaber duel, the two sparred telepathically, with Ren reminding Rey that he knew her in ways that no one else could. The longer they fought, the clearer it became that Ren was physically stronger than Rey. Ren dominated most of their fight, and Rey eventually was knocked down to her knees by his attacks.[6]
Ren loomed over Rey, who stared at him as he raised his lightsaber. In that moment, Rey was convinced that she would die on the wreck of a space station, accepting that she may not be fast enough to dodge his next attack, and he soon made a comment, a statement toward the plans he had for Zayne and the galaxy. But as she readied herself for death, Ren froze where he stood, his lightsaber held high. His gaze suddenly became distant; across the galaxy, his mother called out his birth name with her dying breath. Ren dropped his lightsaber, sensing his mother's death through the Force while Rey, exulting at the prospect of victory, caught the Supreme Leader's weapon and pierced his abdomen, running him through with the stolen blade. Having felt Leia's death, Rey began to mourn, and realized she attempted to slay Ren in an act of rage. Regretting her actions, Rey reached out, putting her hand on Ren's chest. Drawing on all of her energy as well as the life force around her, she gave much of it to Ren. As a result, his wound was completely healed, disappearing altogether along with his facial scar. Rey sensed Ren's astonishment and his unasked questions, and explained that he had been right. She did want to join him, but only the side of him who was Ben Solo, not Kylo Ren. Disillusioned by her ordeal, Rey commandeered Ren's TIE whisper and left Kef Bir, allowing instinct to dictate her next move out of desperation to escape the galactic conflict.[8]
Return to Ahch-To[]
Luke Skywalker's spirit communed with Rey, convincing her to confront her grandfather, Sidious with Leia Organa's lightsaber.
Shaken by her Sith lineage, multiple instances of dark side rage, and believing herself to be a danger to her son, Rey returned to Ahch-To on Kylo's ship, with the intent to go into exile like her first master Skywalker had. She burned the ship that brought her there, but just when she threw the Skywalker lightsaber into the burning wreckage, the Force spirit of Luke Skywalker appeared to her and caught it. After a long discussion, Skywalker convinced her to face her grandfather, Darth Sidious, as he did his father, Darth Vader, telling her that confronting fear was the destiny of a Jedi. He bestowed her with Leia Organa's lightsaber and his old X-wing, both of which Rey took to Exegol, navigating with the Wayfinder she found in the wreckage of Kylo's ship.[8]
The Rise of the Skywalker Bloodline[]
Rey confronted her grandfather, Darth Sidious, during the battle of Exegol.
Rey traveled along a safe route to Exegol in Luke Skywalker's X-wing, Red Five, using Kylo Ren's wayfinder and transmitted her plotted course to the Resistance, allowing them to travel along her passage. Rey arrived at Exegol and proceeded to face Darth Sidious within the Sith Citadel. Before the Throne of the Sith, the frail and immobile Dark Lord of the Sith let fall the chamber ceiling, uncovering the battle above, showing a greatly outnumbered and outgunned Resistance failing against the might of the Sith Eternal fleet in battle. Exploiting the imminent extermination of the entirety of the Resistance, Sidious commanded that she strike him down with hatred lest her "newfound family" be annihilated, intending to transfer his own spirit into the young and strong body of Rey.[8]
Rey had been stalling for time after sensing that Kylo Ren―now redeemed and going by his birth name, Ben Solo, was on Exegol. She nearly succumbed to the temptations of absolute power and the dark side of the Force, but Solo's presence was shining bright with the light within her mind. Knowing that he had come to help her, she feigned defeat and acceptance while shielding her true intentions from the Emperor, a skill that she had honed through practice with Ren.[6]
Various memories flashed through Rey's mind, including her son Zayne, alerting Sidious to the existence of his and Vader's great-grandson, and much to her horror, Rey could sense a new desire to claim the young child as his "ultimate apprentice", one more perfect and powerful than Vader ever was after the transfer was complete, as she also became aware of the Sith's intentions to transfer his spirit within her own body.[16]
Solo, realizing that he could not defeat all six Knights of Ren with only a blaster, received a telepathic message from Rey through their bond, and he knew what she intended to do. Rey lowered her weapon behind her back, as if preparing to strike down her grandfather, who leaned forward with gleeful anticipation, but when she raised her hand it was empty. She had projected her weapon away, and with horror the Emperor realized his mistake in allowing Rey and Solo to come together. Their bond had been refined in the fire of mutual searching, shared grief, rage and hate, but also compassion and empathy, and it was the one thing that Sidious had not foreseen. Rey ignited Leia's lightsaber as a cohort of Sovereign Protectors surrounded her.[8] As before on Pasaana and Kijimi, they were separate but also together, with Rey battling the crimson-robed guards and Solo confronting his former comrades. This time, however, they were drawing on each other for strength, becoming even more powerful as one instead of two. Ren sprinted toward the throne room where Rey had defeated all of the guards save one, whom Solo tossed aside using the Force. They stood facing each other, together at last. Rey observed how different Solo was from Ren, and wondered how she never noticed the resemblance between him and his parents until then. They raised their lightsabers as one, dropping into a fighting stance before Sidious.[6]
Standing together as a true dyad, Rey and Ben Solo confronted the rotting remnant of Darth Sidious.
Sidious snarled at his would-be heirs, exclaiming that they would die together, the resistance was at an end, and their child would be his as he raised his rotting hand and impaled them with the Force. Their lightsabers dropped to the ground, and the Emperor pulled them toward himself, partially draining their life force as they kneeled before him, unable to move. They were helpless against his power, their combined life force began to heal the clone vessel. Sidious gasped, watching as his hands began stitching themselves back together, bones re-growing, and pale flesh closing over them. He was astonished to discover that his granddaughter and Vader's grandson were a dyad in the Force, and their bond the equivalent of the power of life. Realizing that their powers combined would allow him to fully return to life, Sidious used the Force to drain the life energy of both Rey and Solo to restore himself to the form he had before his first death at the hands of Anakin Skywalker during the Battle of Endor. Drained of their powers, Rey and Solo fell to the floor. Having no further use of Solo, Sidious, exclaiming revenge for his first death, flung him into a nearby abyss to an apparent death.[6]
Sidious, having been fully restored to his former self, told his Sith loyalists to not fear the attack of the Resistance as no one will stop the Sith's return. He then proceeded to ignite a powerful display of Force lightning into the air, which disabled all Resistance ships up to the size of Nebulon B frigates, including those of Finn, Poe, and the galaxy fleet, and sending them plummeting toward the ground, including the legendary Tantive IV. Weakened and seemingly defeated, Rey heard the voices of past Jedi, including her former Master Luke Skywalker, his father Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Yoda, Qui-Gon Jinn, Ahsoka Tano, Mace Windu, Luminara Unduli, Aayla Secura, Kanan Jarrus, and Adi Gallia encouraging her and lending her the strength to carry on against the Sith Lord.[8]
With the assistance of the spirits of all the departed Jedi, Rey turned her grandfather's full power back at him, destroying him.
Rey then stood up, with her new courage received from the Jedi before her. Sidious, noticing this, ceased his Force Lightning attack on the Resistance fleet. Telling Rey that her death will be the Rebellion's final word, Sidious launched a barrage of Force lightning at Rey. Rey then attempted to block the Emperor's electric attack with Leia's lightsaber, while Sidious proudly announced himself to be the culmination of the Sith legacy. However, Rey's bolstered strength emboldened her to retort that all past Jedi lived within her, calling back the Skywalker lightsaber and igniting it, using the two lightsabers in tandem to deflect Sidious' lightning back at its wielder. Unable to tolerate the strain of the immense energy reflected back at him, Sidious screamed in agony and horror as he was disintegrated under his own energy. In an explosion that decimated the entire arena, all of the Sith Eternal gathered inside and Darth Sidious himself were destroyed. The rebirth of the Sith Order was prevented, thus ending the ancient conflict between the Sith and the Jedi.[8]
Solo was climbing as he sensed Rey's presence fade, knowing he needed to act soon, as he desired to save the mother of his son, Zayne, who he finally became aware of as he sensed the fleeting remnant of Rey's earlier memories, as the burst of energy was so powerful, almost as if the the sheer force and will was enough to leave an echo.[16]
After the death of Palpatine, Rey and Ben shared a kiss, acknowledging their dyad, as they celebrated finally having found each other.
Rey nearly died from the sheer amount of power required to utterly destroy Sidious, an event felt by Finn, and her body collapsed to the ground. However, Solo had survived the earlier ordeal with Sidious, and climbed up the cliff from the Abyss, running back to Rey as he realized she sacrificed herself to kill the Emperor. Finding Rey dead, Solo mourned her and cradled her in his arms. Unable to accept her death, Solo made the decision to sacrifice himself so Rey could live again. He put his hand on her and poured his own life force into her body. Upon waking up, Rey covered his hand on her belly with hers and stared at him, becoming aware of what transpired.
He expected her rejection again, but after a moment of confusion, Rey's eyes lit up and she whispered his name, actually glad to see him. Surprising Solo even more, instead of letting him go, Rey filled his heart as she reached for his face and leaned forward kissing him.
She shared with him a kiss of gratitude, acknowledging their connection for the first time, as they were both overwhelmed with joy, celebrating that they had truly found each other at last. But Rey soon became concerned as she felt him growing colder, and as she drew back to look at him, Solo smiled at her. Still with him in her arms, Rey clasped his hand and watched Solo collapse in the ground with no regrets after bringing her back to the galaxy, the Force reached for him in welcome. Rey stood at the place she just saw Solo vanish and cried staring at his empty tunic.[8]
As much as she didn't want to mourn Kylo Ren, Rey was filled with sorrow thinking on the missed opportunity to have known Ben Solo, whom just sacrificed everything for her. She felt like her other half was ripped from her. After all the years of loneliness in Jakku, she had just found that she was part of a connection, a dyad, but as she thought that was taken from her, she was devastated. But upon hearing Solo's voice through the Force trying to comfort her, reassuring that he would always be with her, Rey smiled with the realization that he was not truly gone.[6]
Rey returned to Ajan Kloss to celebrate the victory with the Resistance where she reunited with Dameron and Finn again. Moved to see them, she shared an embrace with her friends.
Zayne had been left in the care of C-3PO and a couple of other Resistance base maintenance workers, and the moment Rey saw her infant son, she rushed to him and hugged him ever so tightly and lovingly, having missed him so much. And with his father and grandmother's deaths, Zayne had become the last of Anakin Skywalker's bloodline
Becoming a "Skywalker"[]
Rey's quest to become a Jedi complete, she ignited her new lightsaber as tribute to the legacy of the Skywalker clan that accepted her as one their own.
Afterwards, she took Zayne with her to traveled to the Lars moisture farm on Tatooine, where she laid both Leia's lightsaber and Luke's lightsaber to rest, but after crafting her own lightsaber in which she was able to ensure it worked. When a local asked for her name, she renounced her Palpatine lineage, renaming herself "Rey Skywalker" with the blessing of the Force spirits of Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa.[8]
Afterwards, Rey obtained the rank of Jedi Knight by the spirit of her mentor, Luke Skywalker - completing his own path as a Jedi Master in death[16] and ensuring his own promise to Yoda thirty-one years earlier; to pass on what he had learned.[12]
Knight of the Resistance[]
Rey on Tatooine with BB-8
After the conclusion of the First Order-Resistance War, Rey had many things to dedicate her life to in order to make the galaxy a better place. Also, instead of keeping her origins as the Emperor's granddaughter a secret, Rey decided to take on her rightful surname, "Palpatine," knowing that blood was the only thing that bonded her to that man, but her actions were what defined her, regardless of prejudice she may face.[16] As the last of the Jedi with the death of her masters,[12][8] Rey, as a Jedi Master,[4] was now the guardian of the Skywalker legacy and she looked to the future and possibly even training a new generation of her own Jedi learners, whom she will pass on the duty of maintaining balance in the Force.[3]
As time passed since the Battle of Exegol, weeks turned from just months and into a year, as Rey began to see her son was a gift from the Force, not for its own benefit, but for her to not just have someone to raise and protect, but to love and have a sense of family.[16]
Powers and abilities[]
Force powers[]
As a member of the Palpatine bloodline,[5] Rey was immensely powerful in the Force with raw strength that; rivaled that of a member from the Skywalker bloodline,[6] Kylo Ren.[12] Rey's abilities included; mind trick, enhanced speed and agility, and Force healing, the last of which she would become very proffiecient with.[4] A virtue to her lineage,[5] Rey had the ability to produce Force lightning, her grandfather's signature attack,[6] and quite powerfully in bursts from her fingertips, capable of destroying a small transport.[8]
Another rare ability she possessed, was Force phsycomentary; allowing her to gaze into the past of objects,[4] like; when she touched the Skywalker lightsaber at Maz Kanata's castle, witnessing the history surrounding the weapon.[9]
Although Rey possessed a raw connection to the Force,[12] her abilities were eclipsed by wiser, elder Force wielders; such as Supreme Leader Snoke; due to greater knowledge and experience at the dark side master's disposal.[13]
Refrences[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Star Wars: The Force Awakens: The Visual Dictionary
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 Shadow of the Sith
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Skywalker: A Family at War
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 4.8 4.9 The Star Wars Book
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 Star Wars: The Secrets of the Sith
- ↑ 6.00 6.01 6.02 6.03 6.04 6.05 6.06 6.07 6.08 6.09 6.10 6.11 6.12 6.13 6.14 6.15 Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker: Expanded Edition
- ↑ 7.00 7.01 7.02 7.03 7.04 7.05 7.06 7.07 7.08 7.09 7.10 7.11 7.12 7.13 Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker: The Visual Dictionary
- ↑ 8.00 8.01 8.02 8.03 8.04 8.05 8.06 8.07 8.08 8.09 8.10 8.11 8.12 8.13 8.14 8.15 8.16 8.17 8.18 8.19 8.20 8.21 8.22 8.23 8.24 Star Wars: Episode IX The Rise of Skywalker
- ↑ 9.00 9.01 9.02 9.03 9.04 9.05 9.06 9.07 9.08 9.09 9.10 9.11 9.12 9.13 9.14 9.15 9.16 9.17 9.18 9.19 9.20 9.21 9.22 9.23 Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens
- ↑ Star Wars: Galactic Atlas
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Star Wars: The Force Awakens (novelization)
- ↑ 12.00 12.01 12.02 12.03 12.04 12.05 12.06 12.07 12.08 12.09 12.10 12.11 12.12 12.13 12.14 12.15 12.16 12.17 12.18 12.19 Star Wars: Episode Vlll The Last Jedi
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 13.4 13.5 13.6 Star Wars: The Last Jedi: Expanded Edition
- ↑ Star Wars: The Last Jedi: The Visual Dictionary
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 15.4 Messiah of the Force: Zayne Skywalker
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 16.3 16.4 Messiah of the Force: Zayne Skywalker