Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker has a deservedly terrible reputation. Other entries in the franchise have their defenders, with Rian Johnson’s The Last Jedi continually dividing opinion and generating debate, but there’s practically a consensus that The Rise of Skywalker – with its tin-eared dialogue, nonsensical plot, and the boneheaded decision to “somehow” resurrect Emperor Palpatine – is beyond redemption.
For many fans, the rancid cherry on top of this poorly baked cake is the finale, in which Rey buries Luke and Leia’s lightsabers in the Tatooine sand, declaring she’s now going to go by Rey Skywalker. This elicited groans in the theater, and is now considered yet more fetishizing of the past rather than moving on to new things.
But could the second half of her chosen nom de guerre be redeemed with a little retconning? One fan thinks so:
The obvious counterpoint is that we already have a perfectly good word for a light-side Force user: “Jedi”:
Other fans point out that this concept is already in use, as Chiss navigators are known as “Skywalkers”:
Perhaps Rey could have used the word to refer to her distinctive form of Jedi philosophy:
We may yet catch up with Rey in the years after The Rise of Skywalker. Damon Lindelof’s Star Wars film is said to be set after the sequel trilogy and could feature some familiar faces, so it’d be nice to at least get a passing mention of what happened to her after becoming “all the Jedi” and finally defeating Palpatine.
Canon material indicates she eventually became a Jedi Master, though we’re curious if she ever set up another Academy with Finn as her first student. If that happens, let’s just hope she’s better at running a school than Luke, and doesn’t contemplate murdering her students.
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is available to stream on Disney Plus.