The Reylo Kiss
There are a few “ships” to come from the Sequel Trilogy that have their passionate fans. There was much speculation prior to Rise, then, over which of the speculated romantic couples would come to pass. In the end, while there are implied moments for Rey/Finn and Finn/Poe fans to enjoy, the only one that gets a proper culmination is Rey and Kylo Ren AKA “Reylo.” Arguably the most controversial of all of them.
First of all, Rey saves Kylo’s life, which precipitates his redemption. He then repays the favor, giving his life energy up to save her in the film’s climax. Once she’s resurrected, Rey plants a passionate kiss on his lips (again, something WGTC told you about before the movie released) and the pair share a sweet moment as they beam with happiness. However, tragedy strikes when Kylo succumbs to his death and vanishes, becoming one with the Force.
For Reylo lovers, this was a pretty emotionally-devastating scene. First, it looks like the pair are going to get a happy ending, and then it’s snatched away from them. Why you gotta be so mean, J.J.?
Force-Healing
The Last Jedi already added a few new major Force powers into Star Wars lore, but Rise of Skywalker goes even further with the creation of Force-healing. At first, this new ability is introduced when Rey heals the injured foot of a creature on Pasaana.
It’s then revealed that this power can be used to heal life-threatening injuries when Rey saves Kylo from a lightsaber to the chest. Ultimately, Force-healing is shown to even be capable of bringing someone back from death, so long as the healer gives the other person all of their life energy.
This is a pretty massive new power to drop in the final installment of the saga, at last confirming the rumors that the Force can be used to master death that Palpatine spoke of in Revenge of the Sith. It was additionally surprising that Force-healing was previewed in the last episode of The Mandalorian, when Baby Yoda was shown to heal a poisoned Greef Karga. We certainly weren’t expecting any sort of crossover there.