As if the Star Wars sequels didn’t get sidetracked enough in giving Rey, Daisy Ridley’s heroic Jedi, a background — The Last Jedi kept her past an insignificant aspect of her life, she was essentially a nobody. Many took it as an optimistic sign – the idea of a ‘nobody’ being strong with the Force and possessing the ability to carry on the ways of the Jedi. But, after the film’s hostile audience reception, Disney salvaged an old subplot and reinstated Rey as a figure of historical value to the lore. She was Rey Palpatine, granddaughter of Emperor Palpatine, aka Darth Sidious. Following that revelation, The Rise of Skywalker saw Rey navigating the horrors of her ancestral powers and overcoming the fear of becoming a Sith in the future.
The idea, since it was rushed, could have worked better too. Now that Daisy Ridley is returning to Star Wars, a ridiculous notion has ignited a Twitter debate, reopening old wounds concerning that subplot in The Rise of Skywalker.
The debate began with a fan notion that what if Rey took the name ‘Palpatine’ instead of ‘Skywalker’ at the end of the final sequel?
Of course, the idea, though brought up with a sense of intrigue, prompted a series of replies that rejected and ridiculed the idea.
Sure, I, too, would be burning my identity proofs just to get rid of a name who single-handedly orchestrated the murder of the whole Jedi Order in a manipulative war and didn’t even spare the younglings.
And after all, she was trained by not one, but two Skywalkers, who essentially laid down their lives to save her and help her understand how Palpatine’s name didn’t affect her relationship with the Force.
Another user furiously explained how there is no sense in redeeming the ‘Palpatine’ name.
Rey could never have furthered the Jedi cause with the name Palpatine. Luke and Leia trained her, and the end sequence reflects on her carrying forward her masters’ legacy.
And hasn’t a Star Wars film already been centered around redeeming a Sith name? Oh. Wait.
Plus, she wasn’t entirely Palpatine. The movie’s novelization revealed that Rey’s father was a non-identical clone of Sidious. Hence, she could have been carrying much more genetic material than just that of the Emperor.
Moreover, even if we don’t consider this notion, Rey’s first family was the Resistance. She grew up on Jakku as a scavenger with nothing to her name. To later take the name Skywalker honors both the original trilogy’s legacy and her arc, which transitioned her from a nobody to a Jedi.
If The Rise of Skywalker is about Rey finding herself, then carrying on the name, Palpatine, goes against that idea. In fact, her being called Rey Skywalker cements her as a true Jedi, taking the best from her masters and carrying forward their legacy. She even uses her quarterstaff and a piece of her hand clothing to form her new lightsaber’s holding, which further connects her to her true roots of being a salvager on a distant planet in the galaxy.
Now, Daisy Ridley will be seen making meaning out of her newly taken name in her next Star Wars appearance. Fifteen years following the sequels, Rey has been training a new batch of people strong with the Force and is ushering the galaxy into an era of a New Jedi Order. The plot will be the center point of a forthcoming Star Wars movie. It’ll be part of the new trilogy, featuring three films set in different eras of Star Wars continuity. To be helmed by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, Ridley’s Star Wars will be the only follow-up to the sequels in the new trilogy; the other two are set in the Dawn of the Jedi and New Republic eras, respectively.