Rise of Skywalker’s Rey Palpatine twist was widely criticized, but the recently revealed Star Wars concept art suggests a partial solution was dropped.
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker fixed his Rey Palpatine twist, but the revelation could have played out better if concept art scenes had been realized on screen. The big revelation that Daisy Ridley’s Rey is in fact Emperor Palpatine’s longtime grandson was among many criticisms that the audience directed at Disney’s sequel trilogy. The twist contradicted Star Wars: The Last Jedi‘s claim that Rey was “none“and suffered from the lack of clarity surrounding Palpatine’s resurrection. Colin Trevorrow is leaking The duel of destinies the manuscript proves that Rey’s Palpatine legacy was not planned in advance, and the twist inevitably feels intertwined.
One of the bigger issues surrounding Rey as Palpatine’s grandson is how Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker never properly commits to the temptation of his evil side. JJ Abrams plays with the concept of letting Rey destroy a First Order ship using Force Lightning, but this is an accident she’s horrified by. Then we see “Dark Rey” baring his fangs and swinging out with a red lightsaber, but Daisy Ridley’s Sith counterpart is nothing more than a fleeting mental sight. Had Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker invested in its Dark Rey, rather than tooting around her, the protagonist’s connection to Palpatine could have had greater weight.
Recent surface concept art by Jon McCoy suggests that Rey’s darkness may have actually been dimmed during development. McCoy admits that these scenes were not taken directly from Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker‘s manuscript, but was an early exercise in “feeling out of the atmosphere and mood [they] was asked to think about. “Nevertheless, a picture shows Rey commanding Kylo Ren’s iconic red lightsaber and holding it menacingly against the villain’s neck. On another, she forces him (on purpose!) And lifts Kylo’s fighting body high into the air.
Although these images are nothing more than concept artists finding a mood, they tease a much more eerie version of Rey than Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker actually delivered. This version begins to embrace her inner Palpatine and succumb to the temptation of great power that dwells within. Instead of just sneezing and a flash of Force-lightning pushing out, this Rey seems to be moving into anti-hero territory for a while, and the moral complexity would almost certainly have helped correct Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker‘s tangled Palpatine twist. Pushing Rey down a darker path justifies Luke Skywalker’s warning when he senses his student’s innermost power in Star Wars: The Last Jedi, and reinforces why it’s so great to have Palpatine blood. Rey breaking bad would also make her inevitable choice to stay on the easy side even more meaningful compared to Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker where she never seriously deviates from the virtuous path.
Although Jon McCoy’s scenes were probably never intended for the finished film (Rey wears a green lightsaber in one piece), it is a fascinating insight into what could have been, and suggests that early in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker‘s production became a more morally gray road considered for Daisy Ridley’s character. That alone, of course, could not have fixed her Palpatine twist completely. You still have Star Wars: The Last Jedihis contradictory explanation and “somehow Palpatine has returned“to navigate. But to see Rey flirt with the dark side more seriously in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker would definitely have represented an improvement.
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