10 Simple Fixes That Would Have Saved Star Wars: Rise Of Skywalker

5. Rey Builds Her New Lightsaber From The Start

The Skywalker lightsaber is a big deal in the Sequel Trilogy. It's depicted in The Force Awakens as a powerful reminder of the Jedi's nobility, and of Luke Skywalker's heroics especially. At the same time, Kylo Ren desires the weapon as his birthright, a weapon that belongs to him that was once wielded by Darth Vader, his grandfather.

The Last Jedi also does something really interesting with the weapon. Kylo still covets it, but director Rian Johnson uses Anakin's saber as a narrative device to explore the limiting and occasionally toxic effects of nostalgia. Luke no longer has any reverence for the weapon, and uses it to taunt Kylo during their 'duel' on Crait. It's dead clever, and if the point was for our heroes to move past material possessions, then it was ultimately lost on Abrams' film, which saw Rey reforge the weapon... only to build her own in the *checks notes* last five seconds of the film.

We know Abrams is a sucker for retreading the Original Trilogy at this point, so why not give Rey her new, golden lightsaber at the beginning of the film? As it did in Episode VI, it would illustrate how our main protagonist has finally become their own Jedi - one not beholden to any one legacy.

Instead, Episode IX leaves this moment to the last second where Rey goes back to Tatooine, which has no significance to her or Leia, whilst also affirming herself as a new Skywalker. The act of constructing this new weapon feels completely pointless in that respect. Why not introduce it from the start?