8 Mind-Blowing Revelations Hidden In Rise Of Skywalker

Star Wars fans may not be able to agree on how good Rise of Skywalker is, but those who paid close attention will have realized how much credit JJ Abrams deserves for the amount of thought he put into this film, especially concerning how he handled the big reveals.

Now, to clarify, by 'big reveals' I’m not referring to the heavy-handed way in which Rey is shown to be Emperor Palpatine’s granddaughter or the goofy and over the top manner in which we learn that Palpatine is still alive. In a way those two revelations are nothing but loud distractions from the truly interesting secrets seeded throughout the film.

While we were digesting what we thought were the film’s bombshells, Abrams was definitively answering many of the most hotly debated questions in Star Wars lore and the crazy thing is that most of us missed it on the first viewing.

Rey's dyad in the Force connection to Kylo Ren is the ultimate explanation to how she has instant Force skills with no training in the previous films. Essentially, she is borrowing skills from her counterpart who has had years of training in the Force.

Since The Force Awakens one question has been asked many times both sincerely and as toxically as you can possibly imagine. We see Rey instantly able to use advanced Force abilities and not only match Kylo Ren blow for blow in a lightsaber duel but actually defeat him. A character with zero training is able to beat someone who has been doing this for years! How can this happen?

Those members of the fandom who trusted that a reasonable explanation would be forthcoming (rather than ranting about Mary Sues) were disappointed not to be given that explanation in Last Jedi, however Rise of Skywalker provides an explanation in a way that seems as though it could have been planned from the beginning. Which for this trilogy is saying something!

We learn in the film that Kylo Ren and Rey together form a dyad in the Force. Which is the strong connection we see growing between the characters through the trilogy. This bond allows them to share memories, teleport objects, communicate and even fight over long distance.

Keeping this in mind when you watch The Force Awakens you will notice a very important detail...

Rey does not begin using advanced Force skills until she comes in contact with Kylo Ren.

When viewed from this point of view, it becomes clear that these Force skills are not her own, learned instantly but rather Kylo Ren’s, learned through many years of training. Because their minds are connected she can pick up skills that he knows by heart and use them as her own.

In essence, she has a cheat code to the Force. Because one half of the dyad has already learned these things the other half does not need to. If she were any other untrained Force sensitive, regardless of her strength in the Force she would have been soundly defeated after perhaps putting up a good fight. Which brings us to our next point.