Star Warsis the most iconic and popular franchise of the sci-fi genre. Over the course of its four-decade run, the franchisehas provided us with a number of films, TV series and video games. Not to mention the whole section of Disney World dedicated to the franchisecalled Galaxy’s Edge. Needless to say,Star Warshas taken the world by storm.
Of course, with dozens of movies and TV shows, not everything has been perfect. The sequels in particular have received a great deal of criticism for a number of plot holes as well as poor character development and convoluted stories that were extremely difficult to believe. This is mainly due to the producers having too much control over the entire trilogy, with very little writing experience. One of the biggest reasons that Rey’s (Daisy Ridley) story failed to get traction with the audience is the inconsistencies throughout the sequel trilogy, effectively ruining her arc.
Intro to Rey
We are firstintroduced to Reyon Jakku inThe Force Awakensas a scavenger who scrounges the broken down remnants of Imperial technology for food. In the beginning, very little is known about her, but as the film progresses, more is revealed about her past. However, Rey, who initially seemed insistent on staying on Jakku, gladly leaves, and while she insists on going back, her convictions fall easily to people she’s just met.
Furthermore, Rey is faced with her own darkness in a never-before-seen way, but she seems to hold strong with her convictions untilTheRise of Skywalker, when she falters for a bit, stabbing Ben Solo AKA Kylo Ren. This action seemingly snaps her out of her darkness. It’s never been that easy in the past and the build-up towards the dark side has always been over a lengthy period of time and is hard to recover from.
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Change of Direction
Somewhere betweenThe Force AwakensandThe Last Jedi,filmmaker Rian Johnsontook a very different direction from J.J. Abrams. While this was initially seen as a benefit to keep the audience interested, it eventually wound up biting Lucasfilm in the butt. Johnson publicly admitted that neither Abrams nor Lucasfilm told him any of the solutions to the setups inThe Force Awakens.
Consequently, Johnson was left to his own devices, coming up with his own conclusions to the mysteries in order to drive the story forward. This obviously led to a number of inconsistencies betweenThe Force Awakens,The Last JediandThe Rise of Skywalker, particularly with the direction Rey’s story arc was going in. Though she grew and evolved throughout the trilogy, she was effectively pulled in polarizing directions by different cooks in the kitchen.
Rey’s Parentage
One huge aspect of Rey that ruined her potential as a character is her jumbled up parentage. InThe Force Awakens, all that is revealed about Rey’s parents is that they abandoned her on Jakku and that she is waiting for them to return. InThe Last Jedi, her parentage is abandoned entirely, and Kylo Ren tells her that her parents were nothing of importance. But then, inTheRise of Skywalker, it was revealed that her father was a failed clone of Shiv Palpatine, making the Sith Lord her technical grandfather and making Rey a part of his bloodline. There was zero foreshadowing done for this reveal, and it seemingly came out of nowhere. Considering that producers strayed so far from the original canon, Rey’s bloodline makes very little sense and is difficult to believe.
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Lightsaber Vision
InThe Force Awakens, Reyexperiences a visionwhen she touches Luke’s old lightsaber. The vision shows a massacre carried out by Kylo Ren and the Knights of Ren seemingly against Luke’s Jedi Temple. While this was initially considered a flashback,The Last Jedidisproves this, showing Kylo Ren’s betrayal from Luke’s perspective as it happens, but the setting is entirely different.
Some have theorized that it is not a flashback but a flash-forward. However, the vision shows Kylo Ren in his mask, which he destroyed beyond repair inThe Last Jedi.As a part of Rey’s story arc, her being able to see this vision does not make sense as while she is Force-sensitive, why would she have such a connection with Luke’s lightsaber despite having no blood relation to him.
Lack of Jedi Training
Another aspect of character development that producers failed to get right was Rey’s bond with the Force. In both the originals and the prequels, the potential Jedi are introduced to the Force and trained to hone their skills. While Rey attempts to reach out to Luke inThe Last Jedi, her so-called training is minimal to none, and yet she goes from being unable to do anything to shifting a mountain of rocks on her first try.
InRise of Skywalker,she all of a sudden appears to be a Jedi Master, hovering above the ground in meditation. How did she get that good without help? Rey’s magical connection with previous Jedi Masters is how she trains herself, but it does not make sense. No one ever had any connection like this in the past, and it is never explained what makes her so special. She’s not exactly the Chosen One like Anakin Skywalker — she’s just the daughter of a clone.
