Rey

Rey, born Rey Palpatine, and later self-proclaimed as Rey Skywalker, is one of the protagonists of the Star Wars franchise. She is one of the three protagonists (alongside Anakin and Luke Skywalker) of the Skywalker Saga, serving as the protagonist of the Star Wars sequel trilogy. She is the love interest of Ben Solo / Kylo Ren, who is the central antagonist later turned into the deuteragonist of the sequel trilogy. This canon ship is called Reylo by the fans.

Rey is played by Daisy Ridley.

Biography

Rey is the daughter of a non-identical clone of the Emperor Palpatine. The Emperor managed to revive himself in a cloned body, but the imperfect cloned body was not enough, and he needed a new vessel for his soul. His followers attempted to create several other clones, but none of them survived except Rey's father, and Sidious considered him as his "son". However, Palpatine soon saw his son as a failure because he had no sensitivity to the Force. He intentionally let his son escape Exegol, so he would continue the Palpatine bloodline through natural means, creating a perfect vessel. As Sidious expected, his son married a woman and she gave birth to Rey.^[1]

With no intention to continue the Emperor's legacy, Rey's father tried to hide with his wife and daughter from Palpatine. Nonetheless, Sidious was later able to track them down. So, when Rey was at the age of 5, her parents decided to sell her to Unkar Plutt on the desert planet Jakku as they attempted to hide the girl from her grandfather. After abandoning Rey on Jakku, the Emperor's son and his wife were both killed by an assassin that Palpatine had sent to find them. Unaware of her parents' death, Rey would live on Jakku for many years hoping for them to return.^[1]

Growing up on Jakku, Rey became a scavenger to survive while she was still waiting for her family. She was confident that her parents would return to find her, but over the years she also started to fear that they never would. She always remembered a voice that called her "sweetheart" and promised to come back for her, although she never found out who the voice belonged to. She believed that the voice was of one her parents or both, so she clinged to it to reassure herself that they wouldn't have forgotten about her.^[2][3][1]

Her life changes when she encounters the Resistance droid BB-8 and the former stormtrooper Finn (FN-2187). Along her way to deliver BB-8 to the Resistance, she also meets and become friends with Han Solo and Chewbacca. Later, she learns about her Force sensitive powers and becomes a Jedi Knight fighting for the Resistance. She is trained in the Force by a reluctant Jedi Master Luke Skywalker and afterwards by his sister, Leia Organa.

During her journey, she develops a complicated relationship with the son of Han and Leia: Ben Solo, known as Kylo Ren, her main opponent and love interest. Together, they form a dyad in the Force, which is the equivalent of them being soulmates^[4], two that are one in the Force. The two of them start out as enemies but because of their Force bond, which links their minds and allows them to interact across time and space, their relationship gradually evolves into feelings of compassion and understanding of each other's actions and past history. They eventually fall in love and become determined to convince the other to change sides so they can be together.

When Rey finally discovers the truth about her origins, that she is actually the granddaughter of Sheev Palpatine and that she was abandoned on Jakku because her late parents were trying to hide her from the evil Emperor, she is terrified that she will succumb to the dark side and become like her grandfather. Confronting her fears, Rey battles and manages to defeat the Emperor with the help of Ben Solo. After her grandfather's demise, she decides to reject her lineage and adopt the Skywalker surname to honor the ones she truly considers as family: her masters (Luke and Leia) and Han Solo that she considers as her parental figures, as well as Ben Solo that is half of her soul and the love of her life.

Romance with Ben Solo

Before The Force Awakens

Ben Solo and Rey are a dyad in the Force (also called Force dyad), two physically separated individuals that are one in the Force. This kind of bond is rare and one not seen in generations, it was prophesied in ancient times and realized through Ben and Rey. The dyad has the power of life itself, and the two halves are connected across space and time. Therefore, Ben and Rey were connected to each other even before they first met. The Force unites them through this bond to bring them together as fate acting on soulmates that have an intertwined destiny.^[4][5][6][7]

Since a very young age, Rey has strange feelings and daydreams, and Ben Solo/Kylo Ren is present in them.^[2] In The Rise of Kylo Ren comic, Rey feels cold at the moment Ben is consumed by rage just before killing the leader of the Knights of Ren, "Ren". By killing "Ren", Ben is recognized as the new master of the knights. Thus, Rey is able to sense Ben falling further into darkness, committing the act that would grant him the title of Kylo Ren.^[8]

Because of these visions and feelings, Rey recognizes Kylo Ren the first time she sees him on Takodana as the figure she always has seen in her daydreams and nightmares.^[2] Ben apparently had the same feelings and visions about her. In The Force Awakens novelization, when Rey uses the Force to pull Anakin's lightsaber from the snow, Kylo recognizes her stating "It is you.".^[2]

The Force Awakens

"Forget the droid. We have what we need."

- Kylo deciding to kidnap Rey on Takodana

When Rey, Han Solo and Finn are on Takodana, Rey is called by Anakin's lightsaber. She touches the saber and has a Force vision of scenes from the past and future, where she sees Kylo Ren. Afterwards, the First Order arrives, and a battle starts on Takodana. While she is in the woods, Rey sees a shuttle landing nearby and Kylo Ren emerges from it walking into the battlefield. She recognizes him as the man of her daydreams and nightmares.^[2]

They meet for the first time when Kylo finds her in the woods while he is searching for the droid that has the map to Luke Skywalker. As she is found by Kylo in the woods, Rey is terrified of him. She attacks him, attempting to shoot him with a blaster as soon as he appears. But Kylo uses the Force to freeze Rey and comes closer, looking her up and down. He senses that there is something different about her, he asks her who she is, and then touches her face as he searches into her mind.^[2] Kylo realizes that she has seen the map to Luke and instead of continuing to look for the droid that has it, he decides to kidnap her. He uses the Force to put her to sleep and takes her in his arms, carrying her bridal style to his ship.

When she wakes up, Kylo is kneeling down and watching her in the interrogation room. Rey asks him where they are and is surprised by the unexpected gentleness in his voice when he replies.^[2] He greets her saying that she is "his guest" and she expresses her discomfort of being chased by a “creature in a mask”. In response to this, Kylo Ren takes off his helmet, allowing her to see his face and she stares at him surprised to see a normal looking young guy. Rey describes his face as not remarkable but sensitive. She has the impression that Kylo would have even passed as someone she might have met on the streets of the Niima Outpost on Jakku, but with something simmering behind his gaze.^[2]

Kylo asks her if it is true that she is just a scavenger, but as he senses her embarrassment, he changes the subject and asks about the map.^[2] Kylo Ren's behavior during Rey's interrogation is very different from the one he had with the best pilot of the Resistance, Poe Dameron, that was captured before Rey to be interrogated for the map. During Poe's interrogation, Kylo painfully tortures him to extract the information, showing no mercy. On the other hand, when Rey refuses to tell him anything, he decides to probe her mind, but states that he would prefer to avoid doing it because it would give no pleasure to him. He says that he'll go as easily as possible, but he will get the map from her.^[2]  And he tells her not to be afraid because he feels it too.

"You are so lonely, so afraid to leave..."

- Kylo uncovering Rey's feelings during the interrogation

As he touches Rey's face, he hesitates when he feels something unexpected.^[2] Kylo Ren dives into her mind, noticing for the first time how lonely she feels. He also senses how she sees Han Solo (his father) as a parental figure, and he tells Rey that Han would have disappointed her as a father. Kylo then finds something that piques his interest in her mind. He decides to investigate it instead of searching for the map, but he suddenly stops as he encounters a barrier.^[2] Simultaneously, Rey is surprised as she feels herself being draw to him, and finds herself inside his mind. Rey manages to turn his mind probe against him, sensing his fear of not being as strong as his grandfather, Darth Vader.

Shocked by her resistance, Kylo seeks his master, Supreme Leader Snoke, for help. In the novelization, Snoke tells Kylo that the reason of his failure is not Rey's strength but that the compassion he feels for the girl is making him weak.^[2] Afterwards, Rey escapes, and while Kylo is pursuing her, he meets Han Solo. Although he is conflicted and struggling with his own feelings upon seeing his father, Kylo ends up following his master's instructions and murders Han in an attempt to commit himself to the dark side by killing the light inside him.

After he kills Han, Rey becomes totally disgusted by him. He finds her and Finn in the forest of Starkiller Base while they are trying to escape, and she calls him a "monster" showing her disgust. When Kylo temporally knocks Rey out, Finn activates Anakin's lightsaber to fight him. Kylo becomes furious, he demands his grandfather's lightsaber as he believes it rightfully belongs to him. Kylo defeats Finn and uses the Force to try to pull the lightsaber that fell on the snow, but Rey wakes up and pulls the saber, causing it to fly pass him to her. This time, instead of being angry, he just looks at her completely in awe and murmurs "It is you.". Rey is surprised by his words since he seems to know more about her than she does about herself.^[2]

"You need a teacher! I could show you the ways of the Force!"

- Kylo Ren after cornering Rey on the edge of a rift during their battle

He battles her and initially dominates the fight. At a certain point, he corners her on the edge of a rift but instead of pushing her down, he tells her that she needs training and offers to teach her the ways of the Force, showing that he has no true intent to kill her. This is even more evident in the novelization because when he corners her, he states that he could kill her, but that there is another way, and then he offers to train her.^[2] However, this moment of hesitation to finish his opponent gives Rey time to figure out her newfound Force powers, and she encounters her inner strength to fight him back. She attacks and is able to overpower him. Kylo falls on the ground, badly injured and with a large scar on his face. An unidentifiable voice inside Rey's head (possibly Snoke or Palpatine) tells her to kill him and, as she is dominated by the dark side because of her desire for revenge, she is tempted to do it.^[2] But then, as Starkiller Base collapses, a rift opens right between them, separating Rey from Kylo.

The Last Jedi

Rey travels to Ahch-To seeking Luke Skywalker and tries to convince him to fight for the Resistance. However, because of his past failure as a master with his own nephew, Ben Solo, Luke does not wish to leave the island and he determined to die in his exile. When Rey tells him about her newfound Force abilities, he refuses to teach her, saying that he wants the Jedi to end with his death. Despite this, Luke senses something different about Rey and, after some persistence, he agrees to teach her three lessons about the Force. But during the first lesson, Luke becomes terrified of her raw strength in the Force and also because Rey does not hesitate to go to the dark upon being called by the dark side of the island, reminding him of his nephew.

Luke tells Rey his own version of the night Ben turned to the dark side. Ben was his student in his Jedi Temple and, according to Luke, at the night he went to confront his nephew about the darkness within him, Ben turned against him and attacked him. Believing himself as a failure after Ben's fall, Luke exiled himself on Ahch-To to die. Meanwhile, as he teaches Rey about the Force and tells her about his past mistakes, Luke is unaware that Rey has a connection with his nephew and that she has been communicating with him.

"Can you see my surroundings? I can't see yours. Just you..."

- Kylo during the first Force bond connection

It is revealed that Rey and Kylo have a Force bond, later revealed to be the result of them being a dyad in the Force. This bond connects their minds visually and emotionally across space and time, allowing them to communicate and see each other despite being in different locations. As time passes, their bond grows stronger, also allowing them to touch and transfer objects through the Force. Rey and Kylo's bond is the only one known that allows physical contact between the bonded pair across great distances, an ability related to them being a dyad.

During the first connections, Rey is surprised and still furious at Kylo for murdering Han Solo. On the other hand, instead of being angry with her for defeating him on Starkiller Base, Kylo seems to be curious and fascinated by their newfound connection. His calmness irritates Rey, that calls him "murderous snake" and a "monster" again. However, as they continue to interact during the Force connections, a closer relationship evolves between them. They find a common sentiment of abandonment because of their past histories with their families, and they start to feel empathy towards each other. Rey tries to understand the man that hides behind the mask of Kylo Ren and the reasons that led to his acts.

Their interactions have hints of growing romantic feelings between them. In the novelization, their feelings and relationship are even more explicit, definitely showing their want to be together.^[3] There are also hints that they are attracted to the other: Rey becomes nervous when she sees him shirtless during a Force bond connection; they are seen staring each other's lips more than once; and they both keep eye contact, gazing intently the other for too long in several scenes.

At a certain point, Rey starts to call him Ben and she's the only one who Kylo allows it. This is very significant because he hates his birthname for reminding him of the burden of the family legacy imposed on him and the unrealistic expectations people had about him.^[9][8] Additionally, Kylo Ren is known for being temperamental, impatient and emotionally unbalanced. However, whenever he is around Rey, he maintains his composure, being calm and soft-spoken because her presence has a calming effect on him.

One night, Rey argues with Kylo during a connection. She cries and asks him why he killed Han, a father that cleary loved him. Kylo tells Rey he didn't hate Han and that she is unable to let go of her past even after being abandoned by her parents. During this conversation, Kylo also tells Rey his version about the night he turned to the dark side. According to him, Luke had tried to kill him during his sleep, so he attacked his uncle to defend himself. Rey initially does not believe in Kylo's version and accuses him of lying. However, incited by this conversation, she decides to look for answers about her parents, so she goes to explore the dark side of the island that previously called to her. She falls into a blowhole, entering a mirror cave. Inside the cave, she sees many versions of herself reflected in the mirrors. She asks the mirror cave to see her parents, but the cave only shows her two shadow figures that merge into one before turning into her own reflection.

After leaving the mirror cave with no answers, Rey is devastated and lonely. She feels the need to talk to someone about the cave, someone that would understand about solitude and loss, and she thinks that the person that would understand her feelings is Kylo.^[3] So, when the Force connects them shortly after, she is relieved to see him. She sits beside him inside the hut, and is intrigued on how despite being separated, he seems to be near her, and she considers touching his hand, face and hair.^[3] She tells him everything that happened in the cave and he listens intently. Kylo sympathizes with Rey because he also feels abandoned by his family. He becomes emotional, tearing up as she tells him how lonely she is feeling. He tries to comfort her saying that she is not alone, and Rey replies that he is not either.

"You're not alone."

"And neither are you."

- Rey and Kylo comforting each other through their Force bond

During this moment of shared loneliness and vulnerability, she offers her hand to him and they touch hands, reaching for each other through their Force bond. When their fingers touch, they are surprised by visions of each other, and Rey is able to feel his internal conflict herself. This convinces Rey that she can help him to turn back to the light side. Suddenly, Luke walks inside the hut and sees them together, clasping hands and staring into each other's eyes.^[3] Luke becomes furious and destroys the hut, interrupting the connection. Luke orders Rey to leave the island, but Rey is also furious and confronts him about his attempt to murder Ben Solo. Luke admits that he was tempted to kill Ben after sensing the darkness within him, but he regretted immediately after igniting his lightsaber. Unfortunately, the damage was already done because Ben had woken up and saw his uncle with the saber activated over his head.

Luke tells Rey that he is convinced that Ben is gone for good. However, after feeling Kylo's conflict, Rey is convinced of the opposite. She defends Ben, saying that he had still not made his choice during the night Luke went to confront him, and that Luke's mistake was thinking that he already had. She becomes confident that Ben Solo will be redeemed if she goes to him. But Luke is still not hopeful and tries to warn Rey not to act impulsively. Rey then offers him his father’s saber again for him to fight alongside the Resistance. As Luke still refuses to take the saber, Rey declares that Ben Solo is their last hope to win the war and leaves the island to meet Kylo Ren on the Supremacy, determined to bring him back with her.

"You don't have to do this. I feel the conflict in you. It's tearing you apart. Ben, when we touched hands, I saw your future. Just the shape of it, but solid and clear. You will not bow before Snoke. You'll turn... I'll help you, I saw it."

"I saw something too. Because of what I saw, I know when the moment comes, you'll be the one to turn. You'll stand with me... Rey, I saw who your parents are."

- Kylo and Rey talk about the visions they saw in the elevator of the Supremacy

Kylo smiles at the sight of Rey arriving the Supremacy inside an escape pod. He then teases her about his grandfather’s lightsaber by trying to confiscate the weapon saying that it belongs to him. When Rey tries to provoke him back saying that the saber called to her, not to him, she sees his mouth twitch in the beginning of a smile.^[3] In the elevator, Rey tells him that she had seen his future when they touched hands and that she is going to help him change to the light. But Kylo tells her that he saw her past and her parents, and he is convinced that the opposite will happen, and they'll be together in the dark side. During this conversation, Rey senses many emotions in him through the Force: anger, confusion, pain, loneliness, longing and sorrow. Just before they leave the elevator to meet his master in the throne room, Rey realizes that his churning feelings are also about her, and not just about himself.^[3]

Kylo then brings her before his master, Supreme Leader Snoke, who tortures her to get information about Luke Skywalker. During all this process, Kylo watches everything kneeling with his head down, but he directs furious stares at his master when he falsely claims to be the creator of the connections to lead Rey into a trap and also after Snoke is done torturing her. When Rey is being tortured and starts to scream in pain, Kylo looks down, averting his eyes from the scene with a pained look on his face.

Then, Snoke orders Kylo to kill her for being a Jedi. The Supreme Leader senses that his apprentice's conflict has finally reached a resolve and that Kylo is determined to kill his true enemy, so Snoke is very confident that this enemy is Rey. However, Snoke fails to notice his apprentice disbelief and the disgust he has come to feel for him since Han Solo's death. In addition to this, Snoke also doesn't realize that Kylo had developed genuine affection for Rey during their connections. Managing not to show his true feelings, Kylo succeeds in hiding who he actually sees as his true enemy. Kylo defies his master's order, tricking him, pretending that he is going to kill Rey while simultaneously turning his grandfather's lightsaber towards his master. Thus, Snoke is surprised when Kylo activates the blue lightsaber that is beside him instead of igniting the one that he is holding and pointing towards Rey.

Kylo then returns Anakin's saber to Rey and she looks at him surprised that he saved her life. Kylo and Rey unite forces to defeat Snoke's Praetorian Guards and while they are fighting back-to-back, Rey not only leans on his back but is also seen grabbing his thigh to support her attacks against the guards. While they are fighting together, Rey senses Kylo's excitement and hunger.^[3] During this confrontation, Kylo is surrounded by his opponents but he stops and looks around to check if Rey is not in trouble when he sees her struggling against one of the guards. Rey manages to defeat all the opponents surrounding her, she turns around and sees a disarmed Kylo being held by a guard. Rey throws Anakin's lightsaber to him and he finishes the last Praetorian Guard.

After the fight is over, Rey is convinced that he changed sides and immediately asks for his help to save the Resistance fleet. However, despite of his feelings for Rey, Kylo shows no interest in helping the Resistance. Instead, he tells her to let all the old things (including Skywalker, Snoke, the Sith, the Jedi and the rebels) to die to create something new. Then, Kylo holds out his hand and asks her to join him to create a new order and rule the galaxy together.

"I want you to join me. We can rule together and bring a new order to the galaxy."

"Don't do this, Ben... Please don't go this way."

"You come from nothing. You're nothing, but not to me. Join me. Please... "

- Kylo asks Rey to join him

While attempting to convince her to join him, Kylo reveals to her what he saw in her mind when they touched hands: Rey's parents were nobodies that sold her for drinking money, they are dead and buried on Jakku. He then confesses to her that even if she comes from nothing and has no place in history or the galaxy, she does mean something to him. But Rey is heartbroken after Kylo revealed his intention to create a legacy far different from both Luke's and Snoke's, letting all the past die. Rey believes that Kylo betrayed the good person she sees in him, and upon realizing that her intentions to turn him had failed, she feels disappointed. She hesitates for a moment but ends up rejecting his hand even after he begs her to take it. She then tries to use the Force to pull Anakin's lightsaber from him, but Kylo reacts trying to pull it back. The lightsaber breaks in half and they both fall unconscious from the impact.

Rey wakes up first and retrieves both pieces of the broken lightsaber. She then escapes the Supremacy, leaving an unconscious but unharmed Kylo Ren behind as she believes that his fate should be up to the Force and not to her.^[3] Upon waking up alone in the throne room and realizing that Rey is gone, Kylo seems very shaken. He is also confused about why Rey didn't kill him while he was unconscious, and asks himself if she really does care about him.^[3] But overall he is very frustrated after being rejected by her. Later, during the Battle of Crait, he even tells Luke that he intends to destroy her along with the rest of the Resistance. However, when they face each other again during a Force bond connection, Rey shuts the Falcon's door in his face to show her distress, and he only bows down his head, looking even more depressed. Inside the Falcon, when Rey sees Finn with Rose, she seems upset not because of jealousy, she's saddened that Ben isn't with them, which is hinted by her looking at the broken lightsaber, holding it tightly in her hands.

The Rise of Skywalker

"I offered you my hand once. You wanted to take it... Why didn't you?"

"You could've killed me... Why didn't you?"

- Kylo and Rey during the first connection after a year without communicating with each other

One year later, Kylo finds out that Emperor Palpatine is alive on Exegol. Sidious tells him the truth of Rey's origins after offering him a Sith fleet and power if Kylo kills her to end the Jedi once and for all. Kylo pursues Rey, pretending to have accepted Palpatine's offer but he actually has other plans in mind. As soon as he is connected with Rey again through their Force bond, Kylo immediately warns Rey that Palpatine is after her life. He then attempts again to convince her to join him. He asks why she rejected his hand on the Supremacy as he sensed that she wanted to take it. He also tells her that he has other plans when she accuses him of serving Palpatine as his new master. He states that he doesn't want to kill her, instead he tries to find Rey because he wishes to have her with him after turning her to the dark side.

Ruling the galaxy side by side with Rey has become Kylo's greatest ambition. He recognized the power of their union after they joined forces to defeat Snoke, so he now believes that they would be invincible together.^[1] He continues to seek and follow her, repeatedly trying to persuade her to join him in the dark side to defeat Palpatine to acquire his power and throne together.

On the other hand, Rey is still at odds with him, and is irritated by Kylo Ren chasing her around. During their first connection after a year without communicating with each other, she feels the impulse to tell him to kiss a rathtar while he is trying to convince her about the darkness that exists within her, but she also is confused by feelings she doesn't understand upon hearing her name on his lips.^[1] Additionally, Rey has been disturbed by visions of a dark version of herself, and of her and Kylo Ren sitting on the Throne of the Sith together. To make matters worse, the dark side also has been tempting her during moments of anger.

Although he has no wish to kill Rey as he was instructed by the Emperor, at times, Kylo is tempted by the dark side to do so. He realized that Rey has become the light in his life and because she is the one attracting him to the light side, the darkness within him urges him to get rid of her and end his painful internal conflict.^[1] However, when meeting Rey on Pasaana, he is surprised upon feeling relief that she is unharmed after he drove his new ship towards her at high speed while he was being dominated by the dark side. In the end, the murderous impulses contradict his deepest desire to have Rey for himself.^[1] As she takes his ship down by cutting it with the lightsaber, Rey is also confused about her own feelings when she sees his ship crash landing on the desert, not knowing if she wanted him dead or alive.^[1]

"My mother was the daughter of Vader. Your father was the son of the Emperor. What Palpatine doesn't know is we're a dyad in the Force, Rey. Two that are one."

- Kylo reveals to Rey the truth about her lineage and the nature of their Force bond

Upon encountering Rey again on the First Order's Star Destroyer, he reveals to her about her Palpatine lineage and that they are a Force dyad, two that are one in the Force, making their connection unique and one not seen in generations. He is enjoying so much to meet her in person that he doesn't even care about all the destruction and fallen stormtroopers surrounding him since he thinks the First Order's losses are nothing if he is able to see her again. As he watches her reacting to his revelations, he describes her face as lovely.^[1] He offers his hand again, and Rey hesitates as she also has come to believe that they are capable of incredible things together after she recognized that their combined forces killed Snoke. But then the Falcon arrives to rescue Rey, and Kylo becomes frustrated watching her leave. Her rejection stings Kylo,^[7] he claims to hate the Falcon, thinking that she would have accepted his hand if the ship had not appeared. At this moment, Rey hated Kylo for reveling her Palpatine lineage, but she was also glad that he told her about their dyad.^[1]

After cornering Rey on the Death Star ruins, Kylo tries to prevent her from going to face Palpatine without him when he breaks the Sith wayfinder leading to Exegol that Rey found. They duel, and as they are fighting on the top of the wreckage, they talk into each other's minds. Kylo states that he knows her, but Rey says that nobody does, and Kylo replies "But I do.".^[1] Kylo spends most of the battle just blocking or dodging her attacks, hinting that he has no will to fight and hurt her. Nevertheless, Kylo still dominates the fight until the moment Leia Organa uses the rest of her strength to reach him through the Force, an act that ends up killing her. Sensing his mother's death, Kylo is paralyzed and drops his lightsaber, becoming defenseless. Rey uses this opportunity to grab his saber and stabs him with his own weapon. Also sensing Leia's death, Rey is able to let go of the rage she was losing herself into and realizes what she has just done to Kylo in her moment of fury. Upon seeing him broken and vulnerable, Rey realizes that she has no wish to see him die and immediately regrets gravely injuring someone dear to her.

"I did want to take your hand... Ben's hand."

- Rey confesses her feelings to Kylo

She puts a hand on his wound to force heal him. His injuries are mortal, so Rey has to give too much of her life energy to him, but she is willing to die to save him in this moment.^[1] This act heals not only the wound she just inflicted but also the scar on his face that she gave him during their first battle. Kylo then looks at her with longing and confusion, not knowing why she saved his life.^[1] Rey confesses that she did want to hold his hand, but she wanted Ben's hand, not Kylo's. This confirms to him about her romantic feelings but that she would never join Kylo Ren in the dark side. Kylo is surprised by her confession, after she takes off aboard his ship, leaving him alone on the wreckage, he reflects about what he should do next. He is confronted by a vision of his father that encourages him to come back to the light side. He thinks about the ones that always believed in him despite everything: Han Solo, Leia and Rey. Ultimately, Rey's love along with the pain and guilt that Kylo feels about his parents' death are the key to turn him back to the light side. After accepting Han's forgiveness, he decides to throw away his red lightsaber, cutting ties with the dark side and the First Order, and becomes Ben Solo again.

In the meantime, Rey travels to Ahch-To. Losing control of herself and almost killing Kylo on the Death Star ruins is what makes Rey decide to exile herself from the galaxy as Luke once did. She burns the ship that she took from Kylo, thinking that she does not want to fight him ever again.^[1] She fears to succumb to the dark side and become like her grandfather. So, she decides to isolate herself from the galaxy and give up of her Jedi path to protect her loved ones, not wishing to harm neither Kylo nor her friends because of her own actions. However, as Rey attempts to throw Anakin's lightsaber at the fire, Luke's Force spirit appears before her and gets the saber. Rey sits by the firepit, still exhausted from dueling and giving so much of her energy to heal Kylo. She tells Luke how she almost killed Kylo because she was blind with rage during their duel and that she decided to exile herself. Luke tells her that she saved Kylo's life despite of what she did, which shows that she has a good heart.^[1] Luke encourages her to confront her fears and fight her grandfather, and Rey decides to travel to Exegol to defeat Palpatine.

On the wreckage of the Death Star, after coming back to the light side, Ben is consumed by his desire to save Rey from the Emperor.^[1] When Rey goes to confront her grandfather alone, Ben follows the tracking signal she is transmitting to guide the Resistance to Exegol. Upon arriving, he senses that she is in trouble and immediately runs to find her. Just armed with a blaster and the Force, Ben is determined to not let anything stop him from reaching her.^[1] Ben runs shooting at the enemies along the way with a blaster until he is surrounded by the Knights of Ren. Meanwhile, the Emperor is trying to persuade Rey to kill him to save her friends that are being attacked by his Sith fleet. Palpatine's plan is to convince Rey to murder him with hatred, which would allow his spirit to possess her body in the Sith ritual, so she would become his new vessel and assume his place as Empress Palpatine. Desperate to save the Resistance members, Rey accepts to grant her grandfather's wishes, but then she senses through the bond that Ben Solo has arrived.

When the Force bond connects them, she sees that Ben has come to help her, and she is able to sense how he changed. Rey also senses that their connection is finally right, good, and it feels like coming home.^[1] Realizing this, Rey becomes emotional and close to tears. She then tricks Palpatine pretending that she will strike him down, but Anakin's lightsaber disappears from her hands. Rey had passed the lightsaber to Ben through their bond and he proudly wields his grandfather's saber to confront the Knights of Ren. Inspired to fight alongside Ben, Rey attacks the Emperor's Sovereign Protectors that had surrounded her. Even as they fight their enemies in separate locations, Ben and Rey draw strength from each other, and Rey warns him when one of the knights attempts to attack him from behind.^[1] After defeating the Knights of Ren, Ben reunites with Rey in the Emperor's throne room.

Upon reuniting, Rey and Ben gaze each other before turning around to confront Palpatine together. But when Sidious sees them together, he finds out that they are a dyad, and the power of their connection is the perfect source of energy to rejuvenate his imperfect cloned body. He starts to drain the energy of their bond, which he states to be as powerful as life itself. As the Emperor rises stronger, Rey and Ben both fall on the ground weakened. To mock and avenge his previous defeat at the hands of Anakin Skywalker, the Emperor holds Ben using the Force and throws him into a pit. Thus, as she regains consciousness, Rey is forced to face Sidious alone. Rey manages to finish Palpatine with the help of the Jedi from the past, but this act also kills her.

Meanwhile, Ben is badly injured and trying to climb the pit, but he becomes desperate because he is not sensing Rey through their bond anymore.^[1] After climbing out of the pit, he crawls and limps his way towards Rey. The vision of her lifeless body causes a pain in his chest much worse than any of the physical wounds he got from the fall. He is devasted as he holds her in his arms, hugging her to himself. Ben regards Rey as the strongest person he ever known, he admires her for saving everyone and helping him to come back to the light. He is unable to accept her death after they finally truly found each other, so he thinks that he wasted his life because of his mistakes.^[1] As he is mourning and holding tightly in his arms the dead body of the woman he loves, Ben senses a tiny spark inside her, and he realizes that the Force still had not taken her. Upon noticing this, Ben knows what he has to do, and it is the easiest decision he ever made. With no hesitation, he decides to sacrifice himself to resurrect her, thinking that Rey would've done the same for him if she was in his place.^[1]  

In an act of genuine selfless love, he puts a hand on her abdomen and starts to pour all the rest of his own life energy into Rey to revive her. As she wakes up in his arms, she covers his hand on her belly with her own, as a sign that she finally accepted to hold his hand. But Ben was expecting Rey's rejection again. He thinks that he would understand if she decided to leave him behind, to forget about him and to move on with her life.^[1] To his surprise, her eyes light up upon seeing him, she smiles and whispers his name, showing that she is actually glad to be with him. They smile and gaze into the other's eyes, completely in love with each other. Ben's heart is overwhelmed by emotion as her hand reaches to touch his face, her fingers linger on his cheek, and he is filled with wonder when she leans forward and kisses him passionately. With the kiss, they acknowledge their connection as a dyad and celebrate that they are finally together.^[1]

"I will always be with you."

"No one's ever really gone."

- Rey is comforted upon hearing Ben's voice through the Force

However, as they kiss, Rey gets worried when she feels him becoming cold. After having used all his life energy to heal Rey, Ben Solo smiles to her one last time before falling back and disappearing in her arms, his final awareness is of Rey still holding his hand.^[1] Ben has no regrets after giving his whole self to Rey and bringing her back to the galaxy, but upon seeing him vanish, Rey stares his empty tunic and becomes desperate. Although she does not want to mourn Kylo Ren, she mourns Ben Solo, wishing she had the opportunity to know him, and feeling that half of her soul was ripped from her. She is devasted that after all the years of loneliness on Jakku, she was part of a bond, a dyad, the whole time and she didn't know before. The connection had become precious and gave her a incredible sense of oneness, but as it was taken from her, Rey cries missing her other half.^[1] But then she hears Ben calling her through the Force. Ben tries to comfort her, assuring that he'll always be with her. Upon hearing his voice, Rey smiles as she realizes that they will always be together because in some way he is not truly gone.^[1]

Gallery

Videos

Trailers, tv spots, instagram posts

The Force Awakens International Trailer
The Last Jedi Trailer
The Last Jedi International Trailer 3
The Last Jedi "Tempt" Tv Spot
The Last Jedi TV Spot Trailer 17
The Last Jedi International TV Spot 2
The Rise of Skywalker Final Trailer
The Rise of Skywalker "Secret" TV Spot
The Rise of Skywalker Rey and Kylo, "You know what you need to do" instagram post
The Rise of Skywalker Rey and Kylo, "The dark side" instagram post
The Rise of Skywalker Rey and Kylo/Ben against Palpatine, "The Last Skywalker" instagram post
The Rise of Skywalker Rey and Kylo/Ben against Palpatine, "Story of Skywalker" instagram post
The Rise of Skywalker Rey and Kylo/Ben against Palpatine, "Final battle" instagram post
The Rise of Skywalker Rey and Kylo, "The path to the dark side" instagram post
The Rise of Skywalker Rey and Kylo/Ben, "1 week for the bluray release" instagram post
The Rise of Skywalker Rey and Kylo final duel instagram post
The Rise of Skywalker Rey and Kylo, "Rise in the Force" instagram post
The Rise of Skywalker Rey and Ben, "Force connected" instagram post

Movie Clips

The Force Awakens

Rey sees Kylo in a Force vision
Rey meets Kylo Ren 1
Rey meets Kylo Ren 2
Kylo interrogates Rey
Rey escapes the interrogation room
Rey and Kylo fight on Starkiller Base

The Last Jedi

First Force bond scene
Rey is called by the dark side during meditation
Second Force bond scene
Luke tells Rey his version about Kylo's turn to the dark
Kylo tells Rey his version about his turn to the dark side
Rey visits the mirror cave
Rey and Kylo touch hands
Rey confronts Luke about the truth of the night Kylo turned to the dark side
Rey reunites with Kylo on the Supremacy
Rey and Kylo talk in the elevator of the Supremacy
Rey and Kylo meet Snoke in the throne room
Kylo kills Snoke to save Rey, and they fight together against the Praetorian Guards
Kylo asks Rey to join him
Rey closes the Falcon's door in Kylo's face

The Rise of Skywalker

Palpatine offers Kylo a fleet if he kills Rey, Kylo asks Palpatine who Rey actually is
Kylo and Rey share a Force vision
Kylo warns Rey about Palpatine
Kylo is surprised when Rey uses Force lightning
Rey and Kylo fight during a Force bond
Rey and Kylo fight during a Force bond 2
Kylo tells Rey the truth about her lineage and their bond
Kylo tells Rey the truth about her lineage and their bond 2
Rey and Kylo final fight on the Death Star ruins
Rey and Kylo final fight on the Death Star ruins 2
Rey and Kylo final fight on the Death Star ruins 3
Kylo and Rey sense Leia's death
Rey heals Kylo and confesses her feelings for him
Ben Solo runs to rescue Rey from Palpatine
Ben Solo reunites with Rey to confront Palpatine
Palpatine realizes that Ben and Rey are a dyad
Ben revives Rey
Rey and Ben kiss, and Ben vanishes

Music

Rey and Kylo Ren Theme (The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi)
The Force Awakens - The Abduction (CD Version)
The Force Awakens - The Abduction (Film Version)
The Force Awakens - Rey Gets The Lightsaber/The Way of The Force
The Last Jedi - The First Connection
The Last Jedi - Lesson One/The Second Connection
The Last Jedi - The Third Connection
The Last Jedi - Touching Hands
The Last Jedi - A New Alliance
The Rise of Skywalker - Hard to Get Rid Of
The Rise of Skywalker - Join Me
The Rise of Skywalker - Final Saber Duel
The Rise of Skywalker - Healing Wounds
The Rise of Skywalker - Parents
The Rise of Skywalker - Coming Together
The Rise of Skywalker - Farewell

Interviews, documentaries, commentaries

J.J. Abrams The Force Awakens Commentary for the Takodana forest scene
The Cast talks about Rey and Kylo's connection
Lucasfilm Story Group talks about Rey and Kylo's connection
Mark Hamill talks about the romantic tension between Kylo and Rey
Mark Hamill also calls the Rey and Kylo fingertip touch "the big sex scene"
Rian Johnson refers to the finger touching scene as "the closest thing to a sex scene in a Star Wars movie"
Daisy Ridley says that Kylo Ren's karaoke song is "Un-Break My Heart"
Adam Driver and Stephen make Kylo and Rey's dolls kiss
Daisy Ridley calls Kylo "a flirt" in a Star Wars Raps a Recap
The Cast talks about Reylo and other ships at the Episode IX Panel in Star Wars Celebration
The Skywalker Legacy documentary - Rey and Kylo Ren's Force connection/dyad since The Force Awakens
The Skywalker Legacy documentary - Kylo Ren and Rey's Force connection "Soulmates in the Force"
The Skywalker Legacy documentary - Rey heals Kylo and Kylo Ren's redemption
The Skywalker Legacy documentary - Adam Driver on Ben Solo and his relationship with Rey

Trivia

• The script of The Force Awakens already hints about Rey and Kylo's Force connection during the interrogation: as he nearly touches Rey's face, a feeling passes through them, an energy that they recognize in each other.
• J.J. states that Star Wars is a fairy tale that happens to take place in space, and in The Force Awakens audio commentary, he refers to Rey as a princess. Later, during the commentary of the interrogation scene, he says that Kylo Ren "looks like a sort of prince", possibly hinting on his intention to make their relationship romantic.^[10]
• In December of 2016, Rian Johnson, director of The Last Jedi, hinted Rey and Kylo's connection on his twitter by posting many pictures of red threads representing the red thread of fate from Chinese mythology.^[5][11] According to the legend, the matchmaker god ties a red string around the ankles, thumbs or fingers connecting a pair that is destined to meet each other. The two people connected by the red thread are destined lovers, regardless of place, time, or circumstances. This magical cord may stretch or tangle, but never break.
• The Last Jedi novelization reveals that Kylo accidentally helped Rey to unlock her Force powers when he tried to interrogate her using the mind probe in The Force Awakens. As she is connected to his mind, she is able to assimilate some of his knowledge and abilities because of their bond. That is how she learns the mind trick that allows her to escape the interrogation room.^[3]
• During an interview, Rian Johnson tells that the Force connections between Rey and Kylo were used as a way to develop their relationship because he needed the two characters to talk, but if he put them together in the same place they would fight and one of them would need to be tied up. When the interviewer suggests that they would also make out, Rian laughs and says that he'll create a spinoff movie about it.^[12]
• Rian Johnson explains that Rey seeing Kylo shirtless helps to show the increasing intimacy between them during the Force bond scenes.^[12][13][14]
• An interviewer asked Rian Johnson if the moment Rey and Kylo touch hands is the first time that Kylo Ren held hands with a girl. Rian replied that Adam Driver also asked him if Kylo has ever kissed a girl before, and that he answered that Ben might have kissed one in the Jedi camp, during a game of “spin the lightsaber”.^[12]
• In a deleted scene from The Last Jedi, when Rey is confronting Luke about his attempt to murder Ben, Luke angrily tells her "You opened yourself to the dark side for a pair of pretty eyes!".^[15]
• Rian Johnson explains that Kylo's proposal to Rey after killing Snoke is not a chess game, and not just manipulation. From Kylo Ren's point of view, it's a very naked, open, emotional appeal, and Rian describes it as Kylo's version of '"I'm just a girl standing in front of a guy'... " which is a reference to the love confession in the movie Nothing Hill.^[16]
• Answering a fan question after The Rise of Skywalker release, the director J.J. Abrams affirms that his intention was to make Rey and Kylo's relationship romantic from the beginning but in The Force Awakens film he left it ambiguous same as many other relationships as FinnRey and FinnPoe in case the director of the sequel chose a different direction as a Reylo sibling relationship, for example. Then, after the director of The Last Jedi, Rian Johnson, established more clearly the Reylo romantic interactions, J.J. followed his footsteps and ended with them as couple in The Rise of Skywalker.^[17]
• The scene that they communicate in each other's mind during their battle on the Death Star ruins was filmed and it is in the Final Trailer and in the novelization version of The Rise of Skywalker, but it was cut from the final version of the film.
• In the end of The Rise of Skywalker, Rey adopts the Skywalker surname as a way to cut ties with the Palpatine family and honor the ones that she considers as family, her masters Luke and Leia. This also is a way to pay homage to Ben Solo, the last Skywalker and the one that sacrificed himself for her.
• By reviving Rey, Ben Solo ends in a different way than he intended something that Darth Vader (Anakin Skywalker) started. Anakin originally desired to have the power to revive the dead to save his wife, Padmé Amidala, from dying in childbirth and this was also the main reason he fell to the dark side. Therefore, when Ben succeeds in saving the woman he loves from dying, he accomplishes something that his grandfather wanted but failed.
• Many fans refer to Reylo as a reverse Anidala (Anakin Skywalker and Padmé Amidala). Anakin loved Padmé and was corrupted by the dark side trying to find a way to save her life, but she ends up dying anyway and he starts to want nothing more than power. Kylo Ren is a dark side user that wanted only power until meeting Rey, and his love for her ultimately helps not only to bring him back to the light side but also to save her from death.
• Many fans believe that the dyad might explain why Ben Solo vanishes but does not appear as a Force spirit neither in The Rise of Skywalker film nor in the novelization version. Because Ben and Rey are one in the Force, they would need to be together to form a spirit. Thus, many speculate that he might be trapped in limbo (possibly in the World Between Worlds) until he is rescued and/or finds a way out of there, or until Rey joins him after her death, reuniting the two halves of the dyad again.

References

External Links

• Rey – Wookieepedia
• Rey - Disney Wiki
• Rey/Relationships - Disney Wiki
• Rey - Heroes Wiki
• Rey - Wikipedia
• Force dyad – Wookieepedia
• Force bond – Wookieepedia
• Reylo - Shipping Wiki
• Reylo - Fanlore Wiki