Rey Skywalker Rising

Disclaimer: For this discussion, the content and statements made here are purely and strictly from the movie only.  I do not care about any other types of IP media that may explain anything beyond what is contained in the movie.

Dear Beloved Fanboy,

It's been over a year since I was in one of your discussions about The Rise Of Skywalker. At the time, I wholeheartedly agreed with every word you uttered. Since then, however, I have come into a deeper understanding. I understand that we were very wrong in our beginning assessment. I am going to right a wrong that was committed by me last year. In addition, I'm going to explain why I believe that The Rise of Skywalker is a long-awaited narrative change that reflects the Millenials rather than a Gen-Xer. While it had its flaws, the movie is not bad when viewed through different eyes. I also posit that our reaction last year was a deeper reflection of something we did not want to see or admit to ourselves. That is we are getting older and those worlds do not belong to us anymore. It is time to leave them behind, Peter Pan. It is time to grow up.

Let's start at the beginning as Rey is left behind on Jakku by her parents. What the audience is able to piece together is that Rey's parents are addicts of some kind. They sold out their child for drugs.

If we say that Rey's parents are a reflection of a large percentage of Gen-Xers, then this element of narrative speaks, nay it screams, accuracy. Becuase it points to Palatine being a Boomer parent. I don't know about you but this also feels and appears to me, awkwardly accurate. It is not true across the board, nothing ever is. But for me, I can see this all too real reflection of human behavior. The Boomer oppression of personal power. The resistance and refusal to step down, let go, or allowance of the natural succession of death. The refusal and resistance to allow their children to take their rightful place as leaders of the domain. Instead, maliciously manipulating and tempting their grandchildren into puppet kings to carry on the spirit of their rule.

Luke Skywalker is the perfect example of a defeated Gen-Xer parent. Luke, so afraid of repeating the toxic behavior patterns of his dark side parent, he accidentally traumatized a teen-age boy towards the darkside. Wrecked with toxic shame and guilt, he closed himself off from the entire universe. He slipped into the half man refusing to pass on anything at all. Luke completely ignoring and abandoning not only the Dark side, but all that is good and Light as well; leaving a wasted life behind. I imagine this is exactly why Rey's parents were addicts. They lacked the strength to be strong against their own parents. Faced with devaluation and abandonment, they could not save themselves. It is possible that Rey's parents believed that they were doing Rey a favor by leaving her on Jakku with Unkar Plutt.

To combat this the Force allows two warriors to co-create themselves into Twin Flames. This power rises in Kylo and Rey. To understand this dynamic, we must first discuss and understand my personal great passion, Loki.

To become a Loki Variant, a person must undergo a series of trials that reflect the original Loki, The Fire- Thief. This Loki is the Prometheus of his kind. Every Loki will betray himself by removing his own heart. In its place, he will develop fires of rage. This is his villian development.

Kylo Ren must murder his own heart. Kylo's heart is his love for his father, Han Solo. When Kylo met with Han, he says: 

"I'm being torn apart. I want to be free of this pain. I know what I have to do but I don't know if I have the strength to do it."

Snoke has seen Kylo's heart. Snoke will never trust Kylo until he kills his father. Killing Han was supposed to be a power move to help convince Snoke that his loyalty was with the Darkside. It was supposed to prove to Snoke that Kylo wasn't like Anakin. Kylo Ren's heart was empty not just dead. Snoke needed that heart to be empty becuase Snoke knows that what is dead can never die. But if it's empty, there is nothing to resurrect. The transformation to the Darkside can be complete.

Except when we talk about Loki. Loki's empty chest is a prepared cold hearth for Divine Flames, the Twin kind. Loki pulls his heart from his own chest and sacrifices it. It is his Destiny to burn his own heart out with passion and rage. From these actions, he dies of his own villainy against himself. It lives an unliving life becuase Loki Variants cannot die. 

Now, let's talk about Sigyn. Sigyn's character is an obscure one. There's not a lot about her in the Edda's or anywhere else. I can reveal that over many years, I have gathered enough about her to identify some traits that all Sigyn Varients share. 

The biggest is unwavering unconditional love. This causes blinding trust. Her devotion is shining and divine.  She has a dragon's loyalty and the fidelity of angels. It's wildly pure and has the strength of mountains. Sigyn's blessings often become curses. Becuase of the strength of these traits, she often finds herself being imprisoned by her own virtues. She will wait for a loved one well beyond what is reasonable. She will allow herself to be devalued and abused for the sake of her loved one. She will enable toxic behaviors and allow the continued abuse of herself and those around her. Sigyn will shower others with attention and love while denying and refusing her own basic needs of living. 

When both of these Variants are activated, they resurrect each other and co-create and new balance. Loki burns himself and the woman by his side. They both hover on the brink of death. But in their case, Death is not absolute, it is transformation becuase of the use of Divine flames. Sigyn rises from her own ashes, reborn full and new. She gives the burned Loki the kiss of true love and restores his heart to him once more. Both are transformed and healed. The Force brought back into balance.

This Twin Flamed, Soul Bonded couple also has Variant traits. A darksided pair would rule like Palpatine never could. It would be large scale, magically enhanced Joker and Harley Quinn match. I believe this was Palpatine's Plan. To rule the bloodline of Skywalker, he had to rule its heart. When he saw the opportunity to be Rey and rule Kylo's heart through her, it was far and beyond too good an opportunity to pass up. 

Kylo and Rey, now Soul Bonded, were able to resist the power of the Darkside. They were able to withstand the evil of Palpatine and overturn the Power of the Sith. This was supposed to be the Destiny of Anakin and Padme. It tried again with Luke and Leia. It finally succeeded with Kylo and Rey.

But the Force is not finished. The Force must restore its own Legacy. The way of the Old Jedi is gone, and so it should be. The way of the old Sith is gone, and so it should be. This opens the path for a new generation to build a new path to success. It doesn't matter if Rey does it or not. The Force will make the call until another force-user answers. The Force doesn't rely on bloodline to propagate itself. It creates itself becuase there are no mortal rules to follow or boundaries to respect. It is the Force. It is.

At the end of the movie, when Rey looks out towards the Tatooine suns setting, she took the name Skywalker. That's becuase she belongs to it. Bloodline is not necessary. She could have taken any name. But she chose to continue the Legacy of the Skywalker clan. Rey made that choice as a symbolic gesture to carry on the positive lesson she learned from her mentors. To forgive the mistakes and bad choices of previous generations. To rise on a different kind of throne of power, the throne of her own Divinity.

Fanboy, I still hear your echoing boos and boo-hoos through the internet. I'm not listening to them anymore. I come from a new place of understanding that this narrative has moved on, in a different direction. It no longer speaks to you and you are afraid. Afraid of getting older, losing control, passing on your throne to a younger generation. The same fears that Palpatine expressed in his resistance and refusal to move on. This movie isn't perfect but it's not as bad as we once agreed it was. Wendy Darling went home and grew up. She got a look from the other side of the looking glass. Now I'm asking you if you have enough strength to recognize your toxic shame to step up with me, eat your words, and grow up? Do you have enough integrity in you? Come home. We can always start another game tomorrow. Let this one go. Change with us. Move on with us. I promise there is always more fun in the morning.

May the Force be with you. For all Time. Always.