u/IncidentCalm4454

I love these little thematic nods to our favorite couple:

• In TFA, Kylo bridal-carries Rey onto his ship
• In TLJ, he offers her his hand
• In TROS, he offers her his hand again . . .
• . . . to which Rey responds with the Freudian slip "I do"
• Of course, in this movie Kylo is wearing tuxedo black, and Rey is in wedding-dress white
• "We're a Dyad in the Force, Rey. Two that are one."
• Palpatine's comment, "The life force of your bond. A Dyad in the Force. A power like life itself."
• Rey and Ben standing side-by-side in front of Palpatine's throne visually looks as if they are a bride and groom standing at the altar . . .
• . . . and after he's defeated, Rey finally takes Ben's hand, and he kisses the bride.
• Finally, Rey takes Ben's ancestral family name on Tatooine

I keep seeing people suggest that if we want more content with the sequel trilogy characters, we should be buying sequel trilogy merch to show Disney that there's demand.

My problem is that I feel like the merch on offer often skews towards the interests of a certain fan demographic that's not us.

No matter how much I love these characters, I'm never going to buy a replica helmet, or a model ship, or a $200 figurine.

Where, I ask you, is the Reylo merch?

(Other than the unofficial stuff, and I'm not going to name names, because I don't want to get any of our lovely artists in trouble).

Why isn't Disney making Reylo pins, postcards, stickers, mugs, art prints, jigsaw puzzles? Would it not be a no-brainer to make Rey and Ben Squishmallows?

Why is Star Wars merch overwhelmingly black and gray, and never pretty pastel colors?

With the growing trend among companies to focus on marketing products to the wealthy, any suggestions for high-end items?

I'm hoping Disney reads this and considers our suggestions.

Honestly I've spent years thinking the ending of this movie was horribly gaslighty. I thought because Ben's body disappeared, the way Jedis' bodies do when they die, that meant he was definitely dead, and the rest of the movie just moving on cheerfully without him was cruel.

At worst, I thought the filmmakers were purposely twisting the knife (although exactly why they'd want to do that to us, I could never figure out). At best, I thought it was a rushed production that was under pressure from a lot of different sides, and this botch job was the best they could manage.

But recently I tried looking at the movie in a different way. I stopped trying to see the story I wanted. I tried putting aside my assumptions and personal feelings and just looking very closely at what was actually there. What if I just accepted it all at face value? What would I conclude that the filmmakers were trying to say?

When I did that, I was surprised by what I saw.

Let's be objective: what evidence do we have that Ben died?

• His body disappeared
• Rey was briefly seen to be crying

Now, what evidence do we have that Ben didn't die?

• Rey stops crying after a split second
• She looks completely fine on the flight back to base--not grieving, not in shock, nothing
• We don't see Ben's Force ghost on Tatooine, even when Luke's and Leia's appear
• Rey is smiling at the end of the movie as if it's a happy ending

I'd say if we're being objective, there's more evidence that Ben didn't die.

What exactly happened to him? I don't know. But Rey seems to know--she seems to have sensed it just moments after his body disappeared--and she seems perfectly happy.

I think what we actually have here might be a mysterious cliffhanger.

We all know that Kylo wasn't a saint for most of this trilogy. But sometimes people paint him as a one-dimensional monster, which I think is also unfair.

Ben has been there all along, and to prove it, I present to you Kylo Ren's Top 10 Most Gentlemanly Moments:

• When he bridal-carries Rey onto his ship in TFA
• When he interrogates her as gently as possible. He's looking for the map, but when he finds her loneliness and longing for a father figure, he addresses those with compassion and humor, showing that he acknowledges and respects her as a person.
• When he offers to teach her the ways of the Force in TFA . . .
• . . . but instead, in TLJ, perceptively offers her exactly the life advice that she needs: to let go of her obsession with finding her parents, and focus on her future
• When she arrives on the Supremacy unannounced, he realizes the danger she's put herself in. His improvisation here is genius: right from the beginning, he carefully acts like they are enemies. He takes her straight to Snoke, as a loyal underling would. He decides on the spot to set his whole career on fire and risks his life on a clever trick to take out Snoke, thereby skillfully eliminating the threat to Rey's safety.
• When he proposes to her in TLJ by offering her his hand from a respectful distance (Han, take notes)
• When he proposes to her again in TROS by offering her his hand from a respectful distance (seriously, Han, this is the way)
• When she attacks him in the ruins of the Emperor's throne room, and he defends himself without going on the offensive
• When he rushes to her aid on Exegol
• When he gives his life to save hers

I was just thinking about the scene in TROS where Rey passes Ben the lightsaber. What struck me is that Rey reaches behind her back with the lightsaber, and Ben reaches behind his back to retrieve it. The point of reference is the body. The point of connection exists in relation to the body. It's as if it's not the lightsaber that travels, but Rey who "possesses" Ben for that moment, becoming him.

This then got me thinking about the Duel on Kijimi. We had a discussion here earlier about what happened to the berries that fell into Kylo's quarters after the bond was broken. Why did they disappear? I think maybe it's because they were never there in the first place. Again, it wasn't the berries that traveled, but Rey who saw the berries through Kylo's eyes. But she also saw her own surroundings, because at that point, the two of them were not perfectly in sync in the Force, as they were after Kylo turned back to the light. This would also explain how they were just "close" enough to have a lightsaber duel, but not so close that it would be impossible (like attempting to duel yourself).

Their petty rivalry spans the trilogy, books, and comics, and I'm here for all of it.

Here are my top 10 moments (minor spoilers for Legacy of Vader ahead!):

• When Hux finds Kylo unconscious on the floor of the throne room in TLJ, and reaches for his blaster.
• In Legacy of Vader, when Hux tries to discuss military strategy with Supreme Leader Kylo Ren, only to be told, "Build me a throne . . . Put all your efforts toward this task. Do nothing else until I have a throne worthy of me."
• When the throne is finally finished, Kylo sits in it and, amidst shouts of "Long live the Supreme Leader!" from the assembled stormtroopers, says to Hux, "I know all of this makes you feel small."
• From the TLJ novelization: "Hux had eliminated a number of rivals during his rise to power--including his own father--and Kylo had no intention of joining their ranks. With Hux beside him, there was no chance of an accident befalling the command shuttle--and every opportunity to remind the general and the other officers who was in charge."
• And remind them he does: when, in TLJ, Hux replies to an order with, "Let's not get carried away," Kylo Force-pushes him into the wall, leading a more prudent underling to reply crisply, "Right away, sir."
• Also in Legacy of Vader, there is a scene in which a subordinate warns Hux that if they carry out Kylo's order, Kylo will be in danger from "friendly fire." Hux airily dismisses her concern, saying, "I have learned that we question the wisdom of the Supreme Leader at our peril. Prepare the bombardment."
• In another scene, a subordinate warns Hux that Kylo is flying into a dangerous enemy stronghold. "It is not for us to question the decisions of the Supreme Leader," Hux says. "We will pray for his safe return."
• In the TROS novelization, Hux fantasizes about making Kylo get a haircut: "Hux distrusted masks on principle, but he was glad for Ren's because it spared him the indignant assault of the Supreme Leader's hair. A good leader led by example, and Ren's hair was the furthest thing from regulation. A small detail, to be sure, but details mattered, and this one represented everything Hux hated about Ren. He was the exception to everything. Outside the rules. Disordered. When Hux finally took his rightful place as Supreme Leader, the first thing he'd do was make Ren cut off his hair."
• Kylo must know Hux has issues with his appearance, because in TROS, he misunderstands Hux's anxiety about being a spy and says, "I sense . . . unease about my appearance, General Hux." To which Hux carefully replies, "About the helmet? No sir. Well done," and another terrified officer adds an unconvincing, "I like it."
• And finally, no rivalry this petty would be complete without taking a potshot at the other guy's crush, so in TROS, when Kylo announces that he's located Rey on Kijimi, Hux suggests with a smirk, "Shall we destroy the city?"

Does anyone else never get sick of these two sniping at each other?

In TLJ, just before Rey takes the escape pod to the Supremacy to meet Kylo, she says to Chewbacca, "If you see Finn before I do, tell him . . ." Rey pauses, Chewbacca suggests something, and Rey seems to smirk slightly as she says, "Yeah, perfect. Tell him that."

I've always been curious what Chewbacca suggested.

The last time Rey and Finn were together and both conscious was the duel on Starkiller Base, when Kylo seriously wounded Finn, who was trying to protect Rey.

Since then Rey has developed romantic feelings for Kylo and is running into harm's way on a First Order Star Destroyer in an attempt to turn him.

No wonder Rey hesitates, wondering how to convey this to Finn!

Did Chewbacca save Rey here by suggesting a diplomatic turn of phrase? Something like "I'll be back soon," or "It's a long story, I'll tell you on the Falcon"?

(Incidentally, I suspect Finn never knew everything that happened until TROS, when Rey confesses to him that she saw herself and Kylo sharing the throne of the Sith. According to the novelization, "Finn's mouth parted" in surprise when Rey finally told him "her darkest secret.")

Personally I would like to see Ben as a Force ghost to get some closure after TROS. But when I try to imagine what kind of role he'd play in the story, I run into some difficulty.

The only examples of Force ghosts I can think of are elderly Jedi masters appearing to their students to give them advice or comfort in times of trial.

Ben was obviously not an elderly Jedi master. Somehow I can't imagine him appearing to Rey and saying something like, "confronting fear is the destiny of a Jedi" or "the greatest teacher, failure is."

So what do you think Force Ghost Ben would be doing? Assisting Rey in battle through their dyad bond? Haunting former First Order officers? Chilling with the porgs on Ahch-to?

It's nearly an impossible choice, but I love Rey's facial expression when Ben offers her his hand in the throne room. I think it captures Rey's internal conflict, and the conflict between her and Ben, and explains so much of her motivations for the rest of the trilogy.

I've been thinking about why Palpatine being Rey's grandfather rubs me the wrong way in Episode IX, and I think I've come up with an answer.

In the OT Palpatine was basically a stand-in for Satan--an irredeemable, purely evil power. He originally didn't even look human. His purpose in the story was to tempt the good characters to the dark side and keep them trapped there. He didn't have a family, a history, or a day job.

The PT, for better or for worse, attempted to de-mythologize Star Wars. So the Force got a "scientific" explanation, and Palpatine became a human being with a home planet and a political career.

The ST then decided to ignore the PT as far as possible and attempted to recapture the spirit of the OT. So, for example, the Force once again became a mystical power, with no attempt to explain it.

The problem is Palpatine. Palpatine's presence in the ST doubles down on his presence in the OT: he is once again the ultimate, irredeemable--and now immortal--evil power, who has been whispering temptations into Kylo's mind throughout his life.

At the same time, Palpatine now also has a granddaughter: Rey. In the ST, Palpatine is at once a stand-in for Satan, and a human being with a family. This is an uncanny, uncomfortable combination. Making your heroine the literal granddaughter of Satan is simply too dark for this genre. It doesn't sit right because it doesn't fit with the tone of the rest of the story.

"Tishra Kandia hurried toward them, Rey's necklace dangling from her hand. Kandia was a top intelligence officer, and one of the few who never balked at his orders to expend First Order resources to find the girl."

(From the TROS novelization)