History Fridge / TheRiseOfSkywalker

* The Skywalker being referred to in the title is "rising" rather than "returning", which suggests the growth of something new rather than the return of something old, fitting with ''Film/TheLastJedi'' and its theme of learning from previous mistakes. The Jedi Order may have ended, but the Skywalker legacy stands to grow in a positive way.

* It's fitting that the Skywalker family legacy continues even after the death of the last Skywalker descendant. The point is that bloodline doesn't matter after all. Ben Solo/Kylo Ren lived a life of failure, despite having positive role models in his family--plus the cautionary example of his grandfather. Ben repeated Anakin Skywalker's mistakes instead of learning from them. Rey--a Palpatine--never even thought of following in her grandfather's footsteps and completely rejected the dark side of the Force. It's fitting that she call herself Rey ''Skywalker''. Rey, not Ben, is the real heir to the Skywalker name and legacy, despite being descended from the family's greatest enemy.

** Rey’s Father could be an unaltered clone of Palpatine. We know Palpatine has Dooku visit Kamino. Whose to say as Chancellor, he paid for an unaltered clone of himself.

** They've also all had RedemptionEqualsDeath. Luke's failure causing Ben's fall and doin nothing while the First Order rose, his sacrifice save those who'd set it right. Leia, who blamed her sending Ben away for contributing to his fall, gave her live to reach him back.

* It's fitting that the Skywalker family legacy continues even after the death of the last Skywalker descendant. The point is that bloodline doesn't matter after all. Ben Solo failed to live up to that legacy, despite having positive role models in his family--plus the cautionary example of his grandfather. Ben repeated Anakin Skywalker's mistakes instead of learning from them. Rey--a Palpatine--never even thought of following in her grandfather's footsteps and completely rejected the dark side of the Force. It's fitting that she call herself Rey ''Skywalker''. Rey, not Ben, is the real heir to the Skywalker name and legacy, despite being descended from the family's greatest enemy.

** They were kidnapped a year ago at most. Odds are they're too young to be crewing the ship or on the frontlines. Yes, AllThereInTheManual says they're trained on the ships, but [[NoEndorHolocaust Endor was shown alive and well]], so they could come up with something less contrived, unless they decided to go for AscendedFridgeHorror.

* By the end of the sequel trilogy, Palpatine ultimately got the last laugh. Anakin's sacrifice in ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi'' was made pointless with Palpatine's resurrection, and he still got to rule both as Galactic Emperor and as ruler of the Final Order for nearly 60 years, with his PuppetKing Snoke as Supreme Leader of the First Order. And despite being [[EvilMakesYouUgly disturbing]] and likened to a drug addiction, the Dark Side let him live far past his natural life span after accomplishing all his goals (he's over 120 years old at death, per the timeline). He outlived or arranged for the deaths of all of his enemies, resulting in both heroic lineages of the Skywalker and Solo bloodlines to be fully extinct, having finally died out with the deaths of Leia and Ben. On the flipside, even after his own final demise Emperor Palpatine's legacy still lives on through his own bloodline, in spite of his grand-daughter shedding his name. His only real "defeat" was that he failed to live forever and ensure a successor, but given all he had already accomplished (again, decades past the end of his natural life) this is fairly minor.
** However, it's worth noting that Rey herself was nothing but disgusted with her grandfather, and ultimately chose the name of his worst enemy while he will be remembered as nothing more than an insane tyrant for the rest of history. Thus, the idea he somehow won means treating the characters like they're bloodlines, rather than people.
** It is also worth noting that Anakin's sacrifice was ''not'' entirely pointless. If not for him and Luke, Palpatine would have ruled without mercy for the rest of his lifetime and beyond, subjugating who knows how many planets and people. Anakin killing Palpatine, if only temporarily, brought hope and peace back to the galaxy. Plus, while the prophecy said that he would bring balance to the force, nothing said that that balance was going to be permanent...
** It's also worth noting that this movie suddenly acts like Rey is naturally attuned to the Dark Side and can use dark side powers like Force Lightning because of her relation to Palpatine. Instead of building up on her actual individual reasons for her dark side connection, like abandonment, loneliness, anger, ETC, genetics is the reason apparently. That means ANY potential kid Rey has, will also be attuned to the Dark Side repeating the whole cycle all over again if Rey herself doesn't turn evil after Ben died. Palpatine may have lost in the end, but he gets the last laugh at the galaxy and all of his enemies are dead or miserable.
*** In Film/TheLastJedi, Luke is horrified by how quickly Rey went towards the Dark aspect of the Force that permeated the deeper areas of Ahch-To, and in Film/TheForceAwakens, when she fights, she battles with fury rather than the calm that Jedi are expected to possess, showing that she has always had an inclination towards the Dark Side. But this is not just due to blood, but because Rey did not have the benefit of a family or really any support growing up. Of course she would naturally prefer to tap into darker emotions, because ''that's what kept her alive''.
*** It's said that Leia knew of Rey's ancestry, so it's not a stretch to assume that Luke may have at least suspected it. That puts his line in Film/TheLastJedi into a potential new context. When he said "I've seen this raw strength once before. It didn't scare me enough then. It does now.", people assumed he was referring to the raw strength Kylo Ren has demonstrated up to that point. What if he was talking about Palpatine instead? During the Battle of Endor, after defeating Vader, Luke drops his lightsaber in Palpatine's presence, only to be defenseless when the latter uses Force Lightning against him. He didn't fear Palpatine enough (since he hadn't seen the Emperor use any of his powers) despite him being Vader's master.
*** The movie acts like the Dark Side or Light Side is a choice, not genetic. The ''characters'' act like it's genetic, but it's not. Luke even tells Rey that her genetics don't have to define her.
*** If you read between lines, the Emperor did not get the last laugh, because freeing the galaxy of his and the First Order's tyranny was what the heroes wanted from the very start. Now that both are defeated, the Skywalkers didn't die in vain and in the end, they were the real winners. Now about the above statement, the subtle message of this movie is that only you can define who you are and what you want to be, not your bloodline or anything else. In other words, Rey might be the descendant of the Star Wars variant of Satan itself, but although she's often tempted by the Dark Side, she's ultimately a kind, compassionate and an all-around good person, unlike her diabolical sociopathic grandfather! Thus, she chooses to adopt the Skywalker surname for herself in the end!
*** Finally; Luke and Leia are alive and well as Force-Ghosts, Han may be experiencing an afterlife as well (if he was really personally involved in Ben's vision) and....Ben is likely dwelling INSIDE of Rey which is the reason for Rey's AngstWhatAngst demeanor afterwards.
** Rey's Dark Side leanings ''can'' be both. She had a crappy childhood which would lead her to tend towards negative emotions. She also has the raw power of one of, if not '''the''', greatest Sith Lord in all of ''Star Wars'' history. Hence, her ability to instinctively use Force Lightning, implied to be a rather advanced Dark Side technique. Rey is ''very'' instinctive in ''all'' her Force use, which is good for her... but yoke that to her crappy childhood and raw power and yeah, she's a recipe for disaster. Ultimately, she chooses to embrace the best version of herself, and being that example for future Jedi (whether her own children or not) shows them ''how'' to embrace the Light. Also, she has those Dark Side leanings, she came close to falling several times, she made mistakes but then committed herself to learning from them. All this puts her in a very good place to mentor a new Jedi order.

** However, it's worth noting that Rey herself was nothing but disgusted with her grandfather, and ultimately chose the name of his worst enemy while he will be remembered as nothing more than an insane tyrant for the rest of history. Thus, the idea he somehow won means treating the characters like [[UnfortunateImplications they're bloodlines, rather than people.]]

** However, it's worth noting that Rey herself was nothing but disgusted in her grandfather, and ultimately chose the name of his worst enemy while he will be remembered as nothing more than an insane tyrant for the rest of history. Thus, the idea he somehow won means treating the characters like [[UnfortunateImplications they're bloodlines, rather than people.]]

*** In Film/TheLastJedi Luke is horrified by how quickly Rey went towards the Dark aspect of the Force that permeated the deeper areas of Ahch-Too and in the Film/TheForceAwakens when she fights she battles with fury rather than the calm that Jedi are expected to possess showing that she has always had an inclination towards the Dark Side. But this is not just due to blood, but because Rey did not have the benefit of a family or really any support growing up. Of course she would naturally prefer to tap into darker emotions, because ''that's what kept her alive''.

** Rey's Dark Side leanings ''can'' be both. She had a crappy childhood which would lead her to tend towards negative emotions. She also has the raw power of one of, if not '''the''', greatest Sith Lord in all of ''Star Wars'' history. Hence, her ability to instinctively use Force Lightning, implied to be a rather advanced Dark Side technique. Rey is ''very'' instinctive in ''all'' her Force use, which is good for her. . . but yoke that to her crappy childhood and raw power and yeah, she's a recipe for disaster. Ultimately, she chooses to embrace the best version of herself, and being that example for future Jedi (whether her own children or not) shows them ''how'' to embrace the Light. Also, she has those Dark Side leanings, she came close to falling several times, she made mistakes but then committed herself to learning from them. All this puts her in a very good place to mentor a new Jedi order.

** The ''Ghost'' was one of ships at the front of Lando's fleet.

** They were kidnapped a year ago at most. Odds are they're too young to be crewing the ship or on the frontlines. Yes AllThereInTheManual say they're trained on the ships, but [[NoEndorHolocaust Endor was shown alive and well]] so they could less contrivedly come up with something unless they decided to go for AscendedFridgeHorror.

*** According to the author of the comic which supposedly implies Sidious created Anakin, this was not the intended implication they were going for in that comic, only that Anakin/Vader came to believe Sidious created him. This suggests the Sidious DID NOT manipulate the midichlorians to cause Anakin's conception.
** Considering what an utterly horrid and sadistic person Palpatine is who will stop at nothing to get what he wants, the idea that he forced or coerced a woman into bearing his child doesn't seem too out of the question.

** [[Film/{{Spaceballs}} Druish princesses are often attracted to money and power.]] Yes, being First Lady of The First Galactic Empire would be a powerful aphrodisiac for many women. Palpatine could readily have attracted a mate through no untoward means. . . but given ''who he is'', it's all but certain whatever relationship there was was extremely unhealthy.

* Leia's death is the culmination of a rather dark example of ThirdTimesTheCharm in regards to the death of a major Original trilogy hero. The first is Chewbacca being blown up in the transport tug of war and the second is C-3P0's memory wipe, while he physically survived the wipe the implication was that the C-3P0 we know and love was gone only for both instances to prove fake, with Chewie being on a different transport and R2's backup being far more reliable than C-3P0 implied, while Leia's death was the 3rd death of an OT hero and the only one to stick.

* In all of the fights between Rey and Kylo Ren, Rey is ''always'' the first to activate her lightsaber, showing her growing aggresiveness and flirting to the Dark Side. Even better that in their final fight, Kylo spends a good portion of the fight with nothing but dodging her attacks and when he finally did activate his lightsaber, he doesn't immediately attack and instead drawing their fight to the outside.

* In their final fight, Rey starts unknowingly shifting into the Dark Side by fighting in blind rage, while Ben starts unknowingly shifting into the Light Side by fighting composedly and calmly and not out of rage for the first time in the series. It takes Rey stabbing Ben to realize she has fallen to the Dark Side and it takes Ben getting stabbed to realize he can return to the Light Side.

* For that matter, their final battle in this film is reminiscent in tone to Anakin Skywalker versus Obi-Wan Kenobi in ''Film/RevengeOfTheSith''. Anakin went all-out on Obi-Wan, demonstrating improved skill and a deeper connection to the Force (the Dark Side) than ever before, and Obi-Wan continuously fell back before him. . . not because he was outmatched, but because he was more in tune with the Force and letting it decide when, where, and how it would all end. Now, Rey is going all-out, demonstrating vastly improved skill and a deeper connection to the Force than ever before, and Kylo Ren is letting the battle flow towards its ultimate conclusion. The symbols are the same, the meanings reversed, as happens all the time in ''Star Wars''.

** Technically, Ben is wielding Anakin's lightsaber. At last he finally gets what he always wanted : following his grandfather's footsteps, but here it is ''Anakin Skywalker's'' footsteps, not Darth Vader's.

* Pryde is able to figure out Hux is the mole not only because of Hux's flimsy excuse but also because of where Finn shot him. Hux specifically requested Finn shoot him in the arm. If Hux was holding a blaster, of course Finn would have disarmed him by shooting him in the arm, not in his leg.

* In the trilogy, Rey's staff represents her unwillingness to let go of the past to the point she defaults to using it when she has better weapons around such as her lightsaber or her blaster. It's only fitting that by the end, she remade it into a lightsaber because instead of letting the past die or letting it define her, she has chosen to remodel it into something better. It also makes sense, because her staff was her main tool while waiting for her parents to return.She remodels it into something better and something can use in the future instead of ditching it and abandoning her roots now knowing her parents were not awful people.

###The natural state of the Sith is the Rule of Two: a master and an apprentice - the master embodied the power, the apprentice craved it. In the Rise of Skywalker, Palpatine didn't have an apprentice in sight - Snoke wasn't a Sith, Kylo Ren was never meant to be a permanent fixture in Palpatine's new Empire and Rey was meant to be Palpatine's host rather than apprentice. When Anakin killed Palpatine over Endor, he broke the chain of Master and Apprentice since as the apprentice he renounced his position as the Apprentice and Palpatine never re-established his position as a Master to anyone - effectively making him only a Sith-in-name, only a Dark Sider who claimed to be a Sith. Anakin destroyed the Sith when he destroyed the chain.
### During the final battle, Anakin was giving power to Rey alongside all the others. As the Force-Ghost with the highest amount of midi-chlorians, Anakin would have the most Force Power to give to Rey, therefore he would be the person most responsible for Palpatine's defeat by giving Rey the final power boost she needed. Palpatine had just been given a huge power boost thanks to draining Rey and Ben Solo. It's more than likely Anakin - due to his afore-mentioned huge midi-chlorian count - was the one who gave Rey the edge over Palpatine. Anakin destroyed the Sith by giving Rey his power, making him the Chosen One (more indirectly than other examples but still an arguable case).
### The visual dictionary for the Last Jedi states that the Sith ended above Endor when Anakin turned back to the Light Side and killed Sidious. Making Anakin the Chosen One since he didn't destroy the Dark Side but he did destroy the Sith.

* Palpatine is considered one of the greatest chessmasters in the Star Wars, having been able to destroy the Republic, the Jedi Order and any potential initial opposition to his rule all in one fell swoop and maintain his Empire for twenty-three years while fighting off treachery, rebellion and temptation to luxury. So the question is... WHY WOULD HE TELL REY HIS ENTIRE PLAN!? It's because Rey's family - his granddaughter. The last time Palpatine saw the idea of family cause a dramatic shift in the Galaxy, it was when Darth Vader turned back to the Light and killed him to save Luke - his son. Prior to this, Vader had been Palpatine's loyal servant... well, as loyal as a servant could be when both the servant and master were Sith Lords. Regardless, Vader turned on Palpatine to save his family. Vader remembered what love felt like and realised he still felt that for his son, leading to him turning back to the Light. Palpatine being Palpatine, he missed this fact and just assumed that Vader, whom had never saved anyone in the twenty-three years he had served as Palpatine's apprentice for any reason other than self-interest, did it just because Luke was family. Flash-forward to the Rise of Skywalker, and Palpatine comes face to face with his granddaughter - his family. Combined with the probable pain he was in - resulting in a mental state that can't exactly be described as healthy - and Palpatine probably thought that a family bond was all that was needed to bring someone over to your side. But since Rey didn't feel any kind of love for him whatsoever, it didn't work out quite like Palpatine planned.
* Rey's outfit is the opposite of the situation with Luke's outfit in ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi''. In the Return of The Jedi, Luke's outfit is black, giving the idea that he will be tempted to turn to the Dark Side but when his outfit is slashed, it's white underneath, revealing that that was never the case. In this movie, Rey's outfit is completely white, giving the idea that she is closer to the Light Side then ever, but in this movie, she is closer to the Dark Side than ever. Although her outfit has no hints of black, her hood is big and looks somewhat like a Sith's when worn. It could also be an allusion to how black and white are opposite sides of the coin and how leaning to one side can make you sway to the other side. This is also reflected in Ben's journey throughout the movie, by staying on the Dark Side, he unknowingly sways to the Light Side. This is also supported by how Rey's Sith vision self is wearing all black, showing the Rey's are two sides of the same coin.
* With Palpatine claiming to be "every voice" inside Ben's head, Ben somehow not realizing or acknowledging that Anakin returned to the light despite Luke's testimony suddenly makes a lot more sense. Palpatine could easily have appeared to Ben as a Vader masquerade claiming that returning to the light was an error or outright lie on Luke's part, and entreating his grandson not to make the same "mistake." Also believing Luke was going to murder him as he does, Kylo would have no more reason to trust anything he said.

* Poe's dismissal of the suggestion of using the [[RammingAlwaysWorks "Holdo Manuever"]] to get the upper hand against the Final Order as being a "one in a million chance" does make sense the more one thinks about it. Holdo's hyperspace-ramming of the ''Supremacy'' was a last-ditch effort to buy time for the Resistance, and while it did inflict heavy damage against the flagship and took a few Star Destroyers with it, the Supremacy actually ''survived'' the attack ([[AllThereInTheManual per word of supplemental material]]). Not to mention Holdo was ''very'' lucky that she even had time to pull it off at all, since her move put the ''Raddus'' right in firing range of the rival fleets firepower and the ship would have been decimated in ''seconds'' if she hadn't launched just in time. Bringing even a ship like that alone with a few snub fighters to the Final Orders fleet of ''hundreds'' of Star Destroyers would be tantamount to painting a giant bullseye right on its bridge. Not to mention the Resistance is still very strapped for resources by the time of the Battle of Exegol; the biggest ship they have on hand is the modestly-sized ''Tantive IV'' (which in all likelihood wouldn't cause anywhere near the scale the damage of the ''Raddus'' hyperspace jump) and its not like they have the time or means to secure another ship the size of the ''Raddus'', much less sacrifice such a valuable resource on a maneuver that has no guarantee of success. And even if the maneuver ''did'' work, it would only put a small dent in the Final Order's vast army at ''best''.

* Palpatine did with Ben what he could never do with Anakin: He corrupted Ben unseen while Ben was still a child and largely unprotected, while Anakin was always being watched over a protected by the Jedi.
* While Rey being a Palpatine might be a ShockingSwerve, keep in mind that her life story is still part of ''Skywalker Saga''. So, imagine if her being a nobody remains unchanged, imagine that you watch Skywalker Saga chronologically from Anakin's childhood, Palpatine's manipulation of him, Anakin being redeemed by his son and died, his son and daughter got old and died, and then their family saga is finished by some random girl whose only connection to the Skywalkers is being Luke and Leia's apprentice. That could be somewhat a letdown, in certain point of view. On the other hand, making Rey a Palpatine got the saga to end in the most unexpected way because... who would've thought that the Skywalker Saga would be finished by a grandchild of the ''BigBad''?

* The original trilogy trio all die in the reversed order they were introduced.

** The ''Xyston'' Star Destoyers laser more visually similar to Starkiller bases than the Death Stars, Wookieepedia said they both use phantom energy. [[https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-total-energy-content-of-the-Sun-in-joules A sun has a lifetime energy output]] of 1.2*10^44 j. Starkiller, which uses an entire star to power each shot, [[https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Ilum has a diameter of 660 km]] so a volume of 1.51*10^8 km3. the 1.6 km ''Imperial'' Star Destroyer [[https://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2016/01/25/how-much-would-it-realistically-cost-to-build-an-imperial-i-class-star-destroyer/#7e6c7dfd390d has a volume]] of 0.0528 km3, plugging in the Xystons 2.406 km give it 0.18 km3. Assuming the same power per size (Xystons use a solar ionization reactor, which sounds like Starkiller using stars), a Xystons energy is 1.43*10^35 j. The Death Stars energy [[https://www.iflscience.com/space/would-death-star-actually-be-able-destroy-planet/ was estimated]] as 3*10^36 j. This makes the near Death Star levels of power in something so small mathematically feasible, and consistent with the less violent planetary destruction observed. And the existence of such more feasible given the developments that were going on at the time.

* The title "The Rise of Skywalker" is a subtle callback to ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi'' - after all, in that movie, Anakin Skywalker's original personality and light-side allegiance returned from decades of being Darth Vader, so one might easily say that Skywalker rose within Vader. Also, all three trilogies' third installments have a title with a word that starts with "R", an "of", then another word. Return, Revenge and Rise.

* The title of the film [[ThemeNaming follows the traditional]] "R of the X" pattern the previous trilogy-enders used -- ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi'', ''Film/RevengeOfTheSith'' and finally ''Film/TheRiseOfSkywalker''. Only the "the" has changed place.

* Hux's reasons for betraying the First Order by relaying intel to the Resistance is as petty as it comes: He just hates Kylo Ren that much and wants nothing more than to see him fail. In other words, he gave in to the Dark Side and acted purely out of fear, anger, and hate, which led ultimately to the betrayal of his (admittedly evil) ideals and self-destruction, ironically by directly aiding the forces of the Light Side. He was so far gone to it that he didn't even ''care'' if it brought him more power, as indeed his reduced stature in the organization implies that he has no hope for that anyways.
** Considering the Hux got openly and publicly humiliated first by Snoke then casually manhandled by Kylo Ren all the while constantly ignored by them both even when he was right, it's easy to see Hux's love for the First Order having eroded since then.
** Kylo Ren went out of his way to degrade Hux at his every opportunity even before Snoke was killed and after he pretty much did it as a whim even when all Hux was doing was trying to talk a bit of sense into him. It's rather understandable Hux could snap after that and develop a grudge against Kylo Ren that could eclipse all other considerations especially if the treatment continued after the events of The Last Jedi or even get worse.

** They were kidnapped a year ago at most. Odds are they're too young to be crewing the ship or on the frontlines.

** Kijimii itself was taken down by one of them. So the survivors will have no home to go to, possibly fueling their anger and conviction.

* Poe's dismissal of Snap's suggestion of using the [[RammingAlwaysWorks "Holdo Manuever"]] to get the upper hand against the Final Order as being a "one in a million chance" does make sense the more one thinks about it. Holdo's hyperspace-ramming of the ''Supremacy'' was a last-ditch effort to buy time for the Resistance, and while it did inflict heavy damage against the flagship and took a few Star Destroyers with it, the Supremacy actually ''survived'' the attack ([[AllThereInTheManual per word of supplemental material]]). Not to mention Holdo was ''very'' lucky that she even had time to pull it off at all, since her move put the ''Raddus'' right in firing range of the rival fleets firepower and the ship would have been decimated in ''seconds'' if she hadn't launched just in time. Bringing even a ship like that alone with a few snub fighters to the Final Orders fleet of ''hundreds'' of Star Destroyers would be tantamount to painting a giant bullseye right on its bridge. Not to mention the Resistance is still very strapped for resources by the time of the Battle of Exegol; the biggest ship they have on hand is the modestly-sized ''Tantive IV'' (which in all likelihood wouldn't cause anywhere near the scale the damage of the ''Raddus'' hyperspace jump) and its not like they have the time or means to secure another ship the size of the ''Raddus'', much less sacrifice such a valuable resource on a maneuver that has no guarantee of success. And even if the maneuver ''did'' work, it would only put a small dent in the Final Order's vast army at ''best''.