Film

Rey’s Climactic Speech In ‘The Rise of Skywalker’ Has Become A Massive Meme

People online are giving the film a brand new ending.

by Joseph Earp  28 December 2019
Rey from 'Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker'

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The Rise of Skywalker is the epic finale to a story some 50 years in the telling — so it’s surprising that it ends not with a bang, but with a whisper.

***Spoilers for The Rise of Skywalker follow***

In the film’s jam-packed third act, Rey defeats her evil grandfather, Emperor Palpatine, who was raised from the dead, uh, somehow; kisses her long-time love interest Kylo Ren; and generally restores peace and order to the galaxy.

Then, in something of an epilogue, we cut to Rey burying a lightsaber — the symbol of the Skywalker saga — in the sand, symbolically putting this entire long story to rest.

“Who are you?” a particularly nosy woman walking past wants to know.

“I’m Rey,” the hero replies. “Rey Skywalker.”

Boom. Cut to end credits.

Of course, it doesn’t make a lick of sense, particularly in the context of The Last Jedi — that film was all about discovering that you matter even if you’re nobody, raised from nowhere. But hell, it sold a lotta tickets at the box office, so what can you do?

In the days since the film’s release, the exchange has also become a massive meme online. Not content with the dialogue exchange as it happens, tricksters on Twitter have come up with their own climactic revelations — and lemme tell you, they make about as much sense as the one we were given.

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Of course, it’s also worth pointing out that whatever press you might have read, this is almost definitely not the end of the Skywalker Saga — or, in fact, the story of Rey Skywalker. In our increasingly recycled cinematic world, nothing ever truly dies — just look at Emperor Palpatine’s return — so you could do well to expect the return of these characters very soon.

Which means there’s still time for J.J. Abrams to retcon his last film and make her Rey Chewbacca, right?

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