#SAVEBENSOLO

Why Rey feels so off during the first part of the movie

I want to touch upon something that has been bugging me ever since I saw the movie. Beware, I’m not inventing the wheel here, and I’m also terribly sleep-deprived. I’m just expressing some thoughts that I wanted to share.

So, did you notice that basically all the Reylo scenes up until the one where Rey stabs Kylo and then heals him feel… off? Especially the way Rey acts? 

Were you as detached and alienated from her like I was, going so far as to ask yourself who this character even was?

Well, I gave this some thought.

I think that with the partial retconning of TLJ and the subsequent regression in the story, they shafted Rey in all kinds of ways, but especially when it comes to our ability to understand her actions and emphasise with her, most notably in the scenes when she is angry and/or fighting Kylo (ergo: in conflict).

Rey is a very passionate character, quick to anger. One article about her that I read (I’ll provide the link when I find it) described her as “deliciously feral”, which I think sums it up perfectly. Rey is somewhat unhinged, she reacts quickly and often in a heated fashion.

The thing is: whenever we see Rey being hostile and/or fighting in TFA and TLJ, we are provided a reason why. We get a narrative justification for her anger/violence/attacks, and it always comes from a place of compassion, a sense of justice or a place of pain/hurt relating to her past.

She attacks Kylo in TFA because he killed Han. She snarks at him in TLJ for that very same reason, and later on, after having changed her mind about him, she attacks Luke because he tried to kill him. (And then she just ships herself to him in the mail - an icon. We stan.)

But the bottom line here is:

We always get to see why Rey is angry, and what drives her to violence. We get a justification within the narrative. Her actions make sense.

But in TROS, this does no longer apply. Especially when it comes to Kylo. Because story-wise, we are beyond the fighting. Beyond the dueling. We are at the ‘reaching out, trying to find a balance and solving our conflict with words’ stage.

But since they basically ignore this whole narrative from TLJ, their dynamic is reverted to their TFA animosity. At least up until the scene where Rey heals Ben (after almost killing him, mind you!!), when it’s just randomly picked up again as if the first hour of the movie didn’t happen.

This is why Rey feels so off when she is interacting with Kylo in those scenes up until the stabbing. There is no reason provided by the narrative as to why she is so hostile to him. We expect her to act differently because we all saw TLJ. Sure, there is gonna be conflict, but not this lightsaber fight nonsense.

Their conflict at that point is not physical, it is emotional, and it should’ve been tackled as such in dialogue.

But since it wasn’t, and they just had Rey lash out at Kylo as if this was the ending of TFA, her hostility and aggressiveness come off as… well, just that. Hostility and aggressiveness. 

There is no reason, no explanation, no plausible rationalisation, and subsequently no possibility for us to relate to or understand Rey.

I don’t know why they did this.

Maybe they wanted to convey the idea that this was her ~palpatine darkness~ manifesting and making her lash out. (As if her real darkness, the one we see in TFA and TLJ, i. e. her pain and anger that stem from her abandonment issues, her loneliness, her struggle with her own identity, were not enough.)

Or they just wanted to retcon TLJ and they needed more lightsaber fights. I don’t know. Either reason works and both are terrible.

I just want to say guys, just because it’s more likely for spoilers to be accurate in the next few hours, DO NOT believe EVERYTHING you read on Reddit (or the internet in general).

If you want real spoilers before you go to see TROS find a source you PERSONALLY TRUST before you flip out. I GUARANTEE butt hurt antis are going to put out shitty “spoilers” to twist the narrative and freak people out regardless of the truth.

New behind the scenes footage from Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

Well he’s not. 🖕🏻

New footage of Rey in Star Wars The Rise of Skywalker “Fate” TV Spot

Apostle (2018) dir. Gareth Evans

https://youtu.be/DBoaOnj6Ll4

Reylo feels anyone? :( Probably just me, but oh well

all these leaks about a test screening, different ending where ben lives, with babies, Ireland sets filming... it's all making me more angry, depressed... how could they possibly screw up so badly? so greedy, so afraid of the fanboys, trolls.... erasing characters, bringing a trio (tm) no one ever asked. and Rey ALONE. "you're so lonely. so afraid to leave. at night desperate to sleep you imagine a ocean. i see the island. and... Ben Solo."

Oh Adam

ATTENTION REYLO FAM!