Rey’s Vision

The Force Awakens

JJ Abrams loves a mystery box. His trailers rarely give the game away – just take a look at the veiled plot in the final The Rise of Skywalker trailer for proof – and with The Force Awakens mysteries only thickened as we dived deeper.

When a curious Rey takes a wander into the basement of Maz Kanata’s castle she would unlock a vision that would have the internet spiralling out of control for years to come. When Rey finds Anakin and Luke Skywalker’s lightsaber – the hero’s blade and weapon to define the Skywalker saga – her place in this story is cemented.

We discover that Rey is force sensitive, as she suddenly stumbles into a vision packed with moments from the past and the future. And to add further spice to the intrigue, these are not her memories. These are scenes and voices that are new to Rey, but strikingly familiar to us.

Her vision lasts for about a minute and in that time, we hear Yoda’s words of wisdom to Luke, Luke crying “NOOOOO” at his paternal revelation on Bespin, Palpatine tempting Anakin to the dark side, Anakin’s anguish on Mustafar and both Old Ben and young Kenobi – who also tells Rey that “these are your first steps” as she stumbles out of the maelstrom and back into reality.

While the voices whirl around the scene we see the corridors of Cloud City where Luke fought Vader for the first time, as well as the night that Luke’s training temple burned. We see Kylo and his Knights of Ren post-massacre. We see a young Rey crying “come back” to who we presume to be her parents as they leave Jakku – presumption’s about all we’ve got.

It’s impossible to pick it all out in one sitting. I’ve seen the film countless times and only just realised that you can hear Palpatine musing “than any Jedi” when I re-watched the scene – with headphones on – before penning this piece. It’s a stacked minute.

Once you’ve deciphered it all, or at least think you have, the magic is in the mystery it all creates. How is it that Rey can hear the voices of these Jedi AND Sith? Does the Skywalker blade carry these memories, or are they baked into Rey’s subconscious? And, of course, why does Rey suddenly see and hear these critical moments from across the saga?

Maz didn’t exactly help to dispel any doubts or theories. When asked how she acquired the lightsaber in the first place, we get the cold shoulder – “a good question, for another time.” Maz clearly towing the JJ line there.

Four years on, as we approach The Rise of Skywalker, we still don’t have the answers to these questions. That’s exciting. Episode nine will unquestionably fill in gaps and provide hints, if not full answers, to satisfy the curious.

Whatever the outcomes and resolutions, the years spent theorising and discussing just what happened when Rey opened the lid on the box containing the most important weapon in the saga have been an absolute blast.