Read on Twitter
George Lucas didn’t make Vader Luke’s father to “explain” why Luke was so powerful in the Force, because no one questioned why Luke was so powerful. He was the hero. Same reason no one questioned why Harry Potter could hop on a broomstick for the first time and make the house
team, same reason why Jon Snow can ride a dragon for all of five minutes and fly like a pro, why Anakin can build threepio and win a podrace and fly a Starfighter at the ripe old age of 9. No one ever said a thing. George made Vader Luke’s father because it gave Luke’s Journey
moral weight. Now what does he do? The Jedi want him to confront and destroy Vader. Luke refuses “I can’t kill my own father.” And it’s that moral question, that idea of Luke’s love for his father that saves him and the Galaxy. Rey on the other hand, was made a Palpatine because,
JJ and Terrio felt the need to explain why she was so powerful with the Force. And once they made her a Palpatine, it’s never given any moral weight. She doesn’t go to Exegol with the intent of saving her grandfather, like Luke did to Vader. She goes to kill him. And does. Well..
technically she helps him kill him self..? But she never wrestles with the idea that maybe I could save him with a granddaughter’s love? There’s absolutely zero moral struggle for Rey in killing her grandfather (and sure the novelization make him her clone strand-dad
) but the
) but the
film only ever refers to her as his granddaughter. And she never really waivers. She’s just “innate goodness” as JJ puts it. So the whole “the Skywalkers win bc a Palpatine turns from the dark” is....total bull. She was never dark. And the one moment she shows darkness, when she
stabs an unarmed and distracted Ben (after she initiates every. single. fight. between them) she just gets a get out of jail free card. Heals him and goes on her merry way. And when she discusses being afraid of herself it’s all put on her bloodline, Luke even says the words
“because you’re a Palpatine.” Her darkness, like her power, is ascribed to her bloodline. And she never once has to confront the fact that she stabbed a loved one through the chest, exactly as Ben had done. The concept of Rey being a Palpatine is fine on its own, a sequel trilogy
where Rey Palpatine is wreaking havoc and falls in love with the last Skywalker and the rift in the galaxy caused by these two families is healed through their love, in a true Romeo and Juliet (but preferably where they both live since it’s supposed to be a fairytale) sounds kind
of amazing. And could have absolutely worked. There are a lot of scenarios where Rey Palpatine could have worked if executed well, and for the right reasons. But as it is, Rey was made a Palpatine for deeply misogynistic reasons. And it’s never given any moral weight or
significance. And given what a beautiful message Rey Nobody held. That anyone, from any background or bloodline can be the hero, that her power was all her own, that was something that really resonated with audiences. And to have that so callously thrown away, and make her final
showdown with Palpatine not personal to Her, to make it about Jedi v Sith, to use her as a vessel for the Jedi. It hurt. It still hurts.
