Read on Twitter
a thread about the force bond 
so first and foremost: snoke did not create the force bond. sorry i don’t make the rules. snoke USED the bond to manipulate ben further—guaranteed he probably fished some details out of rey’s head because she doesn’t know how to hide her thoughts, she’s still learning
but snoke knows how to pull ben’s strings. he’s been using the things he loves against him for YEARS. he knows how to manipulate ben to get what he wants, and he wanted something here.
too bad for him ben’s love for rey was stronger than his fear of snoke.
too bad for him ben’s love for rey was stronger than his fear of snoke.
and that’s the kicker: ben cared more about rey than snoke, in the end. if his fear had won out, rey would be dead. period.
why, though, did things change because of HER?
why, though, did things change because of HER?
because these two have been aware of one another for a long, long time, or at least, that’s something we’re getting hints at.
in the TFA novel, rey sees kylo and thinks she’s seen him before “in a daydream, in a nightmare”.
in the TFA novel, rey sees kylo and thinks she’s seen him before “in a daydream, in a nightmare”.
let’s forget the vision in maz’s castle for a minute—phrasing it like that makes it sound like there have been possibly multiple instances that rey’s seen kylo/ben, so her vision could have been one in a string of them
and that vision!! not only does she see what could be past AND future, but ben REACTS to her. that’s ENORMOUS—that implies, that either he saw her in realtime when she was having the vision of him, OR that they were both having visions about one another, possibly simultaneously.
we saw in TLJ that force-projections are big and impressive and VERY strenuous activity; ben thinks rey is projecting to him at first, and remarks she couldn’t do it, it’d kill her. when it hits him that this is different, he’s NOTICEABLY pulled in.
ben understands more about the force and abilities one can use/have than rey, so of course he’s intrigued. i don’t feel like snoke ever taught him about force bonds—so likely this is a totally impossible situation to him, and he’s in it with REY.
like...obviously he’s already got some kind of emotional pull to rey. in tfa, again, he’s literally openly stated to have compassion for her (something anakin states to padme in their ‘love story’ movie of the PT...) and is very obviously treating her differently
and in TFA we also get that famous, pulled line: “it IS you...”
....excuse me?
okay but we’re supposed to think they’ve never met or seen each other before. hmm.
....excuse me?
okay but we’re supposed to think they’ve never met or seen each other before. hmm.
honestly i real&truly believe ben’s been dreaming about her for a long time. that’s why he reacts in that vision—maybe it’s always been him seeing her passively, but when she moves, reacts to him....
and listen this boy is SHOOK. she throws him out of her head, she GETS INTO HIS HEAD, and then his idolized grandfather’s lightsaber comes to HER, and she taps into the force—into his head, we learn later—to help her beat him down enough to get away.
she leaves him alive.
she leaves him alive.
she leaves him alive.
that bears repeating, because rey isn’t a trained jedi so that whole ‘be calm and impassive’ thing doesn’t apply to her. in fact she hears a voice telling her how easy it would be to kill him—and she STILL doesn’t strike.
that bears repeating, because rey isn’t a trained jedi so that whole ‘be calm and impassive’ thing doesn’t apply to her. in fact she hears a voice telling her how easy it would be to kill him—and she STILL doesn’t strike.
snoke knows by now rey didn’t kill kylo, and that kylo didn’t kill rey. there’s a LOT to be said there, and snoke ISN’T stupid, even if he is cruel and manipulative.
so he starts figuring things out.
so he starts figuring things out.
kylo’s ALREADY proven he has a weakness for rey, so snoke latches on. it makes it easier to taint it and to make kylo ren do what he wants.
but he doesn’t count on rey meeting ben solo. he doesn’t count on ben solo loving rey.
but he doesn’t count on rey meeting ben solo. he doesn’t count on ben solo loving rey.
and say what you want—ben solo is in love with rey. he’s absolutely in love; enough to murder his abuser, enough to offer her the entire galaxy.
but, ben also doesn’t fully understand love like this or how to express it. so we get his misguided attempts to show her, but they fail
but, ben also doesn’t fully understand love like this or how to express it. so we get his misguided attempts to show her, but they fail
&rey, too; rey isn’t used to love or affection, &so between the two of them with these misconceptions of love and their shared &very biased visions of the future, they KNOW they’re supposed to be together, but each of them sees it differently—
and that’s where the bond comes in
and that’s where the bond comes in
the bond doesn’t seem to connect them when they want it; it connects them when they need it.
they need to come to a middle ground. they need to understand one another.
they need to come to a middle ground. they need to understand one another.
the fact that ben gets rey’s memories &she gets his skills is big; it means two things:
1: ben is learning about her&finding out she’s like him
2: rey is falling in love with him for who he is, not out of pity or sympathy for his past.
1: ben is learning about her&finding out she’s like him
2: rey is falling in love with him for who he is, not out of pity or sympathy for his past.
so in comes the force bond. it’s gonna link them up and help them come to a middle ground.
because it’s not gone.
because snoke is dead, but the bond is not.
so when ben sees rey on the falcon,that’s desperation and longing but also awe
because there’s the proof snoke lied.
because it’s not gone.
because snoke is dead, but the bond is not.
so when ben sees rey on the falcon,that’s desperation and longing but also awe
because there’s the proof snoke lied.
so basically: snoke lied. ben knows that now more than ever. rey is willing to wait for him, they know now that the bond is still there & ep ix is gonna be them finding a way to meet one another in the middle—through their bond and then in person.
