Star Wars Theory: Rey Becomes The Sith Empress In Episode IX - Not A Jedi Master

In "Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi," Rey (Daisy Ridley) grapples with the idea that she's not secretly descended from a legendary bloodline as she hopes, but rather is the daughter of "nobodies." This is then quickly undone in "Star Wars: Episode IX –- The Rise of Skywalker," which reveals that Rey is actually the granddaughter of Emperor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid). After receiving this revelation, she seems to forsake her Sith lineage and adopts the name of Rey Skywalker.

Some fans, however, think that Rey might not be the next Luke, but the powerful Sith lord that her bloodline theoretically mandates instead. An upcoming Star Wars film set well after "Episode IX" will feature Rey as its lead character, purportedly following her as she reestablishes the Jedi Order. It's worth noting that Ridley told Collider in 2023 that the premise of this new Star Wars movie is "not what I expected." So what if Rey Skywalker trains an evil army and not a new generation of Jedi?

A lengthy Reddit thread from user u/Whoovien57 in 2022 discusses Rey's affinity for the dark side and claims that her training is closer to that of a Sith than a Jedi. it holds that she deploys known dark side abilities more prominently than light side powers. While this could simply represent a temptation she overcomes, her eventual use of what some consider the dark side's most powerful ability may ultimately indicate where her true allegiance lies.

Both the aforementioned Reddit thread and a post by Michael J. Miller on the blog My Comic Relief highlight the same idea — that perhaps the biggest sign of Rey's Sith leaning is her use of the Force to save Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) from the brink of death during "The Rise of Skywalker." Anakin's story arc in the prequel trilogy positions bringing someone back from the dead as the ultimate Sith superpower, so the fact that Rey manifests this ability is arguably the clearest sign of all that the dark side is her destiny.

Of course, if Rey does turn out to be evil in the next Star Wars film, the significance of her choosing the Skywalker name over her Palpatine birthright would be undermined. One way she could still be a Sith without diluting her character arc, however, would be to somehow redeem the Sith or put a more nuanced spin on the dark side, as was once the case in the old Expanded Universe. Plenty of Star Wars works — like the video game "Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II," for instance — characterize the Jedi and the Sith in shades of gray rather than strictly good and evil. If Rey can accept her affinity for the dark side and still do good in the world, she would ultimately be doing her chosen Skywalker name justice in an altogether unexpected manner.

Of course, given all the Force dyad hijinks, this is still just a theory.