Rey And Kylo's Force Dyad Explained

Contains spoilers for The Rise of Skywalker

Ever since Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the fledgling Jedi Rey and the dark side baddie Kylo Ren have had an unusual bond. Fortunately for fans, the recent release of the final film in the Skywalker saga, The Rise of Skywalker, finally explains what it is and why it exists.

A scavenger girl abandoned by her parents on the desert planet of Jakku, Rey (Daisy Ridley) seemed like an unlikely choice to be so strong with the Force — at least that's what Kylo Ren (Adam Driver), the son of Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher) formerly known as Ben Solo, thought when he first encountered her. Kylo was shocked to discover that when he, with his plentiful training at the hands of Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), tried to look into Rey's mind, she was able to easily see into his as well. What followed was a strong connection between the pair: they began regularly communicating over vast distances, seeing one another's surroundings, and even managing to have lightsaber duels despite being worlds apart.

The reason for Rey and Kylo Ren's incredible connection, it turns out, is what's called a Force dyad. It's first mentioned in The Rise of Skywalker by Rey's grandfather, Emperor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid), but what exactly does it mean?

In our world, a "dyad" can be defined as two individuals "maintaining a sociologically significant relationship," and is frequently used to describe the dynamic between a husband and wife. In the world of Star Wars, a Force dyad is defined as "a unique Force-bond connecting two Force-sensitives physically and mentally through the Force."  When it comes to Rey and Kylo Ren, they certainly aren't married (though they did share a romantic moment at the end of The Rise of Skywalker) but they are one another's match in the Force, battling it out as they try to bring balance to the galaxy far, far away.

Both Rey and Kylo have light and dark within them. Rey is a Palpatine, the granddaughter of the terrible Emperor himself. Despite always fighting on the side of the Jedi, Rey knows there's darkness flowing through her veins — darkness that has tempted her before and even allows her to summon Force lightning, something attributed only to the Sith, in The Rise of Skywalker. Kylo Ren is a Skywalker through his mother Leia, and the family has — perhaps after a twist in the road or two for some — always found its way to the light.

Many of Kylo and Rey's conversations that took place across vast distances saw them trying to convince one another to switch sides, and Luke Skywalker knew that Rey turning to the dark side would be the end of the Jedi for good. He also feared that their ability to see into each other's minds would betray the position of the Resistance, allowing the First Order to swoop in and destroy them all.

At the end of The Rise of Skywalker, Rey and Kylo Ren finally team up again — using all their skills, both light and dark, and their connection with one another to finally destroy the Emperor for good and save the galaxy. After decades of the light and the dark sides of the Force battling, it took a Skywalker and a Palpatine — with both light and dark in them — to end the war. Essentially, Kylo and Rey are two individuals that actually come together to become one extremely powerful entity. They're the descendants of the two most famous Jedi and Sith families throughout the Skywalker saga, whose collective power is required to balance to the Force and rid the galaxy of the Emperor.

While Palpatine was hoping to use their connection against them, even he was unaware of just how powerful Rey and Kylo would be when they joined forces. With the former Supreme Leader shedding his Kylo Ren mask and moniker to revert to his true form of Ben Solo, he comes charging to Exegol to save Rey from her grandfather. Before he can get to her, however, he's ambushed by guards. Having tossed his Sith saber into the roaring ocean off the remains of the Death Star, Kylo (now Ben) is left without a weapon. Rey is able to use their Force dyad connection to hand Ben one of her two sabers (she was using Luke and Leia Skywalker's weapons) to save him.

Once Palpatine realizes he's dealing with a Force dyad between Rey and Ben, his plan for them changes. He syphons life from them both to restore his own ghostly figure to life, and their dyad proves so powerful that Palpatine is temporarily restored to almost Revenge of the Sith-levels of strength as he nearly wipes out the entire Resistance fleet. Fortunately for Rey and Ben, their dyad is also strong enough to keep them alive to destroy the Emperor. However, it takes Ben giving up the last of his strength in the Force to save Rey after she's finally struck down her grandfather. Their dyad is exactly what is needed to bring balance to the Force once and for all, but as Meaww points out, with Ben dying to save Rey, that link is gone forever. 

But there is still hope here, as Rey is certainly still attuned to the Force. The closing scene of The Rise of Skywalker shows Rey taking on a new identity as she introduces herself as Rey Skywalker and raises a lightsaber previously unseen in Star Wars films: a yellow blade that finally gives her her own place in the Jedi Order.