A Spoiler-Filled Explanation Of The Force Awakens Ending

The seventh big screen installment in the intergalactic moneymaker known as Star Wars has finally arrived, and it's got the Internet buzzing with excitement, critiques, and tons of explanations. While you might've been too caught up in the spectacle to think about it, we should probably talk a bit about that ending. So, without further preamble, be aware: major spoilers ahead. Don't say we didn't warn you.

After a solid 115 minutes of purely galactic awesome, we had five solid minutes of Rey silently walking up a bunch of stone steps on what looked like a Lord of the Rings set. Finally, when she reaches the top she meets a hooded figure who, surprise-surprise, turns out to be Luke Skywalker. Finally, she presents him with the blue lightsaber. Filled with overt metaphors and what may actually be clues, here's our breakdown of what it all means.

Moments before she takes off in the Millennium Falcon, Rey shares a touching moment with General Leia Organa. Though not the touching moment between mother and daughter that fans expected, this moment seems to set Rey up as a hero for the Resistance. General Leia treats Rey with the respect a leader would treat their number one hero, but not with the emotion a mother would express to her daughter. Rey was at least a child when left on the planet Jakku, so Leia certainly would have recognized her if Rey was her daughter. This is the final clue that tells us Rey is probably not Leia's daughter. It also sets Rey up to be the hero of this trilogy.

Somehow, Rey has inherited both Chewie and the Millennium Falcon from the late Han Solo. While pre-release fan theories regarding The Force Awakens would have taken this as a sign from the Jedi Gods that she is the daughter of Han and Leia, we're pretty sure that she's definitely not their child. Why does she take off in the Millennium Falcon with Chewie then, and not in a ship of her own? Fans probably wouldn't have been able to deal with the loss of Han Solo as well as Chewbacca and the Millennium Falcon, the latter two are major characters in their own right. Director J.J. Abrams had to find a way to keep them in the trilogy, and this way allows for future directors to revive the fan theory that Rey is the daughter of Han and Leia should the franchise's masterminds choose to journey down that path.

Okay okay, so it's not actually an LOTR set. It's just another beautiful green planet that is severely different from the one Rey grew up on. Stone and grass fields are all the eye can see evoking images reminiscent of Stonehenge. The wisdom garnered from the scenery somehow reminds us of Gandalf, another wise "old wizard" like Obi-Wan. Luke has become the Obi-Wan of this trilogy, the essential wise old guy trope, making this planet perfect for his hideout or dare we say, lair.

For a solid two minutes Rey is climbing the longest stone staircase ever. This metaphor is seems to be screaming at us that Rey must earn her Jedi training. It's almost reminiscent of the physical labor Yoda puts Luke through during his training in Empire Strikes Back, though we know this is just the beginning. Luke is the last Jedi, he holds all the remaining knowledge of the Force. Of course Rey has to climb a giant mountain to get to him.

Having just fought off a dark, hooded figure, we're impressed with Rey's bravery to approach this new one. Though she believes she knows the figure is Luke Skywalker, he could have just as easily been a decoy. But he's not, and when Luke is finally revealed to us (Mark Hamill has less than a minute of screen time and top billing...) he's looking very Obi-Wan Kenobi. The beard and age complete the picture, adding to his wise appearance and world-weary demeanor. The bravery Rey shows throughout these final moments of The Force Awakens is representative of the bravery required of a Jedi Knight—the bravery to do the right thing.

In the final moment of Abrams' film, Rey presents Luke Skywalker with his blue-bladed lightsaber, the one from the original Star Wars film. This seems to be both a sign of respect and a symbolic passing of the torch—from the dreaded prequel trilogy back to the guy who started it all, and the significance of his role. Moreover, the look on Luke's face when he sees Rey clinches our theory that she's actually...Luke's daughter. She is the Jedi that rises out of the battle. She is the one who uses the original lightsaber to overcome Kylo Ren. And since this scene shows that Rey will be the one who goes through Jedi training in this trilogy, by Star Wars logic, that would also seem to make her of Skywalker descent. Is the end of The Force Awakens a reunion between father and daughter, teacher and pupil, or both? Our math comes up both...but we won't really know until Episodes VIII and IX.