Dark Side Rey - D23 footage

I don't know about it's greater context in the story, but I do know with 100% certainty that the enormously impractical nature of that lightsaber is all about toy sales. /smh

 

Well, my guesses are:

- Some kind of training like Luke in the cave of Dagobah;

- A clone dark side (hope not);

- Some dream or nightmare of Rey;

- Some Spell of the spirit of Palpatine on Rey...

 

Somehow, but not necessarily in the way a lot of people are thinking.

I'm so incredibly hyped for this movie, but the marketing has seemed... odd. Like, the reveal of Palpatine, the reveal of some incarnation of a darkside Rey... those are some HUGE twists for a trilogy that's done a relatively good job at keeping things under wraps pre-release.

I think the big question is "What don't we know"? Because if they're willing to reveal these things so relatively early in the marketing campaign, I can't help but think that there's some positively wild stuff that we have no idea about.

Spoiler

Anyway, I know I'm not the first to say it, but the "clone" theory initially was really offputting to me, but it's quickly winning me over. First of all, there's obviously this scene from TLJ, that makes a lot more sense in that context (I never got how a bajillion Reys was somehow metaphorical for "your parents were no one):




Then it could have some positively wild connotations. Have wee seen the Sith Troopers unmasked? The Praetorian guards?

How about the Knights of Ren...?

The possibilities are wild, and while I'm still not totally sold, I'd be curious to how this type of story could be handled. It certainly fits in with the theme of Rey's identity and trying to find her place in the galaxy.

 

That scene definitely makes the clone theory make more sense, but I still don't like the clone idea. I thought it worked really well for the stormtroopers and for making an army and all that, but not for dealing with major characters and their mysterious origins. Also, even if we haven't seen the KoR unmasked, I'd be willing to bet that Kylo Ren has.

 

The only way Dark Rey works (as in actual Rey, none of this clone nonsense) is if Kylo is redeemed and embraces himself fully as Ben Solo. But then it leaves Rey's story unfinished and open and won't really END the Skywalker saga.

 

I would find it really difficult to explain that Rey is a clone from a story perspective.

 

I definitely think it is more than what it seems. At this point Dark Rey does not make any sense. She has been built up to be the heroine in the first two movies so to turn her now doesn’t work well. Besides they are still marketing her as the heroine in both the teaser and this sizzle reel with Luke’s voiceover

 

So, the consensus is that ‘Darkside Rey’ looks strange and something is off with her, along with Zori Bliss being involved somehow. I agree with this completely.

My guess…

Cloning is going to be part of this movie. It is a part of the prequels, and it was a part of the EU/Legends stories. It’s one of the ways they’re bringing everything ‘full circle’ for the finale.

Just like Jango Fett was used as a genetic template for the clone army in AOTC, Zori Bliss was used for the same purpose… as a cloning template.




When seen in her armor, Zori Bliss looks like a mixture of both Jango Fett and Zam Wesell from AOTC.




Beneath her armor however, she looks a lot like someone else we know… Rey.



Keri Russell looks exactly like an older clone of Daisy Ridley!


Zori Bliss = Jango Fett

Rey Bliss = Boba Fett


Zori Bliss was cloned because of her extremely high Midi-Chlorian count. She agreed to the cloning under the condition that she was allowed to keep a single, unaltered clone for herself to raise as her own. (Sound familiar?) Upon being given this baby clone, she immediately regretted her decision, destroyed her genetic sample and ran off with her only clone ever to be produced.

Due to being continuously hunted, Zori left the clone child in the middle of a desert wasteland under the watchful eye of a junk trader she knew from her past dealings as a bounty hunter.




So yeah, Rey is a clone of Zori Bliss…


This also explains the ‘Multiple Rey’ scene in TLJ, tying everything even more beautifully together.




As for the whole 'Darkside Rey' thing... totally a vision scene. It probably has to do with the reveal that Rey was originally created to be used by the Darkside in some way.




…or at least a *Broom Boy* can dream…




“Ride the Tide”

-SOAS

 

The Throne room fight she ironically showed way more anger (anger is a path to the dark side) then Kylo, Luke sensed she had dark side tendencies, and her vision had Palpatine in it. I believe she even screams in anger in the vision? It's certainly not Luke's "no", both Kylo and Rey sensed they would join each other. So there are setups where it would be real.

 

I'm in the camp that it could be a Dark Side Rey Clone and it was part of Palpatine's master plan all along. He created a good/evil Rey to keep balance of the Force, and stuck her on Jakku hoping to never be found. That would jive with TLJ in that her visions in the cave on Ach-Tu were of herself (endless Rey's), which would have been a metaphor that she was a clone and was sold by filthy junk traders cause they weren't her real parents.

 

In what vision of Rey's did Palpatine appear? That's not ringing a bell.

 

I'm pretty much convinced it's this exactly. But honestly? I could see myself embracing something crazier than that. A "Revan twist" would be cool if only we hadn't had it in Star Wars before. Because - why does cool/intriguing stuff always have to be a vision? Looking at you, KoR/Luke shots from TFA...

On a side note, I think it would be pretty cool if they just went for it and released some dark Rey merch on Force Friday. It's in the movie in some capacity and we've already seen it, so why not have some fun with it?

 

You hear Palpatine say "any Jedi".
"Be careful of the Jedi, Anakin. Only through me can you achieve a power greater than any Jedi. Learn to use the Dark Side of the Force and you will be able to save your wife from certain death."

 

Palpatine reveals he is really Rey.

Palpatine cackles..."didn't take me for a girl did you bwahahahahha. I fooled you all."

Kylo"Grooosss and I force skyped with you and we touched and you seen me shirtless. Now you're gonna die. I hate you!."

 

I'd like to add that I could potentially dig it if it turned out that the good Rey is a clone of the dark Rey. If properly executed, of course... First she had to embrace being "a nobody" and stand on her own. Now she would have an even harder pill to swallow - being "just a clone" of somebody else. Somebody evil. It would take the theme of Rey searching for her identity a whole step further, but of course, she would overcome because of the lesson in TLJ. And it would kinda explain a lot of stuff about why she's so powerful and why her past seems so mysterious.

To me, though, the biggest giveaway that this might be a vision, is the unstable lightsaber blade. It seems to blatantly show us what would happen if Rey and Kylo swapped places. Which makes me wonder if we're gonna see a light side version of Kylo. Perhaps the full scene is a vision of Luke and Ben facing dark Rey?

 

My guess:

Given the background (a shadowy metallic interior), I think this takes place on the Death Star wreckage. With that in mind, I think we're seeing a sort of "guardian spirit"/force vision that Palpatine uses to ward off intruders. A sort of worthiness test for Rey to pass before she can continue, like Yoda facing Dark Yoda in the Clone Wars.

 

The whole Rey dark side thing is a pretty obvious misdirection. KK would never let her pet character be blemished. The best-worst case scenario is the whole clone thing but I going with the whole force vision of what the future could entail if she chooses one path over another.

 

Palpatine=Darth Plagueis=Rey. He cheated death and came back as Rey. Hence no known origin.

That or a massive misdirection.