Part 35 of 43 Individual Scenes from ‘Rise of Skywalker’
It’s the big moment, the climax of the movie. The chips are down, everything looks desperate, Rey is flat on her back seeing an evil electrical storm mildly inconvenience her friends. But here to provide her with moral support is the spirit of all the Jedis past, speaking to us with familiar, learned voices. Inspired, she rises.
And I’m really struggling here because this is the point at which my approach to the film where I’m trying to take it as a complete work in itself, and not as the culmination or even continuation of anything, breaks down completely. You could perform some mental gymnastics and declare that this is just regular film nonsense, after all it is a hammy old plot element most often seen in children’s cartoons, where everyone gets together and wishes the hero onwards. But it’s impossible to ignore that in a universe where this is the only Star Wars film that exists, we would have no idea who these people are.
If these voices aren’t the voices of Star Wars characters then they’re just maddening random voices. No other character has even suggested that a voice in your head might be a good thing or worth listening to. Nothing in the movie has contributed to an expectation that the resolution might involve a chorus of ancestors wishing Rey good luck. On its own terms it’s totally left field. Within the context of this movie, the only thing we have to interpret this scene is what Palpatine said in the very last scene to Kylo Ren: “I was every voice that ever spoke in your head”. If Kylo hadn’t fallen down that hole maybe he could have warned her.
And if we break with the rules and accept that this scene has to have the wider context of the Star Wars universe to make it intelligible? The meaning you get is that every bozo in Star Wars history has made a comeback to stand behind Rey. The people who failed the Republic wish her on. The guys who wanted Luke to kill Vader want to chip in. Vader himself wants to have a word. A bunch of people from the cartoon want to sound off. And Luke himself, who raised his hand against his own kin and caused this mess – and as if he hasn’t been in this film enough already – he wants to sign his name right at the bottom.
Regardless of whether it’s a Sith trick or a clown car of ghost failures, this performance inspires Rey back onto her feet; from here all the way back in Scene 17 she used the power of two lightsabers to turn the old man to dust. In a sense, it’s right that Obi-wan and Yoda are here because this is the scene where their approach is vindicated, where Palpatine does have to be defeated by a warrior of faith armed with a big stick (two sticks). Mace Windu was right to say that Palpatine was too dangerous to be left alive. Qui-gon Jinn was right to… wait, why was Qui-gon Jinn here? He died before Sheev became Chancellor!