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ST Rey should have joined the dark side and become Empress.

Discussion in 'Sequel Trilogy' started by Darth Gerbil, May 16, 2020.

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Should Rey have joined the dark side?

  1. Yes

    44 vote(s)
    49.4%
  2. No

    40 vote(s)
    44.9%
  3. Undecided

    5 vote(s)
    5.6%
  1. FightoftheForgotten

    FightoftheForgotten Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    May 19, 2020
    Watching the OT, I never expected Luke to go to the dark side given the nature of the films... but Luke's character was written well enough that you still believed he COULD go to the dark side, especially after his attack on Vader near the end of ROTJ

    Rey, on the other hand, is written so poorly that the reason you don't think she'll go to the dark side isn't the nature of the story itself, it's just that she is so flatly developed.

    No one is upset that Rey didn't go to the dark side for story purposes, but people are let down that there wasn't even enough thought put into her character to make a fall to the dark side even remotely believable.
     
    AusStig likes this.
  2. QUIGONMIKE

    QUIGONMIKE Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jan 5, 2009
    Yes. I initially wanted at least Ben to remain bad but Rey changing over would have been lights out cool. Of course, as has been stated, no way Disney was going to do that. I’m shocked they allowed Ben to kill his dad.
     
    Last edited: Jun 9, 2020
    AusStig likes this.
  3. Starith

    Starith Jedi Master star 3

    Registered:
    Apr 5, 2020
    The PT.

    But yeah, it seems pretty rare and seemed unlikely to happen with Rey, especially with Disney touting that TROS was the end of the saga.

    I was talking about Rey being dark from the get-go, having her in Kylo's role as the main ST villain, not really her being good and turning evil. Though I think I'd prefer that over the ending we got with Rey.
     
    Last edited: Jun 9, 2020
    AusStig and QUIGONMIKE like this.
  4. zackm

    zackm Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Dec 22, 2015
    But not really. Anakin had been a bad guy for 19 years by the time the PT got started.
     
    Bor Mullet likes this.
  5. QUIGONMIKE

    QUIGONMIKE Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jan 5, 2009
    Gotchya. Rey being dark right out of the gate? Yeah, I’m down.
     
  6. Deanna Montgomery

    Deanna Montgomery Jedi Master star 1

    Registered:
    Oct 3, 2014
    I didn't expect Rey to turn dark, nor was I upset about it. I view this as a fun what if.

    True, it was highly unlikely it would ever happen, but wow I would have enjoyed it, had the story been told well. I'm a huge Ventress fan and I enjoy well written female adversaries.There just aren't enough of them, imo, especially in the SW universe. DC and Marvel figured this out a long time ago. LOL
     
    anakinfansince1983 likes this.
  7. Esperanza_Nueva

    Esperanza_Nueva Jedi Grand Master star 6

    Registered:
    Feb 23, 2003
    I don't agree with the opinion that Rey should have turned to the dark side, but I think this is a very valid point.

    I think that people at times are confusing what's "corporate" and what's archetypal. The Star Wars movies are quintessentially archetypal, and the conclusion of the Skywalker saga was never going to be anything other than the hero's journey. What they arguably failed to do was to give our main hero (Rey) the proper trials and tests to make her last victory feel earned (and I think that has a lot to do with the lack of story-mapping and the director "hand-off" approach they chose). I do think that Abrams tried in The Last Jedi, I really do, to show the conflict in Rey, and I think he did what he could. I actually think the bravest thing they could have done was actually have Rey kill Chewbacca and then have to grapple with that the rest of the movie.
     
  8. sian1965

    sian1965 Jedi Knight star 4

    Registered:
    Apr 26, 2020
    As I've said before I would have liked it if Rey had joined Kylo out of a desire to use her influence on him for good, and they ended up finding a middle ground.
    I think I've also said this before (sorry, my age is showing) , but does anyone remember the Jet Li film Hero? The ending genuinely stunned me. Li's character left the despotic Chinese warlord in charge, because he was uniting the warring clans and bringing peace to China.
    What if Rey helped Kylo turn the FO from a totalitarian regime into a sterner version of the New Republic, which brought peace to the galaxy and a balance between the light and dark sides of the Force? And how would her friends in the Resistance feel about it? Would they accept it, or would they turn against Rey?


    It would have been interesting, I think.
     
  9. StartCenterEnd

    StartCenterEnd Jedi Grand Master star 3

    Registered:
    May 2, 2006
    Rey turning bad and becoming Empress with a redeemed Ben having to choose duty over love and kill her to save the galaxy is the exact ending of Game of Thrones that everyone seems to also hate. You just can't please everyone.
     
  10. Skywalker Family

    Skywalker Family Jedi Master star 3

    Registered:
    Mar 15, 2017
    I voted Yes. It would have been something different. They could have tried. Maybe when Rey was talking about how she saw herself evil we could have seen more of it.
     
  11. Sauron_18

    Sauron_18 Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Apr 1, 2005
    What would’ve been crazy and cool to see is Rey killing Palpatine, becoming one with him and all the Sith, and still overpowering him internally with the help of all the Jedi.

    That way she could’ve stopped the battle with a simple command, and the galaxy would’ve been left in a very interesting and different situation where they don’t just have to defeat their enemies, they have to live with them afterward.
     
  12. QUIGONMIKE

    QUIGONMIKE Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jan 5, 2009
    Right on! That final statement made by her would have made me stand up and cheer. As I watch the sequels more and more I can get into her character a litte more but I still feel it was a lost opportunity overall. Ben carried the sequels, IMO. I would be so interested in a "bad" Rey going forward. The possibilities would be endless and they'd have a lot of angle to work with. Oh well.
     
    Deanna Montgomery likes this.
  13. Lobey-One Kenobi

    Lobey-One Kenobi Jedi Master star 3

    Registered:
    Nov 30, 2009
    I don't think this is a fair criticism, to be honest. You start off by saying there's been no Dark Sider in the Disney films but then compare it to the Lucas EU, but the Lucas EA wasn't films, and the canon EU DOES have Darksiders - both the Second and Ninth Sisters from Jedi Fallen Order were really interesting characters, didn't fall under any obvious trope as far as I can see and had very different stories from each other.

    __

    To answer OP, I voted 'no' for Rey turning to the Dark Side, it would have been cool if as other posters said we had Ben and Rey switching halfway through the trilogy and both joining opposite sides, seeing Empress Palpatine would also have been cool but I like what we got even if the trilogy as a whole is quite mismatched in its tone, style and even plot points - which is really just down to Rian Johnson, let's be honest (not meant as a dig, moreso that he had a different vision than Abrams and didn't know at the time Abrams was going to come back and revert everything).

    As for criticisms of Rey taking the Skywalker name 'not making sense' I don't agree with that either. I thought that was a neat conclusion. Palpatine ruined Anakin's life, he manipulated him and turned him into a lapdog for almost 20 years. He tried to turn and then tortured Anakin's son, and then indirectly caused Anakin's grandson to turn to the Dark Side and ruined his life too. Having Palpatine's own granddaughter killing him was a great piece of revenge, but then to have his bloodline live on under the name of Skywalker? That really is the final nail in a coffin that would make Palpatine turn in his grave. His entire life devoted to chaos, and evil, and finally it all meant nothing - because his family lives on on the side of the light, under the family name of the family that stood in his way at all the pivotal moments. I think that's a neat conclusion.
     
    Last edited: Aug 4, 2020
  14. dagenspear

    dagenspear Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Sep 9, 2015
    The comparison was between the EU and the five Disney films. Not the whole EU. Though both the darksiders there were more henchpeople.
     
    Last edited: Aug 5, 2020
  15. Bor Mullet

    Bor Mullet Force Ghost star 7

    Registered:
    Apr 6, 2018
    Wouldn’t have been a good idea. And there’s nothing particularly creative about it. It’s about the laziest “shock value” kind of thing I can think of. Only a temporary lapse, ala Frodo, could have worked.
     
    Riv_Shiel likes this.
  16. Lobey-One Kenobi

    Lobey-One Kenobi Jedi Master star 3

    Registered:
    Nov 30, 2009
    But the comparison doesn't make sense, is the problem.
     
  17. Martin Hoffmann

    Martin Hoffmann Jedi Youngling star 1

    Registered:
    Nov 14, 2020
    I wouldn't have found it bad if Rey had switched to the dark side (after Snoke's death) in the middle of Episode VIII and Ben Solo joins the light side.

    Ben kills Snoke to save Rey and Rey think that Snoke was right and joins the dark side. Somthing like that ...
     
    Glitterstimm likes this.
  18. ScreamingWoman2019

    ScreamingWoman2019 Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Aug 11, 2018
    Empress Palpatine was destroyed when Palpatine was destroyed. That possible future. That vision.

    But Dark Rey was not the same possible future. The ring. The double blade.

    Rey Skywalker is not there yet. No double blade. What -who- lies ahead?

    Who was Vader in the Dagobah cave, but Dark Luke? Who was Dark Luke, but Vader?
    Dark Rey wears no mask...but, unlike Vader/Dark Luke, she speaks, and that seems to be her mask. 'Never be afraid of who you are'. That's Leia.

    Dark Rey+Leia=Dark Mother.

    [Palpatine]killed my mother, says Rey. But we don't see it. Must have been true.

    Luke's father was murdered by Vader. That was true too.

    'The dead speak!'

    Also, Victoria Mahoney moodboard:
    https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DtNrAesXQAEaQky.jpg
    (This looks like the granny/wolf thing in Little Red Riding Hood. But we know the wolf to be dead, and not a wolf anymore)
     
    Last edited: Mar 3, 2021
  19. DarkGingerJedi

    DarkGingerJedi Chosen One star 6

    Registered:
    Nov 21, 2012
    I honestly cannot understand a thing you're saying. lol
     
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  20. Knights Of The Ren Table

    Knights Of The Ren Table Jedi Padawan

    Registered:
    Aug 21, 2020
    If Rey joins the dark side and commits crimes, she wouldn't be a hero anymore, how does this play out?
     
  21. Lobot's Wig

    Lobot's Wig Jedi Knight star 4

    Registered:
    Dec 13, 2020
    Rey and Kylo ruling the Galaxy on the Dark Side by the end of Episode 9 would have been right up my alley. But I love downbeat, dark endings.
     
  22. Glitterstimm

    Glitterstimm Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Dec 30, 2017
    As wild as this might sound, I think it would have been an improvement for the ST. It would solve two main problems, the issue of Rey not having compelling crises to overcome, to make it feel like she's in danger, and the problem of Kylo/Ben's face-turn being too rushed. It would have made Luke's dilemma much more interesting as well. Not saying it would have necessarily been well-executed by Abrams and Johnson, but it would have been more compelling than the story we got imo, although I think Rey would have still needed to turn back to being a good guy in Ep IX to finish the saga on an upbeat.
     
    Last edited: Mar 4, 2021
  23. godisawesome

    godisawesome Skywalker Saga Undersheriff star 6 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Dec 14, 2010
    It's the "Empress" part I don't support.

    Count me in on the idea of her going dark in opposition to the First Order, Palpatine, and Kylo, and all things included therein, and we're cooking. I'm a sucker for the whole "become your enemy" idea, but especially if the original conflict doesn't die and we've simply gained two villains instead of one.
     
    Glitterstimm likes this.
  24. Sauron_18

    Sauron_18 Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Apr 1, 2005
    There is one way this could have worked for me. Rey strikes Palpatine down and he vanishes, mirroring Obi-Wan's death in ANH. Then the battle switches to the spiritual plane. Palpatine tries to control Rey with the intention of taking over her body.

    That said, this would have been too much, even for Star Wars. I don't even like the idea of other spirits showing up in Exegol visibly. But maybe there's a way they could've made a battle on the spiritual plane work out. I'm not sure how, though.
     
  25. DarkGingerJedi

    DarkGingerJedi Chosen One star 6

    Registered:
    Nov 21, 2012
    Considering it is her birthright, it could have actually been an intriguing idea. She takes the reigns over the FO, becomes Empress of the Galaxy, in a good side way, and then charges Ben Solo-Skywalker to rebuild the Jedi Order to protect the realms.

    Or something. Rise of Skywalker probably would have made more sense this way.