Does the Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker D23 trailer reveal Dark Rey?

Star WarsBy Gavin Aug 26, 2019Comments

This weekend past the D23 expo drew to a close after unveiling the first trailer for The Mandalorian and announcing the return of Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan Kenobi. While this news was welcomed by fans what many were really holding out for was some new footage from the forthcoming Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, and here it is...

The first half of this new trailer features select footage from previous eight movies of the saga, with the second half of the trailer featuring all-new footage, and it is with this new footage that we see some reveals. The first of which looks like a celebration of the resistances victory, maybe...

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Then along with shots of multiple Star Destroyer's we see what appears to be the resistance fleet, which features X-Wings, Y-Wings, B-Wings, A-Wings, a Corellian Freighter (possibly Leia's Tantive IV), and what looks to be Hera Syndulla's Ghost from Star Wars Rebels.

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Of course, the main talking point of this new trailer is the closing footage, which starts with a close up on a darkly hooded Rey, with what looks to be two red lightsabers being held off-camera which is then revealed in a medium shot and a flick of the wrist to be a folding dual lightsaber staff, similar to that used by Darth Maul. Speculation about this scene has been rife with some postulating that this final clip may be from a vision.

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Looking at this trailer I myself pondered another possibility; that the character in the final clip is what I would call Dark Rey. However, I do no think this is revealing that Rey will turn to the dark side, as I believe this is not actually Rey, but a clone. Let me summarise my theory here...

Jakku, Reys home, is reportedly where Emperor Palpatine's contingency plan was based (Aftermath). I believe this contingency plan was to clone (a la Clone Troopers) a vessel powerful in the force (maybe cloned from Anakin's DNA), with the intention being that this body is to become host to Palpatine himself (a thing in Star Wars legends apparently). As alluded to in The Last Jedi's cave vision, Rey could be one of these clones, as too would be the "Dark Rey" seen in the new trailer. It could be that Rey was allowed to leave the contingency cloning base so that she could seek out and learn the ways of the Jedi, which once assimilated by Palpatine upon him possessing her body would make him the most powerful force user ever. However to defeat one as powerful as Rey so that he could possess her the Emperor would need an equally powerful opponent; a Dark Rey.

Also as many have commented on, the inevitability that Rey and Kylo Ren will again face each other in yet another lightsaber duel is far from a tantalizing prospect. However, the possibility of Rey dueling an enemy as equally powerful as herself but that has been trained in the dark side of the force by one of its greatest practitioners is a much more enticing possibility.

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