Rey’s vision notwithstanding, stop trying to make Reylo happen

Daisy Ridley as Rey in Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017). Image is a still via Disney/Lucasfilm on YouTube.

Rey’s vision in The Last Jedi promised that she and Kylo Ren would be “together,” but that might be the worst-case scenario in all of Star Wars history.

Perhaps the hardest thing to stomach coming of Star Wars: The Last Jedi was the possibility that Rey, our beloved independent scavenger from Jakku, would sacrifice a lot of her character growth in order to prop up the emotional immaturity of another character, specifically a male character.

As fascinating a tale as The Last Jedi was, it put all of its male characters in weird predicaments: Finn went from wanting to flee the Resistance to engaging in a full-on suicide run, Poe Dameron could barely take orders from Vice Admiral Holdo, Luke Skywalker felt guilty and therefore behaved rather coldly toward Rey, and Kylo Ren merely Kylo Renned himself into Supreme Leader status.

Despite all these things and people’s insistence that she was motivated by her romantic feelings toward the film’s villain, Rey did grow throughout the film. And, in doing so, boldly shut the door on Kylo Ren both physically, and more importantly, emotionally. In the last moment between them, the Millennium Falcon door that he despised so much closed.

Thanks to the The Last Jedi‘s illustrated novel, our sister site dedicated to all things Star Wars, Dork Side of the Force, posits that details of Rey’s vision reinforces some sort of connection between Rey and Kylo Ren, one that I maintain does not exist beyond their pull to the Force.

Here’s what the novel has to say about Rey’s “feelings”:

"Rey breathed a sigh of relief. Kylo finally had decided to join her just like she anticipated. Together they could return to Luke and rebuild a New Jedi Order. They would never have to be alone again."

The operative phrase here is their intention to “rebuild a new Jedi Order” together. Rey struggles with her identity and believes that ending the war and restoring peace to the galaxy is a crucial part of her journey. We see this demonstrated in the throne room scene where Rey asks Kylo Ren to call off the First Order’s fleet.

Furthermore, romance isn’t the only cure for loneliness. In fact, in romantic situations, it’s the best way to manipulate someone. Unfortunately, that’s what makes the possibility of “Reylo” so nauseating, because it stems from a place of deprivation and uncertainty instead of laying a foundation for a healthy or uplifting partnership.

Other excerpts from the novel include the tidbit, “She trusted that the force would guide her to kylo so she could bring him back to the light side.”

I didn’t realize that “bring him back to the light side” was code for her being in love with him. The motivation behind Luke Skywalker’s journey was to bring his father back to the light side as well; it’s kind of what heroes do.

From that single sentence, some may gather that “Rey risked it all to save the torn soul of the one she loves.” But allow me to remind you that Rey’s intention again was to bring him to the light side, feeling that, if she succeeded, they could end the war. Like Snoke, Rey understood that Kylo Ren played a huge factor in controlling the galaxy.

So, this then boils down to what really happened in The Last Jedi: Rey and Kylo Ren manipulating each other as tools to bring about what they each believed was the fate of the galaxy.