New Rise Of Skywalker Leak Reveals Major Spoiler
Contains potential spoilers for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
A Skywalker may not be the only one who rises in the newest Star Wars movie.
In a purported breakdown of the first two-thirds of The Rise of Skywalker's plot, Reddit user JediPaxis, prominent online for leaking details related to the Star Wars film franchise, has claimed that something major goes on at the end of the movie's second act. That is, that someone Star Wars fans said goodbye to just a few years ago will make an epic, unexpected return.
Before we go any further with this, possible spoilers are ahead.
JediPaxis alleges that a crucial part of The Rise of Skywalker involves the inner turmoil of Adam Driver's Kylo Ren, who has spent his adult life striving to emulate his evil grandfather Anakin Skywalker, a.k.a. Darth Vader, by rising through the ranks of the First Order and pledging allegiance to the Empire. His path of darkness has been apparent throughout The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi, but some fans have still theorized that the man formerly known as Ben Solo could be redeemed in The Rise of Skywalker. How might that happen? And what power would be great enough to convert the angsty, angry Kylo Ren from the dark side to the light?
This is where JediPaxis' breakdown comes in: the Redditor claims that none other than Kylo's father, Harrison Ford's Han Solo whom Kylo murdered in The Force Awakens, will return in The Rise of Skywalker and offer his son a chance at redemption.
The moment allegedly happens in the second act after Kylo and Rey (Daisy Ridley) engage in a tense lightsaber battle, during which both Force-sensitive fighters can feel that Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher), Kylo's mother and Rey's mentor, is dying. This heightens their emotions, and pushes Rey to grab Kylo's weapon and drive it through his chest. She tells Kylo that "she will never be like him and fall to the dark side," then she summons her "newfound healing ability to save Kylo from death." Thereafter, Rey steals Kylo's ship and Darth Vader's wayfinder device to head to Endor, leaving Kylo "broken and defeated" on the "wreckage of the second Death Star."
It's here where Han Solo reportedly appears to Kylo as a vision — a Force Ghost, we presume — and tells him "that it's never too late to return to return to the light and make the right choice." Kylo is said to be profoundly moved by the conversation with his late father, made all the more emotional by the apparent death of his mother just moments before, and decides to become Ben Solo again and return to the light side. According to JediPaxis, "In a symbolic gesture, he discards his lightsaber and walks away from darkness and the identity of Kylo Ren."
Will Han really return, and can Kylo actually be redeemed?
The idea of Kylo Ren stripping away his dark persona, reclaiming his birth name of Ben Solo, and turning to the light side is an intriguing thought — and has certainly been a hot talking point with Star Wars fans — but will it actually happen in The Rise of Skywalker? Similarly, will Harrison Ford actually circle back to the Star Wars franchise to play the character whose son killed him in cold blood?
Neither are out of the realm of possibility, given some pretty wild stuff has gone on in the Star Wars franchise before, and this plot point could pan out based on what we know about the film at this point in time.
As fans have heard at least 100 times since news of Episode IX first broke, the movie will bring the Skywalker saga (the prequels, originals, and sequels) to a definitive end, and will represent "the final battle for freedom." The eternal struggle in the Star Wars movies has always been the dark side versus the light side, a battle with which most of the universe's characters have been engaged to varying degrees. Could this final push to freedom not only mean the last fight between the First Order and the Resistance, but also a person struggle for Kylo Ren, who may finally find redemption, salvation, and the comfort he's been craving by turning to the light side? It's certainly something to chew on — especially when remembering that Kylo uttered these harrowing words in The Force Awakens: "I'm being torn apart. I want to be free of this pain. I know what I have to do, but I don't know if I have the strength to do it."
Might Han Solo, Kylo's own father, be the one to give him the strength to release himself from his pain? Killing his father may have been the thing Kylo felt he had to do, but what if abandoning the First Order, becoming Ben Solo again, and aligning with the dark side is what he wanted to do but couldn't?
Star Wars has brought dead characters back to life many a time before, so it's not unreasonable to think that Han would resurface as a vision to his son, offering him guidance at the lowest point in his life. Still, Kylo did straight-up murder Han in The Force Awakens, so there's something to be said about whether Han is the person Kylo needs strength from in order to move past his personal woes.
Another thing we must consider when pondering the possibility of Han Solo returning in The Rise of Skywalker is whether Harrison Ford would want to be a part of the film. Ford hasn't offered thoughts one way or another, which isn't surprising since secrecy is of the essence in the world of Star Wars, but he did once state that Han's death in The Force Awakens "would lend gravitas and emotional weight" to the films, and that he felt it was a "fitting use of the character." Two years later, however, screenwriters Lawrence and Jonathan Kasdan shared that Ford was surprisingly emotional while filming Han's death, reportedly thinking aloud, "Really? Maybe I..." after the scene wrapped. From our perspective, it seems like Ford may not have been entirely done with Han Solo after The Force Awakens, and there's really no better way to bring him back to the franchise than by helping redeem his wayward son.
Of course, there's the chance that this alleged plot breakdown holds no weight and what actually happens in The Rise of Skywalker isn't even remotely close to what JediPaxis has claimed will go down. Kylo could stay on the dark side, Han could stay in the great Millennium Falcon in the sky, and a completely different sequence of events could unravel. Fans will simply have to wait with bated breath to learn the truth when The Rise of Skywalker arrives in theaters on December 20.