Warning: This story has spoilers for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker writer Chris Terrio reveals the film's ending is meant to rectify Luke and Leia's separation in Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith. The Rise of Skywalker caps off the decades-long saga by closing the door on the Skywalker line. The massive finale of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker earned mixed reviews, finding itself with lower audience and critics scores than previous installments. Debates have sparked up surrounding some of the film's biggest moments, including the ending.
Having defeated the Sith and the First Order once and for all, Rey (Daisy Ridley) visits the planet that started it all: Tatooine. She returns to the old farm where Luke (Mark Hamill) grew up and buries his and Leia's (Carrie Fisher) lightsabers in the sand. Moments later, a passerby asks her who she is, and Rey responds by saying she is a Skywalker. This marks a conscious effort on her part to remove herself from her true dark heritage as a Palpatine and realign herself with the people who taught and cared for her.
In a conversation with IndieWire, Terrio shed more light on Rey's actions on Tatooine and what they were meant to symbolize. After insisting that the intention wasn't to suggest Rey would now be living on Tatooine, Terrio went on to explain that Rey's decision to bury Luke and Leia's lightsabers side by side was "just paying her respects and sort of undoing the original sin at the end of the third movie, which is the separation of the twins." Revenge of the Sith ends with Luke and Leia being separated as babies to keep them safe from their father Anakin (Hayden Christensen) now that he's fully joined the dark side as Darth Vader. Terrio added that since Leia's home planet had been destroyed, having her lightsaber on Tatooine would be like Luke bringing her to his home.
Terrio then went on to say that the return to Tatooine served two purposes: A way for the sequel trilogy to pay its respects to George Lucas and all he created, and a way for Rey to put Luke and Leia to rest. As Terrio explains, "Her eyes light up in ‘Episode 7’ when she hears the name Luke Skywalker, and so we thought it was a fitting end, that now she, having become part of the Skywalker legacy, would lay the sabers to rest and lay them to rest together."
Like all big finales, much of The Rise of Skywalker has been discussed and debated in the days following its release, and that will likely not change for a very long time. There was no way Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker was going to please everyone, since fans have their own opinions about how things should go. However, it might be safe to say that Terrio and the rest of the filmmakers' intentions behind Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker's final moments were good. Luke and Leia began the Skywalker saga together in the very first Star Wars, and it's fitting that they should be the ones whose memories bring it to a close.
Source: IndieWire