Daisy Ridley Says Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Deals with “Reylo”
You have to admit, it’s a pretty catchy portmanteau. Star-crossed from the start, Rey (Daisy Ridley) and Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) have been frenemies since Star Wars: The Force Awakens, J.J. Abrams’ 2015 film that introduced the world to the newest (and possibly most potent) Force users in the galaxy. They clashed dramatically at the end of Force Awakens, with Rey getting the best of Kylo in a big way. Things got more…complicated, in Rian Johnson’s The Last Jedi. This is when Rey and Kylo began speaking—from planets and lightyears apart—via some kind of Force connection, able to see each other and hear each other. Also, in one of these sequences, Kylo was shirtless. So there was that. And then they found themselves on the same side of galactic history when they teamed up—with Kylo turning on his master, no less—and took out Supreme Leader Snoke and all his henchmen. All this has led to the portmanteau “Reylo,” as their relationship, no matter how you define it, is undeniably dynamic.
Yet things took another turn towards a darker direction when neither Rey or Kylo could convince the other to switch sides. The Last Jedi ended with Kylo doing his level best to obliterate Rey and the Resistance. We know they’ll clash again in The Rise of Skywalker. Heck, we’ve learned their lightsaber duel took six days to film. Now we know, courtesy of Daisy Ridley herself, that the “Reylo” relationship will be sorted out one way or another in The Rise of Skywalker.
Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Ridley had this to say about the “Reylo” situation:
“It does not bother me, people writing theories. It’s really fun hearing them. Plus, because I know what’s sort of going to happen, I think it’ll be really interesting to see people’s reaction to [the final film]. Obviously, there’s this whole Reylo thing and some people are very passionate about it, some aren’t… J.J. does deal [with it]. It’s a very complex issue. People talk about toxic relationships and whatever it is. It’s no joke and I think it’s dealt with really well because it’s not skimmed over.”
The Rise of Skywalker‘s co-writer Chris Terrio has already said that the film will get to the bottom of who, exactly, Rey is. Her journey has always been connected to Kylo Ren’s, as the two have often acted as two polar extremes on either end of the Force spectrum. Rey fighting for the light, Kylo for the Dark Side. How their dynamic ends up will be a major part of The Rise of Skywalker‘s storyline, and might, just might, have a whole lot to do with answering the riddle that’s right there in the title.
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker hits theaters on December 20, 2019.
Featured image: Rey (Daisy Ridley) in STAR WARS: EPISODE IX. Courtesy Lucasfilm/Walt Disney Studios
