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Prediction #4 - Ben Solo and Rey are (and always have been) End Game

From the beginning, TFA, JJ likens Kylo to a handsome prince in the director’s commentary, and later refers to Rey as Cinderella descending the stairs to find the saber. A prince and a princess. Rey and Ren. (I talk about this here.) This is called a bridal carry and it is their first meeting.

You can catch Predictions #2 & #3 for some of my references here if you want:   https://southernbeastsnorthernbound.tumblr.com/post/182278658793/prediction-2-rey-is-still-a-kenobi    https://southernbeastsnorthernbound.tumblr.com/post/182326914733/3-gray

Anyway, Ben and Rey. Their relationship, whatever form it takes, is the point of this Trilogy.

First it was Anakin and Obi-Wan, and Anakin and Padme, then it was Luke and Darth Vader, and now it is Rey and Ben. What do the previous conflicts have in common? There’s a relationship between these characters, mostly familial, as there will be in the next episode. Their drama is not over, in fact, it has just begun.

Rey and Ren are yin and yang. 

Push and pull. Light and dark. 

If you ever wondered why they made a point of Rey’s “going straight to the dark” despite her being a literal ray of goodness in TLJ, it is to mirror Ben’s “pull to the light” in TFA. They both posses an inherent pull to each other’s side, and this will enable them to find a middle ground-- together. Gray. It’s called foreshadowing.

My best guess is that, like in the force bond scenes of TLJ, their relationship will feel romantic in nature if not said outright. This is important because it is my belief that the deciding factor that pulls the sides together is that *deep breath* children will be involved. Not symbolic ones. Real, squealing infants. I originally thought all the sexual imagery of TLJ was to symbolize the “rebirth” of the Resistance. But I now believe that to be a red herring of sorts. It is all pointing to “Creation.”

^”The Creation of Adam” in the Sistine Chapel, the most famous, historical illustration of biblical creation we have. Original Creation. Divine Creation.

Anakin, the bringer of war and imbalance, was born of immaculate conception. Like Mary and Jesus.

To come full circle, the bringer of peace and balance, should be born of immaculate conception as well.

How? Well, Ben IS Anakin’s grandson. And genes often skip a generation, including the probability of twins.

I think that’s why ^this^ moment is filmed the way it is: incredibly important, the way the two main characters treat this shared experience like it’s something life-changing and sacred,

the way it feels like a sex scene despite it being a fucking handshake. It is why Rey ships herself to what seems like certain death. It is why Kylo kills the only person he’s ever had a real connection with. It is why Kylo makes his own kind of “proposal” to rule the galaxy with her. He is playing house. They are about to have a Force-made family, and their is an instinctual part of them that already knows it.

His speech is even comically similar to the one his grandfather made to the grandmother-to-be.

It is why the scene following the “consummation” of the #fingertouch is Kylo’s commitment to killing his master, a father figure, to take his place as head of a metaphorical house. A marriage of violence before Snoke with the Guards as witnesses,

a honeymoon of working as a unit for the first time (facing the Praetorian guards) notice the very specific choreography (these stunts are rigorously planned) of Rey’s groin/hip grab, giving all kinds of sexual connotations (not to mention the above gif w/ Rey kneeling, just look at the entirety of that scene again which nears a rape scene “Give me everything” w/ Rey on her back)

followed by a battle scene that includes all the phallic and vaginal imagery of Crait, a womb-like mine being torn open, the red, blood-like gashes of the sand and salt thats spills out, leading out to a fiery dawn, and Luke the original immaculate son’s son.

Not to mention, they equally, two halves of the same whole, split Anakin’s lightsaber.  Like this--

The first step of making a baby: a zygote splits. In the film, literally everything parallels them splitting the saber together. (We should make that an innuendo, “hey baby wanna split the ol’ saber?”) Holdo goes to hyperspace, Finn and Rose are about to be separated from their heads, and everything pauses and goes silent as EVERYTHING splits in half at once.

Rey and Kylo Ren will have kids, possibly twins.

Another theme returning. The twin suns of Tatooine. The twins of Luke and Leia. The duality of the Force. Luke even sees two suns again as he dies, a smile: the future.

I originally was like WHY IS LUKE SMILING AT THE SUN AND WHY DID NO ONE ON THE VFX TEAM RETOUCH THAT SPOT OUT OF THE FIRST SUN.

And then,

I’m reaching. Anyway.

How would Rey get pregnant? I’m by no means some romantic that thinks “Reylo” could ever happen in a traditional sense. But well. It ends as it began. With immaculate conception. The force made it possible before. And it will do it again. The force WANTS balance. And it wanted Kylo and Rey to find each other for this purpose. It is why the Force Bond continues at the end of TLJ despite Snoke being dead. For this “Peace and Purpose.” For this joining of “great dark and great light.” Divine conception communicated via film in the most universally understood image of it.

^ Notice anything familiar? ^ #fingertouch

Artists makes these references on purpose. See “allusion.”

And Rey doesn’t walk away from her choice to briefly side with Ben unscathed, remember? She gets stabbed, and the cinematographer makes a point to frame the drama of it carefully. 

We see it. 

Ben sees it.

It fuels him to fight harder.

As it does her. (You can already see what it will look like here. The wound is a very specific shape on her arm)

And then later it looks like this in her skin. And is shown this way even in the poster on my wall. 

It’s a depiction of two damn hands.

Her body has been changed by this experience on this surface level, symbolizing the two hands touching, to hint that perhaps she is leaving with a bigger change within that we cannot yet see.

For anyone fighting the concept of a romantic/sexual/familial relationship, albeit an unconventional one, between Rey and Ren, here are some proverbial nails for your proverbial coffins.

-The fact that (confirmed in concept art) this reflection originally revealed a half and half face of Kylo and Rey.

More important, if this was a possibility, as it stands, two shadows become one when she asks to see “her parents.”

Two parents, become one, to create this would-be Rey/Ren half and half that Rey later admits was her looking for “answers.” She thinks these are non-answers about her past, her being a nobody. What if this reveal was instead the future? A lot to unpack as, in its final form in TLJ, it is just Rey looking at her own reflection. But the context is there when we see what could’ve been and almost was.  

-The incredible inclusion of Ben SWOLO and Rey blushing like a school girl, muttering about cowls, as she gazes at her sworn enemy.

-These looks and Rey making lover-like pleas in an elevator

-When Kylo went from this snide predator

-to this consent-craving cinnamon roll.

-When Kylo, from the beginning, tried to attach himself to Rey’s future.

Hey Ben, your Disney is showing.

-When Rey, like a protector, faces Luke when she suspects he tried to murder Ben Solo and doomed the goodness in him to be snuffed out, creating Kylo Ren

-Just the entirety of this painful exchange: 

And Rey’s sincere want to believe in Ben Solo’s goodness.

This nothing short of THIRSTY expression that follows their victory. (Watch this scene again seeing Kylo’s expression as desire and honestly its a little frightening, Rey kinda looks at him knowingly for a hot sec then turns and scurries away about saving the fleet)

He even stands up and dramatically tosses the staff aside, as if setting up that end-of-action-movie-warrior-couple-runs-into-each-others-arms moment

I could do a whole essay on the neat ways the storytellers try to match these two up with subtle and not-so-subtle threads, so I’ll stop here.

Anyway, this is another reason I think Rey is a Kenobi. If Disney were to make her a “nobody” destined to birth Skywalker babies like nothing more than a reproductive vessel, it would be an insult to the heroine she is. At least if she’s a Kenobi, she has her own line to continue and protect. Also, let’s tie up them old themes of the Kenobi/Skywalker legacy and heal those wounds with a baby or two.

In the end, the Star Wars Saga has always been about FAMILY. With Han and Luke dead and Carrie Fischer unable to return to the narrative in a meaningful way, there is no “family” left to follow the drama of, to close the loop. Not unless we continue one with the characters that already exist and whom we’re already attached to. Enter Rey and Ben and some rugrats. 

Don’t mind us, it’s just two mothers, 

with the zygote sword and her hand practically resting on her belly saying “We have everything we need.” The last line of the movie. Bye.

(don’t get me started on what this damn awkward (seemingly purposeful since they hold so long and its such a flat choice) shot composition looks like)

Daisy and Carrie make up that triangle shape of Christ, because between them, in Rey’s womb, is an immaculate bun in the oven. I’m done.

Stick around if you wanna hear more about Kylo Ren in prediction #5-- “What happens to Ben Solo in Episode IX″

[halfbittenmoon]

3. GRAY

The Resistance won’t win. Neither will The First Order. This is no longer about good and evil. This is about balance. And therefore, the conclusion will not see a side “win” in the traditional sense. BALANCE.

As seen in Lesson One with Luke and Rey.

Here’s the first page of content in the novelization of The Force Awakens:

The Original Trilogy saw light win out over dark. Luke rose up in adversity, in a Sith-controlled Empire, and inspired the light in his father through a familial bond, an instinctual love.

The Prequel Trilogy saw how dark originally took over the light in the first place. Anakin was a good kid who grew up in the Jedi-Controlled republic, made all the wrong choices, and by adulthood committed himself to the dark side to save his true love and their impending family.

This trilogy will not tread over old ground in the black and white of light vs. dark. But it will revisit the concept of love. This can be seen in the INCREDIBLY sexually-charged and infamous “finger-touch.” Something existed (exists?) between Kylo Ren and Rey. Something other than Snoke’s force bond. This bond/compassion/love (romantic or not) will not bring on the light or the dark again. It will not “turn” either of them (as they whispered so intimately in the elevator) It will “make gray” this time. Love is always what wins or loses the war in this franchise. When good meets evil, the conflict always boils down to a question of love and compassion. This will be no different. The difference lies in that love will not choose a side. Like a “marriage,” resolution will come in the form of compromise. Black and white will make gray.

Love connections that turned the tides at the climaxes and conclusions:

Anakin made terrible choices to save his wife, Padme.

Luke refused to kill his own father, Darth Vader.

Obi-Wan showed mercy to Anakin, his “brother” (or didn’t)

Anakin saves his son, who in turn redeemed him and wanted to save him.

These are familial ties and themes of sympathy that trickle through in every episode. Redemption and Family. This is the heart of Star Wars. Good vs. evil and the love between it all.

The irony here is that Kylo is literally telling the audience how this will end, old cycles will come crashing down, except as Crabby ‘Ol Uncle Luke would say to his nephew--

It won’t be in death as Ben Solo predicts. It will be in rebirth that all is undone, a theme so eloquently restated many times in TLJ and the overtly symbolic imagery in the Battle of Crait. And what is born will be GRAY. (among other things, but more on that later)

^Luke literally being reborn through the vaginal opening of the Resistance that was created by THIS RIDICULOUSLY PHALLIC MONSTROSITY from the First Order

Anyway, my FAVORITE nuance to the “Gray” we are coming to is that THIS ALL STARTED WITH GRAY.

Our most universally-known example of a “gray” is Jedi Qui-Gon Jinn. This whole catastrophe of a saga did not start with Anakin’s immaculate conception. Not really. Our junkyard baby could’ve stayed on Tatooine forever and hung out with Shmi. But Qui-Gon fucking Jinn said “Noooooooo I’m going to put this little doofus in a place of power and train him regardless of what the rest of the world says.”

Qui-Gon singlehandedly set the galaxy on a path that would be plagued by Darth Vader who Kylo Ren would follow in turn. This all started with someone GRAY shifting the balance of the force and now it will end with GRAY putting it back into place. Glorious story-telling. Which brings us to my next prediction: how “gray” will happen..

See Prediction #1 here: https://southernbeastsnorthernbound.tumblr.com/post/182257285523/my-best-predictions-for-star-wars-episode-ix

Prediction #2 here:  https://southernbeastsnorthernbound.tumblr.com/post/182278658793/prediction-2-rey-is-still-a-kenobi

[halfbittenmoon]

Prediction #2 Rey is still a Kenobi.

2. Rey may be nobody (and when I first saw TLJ in theaters, I was a fan of that premise) but if this is going where I now think it’s going (you’ll see) she HAS to be a Kenobi, or everyone at Disney has lost their minds.

Exhibit A: First and foremost. THIS is what the director had to say about whether this was the truth or not. Shady at best. “He’s not lying in that moment.” I think this means Kylo did see her parents buried in the desert when they touched hands, but that’s Rey’s fear in her head, not the truth. It was a self-fulfilling prophecy that both of them believe.

Exhibit B: Both actors that play Obi-Wan Kenobi make audio appearances in Rey’s original flashback/vision in TFA. Old Ben’s distinct voice calls “Rey?” and Ewan whispers “these are only your first steps” at the end in short succession. For the same character (one Rey has never met, and will never meet) to make, not one, but TWO appearances in different incarnations is a big deal.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aflaQi3kID

Exhibit C: Rey and Kylo’s first fight and Anakin and Obi-Wan’s last fight HIGHLY resemble each other both in choreography and symbolic power positions (see: acting technique)  Physically, we can see for ourselves in the choreography.  

Look at those cuties with their blue laser swords. (There are more examples if you watch the actual fight scenes side by side)

Next, we’ll look at some visual symbolism--

Here we see Anakin and Obi-Wan locking grips with a fiery back drop.

And here we see Rey and Ren locking grips with an icy back drop.

(Important to note: it’s been referenced time and time again that this snowy battle was one of the first scenes to be visualized for TFA, with an emphasis on J.J. saying “SNOW” repeatedly in all the behind the scenes. Symbolically, that would be important as he wrote it. Extreme fire then extreme ice as the world that they battle on crumbles: a not so obvious yet extremely-obvious-once-you-see-it parallel to make the audience go “OOOOOH” later.

More emotional choreography:

A block and upward slash that takes down the cocky Skywalker and mutilates him.

A block and upward slash that takes down the cocky Skywalker and mutilates him.

Our merciful victor.

(Both of these fights, on an emotional level, tell the same narrative-- our “good guy” light-sider, merciful and just, serves violent consequences to our “bad guy” dark-sider for his deplorable actions. For Anakin, it was “killing younglings” for Ren, it was killing our beloved Han. Both light-siders burn with the frustration of “Why would you do this?”)

Our broken loser.

And here we see the infamous “high ground” both morally and physically.

As well as its reappearance.

Here’s where things differ and why “full circle” is important. On a macro level, this is a soap opera of Skywalkers and Kenobi. The prequel trilogy is about the terrible Skywalker padawan and the Kenobi master that failed him.  

Then, the original trilogy is about the Kenobi master that heals his own mistakes and DOESN’T fail the new Skywalker who in turn redeems the one he failed.

Now, old wounds have opened up. A new Skywalker follows in the footsteps of that failed Kenobi legacy. Worse, the Skywalker mentored by Old Ben (Luke) who redeemed the original Skywalker trained by Obi-Wan (Anakin) has now failed the newest Skywalker (Kylo Ren) considering he nearly murdered him. Now what family would be symbolically responsible for redeeming this newest Skywalker incarnation? Right. An ancestor of Kenobi. A descendant of the original fuck up saves another fuck up descendant.

Furthermore, if Rey is a Kenobi and she brings Kylo back to the light, those old Skywalker/ Kenobi wounds will finally be healed. Thus, full circle. The force is finally balanced after being imbalanced all those generations ago.

Smaller cases for Rey Kenobi:

-the allowance of Daisy’s accent (Important note: John Boyega does not get to use his natural British accent)

-Obi-Wan’s iconic Jedi Mind Tricks and Rey’s natural inclination to tap into them as well

-Does this look like the ship of “filthy junk traders?” (this is the model she sees fly away in her TFA flashback)

-While we haven’t referenced Kenobis once in the new trilogy (suspicious at best) Kylo Ren’s name is BEN. Not a coincidence. It’s a hint. A reminder. A piece of the bigger puzzle.

-JUST LOOK AT WHAT THEY WEAR

-In TFA (widely accused of being a clone of A New Hope narratively) Rey camp-ily sneaks around the base just like good ol’ Ben.

We’re finally to prediction three. GRAY. See you soon.

See Prediction #1 from yesterday here: 

https://southernbeastsnorthernbound.tumblr.com/post/182257285523/my-best-predictions-for-star-wars-episode-ix

[halfbittenmoon]

My best predictions for STAR WARS EPISODE IX

I’ve got one theory in honor of each episode for a grand countdown of NINE wild shots in the dark. For all you nerds that’s IX laser pew pews. Let’s do it.

1. The title will be “Spark of Hope.”

I have reasons:

A) First and foremost: As “The Last Jedi” was a phrase hidden in The Force Awakens’ opening crawl, “Spark of Hope” was in The Last Jedi’s, and it’s just about the only phrase remotely title-worthy.

B) Poe’s line in TLJ “we are the spark that will ignite the fire that will burn the first order down” and Leia’s “the spark is out” are promising hints that we’re heading in the right direction with “spark,” a fairly unique word to appear multiple times in a narrative.

Finally C) Everything (and I do mean EVERYTHING) looks to be heading in a full circle for this franchise from Prequel, to Original, to Current Trilogy. And they’re claiming this will “wrap up” the Skywalker legend. Just like the Hero’s Journey (the narrative formula Lucas based the original trilogy on) a cycle is being completed. More on that later. What better way to close off that cycle with A Spark of Hope, when it began with “A New Hope?”  

Hope was touched on so many times in the conclusion of TLJ, and in Rogue One, and in the series in general that it only makes sense that the (currently) final chapter in the saga will end with “hope.” Considering this was originally slated as Leia’s movie (as TFA was Han’s and TLJ was Luke’s) and she has always been the one throwing around the concept of “Hope,” it makes a solid case.

The next theory is gonna make half of you gather your pitchforks so tune in next time for: “#2 REY IS STILL A KENOBI”

Disclaimer: I’ll keep posting and updating until the trailers start coming out. Which I imagine could be soon!

Updated: Prediction #2 here--

https://southernbeastsnorthernbound.tumblr.com/post/182278658793/prediction-2-rey-is-still-a-kenobi

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Phasma exists because Kathleen Kennedy walked into an art meeting, saw the chrome and said “is that a character? that needs to be a character.” Phasma wasn’t planned at the time; and the chrome was a retired concept, said to be “too light” for the character it was originally intended for. So they made a story for "Phasma.” BUT WAIT. It was originally the design for a “knight in shining armor” --Abrams. BUT THIS DESIGN (or what it was) WAS ORIGINALLY FOR KYLO REN. “THE KNIGHTS OF REN.” A THOUGHT. SOME SUBTEXT.

WHO’S KNIGHT IN SHINING ARMOR IS HE? OR WAS GOING TO BE? HUH? WHO. WHAT DOES IT MEAN.

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