#rian johnson is a reylo

[simply-reylo]

I think one of my favorite things about Rey's vibe in the reylo ship we know and love is simply this-

She just about tries to kill Luke immediately following the Smut Hut scene.

Up until now, Rey has tried so hard to feel only animosity towards Kylo...but the SECOND she finds out that Luke threatened and TERRIFIED him when Ben was young...and that his uncle turning against him played a huge role in Ben falling to the Dark Side...This girl chases Luke down, screams at him, and slices at him with that weapon like she's out for BLOOD.

Like...Rey thinks of Ben being betrayed and cast out by his own family - when she too was abandoned by her own family (I choose to ignore TROS so TLJ is cannon 😅 Rey Nobody > Rey Palpatine) - and she RAGES with the strength of a thousand suns.

Rey feels Kylo's pain and she wants to defend him. Because she sees how alike they are, deep down, and Rey also knows that she's drawn to him...no matter how hard she tries to fight it.

She then confidently tells Luke that she can bring Kylo back to the Light with the power of her love and scolds him for ever giving up on his nephew. I mean???

That moment is one of the times I feel the reylo REALLY pours outta Rey so I just had to give it another round of applause lol

Like, Rey, did you forget that you're supposed to hate him?? Hahhaha.

[artist-issues]

I just NEED everyone to agree with me that Rey's parents are nobody. We should all agree about that. We should collectively, as an audience, say, "clearly the best idea was to have Kylo Ren be a dynastic heir to the major legends of the Force who wants to throw off his family's shadow, while his rival is nobody from nowhere who wants to belong--so we're going to stick with that."

And then, what should have happened is, Rey can finish her story by being able to say, "My parents might have abandoned me, but that doesn't mean I'm worthless." And eventually Kylo Ren can say, "My family might have been powerful, but I don't have to be," and all those other things that they can bounce off of each other as great foils.

It can keep being a good story about accepting past failures and choosing to grow beyond them.

Let's just all collectively ignore Rey Skypatine because of how silly that was. I mean. If they can just ignore the setups in the previous movie, we can ignore their choices in the conclusion. Right?? Right? Tell me I'm right

[fandomrantsandtwittertakes]

[reylogirlie]

Snoke was never fucking with Rey to hurt her; it was to hurt Kylo/Ben.

Snoke isn’t an idiot; he’s been in the guy’s head since birth, he knows him. He knows Ben Solo remains deep down and knows he’s fallen in love with Rey (so does Hux, I have a fic on that but another story-) so he’s doing it to punish him. He’s disappointed in him for making a mockery of the First Order so he’s torturing him in the most hurtful way he knows how.

Rian confirmed Kylo/Ben was planning to kill Snoke after the hand hold scene, but here is what really fucking broke him;

He couldn’t bare to see Rey hurt the way he did all those years. His normal, his typical day was something so damn awfully horrible and disturbing that he could bare it happening to himself but couldn’t watch her take a minor sample for five minutes.

Worse part is Kylo/Ben can’t let Snoke know his plan and he can read his mind so he’s trying to think that he wants her dead and hates her when in reality he’s hurting immensely. I don’t know how I didn’t pick up on this in sixth grade-

[lazywolfwiccan]

We were supposed to actually get Rey and Poe but Rian Johnson forced Reylo in??!???

[deepinthelight]

Rian Johnson with Daisy and Adam on TLJ set

[vertigoartgore]

Mondo poster for 2017's Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi.

[dalekofchaos]

Context

Context for choice 3.

Here is what I mean about The New Republic and The First Order.

What happens after you win a war? How do you not make the same mistakes or become the thing you fought. What happens in a power vacuum? The New Republic should have been the dominant emerging power, and the Remnant should have been a small, secretive, unknown order, striking strategically from the Unknown Regions where they hid, and causing fear and panic to spread in the NR. After the Galactic Civil War, The New Republic commanders the Imperial Fleet and starts protecting systems who join the NR, all while chasing down and fighting any of the Remnants (Moffs, Warlords, Crime Lords, etc) who have grabbed power in the resulting vacuum. We could have seen an evolution of ships from Old Republic to Empire to NR ones. They could have renamed Star Destroyers into Star Defenders. Hell, they could have had a Republic of independent systems, each with their own sizable military, so that power isn’t centralized.

But no, instead of telling an interesting story, we are force fed the recycled poorly written rehashed Rebels vs Empire and the Rebels are made to be weaker than The First Order. The First Order are a terrorist movement, they should not be reigning after Hosnian Prime’s destruction, ESPECIALLY AFTER LOSING STARKILLER BASE!

Choice 4. Here is how I would give Kylo Ren motivation as to why Ben Solo fell and his main motivation as Kylo Ren.

Choice 6. I don't think there was absolutely no need for a Palpatine clone and eventually Palpatine himself(🙄) we all knew what was happening around the time this trilogy was being made. Trump. Base Snoke around the mango Mussolini and his lunatic fringe followers. An Alt-Right cult leader who cultivates the worst people imaginable. All The First Order needed to be was pointing out The New Republic brought the galaxy to an age of scum and villainy. A lawless state that usurped the rightful rulers that brought law and order. Basically "Make the Galaxy great again with Imperial Greatness"

You see, originally Lucas was going to make Palpatine JUST a politician and base him around Richard Nixon.

“George Lucas has spoken on various occasions of the way that the Nixon administration and the Vietnam war had an important influence on how he shaped the plot of the early films in the saga. The impact that these two events had an American in the 1970s started him thinking about the ways in which democracies can sale and how they deteriorating to dictatorships when corruption goes unchecked. He’s quoted as saying that Nixon - Who he viewed as having subverted the Senate and as acting an increasingly imperialistic way - what is the direct inspiration for Emperor Palpatine the supreme leader of the evil Empire in the first Star Wars trilogy”

So I don't see why they couldn't do something similar with the CLEAR FUCKING EVIL going on in the world at the time this trilogy was being made. No Sith master was needed.

In this scenario, I would call The First Order, The Imperium

Now you might have questions. What about the Stormtroopers and Kylo?

Stormtroopers? Don’t abduct kids, nationalize and recruit them willingly. Abducting children and training them to be Stormtroopers instantly made The First Order out to be cartoonishly evil from the start. So what do you do instead? Use propaganda. Nationalize them. Make them believe The Empire was right and convince them that the life of a Stormtrooper will help bring order in a chaotic galaxy. We’ve seen cults do something similar, Far Right Wing groups do it and we’ve seen Trump radicalize and nationalize white supremacists, so it’s not impossible for The First Order to do the logical thing.

Finn only leaves because he sees they are murdering unarmed civilians and chooses to leave. He is an example that it isn't too late to leave harmful fringe cult movements.

So how would Ben turn in this scenario? He's radicalized by Snoke. Ben starts hearing passionate speeches in the senate and Ben is moved. "I know he opposes my mother, but he's making a lot of sense" "He's right, we need to bring order to the galaxy" and Ben is radicalized by this Imperium movement and what he believes is Snoke's righteous cause. To Snoke, Ben represents everything great about the Empire. Snoke collects Sith Holocrons and uses the holocrons to turn Ben Solo into Kylo Ren.

In this scenario, I wouldn't redeem Ben. He is far too gone. He's committed atrocities in Snoke's name, for The Imperium and to bring order to the galaxy. While Finn represents those who could break away from Right Wing movements and Cults. Kylo Ren is far too gone, he's radicalized to the point where he's a die hard believer like Hux and Phasma and he's willing to fight and die for this indoctrination.

Choice 11. The Episode IX rewrite with Ben living and Reylo ending

Choice 12. The original plan for the Sequel Trilogy was to just get three young directors together to direct the Sequel Trilogy. It was supposed to be JJ, Rian and Colin Trevorrow, but Colin's IX was bad and his Jurassic World trilogy was terrible. So I would make either Matt Reves or Greta Gerwig as the director for Episode IX and ideally they would plan the trilogy out together instead of JJ setting up Mystery Boxes and expecting Rian and others open said mystery boxes and Rian subverting expectations.

[these-are-the-first-steps]

“I had an overall arc that in mind that [JJ Abrams] wanted to do,” Driver continued. “His idea was that [Kylo’s] journey was the opposite journey of Vader, where Vader starts the most confident and the most committed to the dark side. And then by the last movie, he’s the most vulnerable and weak. He wanted to start with the opposite. This character was the most confused and vulnerable, and by the end of the three movies, he would be the most committed to the dark side. I tried to keep that arc in mind, regardless if that wound up not being the journey anyway, because it changed while shooting. But I was still focused on that.”

“The last one, it changed into being, you know, about them and the dyad, and things like that,” Driver said. “And evolving into Ben Solo. That was never a part of it. He was Ben Solo from the beginning, but there was never a version where we’d see Ben Solo when I first signed up for it.”

Daisy Ridley revealed back in 2020 that her character, Rey, started out as having a connection to none other than Obi-Wan Kenobi before she ended up not having any connection to a pre-existing character in “The Last Jedi.” That was then retconned in “The Rise of Skywalker,” when Rey was revealed as a descendant of Emperor Palpatine.

“At the beginning there was toying with like an Obi-Wan connection,” Ridley said at the time. “There were like different versions, and then it really went to that she was no one. Then it came to Episode IX and J.J. pitched me the film and was like, ‘Oh yeah, Palpatine’s grandaughter.” I was like, ‘Awesome!’ Then two weeks later he was like, ‘Oh, we’re not sure.’ So it kept changing. Even as we were filming I wasn’t sure what the answer was going to be.”

this is what a shitshow production looks like, kids. not the actors' faults, it's allllll on the people upstairs. but this right here?.....this is what a shitshow looks like. 🫠

[mystarwarsmatters]

Don’t worry y’all, Twitter is still trying to convince everyone that TLJ was a good movie and SW fans are the problem 6 years later.

[artist-issues]

"Rian Johnson was mocking Star Wars fans for expecting Star Wars tropes in TLJ!"

No. Star Wars fans just happened to have the exact same flaw that the character, Rey, had: too much focus on her parents. That made her easy to relate to. But the whole point, down to the first movie she was introduced in (which WASN'T written by Rian Johnson) was that her parents were never important.

Star Wars fans should've expected that reveal. It was already set up. Maz literally tells Rey in the first movie to quit focusing so much on her parents. The filmmakers literally told you "she's wrong to put so much stock in who her parents are" in The Force Awakens. He just carried that theme on and y'all weren't ready for it because you never wanted to accept it in the first place.

=

Same thing with Snoke. Kylo Ren was introduced as a character who only wants one thing: strength. He thinks that strength will solve his emotional frailty. He's insecure. (Because reasons, to do with his family and their lack of faith in him.) Rey straight-up discovers that his biggest fear is "never being as strong as Darth Vader" and says it out loud so that the audience will get it.

You really think, when he was introduced as a character who believes killing mentor-father-figures will make him feel stronger and therefore more secure, that Snoke ever had a chance of getting past the second movie alive?

=

They straight-up introduced these characters with certain flaws, which lead to certain motives, which so happen to lead to different conclusions than common Star Wars fan theories.

Because that's the beauty of the Sequels. They acknowledge the legendary status of the Original Trilogy Tropes, then grow beyond those tropes.

Or at least. They were starting to. Until Star Wars fans threw continued hissy fits because they didn't want a story, they wanted a 💫 Star Wars Checklist Cleverly Disguised as a Story.💫

Then the powers-that-be were like "okay they're really not looking for a good story, just give 'em the checklist they were looking for." And you got exactly that in The Rise of Skywalker.

But Rian Johnson wasn't mocking you. He was just taking the next logical, compelling step in the previously-established arcs of well-written characters. And carrying on the Sequel's initial trademark of "appreciate the past by growing beyond it." Y'know. Like a good writer.

[chibireylo]

No Pookie!

[explanationpoint]

Rian Johnson on The Last Jedi, via Miles Bron in Glass Onion

[theweeklydiscourse]

i didnt understand why reylo got too much and i wish finnpoe should canon and i wish john should stop defend tros

When you look back at the way Reylo was received back in 2016-2019, the whole uproar it caused was kind a insane for such a tame ship. You would think that Rey and Kylo brutalized one another beyond recognition with the way people were describing it People seriously treated that ship like it was some kind of fandom bogeyman and it was an object of mockery and contempt for years. You had people calling Reylos abuse apologists, school shooter apologists, and “the sort of people who would endorse fascists” over a couple from a Disney franchise.

As for finnpoe, I really hate the fact that it never had a chance of being canon. And if that wasn’t enough, both Finn and Poe got respective love interests in TROS who both had about as much personality and charm as a cold slice of untoasted bread. TROS was an atrocity for many reasons and that one is certainly up there on the list.

I’m also still confused as to why John was so defensive of TROS when arguably it did him the worst out of all three movies. TFA gave him a strong character arc and TLJ had used that foundation to expand on Finn’s journey from storm trooper to a resistance hero. Obviously both movies weren’t perfect with how they handled his character, but they’re at least better than the movie where he was back to pining after Rey and getting a half- hearted “oh he was force sensitive all along!” reveal. It’s just very puzzling to witness him critique elements of the sequels that did a disservice to his character while at the same time, lauding the movie that did him the dirtiest.

[arson-09]

my number one enemy in life is the mf that fucked up the last star wars sequel

its been years and i still haven’t recovered from rise of skywalker that movie was so incredibly disappointing. I honestly really liked (by that i mean love) The Last Jedi and i was hoping the vibes would carry but nOoooO BULLSHIT

Imagine IMAGINE the fucking meaning of the empire being destroyed once and for all by a skywalker (kylo/ben) and a nobody (rey) because they care for eachother because it all started by a skywalker turning to the darkside to save his lover. THERE WERE SO MANY MISSED OPPORTUNITIES

STAR WARS IS SUPPOSED TO BE ABOUT HOPE AND NOT GIVING UP AND THEY END IT BY FUCKING KILLING OFF KYLO/BEN ONCE HE AND REY HAD FINALLY REALIZED THEIR FEELINGS WHERES THE HOPE IN THAT??? WHERES THE STORY OF PERSEVERANCE??

I just wanna say thank you to force awakens and the last jedi for opening my eyes to enemies to lovers, havent been the same since (fuck u jj abrams)