Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Writer Explains the Final Scene on Tatooine

The final film in the Skywalker Saga has hit theaters, making a drastic change to both the Jedi and the Sith as the balance between Light and Dark sides of the Force reached a new status quo in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. And after the major revelations about Rey, who found out she comes from the same bloodline as Emperor Palpatine, the Light side still prevailed and finally ended the threat of the First Order, bringing balance to the Force. But it’s Rey’s choice at the end of the film is what could change the galaxy forever.

Rey travels to Tatooine, where the Skywalker Saga first began, before the credits roll. She puts Luke and Leia’s lightsabers to rest in the Earth, then is asked by local denizen who she is; she responds, “Rey Skywalker.”

Writer Chris Terrio spoke with IndieWire about why Rey traveled to Tatooine and took on the name of Skywalker, bringing the Star Wars saga full circle.

“We thought of it as 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,” Terrio explained. “I mean, of course, they had to be separated to keep them safe, and the trilogy wouldn’t exist, the six movies wouldn’t exist if they hadn’t been separated! But that felt to us like it was almost like a wrong that need to be righted. We very deliberately in the script described the wrapping of the sabers, as ‘like you were wrapping infants.’

“That’s the thing that you see at the of the third movie, where the two infants are wrapped, and one is sent to Tatooine to be a farmer, and one is sent to Alderaan to be a princess. Leia’s home doesn’t exist anymore, so we thought, ‘Well, Luke could take Leia to his home where he grew up, and where we first saw Star Wars.’”

When asked about the why she chose the name Skywalker, Terrio explained that Rey’s journey is the opposite of what Ben Solo went through.

“That for us felt like the fitting end, because at the beginning of the trilogy, there’s a Skywalker who’s essentially being corrupted again like Anakin was, to become more like Palpatine,” Terrio said. “In the end, we thought that the final victory of the Light and the final act of self-affirmation for Rey was to declare that despite her blood she is a Skywalker. At that moment, the Skywalkers truly win the family saga.”

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is now playing in theaters.