Okay, this line is actually my least favorite line in all of Star Wars. Why?
[spoiler]For one, it’s stupid. It just sounds dumb. The old lady was just forced in for some reason, just to make her say it so that the title of the movie, which is still bad, make sense, and it only kind of worked. She really has no attachment to the Skywalkers in any way, so this scene makes it feel like she’s imaging herself as Luke’s son or being married to Kylo. Kylo should have been the Skywalker, not her. It makes sense with the title and the character and the plot, which is two more than Rey.
But that’s not all; this line is bad besides my personal opinion. My friend may have pointed this out to me, but the more I thought about it, the worse it got.
This line ruins the point of this movie. Rey has spent all of Last Jedi looking for her name, and now that she actually has it, she learns that names don’t truly matter. She does not need to become the Empress simply because of her grandfather’s name. Cue the ”What’s in a name?” reference, because that was what I was learning from this movie. After she learns who she is, she rejects that name, but never once did she seem to need another. She used her betrayal of her name as a source of strength, and now she apparently needs a new one. The entire line doesn’t make sense within the story or the character, and it only appeals to the audience- or, fails to appeal.
Oh, but “Rey Skywalker”’s traitorous intent goes even deeper than that. It doesn’t just contradict itself, it contradicts Star Wars from its roots. Anakin Skywalker was ashamed of his name, of his home. But he doesn’t let his name define him. He becomes an incredibly famous Jedi Knight, saving countless lives before giving into his fear and letting himself be swallowed by the Dark Side.
His change in name may seem like a big deal, and it’s often compared to him becoming a separate character, but Luke in his life proves that names don’t matter. In a situation all too similar to Rey’s, Luke is offered a position by his own, destined to follow in his father’s name, yet he shows that he decides who he is, not his name. He doesn’t change his name to “Luke Kenobi” to spite his dad or whatever, no, he accepts that he’s a Skywalker, and uses not Vader’s name, but his own past self to save his father.
Yet Rey, after defeating the Emperor and being asked who she is, claims a new name. Now, I’m not saying she should have admitted to being a Palpatine, I’m saying she should have chosen a new name. Not borrowed someone else’s. I half expected her to say “Rey Jedi,” and while it sounds a bit dumb, it would have made sense. She rebukes her name, and now lives as not just a Jedi or y
a Jedi Master, but as the Last Jedi. She is all the Jedi. Skywalker was only two, maybe three or four depending on your viewpoint. Luke was a Rebel hero, and Anakin a Republic. No one even knows who they truly were.[/spoiler]
Okay, that probably got to be fairly rant-ish, and maybe even contradictory, but I’m tired and a little upset. I’m just quite disappointed that this had to be the line we ended one of my favorite franchises on.
Oh, wait, that’s right, Mandalorian Epsiode 8, that was how we’ve ended the franchise in for now. ‘Bout to change, too.