Unanswered questions after Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is… a lot of Star Wars.
Director J.J. Abrams’ conclusion to the nine-film Skywalker Saga finally reveals the fates of Rey (Daisy Ridley), Finn (John Boyega), Poe (Oscar Isaac), Kylo Ren (Adam Driver), Leia (Carrie Fisher), Lando (Billy Dee Williams), Emperor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid), and the galaxy at large, while also offering scores of celebrity cameos, a bunch of franchise callbacks and Easter eggs, and even some sure-to-be-debated retcons.
But for all the loose ends tied up, there are still plenty of questions that remain unanswered. Some may be dealt with in future Star Wars movies, TV shows, and other spin-offs, while some will probably never be addressed. Here are a few, big and small, that stuck out to us.
***SPOILERS BELOW***
What was Finn going to tell Rey when they fell into the quicksand?
Was it a declaration of his undying love for her? If so, would her reply have been, “I know”? (Probably not.)
How did Emperor Palpatine survive being slam-dunked into the Death Star pit by Darth Vader in Return of the Jedi?
Or was he resurrected somehow? Either way…
How did Kylo get off the Death Star ruins after Rey took his ship?
Maybe he called an Uber.
What was the deal with Palpatine’s bloodline?
Who was the lucky lady that was Mrs. Palpatine? How many children did Palpatine sire? What was the nature of Palpatine’s relationship with his son/Rey’s father (played by Dunkirk actor Billy Howle)? Did Palpatine father him before or after seemingly dying in ROTJ? Was Palpatine’s son a powerful Force user too, or did it skip a generation? What’s the story with Rey’s mom (played by Killing Eve star Jodie Comer)?
What exactly is a Force dyad?
How is it different from just two powerful Force users? Do they both have to be grandchildren of famous villains?
Is Finn Force-sensitive?
There are moments in Rise of Skywalker that hint at Finn being in touch with the Force: He has “a feeling” about which Star Destroyer to target in the film’s climactic battle, and he seems to feel something when Rey temporarily dies after her showdown with the Emperor. (He also held his own, briefly, in a lightsaber duel with Kylo Ren in The Force Awakens.)
How did Luke’s X-wing still work after spending all those years immersed in saltwater?
Wouldn’t the electrical system be shot? Also, didn’t Luke use a piece of the ship as his hut door in The Last Jedi?
Why did Palpatine create Snoke?
Actually, judging by the glimpse of a Snoke cloning tank early in the film, it seems Palpatine created several Snokes. Did he go to all that trouble just to set up a puppet leader for the First Order, or did he have more in mind?
Who paid for, built, and manned the giant Final Order fleet of Star Destroyers?
A bunch of Snoke clones?
Speaking of which, how did the Resistance not notice all the activity on and around the Sith planet Exegol?
All those massive ships couldn’t have been built overnight. Big intelligence failure by the Resistance.
How did Maz Kanata get Luke’s blue lightsaber, as seen in The Force Awakens?
“A good question,” Maz says in the 2015 film. “For another time.” Four years later, we’re still waiting.
If Luke and Leia knew Rey was Palpatine’s granddaughter all along, why didn’t they ever tell her?
Luke could’ve sat her down and said, “Look, you’re a Palpatine. I wanted to tell you because I also had an evil ancestor and I found out in the worst possible way — and also got my hand chopped off. It was pretty traumatizing, so I don’t want that to happen to you.” Instead they just keep her in the dark, thereby endangering the entire galaxy. Whoops!
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