In the galaxy far, far away is the mysticism of the Force which propels the Star Wars franchise from just being a generic space fantasy story to one of the defining stories of its genre.
A result of the 1970s sci-fi boom of mysticism seen in series like Battlestar Galactica and Dune, science fiction was looking for new ways to refresh the market, heavily borrowing from Eastern mysticism and the occult. George Lucas introduced his mystical flair with the Force in Star Wars, an essence that surrounds all life and makes up the very reality. Or something, the Force is notoriously vague, and different writers always see it differently.
The advent of the prequel and sequel trilogy saw a new concept: a Force dyad. But what exactly is this? How many dyads have there been in canon?
What is a Force dyad in Star Wars?
“The life force of your bond…a dyad in the Force. A power like life itself. Unseen for generations.”
Darth Sidious
A Force dyad, somewhat inseparable from the concept of a force bond, is when two beings coexist at the same time in the galaxy and share a level of Force capability that compliments the other. Instead of a singular user being one with the Force, the dyad is one being together and then coupled with the Force.
First seen on screen with Rey Skywalker and Ben Solo, the force dyad was teased during the interrogation scene between Rey and Ben during their confrontation on Starkiller Base in The Force Awakens. As Rise of Skywalker scribe Chris Terrio explains, the duo have a “deeper” connection, and one which compliments Joseph Campbell’s ideas of the Monomyth: a dyad.
“Right from Episode VII, from the scene in which Rey is interrogated by Kylo Ren, it was clear that they have a connection, that they can understand each other, that they can literally read each other’s minds. They’re made uncomfortable by it and yet they’re both drawn to each other. What we wanted to do was complicate that and say actually their connection is deeper than that. we began talking about them as a mythic concept, which is in Joseph Campbell, which is the mythic dyad–that they’re two parts of the same whole.”
Chris Terrio
The concept of a dyad is a spiritual and philosophical one that dates back to the Pythagoreans. Essentially meaning just two things combining into one, or sharing a conscious. This happens in many scriptural texts such as Jesus communicating to Peter, or Buddha with Ananda.
In Star Wars canon, a dyad has been attempted by force between Darth Plagueis and his apprentice Darth Sidious, albeit with disastrous consequences of being murdered by the apprentice. A few generations of Force users later, Supreme Leader Snoke believes in a new Force dyad, although mistakenly believes it to be between Ben Solo and his former master Luke Skywalker.
In reality, it was the scavenger from Jakku: Rey, who later became one of the greatest Force users of all time, defeating her grandfather Sheev Palpatine in the Sith homeworld of Exegol.
It’s arguable that Obi-Wan Kenobi and Darth Vader were a Force dyad after the Obi-Wan Kenobi series on Disney Plus showed a deep connection between the two that allowed each other to be located through space and time. Whether or not this is canon remains to be seen.
The Star Wars saga is available to stream in its entirety on Disney Plus.
