Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker Photo Teases The Dark Vs. The Light

If The Last Jedi proved one thing, it’s that there exists a tangible connection between Kylo Ren and Rey.

They’re sworn enemies, of course, with one coached under the watchful eye of the Resistance, while the other is essentially the prince of darkness, having defected from Han and Leia to spearhead the First Order. But we wouldn’t be all that surprised to see Kylo and Rey’s Force bond explored further this Christmas with the release of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.

Speaking of which, a new promo shot for Episode IX has arrived hot off the presses. It features those two central characters wielding their respective lightsabers – Rey with the sky-blue; Kylo with the by-now infamous crossguard ‘saber. No sign of the double-edged lightsaber seen in the most recent trailer for The Rise of Skywalker, which teased a possible turn to the Dark Side for Daisy Ridley’s hero.

Fear not, though; there’s reason to believe Dark Rey is the product of Palpatine, who reportedly projects some sort of Force vision (or dream) in an effort to court Rey over to the Dark Side of the Force. Whether it has much of an effect on the budding Jedi master is another question entirely, though we’re quietly confident that Mark Hamill’s Force ghost will be able to keep our Resistance hero on the straight and narrow. She’ll need all the help she can get, too, what with reports suggesting that Emperor Palpatine will tout an entire fleet of Death Stars in The Rise of Skywalker. 

Should that be true, well, the odds of survival may well be seven hundred an–you know what, don’t tell us the odds. Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker takes flight on December 20th. And you won’t want to miss it.