10 Burning Questions Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker Left Us With

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is finally here, bringing with it the end of not only the Sequel Trilogy but also the Skywalker saga as a whole. We knew going in that there was a lot the movie had to wrap up, then, so it’s maybe not too surprising that it doesn’t manage to address all the questions we’re yearning to know the answer to. A few of these were perhaps answered in earlier cuts or drafts of the film before they were removed, so in these cases we may well learn more as deleted scenes and material come to light. Others, however, are mysteries deliberately planted to keep us guessing. It has to be said that Episode IX is also no stranger to plot holes, so we have a few questions about how the story glues together. These 10 queries just scratch the surface of everything we’re wondering after watching the Sequel Trilogy finale though, so make sure to pose any additional ones that are troubling you in the comments section below. But first, let’s try to provide a few answers… Will We Ever Find Out How Maz Kanata Had The Skywalker Lightsaber? To their credit, J.J. Abrams and co. managed to answer many of the burning questions that've built up over the first two installments of the Sequel Trilogy. However, there is one major one that's been eating away at fans for four years now: how the heck did Maz Kanata get her hands on the Skywalker lightsaber? As you’ll no doubt recall, The Force Awakens saw Rey discover the saber in a chest under Maz’s castle. When asked how she got it, Maz enigmatically replied “a good question for another time.” This seemed to promise the audience that we would find out the answer in a future movie. But no such answer arrived in Rise of Skywalker. The deleted opening scene of TFA remains our biggest - and only - clue. The movie was to have begun with Luke’s disembodied hand, and saber, floating in space. It must have been found by someone then, passed through many hands and eventually come into Maz’s possession. How Exactly Did The Emperor Return? When the film’s first trailer made clear that Palpatine was returning for Rise, fans began furiously theorizing the many ways that he could be resurrected following his death in Return of the Jedi. As it happens, Episode IX is entirely uninterested in explaining this. The opening crawl establishes he’s somehow back and that’s that. Dominic Monaghan’s Beaumont Kin does offer a couple of explanations in one scene though, speculating that “dark magic” could be involved or possibly “cloning.” The closest thing to a definitive answer we get, though, comes from the Emperor himself, with a notable quote from his past. When Kylo enquires how he’s still alive, Palps says: “The dark side of the Force is a pathway to many abilities some consider to be unnatural.” This is a direct lift from the famed “tragedy of Darth Plagueis” scene from Revenge of the Sith, which sees the then Chancellor telling Anakin Skywalker of the Sith Lord who had the power to master death. We can infer, then, that Palpatine has also learned this power. Who Are Palpatine's Hooded Followers On Exegol? Though his return is quickly dumped on us in the opening crawl, it seems Palpatine has been busy amassing his forces in secret for a long while. Not only has he created the entire Final Order fleet of Star Destroyers, but he's also surrounded by legions of hooded followers. These acolytes circle his enormous throne room on Exegol and occasionally chant in his honor. And that's about it. We're left to wonder who exactly these devout followers of the Emperor are. Are they just random Sith sympathizers who've travelled to the planet after Palpatine released his broadcast across the galaxy? That's one theory, but what if they aren't folks who've made their way to Exegol but are actually the planet's natives? Exegol is explained as the mythical hidden world of the Sith. In the Legends timeline, there's an ancient Sith species who inspired the Sith Order. Maybe these followers belong to this species. The race has red skin and tentacle "beards" in the Legends universe, and given their hoods, it's possible Palpatine's posse have the same features under there, too. Who Exactly Are The Knights of Ren? Star Wars fans have been fascinated by the Knights of Ren ever since they were briefly glimpsed in The Force Awakens. The Rise of Skywalker finally gives them a serviceable amount of screentime but we still don’t learn anything about them. Essentially, they’re just there to be silent stalkers of our heroes and, ultimately, lightsaber fodder for their former leader, Kylo Ren. So, who are they? Well, it's been established in previous films that, when he broke bad, Kylo murdered half of Luke’s Jedi students and took the other half with him. Luke had a dozen students and there are six Knights, so we can maybe infer that they're Ben Solo’s fellow trainees. If that’s true, though, the way he coldly kills them all seems a little harsh. If he can be redeemed, why can’t they? With the movies having failed to provide any answers, make sure to check out The Rise of Kylo Ren comic series for further exploration of the Knights and how Kylo came to lead them. What Did Finn Want To Tell Rey? UPDATE: J.J. Abrams has now revealed the answer to this question, and his explanation can be found here. When the gang are trapped in quicksand on Pasaana, Finn begins to cry out a hasty confession to Rey, beginning to say that there’s something he’s never told her before. The heroes then slip through the sand to an underground cave system. With the moment having passed, Finn neglects to finish the sentence. So, what exactly was he going to tell her? An obvious suggestion is that Finn was going to admit he was in love with Rey. As much as we all might ship him with Poe, Finn has clearly been holding a torch for Daisy Ridley's heroine ever since they first met on Jakku in TFA. He’s often been shown to put Rey’s wellbeing before his own, too, and has been desperate to reunite with her when they’re apart. Presumably this was left unsaid, though, so that fans can continue to ship the characters however they see fit. If you want to imagine Finn was going to tell Rey that actually he’s in love with Poe and just sees her as a friend, then you can go right ahead. So, Finn Is Force-Sensitive? Let’s stick with Finn for a moment. While The Rise of Skywalker doesn’t go so far as to confirm who he has romantic feelings for, it does drop the major revelation that Finn is Force-sensitive. Well, kinda. First of all, when he bonds with Jannah over their shared experience as redeemed stormtroopers, he points out to her that he believes it was the Force that inspired them to reform, making clear that he's now a complete convert to the old Jedi religion. An even bigger piece of evidence comes later though, when Finn is heavily hinted to sense Rey’s (temporary) death in the climax. Finn has been shown to be pretty nifty with a lightsaber before, so his being Force-sensitive doesn’t come entirely out of left-field. But it is still a bit of a shock, and something we wish had been explored a little more in the movie. Also, if Finn is Force-sensitive, does that mean Jannah and her fellow deserted stormtroopers are, too? She did have the same “feeling” as Finn when she reformed, after all. Why Didn’t Luke And Leia Tell Rey She Was A Palpatine? So, Rey’s a Palpatine. After years of speculation, Daisy Ridley’s heroine turned out to be the granddaughter of the Emperor. We only just found out about it in Rise, but apparently both Luke and Leia have always sensed it about her. So says Luke’s Force ghost when Rey travels back to Ahch-To after discovering the truth. If this is the case, then why didn’t either of them tell Rey this at any point over the past two films? Well, it’s vaguely conceivable that, if Leia really knew, she wouldn’t tell her to protect her from finding out this dark secret and hurting her. But what about the disillusioned Luke of The Last Jedi, who was so afraid of Rey’s raw power? Wouldn’t he have said anything? Perhaps he feared the revelation would simply push her to the dark side? And let’s not forget Kylo Ren - if Luke and Leia sensed the truth through the Force, why didn’t he? Could it have something to do with the fact that he never knew Palpatine before Rise whereas Luke and Leia were familiar with him? So Force-Healing Is A Thing Now? Following The Last Jedi’s major additions to what the Force can do, The Rise of Skywalker adds another whopper (with a little help from the latest episode of The Mandalorian): Force-healing. The concept is introduced when Rey heals a creature on Pasaana, with it coming into play more significantly when she saves Kylo Ren on the Death Star. This helps Ren redeem himself and ultimately he gives his life to resurrect Rey with the same power. So, Force-healing doesn’t just work on injuries but can also, in extreme circumstances, be used to bring someone back from death. You might think this sounds like a Sith-y kind of ability, harking back to Darth Plagueis. However, there is one key difference. Whereas the Emperor needs Rey to give into her anger and murder him so he can be reborn, Force-healing is derived from love and sacrifice. Looks like Palpy was wrong about the greater power of the Dark Side, after all. How Does Rey Have A Yellow Lightsaber Now? In the movie's final scene, Rey travels to Tatooine to bury Luke and Leia's lightsabers in the desert where Luke grew up. Though it looks like this leaves her without a weapon, Rey then pulls out a new lightsaber we've never seen before, apparently made out of her staff. It's left unclear how she created this, but its color may offer a big clue. Yellow is a rare color for a lightsaber, but there have been a few uses of it in the wider Star Wars universe. For one, the Legends character, Jayden Korr, had a yellow lightsaber which he created by purifying an unstable red kyber crystal. This is important as we know that Kylo Ren's lightsaber was made from a cracked red crystal. Maybe we can infer, then, that Rey traveled back to the Death Star's remains, found Kylo's discarded saber and purified its crystal to create her own. Not only does this offer a sweet connection to Ben, considering their parting romantic kiss, but also symbolizes how Rey herself is a purified Palpatine. Has Balance Finally Been Brought To The Force? By the end of Rise, the Emperor has been defeated once and for all, the First and Final Orders are finished and the light has triumphed over the darkness. So we’re left to wonder: has balance finally been brought to the Force? This has, essentially, been the quest at the heart of the Skywalker saga. First, Anakin was supposed to do it and then it seemed Luke had at the end of the Original Trilogy. But it appears to be Rey who's finally achieved it. Though you might question whether you can call it balance if there are no Sith anymore, remember that Rey herself is the descendant of a Sith Lord. She’s a Jedi and Sith in one. And she may even have a new lightsaber that represents the two sides meeting, as well. This, more than Rey taking the Skywalker name and returning to Tatooine, has to be the best way that Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker manages to wrap up the saga.