Rey faced the choice of a lifetime in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker – embrace the dark legacy of her evil family history, or denounce the Palpatine name and be a force for good in the universe. As we know, she stood up to her twisted ancestor the Emperor and managed to destroy him once and for all, going on to choose the new surname Skywalker in honor of her two mentors, Luke and Leia.
But what if Rey made the wrong choice and ended up becoming a vessel for Palpatine? Well, the end of the movie probably would have looked something like this epic behind-the-scenes image. The black and white photo down below sees star Daisy Ridley embodying “Empress Rey” as she takes to Palpatine’s throne in his Sith temple on Exegol. Director J.J. Abrams can be seen speaking to Ridley, while she enjoys basking in the ultimate power of the Dark Side.
We’ve learned some extra backstory details of late which clarify Rey’s Palpatine heritage. It’s explained in the Rise novelization that her father was actually a “failed clone” of Darth Sidious. This makes Rey genetically the daughter of Palpatine but, if you counted the younger clone as Palp’s son, she could still be called his granddaughter. We don’t yet know the full story of how Rey’s dad escaped the Emperor and fell in love with Rey’s mother, but no doubt that’ll be explored in time.
This BTS image comes our way via the special features on the TROS digital home release, which was moved forward to this weekend by Disney as a response to the COVID-19 outbreak. So, be sure to purchase Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, which comes with various featurettes, documentaries and more, if you haven’t already. The Blu-Ray/DVD release, meanwhile, will soon follow on March 31st.
