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Star Wars Episode IX has the title, The Rise of Skywalker.

This raises a question that which Skywalker they are talking about? What's the significance of the title with the plot elements or the characters?

In Episode VIII, we know

Luke

becomes the one with the Force and so does

Ben in Episode IX. Leia is also gone in this one.

So, which Skywalker rises in this movie?

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2 Answers 2

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There is a pretty good analysis present on screenrant for the title:

Rey then calls out and hears the voices of past Jedi who encourage her that she has the power to defeat Palpatine. The various Jedi lend her their strength and she then uses the Skywalker lightsabers who once belonged to Luke and Leia to kill Palpatine. Luke and Leia are two of the most iconic Force users in the franchise and it was significant that their lightsabers were used to kill the Emperor to close out the saga.

A different direct meaning of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker could have been Ben rising from the pit that Palpatine threw him into to save Rey. She dies from exhaustion after using all of the strength she has left, so Ben crawls out of the ravine and uses his powers to revive her. At this moment, Ben is the last living Skywalker and he sacrifices himself to save Rey knowing that her survival is more integral to the fate of the galaxy. Due to his sacrifice, as well as the mentorship by Luke and Leia, Rey adopts the surname of Skywalker as she reclaims her own identity which can serve as yet another explanation into the title.

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  • The DYAD though is what really makes this work. The idea that they are one entity that Force made into two people. It better explains the idea of their inability to know themselves or rather their ongoing anxiety over their potential identities, and why the convergence or "reunification" has to happen. Rey is made "whole" by the Skywalkers sacrifice(s) ...
    – Darth Locke
    Commented Dec 28, 2019 at 16:04
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    So, Rey is the rising Skywalker? Nice analysis by Screenrant.
    – A J ♦
    Commented Dec 29, 2019 at 3:54
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+50

I'm going to keep my answer relatively simple because I think it should be. I think there are several levels on which this can be interpreted.

Ben Solo

Kylo Ren is "killed" and is replaced by Ben Solo. Hence the Skywalker side of him rises and he helps defeat the Emperor. This is all metaphorical of course, but on a certain level, it isn't. There are several references to Episode VIII when Rey almost takes Kylo Ren's hand to join him. She later clarifies that it was Ben's hand, not Kylo Ren's hand that she wanted to take. Hence Ben Solo represents the "Skywalker" side of the character.

Rey

After Rey defeats Palpatine, she dies, but is brought back by the life force transfer of Ben Solo. She then either literally or metaphorically (however you interpret it) becomes, or at least identifies as, a Skywalker, as evidenced by the ending of the film where she is asked what her family name is and she replies "Skywalker".

It is symbolic of the force winning over the dark side

The Skywalker family has become symbolically synonymous with The Force while the name Palpatine has become synonymous with The Dark Side. So when Rey claims to be a Skywalker, it puts to rest her own questioning of her identity and destiny. Skywalker has risen and defeated Palpatine within herself.

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    I think it's pretty heavily implied that she takes the name Skywalker because she was trained in the ways of a Jedi by Luke and Leia, making them the closest thing she ever had to parents and the people whose legacy she carries on, not because of a life force transfer (otherwise there's now a snake monster Palpatine, and Ben himself was a Palpatine before he helped her). Only Luke and Leia show up to seemingly assure her they were on-board with being her literal spiritual parents. There's no Ben in that scene.
    – zibadawa timmy
    Commented Dec 21, 2019 at 17:11
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    @zibadawatimmy IMO it goes hand in hand with that scene, because it literally like a wedding where two were joined into one. Ben was the last of Skywalker legacy, giving Rey his new purified life force is relevant. Their scene is a callback to the secret weddig of Anakin and Padme and in which both succeed were Anakin failed as Ben saves the Jedi and his love and Rey does not succum to darkness.
    – Darth Locke
    Commented Dec 21, 2019 at 21:39
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    @DarthLocke That would only make sense if Ben showed up in the end scene, and if Ben were a Skywalker and not a Solo. As is, it's the Skywalker siblings that show up at the end, making it a manifest metaphor for parentage. If it was all about her connection to Ben she should have called herself Rey Solo.
    – zibadawa timmy
    Commented Dec 21, 2019 at 22:29
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    @zibadawatimmy as I mentioned, you can interpret it literally or metaphorically. The point is that she now identifies as a Skywalker for various reasons, including that moment with Ben.
    – sanpaco
    Commented Dec 21, 2019 at 23:24
  • @zibadawatimmy all three characters (Ben, Luke, and Leia) contribute to her choice, but she wouldn't have one at all if not for Ben, the last ascendant, giving her his life. Luke and Leia are there in part because, sure, they are like surrogates, but also to help the audience "accept" Rey's choice, because (and as legacy characters) they do, but that does not mean that the choice wasn't earned, because of her relationship with all of them, including her rebirth through Ben.
    – Darth Locke
    Commented Dec 22, 2019 at 0:03

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