If there was ever any doubt that Rey is the most powerful Jedi ever, it was most likely cleared of all charges by the end of Episode IX, The Rise of Skywalker.
Because – by the end of Episode IX, Rey not only manages to balance the dark and light but her Dyad, Ben Solo decides to give away his Force to her.
Because – even before all that, Rey’s stunts were beyond even the most extraordinary feats achieved by Force wielders we had ever seen.
To answer the question, yes, Rey is easily the most powerful Jedi witnessed by the Star Wars universe.
Not only that, she may even be the most powerful Sith Lord it has seen and also the fastest Jedi / Sith to have learnt the ways of the Force and its conflicting ways.
Ever since Rey’s introduction to the Star Wars universe in Episode VII, The Force Awakens, fans have been sceptical about Rey’s unprecedented expertise with handling the Force.
She manages to defeat Ben Solo, a Jedi-gone-dark who was trained by Luke Skywalker, in what is her first-time-ever handling of a lightsaber!
So what is the truth? Is Rey truly the most powerful Jedi ever or just the product of a poorly-planned script? What do her crazy powers mean and how are they justified by the writers? Read on to find out more.
1. A Force Prodigy
Introduced to us as a nobody, Rey’s story arc did place her well for greatness in the future. This, considering Star Wars almost always introduces its hero as just another nobody at the start.
Soon we learn about a secret about their bloodline, placing them at the center of a powerful family who are anything but nobodys.
So as the heroine of the Sequel Trilogy, Rey came with her own set of expertise even before training as a Jedi. Rey was a Jakku scavenger who would survive the harsh desert for a living before coming face to face with the Force.
The complicated aspects of the Force like controlling another’s thoughts or pulling at a lightsaber without touching it come so easily to Rey that it surprises both her and those around her.
During her first lightsaber duel against Kylo Ren, the alter-ego of Ben Solo, she manages to crush him with no training whatsoever in using the Jedi weapon.
All that motivates her is the threat to her friend, Finn’s life. (In case you’ve forgotten, Rey’s final blow in this duel splits open the ground! Such raw Force.)
Going forward, she is able to control weaker minds to do her bidding even in captivity. As one half of Dyad of Force with Ben Solo – which literally means two bodies and one existence – she is able to speak to him across distances.
They even exchange a lightsaber across distances eventually but it all begins much early in the Sequel Trilogy.
Later in the Trilogy, Rey exhibits another unique manifestation of the Force – healing powers. She uses her Force, literally Life Force, to heal near-mortal wounds she inflicts on Kylo Ren.
This particular aspect brings her level with the likes of Yoda, whose miniature version in The Mandalorian was also beginning to heal the wounded around the same time the Episode IX was out.
In Star Wars time of course the two events were separated by decades.
2. When Rey scared Luke
A part of Rey’s power is reflected in the fact that she manages to pull Luke Skywalker out of hiding and on the battlefield, thus reviving the Jedi Order.
Not only that, she manages to become his Padawan while also being trained by Leia as well.
While there were many reasons Luke was finally convinced to get involved in the fight against the Empire, the biggest one was Rey herself.
After all, Luke had gone into a self-imposed exile, haunted by the betrayal of one of his students, and spiritually in a very dark place.
As fans would know, Luke had gone into hiding from Force itself, after failing to establish an honorable Jedi order. He had retreated to a remote island and was waiting for death.
Until the day Rey hunted him down, aboard the Millennium Falcon, and was convinced to return.
One reason was definitely R2D2, the droid which had in the past brought a message from Leia and lured Luke in to fight the good fight.
Once again, the droid replays the same message from a young Leia asking Obi Wan Kanobi for help, except now R2D2 wants Luke’s help.
But the other was Rey herself. The sheer power of the Force inside her was palpable to Luke despite cutting out Force from his life for over three decades.
At one point during their training, Luke even senses the potential of darkness in Rey. He is terrified by it and reminded of his father, Anakin, who gave into his powerful dark side and became Darth Vader.
Despite Leia convincing him that Rey would be the one to balance the dark and light in the world, Rey’s dark side rouses his suspicions in Rey’s intentions to become a Jedi.
3. When Rey kills Sith
Rey has been tasked with the single most important task of balancing the light and dark sides of the Force. The task has been attempted by many before her who failed miserably but learnt lessons.
These lessons were passed on to Rey when she finally turns into a true Jedi after refusing to give in to Snoke’s tempting offers of unbridled power as a Sith Empress.
She chooses to forego the throne and not kill Emperor Palpatine to avoid becoming the next Sith.
Now we can only guess how difficult this decision must be for Rey because the movie sure does not. (It all seems a bit too hurried but then the whole Rey story arc is criticised for being too hurried.)
Rey decides to kill Palpatine only after he sucks out the energy of both Rey and Ben Solo, the Dyad of Force, to revive himself again.
Then, and only then, does she pick herself up and guided by the Jedis before her – goes for the kill.
In this one scene, we see her claiming her throne as a Sith Empress by killing the previous Sith. But the Emperor is also twice as powerful and so she needs the strength of a true Jedi to defeat him.
She basically has to gather all the light to defeat all the dark – which is what the balance of Force is supposed to mean.
Soon after Palpatine, who it turns out was Rey’s grandfather, is destroyed – she collapses to the ground.
Her Dyad-partner Ben Solo rises from the rabbit hole he is pushed into by Palpatine and gives Rey all his Force to revive her. When she wakes up, they kiss and he collapses instead.
What this particular scene means remains an undisclosed mystery. Are Rey and Ben Solo now one person? Did Ben Solo leave with his mother Leia – who also disappeared at the same time as him – leaving Rey half as strong?
Or does the power of the Dyad itself now reside inside of Rey? Answers to these questions will ultimately decide if Rey remains the most powerful Jedi. But we know for sure she was the most powerful Jedi until then.
5. About Star Wars
The Star Wars sequel trilogy is the third trilogy of the main Star Wars franchise, an American space opera created by George Lucas. Lucas had planned a sequel trilogy as early as 1976, when the Original Trilogy had released.
However, he had canceled it by 1981and produced only the first six episodes.
The Walt Disney Company acquired Lucasfilm in late 2012 and announced plans to produce the sequel films, although Lucas’s plans for the films were largely discarded. It serves as the final act of the “Skywalker saga”.
Disney is often criticised for keeping the skeleton of Lucas’ original plan for the Sequel Trilogy and foregoing its soul instead.
However, a broad plot sketched for the Sequel Trilogy has been maintained by Disney in the films, even though he was no longer part of the project.
It all starts 30 years after Luke Skywalker has failed to set up a successful Jedi Order and retreats. The First Order is more powerful than ever and the Force has found the unlikeliest of homes in a Jakku scavenger, Rey.
She has many secrets to discover, many questions to be answered about her past and an important mission to complete – defeat the First Order.
The 19-year-old orphan who is drawn into the conflict between the Resistance and the First Order, a ruthless military faction commanded by Kylo Ren—the son of Leia Organa and Han Solo.
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