Here's Why "Dark Rey" Could Be a Vision in 'The Rise of Skywalker'

The appearance of “Dark Rey” at the end of the D23 footage of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker has brought so many new theories to light that it’s often hard to keep up with all the speculation.

Could Dark Rey be a clone?

Is she possessed by Emperor Palpatine?

Is she battling herself?

Look, nobody knows. But the image of Dark Rey has us contemplating another possibility entirely: She’s having a vision of herself.

Yes, we think Dark Rey is mere a vision, a fake-out of sorts for the footage released this past weekend. At some point in Episode IX, Rey heads back to Luke’s island and finds herself drawn back to the cave. While there, she has another vision, one darker in nature and that’s when she sees Dark Rey.

In Star Wars: The Last Jedi, there was an entire scene dedicated to these visions. In one of them, Rey saw multiple versions of herself, all staring back at her in some sort of mirror. Interestingly, the image of Dark Rey standing and holding her double-bladed lightsaber in the new trailer looks awfully similar to that scene in Episode VIII.

Compare the two images below. In the second image, Dark Rey is standing in what looks like a dark place and she’s facing someone (or something). The other version of Rey seems to also be standing in that same spot, the only light in the cave is reflected in the mirror. Perhaps Rey is having another vision, one where she sees herself succumbing to the Dark side or eventually becoming Palpatine’s pawn. Either way, Rey might be seeing her potential future.

In the scene from The Last Jedi, Rey also sees the shadows of two separate images that merge together. It could very well be that she was already seeing glimpses into who she would become. Perhaps Kylo Ren already knew and felt she had the darkness within her and that’s why he tried so hard to turn her to the Dark side. However, it’s unlikely that Rey would suddenly turn to the Dark side considering how hard she fought against it in Episode VIII. So the possibility of her seeing who she could become is much more likely. Even if it turns out that she does become possessed by Palpatine, she can work to stop it if she’s seen it in a vision.

In an interview with /Film, The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson mentioned that Rey goes to the cave “and has to see, just like Luke did in the cave, her greatest fear.” And what’s more scary to Rey than falling to the Dark side? She’s already seen what that’s done to Kylo and there’s no doubt that it’s something she’s been thinking about since the last film.

A vision is the closest we may ever come to Rey becoming evil. After all, she is the hero of the new sequel trilogy, and there’s no way the series will end with her turning to the Dark side of the Force. 

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker hits theaters December 20, 2019.