'Star Wars 9' Leaks May Reveal Rey's Shocking Ending in 'Rise of Skywalker'

Trying to dodge Star Wars leaks in the lead-up to The Rise of Skywalker’s release is about as difficult as successfully navigating an asteroid field, and this latest Episode IX leak may be the most explosive yet. Even if you’ve managed to stay spoiler free so far, this new rumor about Rey’s arc and the movie’s ending is almost too juicy to ignore. For everyone else, it’s just another piece of the rapidly assembling puzzle that is Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.

Warning: Huge spoilers for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker below.

The latest Episode IX leaks come from Making Star Wars, a trusted source for spoilers among the Star Wars community. In a series of YouTube videos, MSW editor Jason Ward has been breaking down all the latest rumors, and his newest video focuses on Rey’s journey throughout Rise of Skywalker, including two major moments and what could be the final scene of the Skywalker Saga.

The first pivotal Rey moment comes during a scene where our heroes face off against a giant sandworm in what sounds like a callback to the original trilogy. Here’s how Ward describes the scene, based on information from his sources:

“Rey and crew do get attacked by a sandworm alien, which reveals an inexplicable new power. She possesses the power to heal. They almost kill the work and then she uses her powers to repair, or heal, or even bring it back to life.”

Jedi healing powers? That’s pretty interesting. Now, here’s the second key moment, where Rey unlocks another, even more surprising Force ability:

“They’re in a battle and a ship starts flying away and Rey goes to grab the ship and Kylo sees what she’s doing and he does it too. So it’s kind of like in Force Awakens when they’re fighting over the saber, but in this battle, the revelation is that Rey is able to shot Force lightning out of her hands. And it looks like things don’t work out too well for the ship.”

So if these leaks are true, that means Rey will learn new abilities that lean both towards the Light and Dark sides of the Force. It’s almost as if she’s moved beyond the old binary of Jedi vs. Sith to some new, more balanced existence. Like, say … a Skywalker?

This brings us to the final scene of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker — at least according to Jason Ward. Apparently, the movie will return to where it all began, Tatooine. Our heroes visit the old Lars homestead where Luke grew up and look out over the planet’s twin suns. Then, this happens:

“I heard that a moment is filmed where Rey is walking around the perimeter of the Lars homestead and a commoner sees and her and says they haven’t seen anyone out there in years and asks who she is, and then she says that she’s Rey Skywalker.”

There are two ways to read this. Either Rey is actually a literal Skywalker and a relative of Anakin, Luke, Leia, and Kylo Ren; or, the term “Skywalker” will take on a new meaning by the end of Episode IX. That second option is the one we’ve been predicting ever since the movie’s title was revealed, and based on everything in this latest Star Wars leak, it makes a lot of sense.

If Rey masters both the Light and Dark sides of the Force, terms like Jedi or a Sith won’t apply. In that case, the best option would be to invent a new term for Rey and the next generation of Force users, and “Skywalker” just feels right.

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