'Star Wars 9' spoilers: Novel may have revealed Rey’s shocking new power

Star Wars: Force Collector author Kevin Shinick has revealed that portions of his recently released YA novel accidentally came a little too close to replicating J.J. Abrams’ plot for The Rise of Skywalker. The novel’s protagonist can see visions relating to the Jedi, so it’s possible the book may have indirectly revealed Rey’s new abilities in Episode IX. But, wait. Hasn’t she been able to see visions since The Force Awakens? Not exactly. Let’s dissect.

Warning! Speculative spoilers ahead for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.

In Episode VII, Rey has a Force vision after coming into contact with the blue Skywalker lightsaber in Maz’s palace. It wasn’t clear Rey was able to see visions in general, or if the lightsaber simply “needed” to send her a message in that moment. Rey is Force sensitive, and the kyber crystals from the lightsaber could’ve been calling to her because of that and nothing more. From what we’ve seen in the sequel trilogy so far, Rey’s always been shown visions rather than willing them to happen, like in the Dark side cave on Ahch-to in The Last Jedi. But maybe there’s more to the story here.

In Force Collector, protagonist Karr Nuq Sin starts to experience visions when in contact with anything Jedi-related. Later in the novel, Karr sees visions of Luke training with Obi-Wan from A New Hope after hopping aboard the Millennium Falcon. Karr’s journey has a lot in common with Rey’s, and his story seems to be retracing her steps in discovering more about the Jedi and his connection to them. Here’s the kicker: the novel may have hinted that Rey develops these same Force powers in The Rise of Skywalker.

It’s not that far-fetched. Shinick recently revealed to SYFY Wire that parts of his novel were altered (he was asked to remove an entire section detailing Karr’s visit to a particular planet). Still, the rest of the story remained largely intact, which means Karr’s story may have always meant to echo Rey’s.

Another clue that Rey might develop similar Force visions comes from Jedi: Fallen Order. In the game, the Cal Kestis has the rare power of Psychometry, essentially the ability to sense past events by touching specific objects. Sound familiar?

Now, keep in mind that George Lucas has said that he wanted a new Force power introduced in every Star Wars film and, knowing he consulted with director J.J. Abrams with Episode IX, it’s likely that he wanted to give these new Force powers to Rey.

Sure, seeing visions might not be entirely new for her, but the previous films didn’t suggest this was a rare skill amongst Force users. That could change in Episode IX. It can’t be a coincidence that both Force Collector and Fallen Order included characters that could see and sense past events while in proximity to Jedi objects.

It’s possible that the rumored scene of younger Luke and Leia training in Episode IX — which probably won’t appear — was a vision Rey saw after touching something that belonged to one or both of them. Whether Rey will have any visions in The Rise of Skywalker remains to be seen, but it’s best not to discard the idea completely just yet.

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