A new piece of Star Wars merchandise has revealed huge bits of information about both Rey Skywalker and her upcoming movie, Star Wars: New Jedi Order. Currently, not much is known about New Jedi Order. What is known is that it will follow Rey as she seeks to rebuild the Jedi Order in the aftermath of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, and that it will take place about 15 years after the last Star Wars movie in the Skywalker saga. Luckily, there is now new information about the significant gap in the Star Wars timeline between Rise of Skywalker and New Jedi Order.
A video from Nick Tierce showed footage of new kyber crystal merch from Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, which features voice lines from Rey herself. Her voice lines seem to have been said shortly after The Rise of Skywalker, as many of her quotes indicate that she’s looking to the future of Star Wars.
The kyber crystal plays several lines from Rey where she shares her thoughts on everything from her relationship to the members of the Skywalker family tree to her understanding of the Force. Since they cover so much ground, the recordings have also become a treasure trove of hints about Rey herself as well as New Jedi Order, and they’re well worth analyzing.
One of Kylo Ren’s most famous lines from Star Wars: The Last Jedi saw him share his thoughts about his troubled history, as he said, “Let the past die. Kill it, if you have to.” Rey has since taken his lesson to heart, but she’s added her own spin to it. Instead of trying to forget the past, Rey has committed herself to learning from it, and to focusing on the parts that worked while cutting away the parts that didn’t. For all the hardship the Star Wars galaxy has seen, there have also been bright moments in its past, and Rey clearly recognizes this.
Rey’s new definition of Kylo Ren’s quote also paints an exciting picture ahead of New Jedi Order. It seems to indicate that she’ll be drawing on not only Luke Skywalker’s teachings, but also less prominent parts of the Jedi Order’s history. This could mean that Rey will be taking inspiration from every era of Star Wars, such as the High Republic and the beginning of the Order itself. The Jedi Order has changed several times over its long history, though, so it will be interesting to see which areas Rey considers to have worked, and which ones she chooses to avoid.
Though both the Sith and the First Order were defeated, the galaxy was still left broken at the end of The Rise of Skywalker. It had endured yet another brutal war, and was left without a galactic government yet again after the destruction of the New Republic. The galaxy was in dire need of help, and Rey’s quote seems to indicate that her new Jedi Order will be dedicated to providing it. This quote also goes hand in hand with the last, as it highlights how Rey will be looking to the Order’s past to inform its future.
In examining the past, Rey will have to avoid some of the pitfalls that led to the Order’s downfall, and this renewed interest in healing the galaxy seems to show she’s doing just that. One of the reasons the Order was so vulnerable in the prequel trilogy is because it had forgotten that protecting the galaxy was its main priority, so Rey returning to that core value is a good sign. It could even be an indication that her Order will be more similar to the High Republic, as that was a time when the values of peacekeeping were at their highest in recent memory.
Most of Rey’s quotes are concerned with the future and New Jedi Order, and the fact that she makes a direct reference to Ahch-To is a sign that the planet still has an important role to play. The planet Ahch-To was where Luke Skywalker fled to before the events of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and it was also the site of the first Jedi temple. It has played an incredibly important role in the past, and Rey may be returning it to its former glory.
This quote could indicate that Rey’s new Order will be based on Ahch-To. It would be a sensible choice, as it would provide a level of seclusion due to being located in the Unknown Regions of the Star Wars galaxy map. Additionally, its connection to the origins of the Jedi Order and the Prime Jedi, as well as the dark side vergence located beneath the island, could make it incredibly useful. Rey has already expressed an interest in returning to the Jedi’s origins, and part of that could include serving both the dark and light sides of the Force in search of true balance, which Ahch-To embodies.
While Rey’s main focus will be on rebuilding the Jedi, this quote indicates that it won’t be her only priority. Rey seems to also be committed to understanding the Force, which is a good ideal to hold while rebuilding the Order. The Jedi are, after all, supposed to serve the Force in everything they do, so Rey’s studies should fit into that ideal quite well.
This is also another indication that Rey’s Order will have a different view of the idea of balance than previous generations of Jedi did. In the past, the Jedi saw only the light side of the Force as worthy of maintaining, and viewed those committed to the dark side, like the Sith, as sources of imbalance. Rey’s quote indicates she holds a very different view of things, and could indicate how she’ll go about treating other groups like the Nightsisters of Dathomir or even potentially groups like Mother Aniseya’s Force cult, which will be featured in The Acolyte.
This quote serves as even more evidence that Rey will be dedicated to studying the Force, and that she has the perfect mindset to do so. The first part of learning is understanding that there are things one doesn’t know, and having a willingness to fill in those holes. Rey clearly sees that she won’t be able to fully understand the Force, and that no one ever could, but that won’t stop her from learning all she can.
Rey’s perspective that the lessons on the Force will never end also has some important implications for her students. If Rey is able to convey that perspective effectively, her younglings should get the message that they’ll be students of the Force until the day they die. That’s an incredibly valuable lesson, and it should keep them from falling into the same complacency and overconfidence that plagued the Jedi of the prequel trilogy.
At the end of The Rise of Skywalker, Rey declared herself as Rey Skywalker, taking on the legendary family name. That was a massive decision, as the Skywalker name carries with it a huge legacy, both light and dark. On one hand, some of the most important and powerful people in the galaxy, like Luke and Leia, were Skywalkers, yet on the other, some of the galaxy’s greatest menaces also shared the name, such as Darth Vader and Kylo Ren. It wasn’t a decision she made lightly, and this quote shows exactly why she took the name.
Rey became a Skywalker not to seek out the name’s glory, but so she could honor the people she cared about who had that name. As she noted, Luke, Leia, and Ben Solo gave her so much, and she would never have become such a powerful Jedi without them. Becoming a Skywalker is a way for Rey to carry their memories further into the future with her, and keep them from fading into legend. Because of Rey, the Skywalker name is no longer just a name, it is a title of the highest honor.
In the climactic moments of The Rise of Skywalker, Palpatine declared that he was “all the Sith,” to which Rey responded, “I’m all the Jedi.” This scene was also preceded by a moment where Rey heard the voices of several prominent Jedi of the past, all of whom encouraged her to rise to the occasion. It was a very symbolic scene where they passed on their legacy as Jedi to Rey, and where she accepted such a huge responsibility. It seems that Rey has doubled down on that responsibility with this quote.
The fact that Rey is now confident enough in her role as “all the Jedi” to make jokes about it speaks volumes about her character development. At the start of the sequel trilogy, Rey was incredibly unsure of herself, and those self-confidence issues were the main reason she couldn’t accept her legacy until Rise of Skywalker. Now, though, Rey has no issue with her role, which should be a massive help in her new duty to restore the Jedi Order.
The Rise of Skywalker also revealed that Rey’s father, Dathan, was a failed strand-cast of Palpatine, giving her a link to the Dark Lord of the Sith. While Rey isn’t really Palpatine’s granddaughter, as Dathan never viewed himself as Palpatine’s son, he still had a dark effect on her history. It makes perfect sense that Rey would want to bury that part of her past, but this quote shows she has a much better way of thinking about Palpatine.
Rey’s relation to Palpatine could come into play in New Jedi Order in a number of ways. The galaxy could learn of her heritage and become wary of her because of it, which would put her efforts to rebuild the Jedi in peril. She could also use that legacy and her connection to the dark side that came from it for good, which would once again lend itself to an updated view of balance in the Force. However Palpatine’s legacy plays into New Jedi Order, Rey seems to have accepted that he’s a part of her, but also that he doesn’t have to define her.
The greatest scene in The Last Jedi was Yoda’s lesson to Luke that failure is a necessary part of learning. Even when faced with overwhelming failure, like Luke experienced with Ben Solo, and like the Resistance was faced with at the end of the movie, real learning happens through perseverance. Luke finally learned that lesson, and Rey’s quote shows that he successfully passed it on to her.