Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker capped off the Skywalker Saga on a somewhat divisive note, with a number of Star Wars fans leaving the theater unsatisfied. One of the film’s most debated sequences, though, is the final battle between Rey and her grandfather, Emperor Palpatine. In the sequence, Rey, strengthened by the Jedi of the past, uses Luke and Leia’s lightsabers to deflect Palpatine’s lightning back at him and destroy the Sith Lord once and for all. Now, a fan has taken the liberty of editing the scene, and it’s honestly a sight to behold.
A Star Wars fan by the name of jon h recently took to YouTube to post an edit of The Rise of Skywalker’s ending. While the clip keeps the basic structure of the sequence, it makes one major change. In the theatrical version, Rey hears the voices of Jedi from the past but, in this clip, the Force ghosts of the various Jedi actually appear behind her and give her strength. This includes familiar faces like Yoda, Hayden Christensen’s Anakin Skywalker and Alec Guinness’ Ben Kenobi. You can check out the awesome clip for yourself down below:
This edited version of The Rise of Skywalker’s ending may only change one key element of Rey and Palpatine’s face-off, but it definitely makes a world of difference. Many fans appreciated hearing vocal cameos from former Jedi during the scene, but actually seeing them standing behind Rey makes it so much more powerful.
Having this scene in the film would have also helped to bridge continuity, especially when it comes to the relationship between the Prequel and Sequel Trilogies. During the newest trilogy, fans didn’t get a chance to see characters from the prequels show up, and this would have delivered that very thing for fans who had been craving more connections between the eras.
However, there is an argument to be made that this particular scene wouldn’t have been possible to include in the film. One of the things fans most enjoyed about the vocal cameos was the wide range of actors that were utilized. Even those who have only voiced Star Wars characters in the animated mediums like Ashley Eckstein and Freddie Prinze Jr. were utilized.
Taking this into consideration, it would have been difficult or impossible to feature certain characters who have only appeared in animated form. Eckstein’s Ahsoka would’ve proven to be even trickier given that the character is reportedly appearing in The Mandalorian, in which she'll be played by Rosario Dawson. And you can bet Lucasfilm wouldn’t have wanted to give up that surprise so soon.
The Rise of Skywalker ending that we got will remain a part of Star Wars canon for years to come, and there’s no changing that. But still, it’s cool to see and imagine other ways in which it could have been executed.
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is now available to stream on Disney+.
