Does Reylo need to happen? An answer for ‘yes’
By Julie Gray
A serious question needs to be addressed: Do we actually want or need Reylo to happen in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker?
In my previous post, someone asked: “How can you write about Star Wars and not talk about Reylo?”
That is a great question. For me, it’s quite easy. As a fan, I don’t follow any particular “ship” in the Star Wars universe or any other fandom for that matter. I like to appreciate the characters for who they are as individuals. But when all is said and done, a serious question remains, which is ‘Do we want or need Reylo to happen?’
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As I sit entirely in the middle of this debate, I don’t have anything other than my own opinion. So I’d like to look at this question as objectively and as possible and look at both pros and cons of it. I think I have a pretty good idea why so many fans want Reylo to be a realistic ending for Kylo Ren and Rey. I believe this is the most obvious part of the argument.
Part 1 – The Reylo Point of View
The “force bonding” scenes from The Last Jedi certainly added fuel to the fire where Reylo is concerned. How could Rey and Kylo Ren not end up as lovers after touching hands across the galaxy and joining each other in the Force?
That’s an excellent question. It certainly helped to pave the way for both Kylo Ren and Rey to put everything else aside and be together. After all, Kylo did ask Rey to join him so they could rule the galaxy together. Isn’t this a romantic gesture?
Well, if it was, Rey refused Kylo Ren’s proposal because she understood there were more important things happening (like the Resistance fleet being obliterated) that were bigger than just her and Kylo/Ben.
And this is where things tend to get a little bit complicated. How could they put everything aside after all that they’ve been through?
Surely Kylo Ren killing Han Solo was enough for Rey to see him only as an enemy and nothing more? Some agree that this is the case and others not so much. Leia has said that “Rey is forgiving.”
Some fans ate that up and looked at that to mean that Rey could be capable of forgiving anything that Kylo Ren had done. And that is certainly something to think about.
To be able to justify either argument properly is going to take more than a single post to cover, so I am going to leave the debate here for now until my next post where we look at the other side of the argument from the Anti-Reylo camp of fans.
In the meantime though, please let me know if you have any opinion or comments regarding what I’ve written about Reylo fans. I’m keen to know what the community thinks, but please, be kind to each other in your replies.
Looking for more Reylo? Check out the Dork Side of the Force podcast on the topic.