This got me thinking. If Ben is redeemed, I think it would make sense if the saber went to him. Ben accepting and turning it on would be a powerful visual, showing his turn to the light and perhaps remind us of the scene where Luke gets the saber from Obi-Wan, with unknown adventures ahead. It would symbolize the hero and the Skywalker within him. “It belongs to me” would get a new meaning. The saber being broken but repaired would of course symbolize Ben himself, especially since it was repaired by Rey much like Ben might be. Rey handing the saber to Ben would be a callback to her handing it to Luke, and Ben accepting it would symbolize him giving Rey the belonging she was searching for in Luke. “It belongs to you”, she might say, tying their story arches together.
That would be pretty great and epic if you ask me.
I don’t think I would like that. If the ST has one core theme, I would say that lineage is not important. It’s the choices you make. Rey has thusfar made the right choices, whilst Ben made the wrong ones. Rey should be the one who builds a new future on that basis. For Ben to be redeemed, he should recognize this. It is not his birth right. He doesn’t deserve that lightsaber. She might offer it to him, but he should reject it imo.
Wouldn’t you say that the lightsaber represents lineage? If so, it would reinforce the unimportance of lineage if Rey gives away the lightsaber and forges her own path. We are made to believe that Rey is “worthy” because she gets the lightsaber, when the point should be that she is worthy even without it.
Ben on the other hand seems to care more about lineage. “Forget the past”, he says, and yet he talks to Vader’s helmet and claims ownership of the saber. If he received the saber it could be a key to understanding where he came from and perhaps it would give him a feeling of responsibility to uphold the legacy going forward.