The scene feels hollow, but it is convincing as a real scene from THE RISE OF SKYWALKER (2019) if it had been that way in the theater for sure.

Ascendant removes the line from an earlier scene where Kylo says he will turn Rey to the dark side when he finds her. It felt unnecessary and would make sense that’s something he wouldn’t want to just blatantly state.

However, incorporating it here could give this scene… a little bit more of a reason for being. Hardly a dramatic revelation, but it’d be something.

Also, in this version of the scene, there’s no hint that something dramatic is coming in the next scene, though we do still know that he’s on his way and they gotta go, so I guess that still works.

The scene just ends up, “I pushed you in the desert because I’m going to turn you to the dark side.” No shit.