Continuing a convo from the Ascendant thread (though this would be relevant for Rey Nobody as well)
The thing is, Rey has never wanted power, which is the issue with this entire ending. There’s nothing that Palpatine can give her that she genuinely wants, other than a sense of belonging and family, so with the revelation about him as her grandfather, she has just as much reason to want him alive as she does to kill him.
Rey doesn’t want power, she doesn’t want to rule the galaxy.
She wants to be a Jedi and gain a family, so unless Palpatine’s plan can give her that he has no angle.
So hang on a sec, here’s an idea: What if Palpatine reveals the reason that Rey can’t connect with the Jedi of the past is because he personally is blocking that connection?
“Do you know why the Jedi reject you? Because of me.”
“Kill me, and the spirit of the Jedi shall pass into you.”
We know he’s lying about that of course, but at least he’s offering her something she would genuinely want. And when she is finally able to call the Jedi to her in her final moment, it is the culmination of Rey rejecting Palpatine’s lie.
The angle I’m going for right now is control. Rey has this raw power, but she really doesn’t have any control over it. She hurts BB-8 during her training, she almost kills Chewbacca, she Force-pushes Finn on the Death Star, and she almost kills Kylo/Ben. Her raw, uncontrollable power is a threat to her belonging and family, which ties into her sense of self-worth. She fears she isn’t good enough for a family, that she might just hurt the ones she cares about. She might lose her family if she joined the Sith, but they might die if she doesn’t, or get hurt by her if she can’t learn to control her powers. She feels trapped, and doesn’t know what to do.
Basically, “if you can’t control the dark side, the dark side will control you.” That’s the argument the villains are making. Palpatine and Kylo Ren both offer her ways to do so. But there’s a catch with both.
Not saying it is the best approach ever, but I think it at least gives more of a plausible reason Rey might be even a little tempted to join either of them.
Most of this idea would be framed by Kylo in new dialogue, but I think everything else that already exists would support it well.
I dig it. So you have AI line ideas for this?
I actually have each conversation mapped out, with a few to several options for certain lines. 😅 Honestly had avoided thinking about it the past year or two, but this voice AI stuff kind of sparked my brain again. I think it needs some adjustments, to make it all focused, but it feels closer than it has ever been before. At least my version of it.
I could share it here and maybe it could be hammered out.
And I like that idea, Nev, that the throne/temple itself is a significant nexus in the dark side. And the Sith made the throne to channel its power. It’d explain why he is tied to that place. Maybe that would explain all the damn lightning coming from the ground!
Even if it was explicitly spelled out, I could imagine a few ways it could be implied as much.
It does seem like “taking the throne” is pretty significant. It feels like a metaphorical gesture, but this could imply that maybe it isn’t.