Ohhhhh! Dude, this is my fault - I haven’t been explaining my vision clearly. Rey and Kylo each have new character arcs in this version. Rey is no longer a Palpatine - her story is no longer about “who she is.” Instead, it’s about her learning to control the outbursts of anger we’ve seen during the past two films, and ultimately will she be able to do so in time to save her friends?

Kylo’s journey, meanwhile, picks up the pieces from TLJ - he’s on a quest to destroy the Sith, not rule them. But the question is, how will he achieve this? Through the light side, or the dark? Who is he, deep down? And I think that it’s perfectly reasonable for Ben to be afraid at that point, even if the script doesn’t say so outright (subtext!) - returning to the light means admitting he’s been wrong all this time, it means acknowledging the terrible deeds he’s done. It takes courage to admit when you’ve made mistakes. So in that sense, “Never be afraid of who you are” applies much more to him now than to Rey.

I think that charts a really interesting journey, personally: TFA is about Kylo wanting to be like Vader, TLJ is about Kylo becoming his own master. Now, TROS will be about who he wants to be, but done in a way where the story builds to that, rather than a switch flipping in his head. Ultimately, the three films together explore his journey from dark side lackey to an independent light side user.

I sometimes forget that this version of the film only exists in my head right now, and that a change list doesn’t really do it justice; but I hope I can share it with everyone else soon, because I think it tells a much stronger story.

(And don’t worry, I’m removing Leia saying the line to Rey - it’s just to Ben.)