Jar Jar Bricks

hinventon said:

I can’t imagine Rey’s dad believing his girl saying she got pregnant for no reason. The lines about Palpatine using the force’s reaction to his resurrection is sort of hard to grasp because it’s not really tangible, at least for me. I think it’s better to just leave it vague.

This. What Kylo is telling Rey is for her own and the audience’s better understanding. Whether we have Kylo phrase it in this scene as neither parent having involvement in her creation or no father having involvement in her creation, the reality of the situation will always appear exactly as what you just described - that her partner wouldn’t believe her and think she cheated on him. Which would only add to her own resentment of the child. And the father would rightly believe she isn’t his own anyway. So both of them are eventually down with selling her. It makes sense. Perhaps we should steer away from their fear of her and back to the land of resentment. Because ultimately the audience’s own understanding of this more abstract origin story is more important than a slightly elevated characterization for Rey. We desperately need that link to Shmi’s line: “There was no father” to ensure this concept doesn’t feel un-Star Warsy.

EDIT: Here is a draft of the above:

“I’d never lie to you. Your parents were no one. Junk traders expecting a child they couldn’t have conceived.”

“Don’t!”

“Resentment grew. He never believed her — no father, yet you were born.”

“I don’t want this!”

“…just like Vader.”

“No!”

I’ll have to give the Palpatine resurrection lines more thought tomorrow. They might not make it through. We’ll probably have to revert to something like “Luke saw the same fate in me. But you and I don’t want it” and “Why? I know you better than anyone else”. But this is where they currently stand for me:

“When Palpatine was summoned, it caused a great disturbance in the Force.”

“Stop talking.”

“Its response was his greatest opportunity.”

“Expecting a child” is necessary in order to make it clear we aren’t talking about adoption. And I think a reference to there being no father instead of merely a lack of parental involvement in conception is necessary in order for more casual fans to catch the link with Anakin/Vader.

I understand you’re trying to paint her parents under a more sympathetic light so that their abandonment of Rey is more due to the fault of her own nature and their fear of it. But I genuinely don’t think Rey should be that threatening at this age as a creation of the Force. We have Episode 1 Anakin to look to, and he didn’t appear to have a speck of evil in him (except for beating up Greedo in that deleted scene). Besides, the implication you’re making here is that they are also Force-sensitive enough to realize the dark potential Rey has. This is a big no-no in my opinion, as they need to remain as normal and worthless as TLJ portrays them.

I’m currently going for the concept that if an extremely powerful Force user tries to grow in their power, the strength of their light scales with the shadow it casts. Essentially, you start unlocking your true potential, but as a result there are exponentially more temptations to turn to evil and use the “quick and easy” path. Obviously Rey as a child isn’t even aware of the Force; her power is still (mostly) latent. Therefore, we have to assume that the only thing that could scare her parents enough to abandon her is the fact that her mother never had the prerequisite relations for such a thing to even be possible. Perhaps she does exhibit some slight Force powers, which some people in the Star Wars galaxy would see as evil no matter what, which leads to her abandonment at a later age than birth.

I was referencing a discussion we’ve previously had. If you compare the ships side-by-side between movies, there are subtle differences. In canon, yes, they are meant to be the same ship. But there is a certain level of plausible deniability already present.

I really think the reference to Vader is necessary. It gives a purpose to Vader’s mask looming in the background besides cheap fan service. It also clues more casual fans on to what’s happening assuming they’ve seen episode 1. Plus, the line there needs to be extremely short, just 2-3 words. The line after “Don’t!” is currently too short as you have it. The paragraph after the heroes capture also needs to be a lot longer than that. There simply isn’t enough content there to fill out the space required. The purpose of the sentence you removed is to hint at a connection they’ve always shared through the Force, just as his remarks before we left to the heroes capture are meant to hint at her connection to Palpatine. They both get clarified at the end.

I do really like “the result was his greatest opportunity”. But I think the change you made before that raises some questions. Some people going into this edit would be under the impression that Palpatine cheated death immediately after Vader threw him down the reactor shaft. That is the canon answer, after all. So with the way you’ve currently worded it, it implies that Rey should have been born immediately after ROTJ, which we of course know isn’t the case.

I’m also unsure why you’d remove “Palpatine told me the rest of our story.” It’s to remind the audience to take what he says with a grain of salt.

EDIT: Come to think of it, I do really like “Our paths have always been intertwined.” But I’d probably replace it with “fates”. Come check out my last posted draft to see some of the changes I’ve made according to your recommendations.

I modified the two lines by “Stop talking” already to be a bit better. Like you suggested, the reality is probably a blend of the two. Palpatine’s return caused an imbalance in the Force, which deemed a necessary response. In his hubris, he thinks he has such a mastery of the Force that he can control what the Force creates as a reaction to himself, and have it belong to himself.

Hmmm… I hadn’t considered that. I think the thing we’ll have to assume is that the Force ghosts behind Rey are holding the Sith spirits inside of Palpatine’s body. So the lightning doesn’t just send them back to the netherworld, it destroys them all, permanently. Not sure how to make this clear, though, besides the Sith scream we already implemented into Ascendant.

Let’s put everything together in one place (along with indicating what needs to be cut and where)

The edit would be almost entirely regular Ascendant v4 throughout. However, 3 things need to be borrowed from Rey Nobody:

1. Reinstate Palpatine’s: “The dark side of the Force is a pathway to many abilities some consider to be… unnatural.” As this is now a reference to a scene that is integral to the plot.
2. Both (2) references to Rey recognizing Ochi’s ship removed.
3. Rey saying that Palpatine killed her parents in front of Finn (with the shot of BB-8 mirrored, possibly an AI Finn line instead of the whispers since even Luke will now be admitting that they were all created to destroy Palpatine - this isn’t supposed to be something sinister until it’s revealed to be).

And, if we want, Finn’s ADR line “He wanted her alive” could be reinstated. Though the nice thing about our other changes here is that we would have no idea as the audience that Ochi was assigned with looking for Rey up until this point between Finn and Poe, so that’s a reveal in and of itself.

Ideally, somebody would also be kind enough to modify Rey’s vision in TFA with a ship that looks more different than Ochi’s. 😉 We already know the ships ARE technically different models between films, but they do look similar enough for people to have spotted that in the trailers.

Then the following are all of the dialogue changes:

“I pushed you in the desert because I needed to see it… I needed you to see it… who you are. The dark side is your birthright, Rey…”

“You’re lying.”

“I’d never lie to you. Your parents were no one. Junk traders expecting a child they never wanted.”

“Don’t!”

“They feared you. Your conception was not of any father’s doing.”

“I don’t want this!”

“…just like Vader.”

“No!”

“You’ve seen it, haven’t you? Your destiny.”

(Rey sees the vision of herself on the Sith throne)

“When Palpatine was summoned, it caused a great disturbance in the Force.”

“Stop talking.”

“The result was his greatest opportunity.”

(Cutaway to heroes capture)

“The Force showed me glimpses of a girl like you long before we met. When we first fought, in the forest, the power inside of you awakened. You revealed yourself not only to me, but to the Emperor… just as he’d intended.”

(Visions of Rey beating Kylo on Starkiller, falling into the dark cave, etc.)

“No!”

(A pedestal shatters and the mask of Vader falls to the ground)

“So that’s where you are.”

“Our fates have always been intertwined."

“No…”

"I’ll come tell you why.”

—

“Palpatine told me the rest of our story.”

“Tell me.”

"He influenced the Force itself into creating life. First my grandfather, and then you. You were his chosen heir. You… are a rightful Palpatine.”

"The Emperor wants us to fight each other, so his most worthy heir can claim the throne. But he hasn’t realized the strength of our connection, Rey… a bond, not of blood, but raw power in the Force. We can end him and the Sith, and create a new order, together…”

—
“What are you most afraid of?”

“Myself…”

“Because you’re a Palpatine? The Force made us, to destroy him.”

“Final lesson. Rey… Some things are stronger than blood. Confronting fear is the destiny of a Jedi. Your destiny, if you don’t face Palpatine, it will mean the end of the Jedi. And the war will be lost. There’s something my sister would want you to have.”

—

“Leia’s saber.”

“She was quick to learn in our training. But Leia knew that a light as powerful as her own would cast a terrible shadow within her. She surrendered her saber to me and said that one day it would be picked up again by someone with the spirit to face that darkness.”

—

“Long have I waited… I never wanted you dead. I wanted you here, Empress Palpatine. You will take the throne. It is your birthright to rule here. It is in your blood.” (We’d remove “our blood” because they don’t share the same blood. Fortunately, that would be an easy cut because the camera switches perspective only for when he says that.)

“I haven’t come to lead the Sith. I’ve come to end them.”

“As a Jedi?”

“Yes.”

“No. Your hatred, your anger. You want to kill me. That is what I want. Kill me, and my spirit will pass into you, as all the Sith live in me (we’d reinstate his original line at the beginning since it hints at Rey’s new origins). You will be Empress. We will be one.”

“All you want is for me to hate but I won’t. Not even you.”

“Weak. (Cut back at the end of Rey’s line about her parents) Your master, Luke Skywalker, was saved by his father. The only family you have here… is me.” (Everything after this point would be unaltered Ascendant v4).

I think the only time I use language that indicates one of the two for sure is true is with Luke: “Because you’re a Palpatine? The Force alone made us, to end him.” I can simply remove the word “alone” to allow both interpretations to still stand - “The Force made us, to end him.” That sentence could be true even if Palpatine had a hand in their creation, because as we later know he wants Rey to kill him. That being said, I think for a satisfying conclusion most of the evidence should point to Palpatine lying and stretching the truth. But in terms of it being outright stated which version of events is true, you either have to believe space Satan or a ghost of a dude that really shouldn’t know one way or the other because he wasn’t around for these events.

I’ve also figured out a way to make it clear that what Kylo is telling her may be unreliable:

“Palpatine told me the rest of our story.”

“Tell me.”

"He influenced the Force itself into creating life. First my grandfather, and then you. You were his chosen heir. You… are a rightful Palpatine.”

"The Emperor only wants us to fight each other, so his most worthy heir can claim the throne. But he hasn’t realized the strength of our connection, Rey… a bond, not of blood, but of raw power in the Force. We can end him and the Sith, and create a new order, together…”

I’ve also found a way to keep Rey’s parents fearing her for her strange existence and possibly her unexplainable dark power:

“I’d never lie to you. Your parents were no one. Junk traders expecting a child they never wanted.”

“Don’t!”

“They feared your nature. Your conception had no father’s hand.”

“I don’t want this!”

“…just like Vader.”

Well, they still do need to be mentioned! Don’t get me wrong. The first few lines are about how her mother became pregnant with a child she never wanted, and there was no man with her at the time that could have done such a thing.

It’s the second, yes. What Kylo describes in these scenes is what Palpatine told him about Rey and himself after he asked “Who is she?” in the intro. Maybe we can make this clear on his first line instead of talking about pushing her in the desert?

I do agree that a little bit more of justification why Rey’s parents were such assholes wouldn’t hurt. But ultimately, they are irrelevant to this story, as TLJ says. This movie needs to be explaining Rey’s own characterization. We can assume the reason they abandoned her is because of the unnatural circumstances around her birth as well as any strange Force powers she exhibited as a child.

I never had Kylo outright state she is the result of this reactionary Force energy, either. It’s implied, sure, but that is still saved for when they are in the hangar. I also made it vague just how much of a hand he had in utilizing that power to serve his own means. We’re trying to make this as devastating as possible to Rey without shutting the door on the idea that the Force alone made her to stop Palpatine, which is the ultimate conclusion - her being a Jedi and a Skywalker by right.

The only point of contention is the current canon novels which state that he transferred his spirit before his body even died in the reactor shaft of the Death Star. At least this way Anakin actually killed Palpatine. It’s only because of his followers that he returned, and then a new chosen one was created.

But this time, Palpatine takes the approach that he only ever informally did with Anakin: being his father. He hinted at a more direct connection, but never capitalized on it. With Rey, due to her abandonment by her terrible parents, he knows he can twist the truth behind Rey’s own purpose as a creation of the Force.

If we could, I’d love it if her conception coincided directly with the moment of Palpatine’s resurrection. This would of course require the concept that he DID truly die in ROTJ, and his spirit was summoned from the netherworld of the Force along with all of the other Sith spirits at a later date. But like you said, I’m not sure where exactly we could place this information. We’d have to modify Kylo’s dyad-duel with her. Probably his lines close to Rey saying “Stop talking.”

But then the concern would be that it might be too obvious before Luke’s own reveal that her true purpose was to destroy him.

EDIT: Something like the following -
“I pushed you in the desert because I needed to see it… I needed you to see it… who you are. The dark side is your birthright, Rey…”

“You’re lying.”

“I’d never lie to you. Your parents were no one. Junk traders expecting a child they never wanted.”

“Don’t!”

“But no father of yours had any part in your conception.”

“I don’t want this!”

“…just like Vader.”

“No!”

“You’ve seen it, haven’t you? Your destiny.”

(Rey sees the vision of herself on the Sith throne)

“Palpatine’s resurrection sent shockwaves through the Force.”

“Stop talking.”

“He used that power to his advantage.”

(Cutaway to heroes capture)

Alright, I’ve figured out a way for Luke’s correction about the Skywalker lineage and Rey’s purpose to not be a complete stop to Palpatine’s schemes and machinations during Rey’s confrontation with him. We can still have stakes in that confrontation.

“What are you most afraid of?”

“Myself…”

“Because you’re a Palpatine? The Force alone made us, to end him.”

“Final lesson. Rey… Some things are stronger than blood. Confronting fear is the destiny of a Jedi…"

And later…

“Long have I waited… I never wanted you dead. I wanted you here, Empress Palpatine. You will take the throne. It is your birthright to rule here. It is in your blood.”

“I haven’t come to lead the Sith. I’ve come to end them.”

“As a Jedi?”

“Yes.”

“No. Your hatred, your anger. You want to kill me. That is what I want. Kill me, and my spirit will pass into you, as all the Sith live in me. You will be Empress. We will be one.”

This way, Palpatine starts his conversation with Rey with his initial lie, that he influenced the Force to create her. Once he realizes that Rey doesn’t buy into that crap anymore, he uses what Luke just told her against her. So the process of this movie will have two lies (stretched versions of the truth) given to Rey originating from Palpatine, and her final resolution:

1. “I am the reason the Force created you, so you are rightfully mine.”
2. “Yes, your purpose designated by the Force is to destroy me. But because of the dark in you, that is exactly what I want to have happen. You will become a Palpatine regardless.”
3. “No, I am a Jedi. I am a Skywalker. The Force is stronger than your lies and manipulation.”

Most of those points are simply too ambitious for what resources we have at our disposal. I will say though, for #3, that TLJ is guilty of giving you a certain impression and then doing a 180 on it, as well. Luke is gonna take his lightsaber! Nope, he just threw it away as a joke. Leia just died, oh no! Nope, she can use the Force in space. They found the master code breaker! Nope, they just got tazed. Snoke is such an incredibly powerful big bad! Nope, he got duped and he’s dead. Luke just saved the Resistance in a way where everyone lives! Nope, he’s dead. There’s just as much whiplash; granted, it doesn’t rotate back and forth like it does for Kylo. But there’s nothing we can do about that.

The only one that can be fixed really is Kylo’s independence as a villain, and I think we’ve got that somewhat nailed down at the moment. Palpatine encourages him to take the Sith throne and kill Rey. In original TROS, he, for some reason, wants the Sith throne WITH Rey. This is a complete 180 of his character motivations that we left off with from TLJ.

By having him simply give the same proposal that he gives Rey in TLJ (destroy the Sith and Palps, make something new) it goes a long way for his character. He is actively refusing both of Palpatine’s commands to him. It’s clear that, even if Rey refuses to accompany him to Exegol, he’s still intent on destroying the Sith and commandering their fleet for the First Order. He probably only raises his lightsaber to strike her down on the Death Star wreckage because he’s given her so many opportunities to quit being a Jedi and join him. It’s clear to him that she’s a Jedi at heart and he doesn’t like the Jedi just as much as Palpatine.

EDIT: Also, I’m not sure if you realized this, but your first two points contradict each other. Palpatine cannot be one step ahead of Kylo while Kylo is also outsmarting him as an outstanding villain in his own right. We have to pick one or the other. I prefer that Kylo outsmarted him.

Jar Jar Bricks said:

Leia’s modified flashback will allow us to demonstrate this concept quite cleanly, too. Having that much power means you need that much more resolve and strength in your spirit. Which is what sets Rey apart from the likes of the Skywalkers that fell to the dark. “Some things are stronger than blood.”

Now I just need to figure out a way to re-write the flashback voiceover in such a way the conveys my last paragraph.

“She was quick to learn in our training. But Leia knew that a light as strong as her own could cast a terrible shadow within her. She surrendered her saber to me and said that one day it would be picked up again… by someone with the spirit to face that darkness.”

Yeah, I’m cool with that. “He cannot claim what belongs to the Force.” One nice thing about TLJ is it explains the Force (through Ahch-To) in such a way that aligns with the previous concept without necessarily having to state it directly. Whenever you have something with powerful light, it casts a powerful shadow. So, realistically, it probably wasn’t the best move of the Force to create beings so incredibly powerful like Rey and Anakin, because that just means they have to resist that much harder with the dark. That’s Luke’s message: “I’ve seen this raw strength only once before. In Ben Solo. It didn’t scare me enough then. It does now.”

Leia’s modified flashback will allow us to demonstrate this concept quite cleanly, too. Having that much power means you need that much more resolve and strength in your spirit. Which is what sets Rey apart from the likes of the Skywalkers that fell to the dark. “Some things are stronger than blood.”

Now I just need to figure out a way to re-write the flashback voiceover in such a way the conveys my last paragraph.

Yes, that is what the final reveal will be with Luke and the message of the movie.

But we have to make the initial reveal shocking and devastating to Rey and the audience. Keep in mind that what Kylo tells Rey comes from Palpatine, who is known to lie and manipulate. So he tells Kylo exactly what he wants to hear: “Your grandfather turned evil because I played a part in his creation, so you’ve gotta be evil, too. No matter what your conscious is telling you.” He’s streching the truth; technically he did play a part in their creation, but only because he is such a massive threat and the Force reacted. Regardless, he knows he’ll also tell Rey that she has this same origin, which will make her more vulnerable to him since he would be her only “true” family since she had shit parents that abandoned her.

But the reality is Palpatine is taking credit for the Force’s own work. He only scared it and influenced it enough into creating Rey and Anakin. It all lines up with his character. Rey can initially think she and the Skywalkers are inherently evil by affiliation. But in the end Rey learns she is not beholden to Palpatine whatsoever and can choose her own legacy. The Skywalkers and Rey were created by the Force alone to be good people that defeat the Sith despite having both light and dark in them. Which we can assume their own darkness is just due to the fact that the Force itself isn’t only the light, its both aspects. But it’s trying to correct an imbalance with the dark (Palpatine) with people that have a tendency to swap from one side to the other.

We get to have our cake and eat it, too.

EddieDean said:

What if Palpatine created Rey, as he created Vader, but he used Kylo and Snoke in the prior two movies to lead her to the dark (so she’d make a powerful host). They put her under pressure, put the people she cared about under threat, so she’d turn in desperation to the easier, seductive power she has within reach.

Snoke, who is basically Palpatine, was clearly intent on having Kylo kill Rey, one of his last attachments, in TLJ after he finds out she’s attained the spirit of a true Jedi. And then Kylo murders Snoke instead. So I think we’ve sort of reconciled the idea already that he changes directions once he finds out neither of his heirs are particularly psyched about being evil Sith Lords. Both Kylo and Rey are conflicted. It makes sense that he’d have them fight each other so they last one standing is engulfed by the dark side.

Oh, and I think this would be the best line for Luke: "Because you’re a Palpatine? He has no claim to creations of the Force.” But I can go back to the other one if we find it more appealing.

Or how about this for Luke’s line: “Because you’re a Palpatine? He cannot claim what belongs to the Force.” But then we miss out on the fact that the Force gave their bloodlines both light and dark. But maybe that’s for the best, making things simple and all. We’d still hear about Leia’s struggle with the dark side later on.

Alright, so the Luke stuff would be as follows, then:

“Because you’re a Palpatine? The Force alone made us; our light and dark.”

“Final lesson. Rey… some things are stronger than blood. Confronting fear is the destiny of a Jedi…”

“She was quick to learn in our training. But Leia feared the darkness that had lived in our father, and lived on in us. She surrendered her saber to me and said that one day it would be picked up again… by someone with the strength to overcome that darkness”

Palpatine would proceed to spew his lies about Rey being “Empress Palpatine” and all that later down the road.
“Long have I waited… I never wanted you dead. I wanted you here, Empress Palpatine. You will take the throne. It is your birthright to rule, here. It is in your blood.” We’d remove “our blood” because they don’t share the same blood. Fortunately, that would be an easy cut because the camera switches perspective only for when he says that (probably because Rey Palpatine wasn’t always their choice).

Perhaps she considers the possibility that Palpatine did have more of a role in her creation than Luke was willing to admit. But ultimately she triumphs, and claims the name of Skywalker.

EDIT: Just throwing the continued Palpy dialogue here to indicate what would need to be cut:

“I haven’t come to lead the Sith. I’ve come to end them.”

“As a Jedi?”

“Yes.”

“No. Your hatred, your anger. You want to kill me. That is what I want. Kill me, and my spirit will pass into you, as all the Sith live in me (we’d reinstate his original line at the beginning since it hints at Rey’s new origins). You will be Empress. We will be one.”

“All you want is for me to hate but I won’t. Not even you.”

“Weak. (Switch camera to after Rey finishes her line about her parents). Your master, Luke Skywalker was saved by his father. The only family you have here… is me.” (Everything after this point would be unaltered Ascendant).

Yeah, and I tried to keep that somewhat vague in my last draft: “Leia knew you shared the same struggle as her.” So she doesn’t know Rey is linked to Palpatine, but knows that she is going through the same thing that led her to abandon her own Jedi path, so she’s showing as much love and support as she can. Maybe this could be worded better as: “Leia knew you shared a similar struggle to her.” And again, Luke is only voicing Rey’s own concerns by saying “Because you’re a Palpatine?” he’s not directly confirming anything.

We already know the scene works without Leia knowing something about Rey. We’d at least get Leia dealing with the same problems as Rey in the flashback, so we can relate that to why she took such a liking to training Rey. I dunno, I’m just spit-balling here. Because in the end I want to make it clear none of them truly are Palpatines, they just need to make the choice to reject the visions and Palpatine’s claim over them.

I really don’t want to mess around with lines spoken on screen. But I do believe somebody mentioned “Because you’re from Palpatine?”

Or we could get a take of him saying that sentence which sounds a little less serious and more of a “Really? Are you serious?” kind of tone. As in, you seriously bought into that crap? Because I do think the line as it stands could work in that way, where he’s only stating what Rey was unable to say herself: “I’m afraid of myself because I believe I’m a Palpatine.” But by the end of the movie she knows she isn’t one by claiming she’s a Skywalker.

Alternatively, we can forgo the whole Leia knowing something about Rey part so we are free to put whatever line we want immediately after that. Something like, “Because you’re a Palpatine? The Force alone made us, light and dark.”

If nothing else, it’s because Kylo never reveals her true last name to her (if she ever had one). The only thing she has going for her is the fact that Palpatine claimed her as his own at one point, so she is free to go by Rey Palpatine if she chooses.

In my mind, though, the idea is that the Skywalkers also have the right to be claimed by Palpatine as his own, if that is what they want, and use his name. But, ultimately, that would be a corruption of the truth, a Palpatine specialty. I’m hoping that it’s clear in an edit like this that Palpatine is only claiming what the Force made for himself, and the reality is that Rey gets to decide her own legacy. In reality, the Skywalkers always belonged to the Force itself, not him, so Rey takes on their legacy.

That part can absolutely be inferred. When in both cases the child ended up with a random woman on some backwater planet, you have to assume that’s because those are the most common type of women in the galaxy. Especially when in both cases Palpatine easily could have given the child to a woman he trusts.

I said this at some point, but I really like the idea of the Emperor needing them to fight each other over the throne because they’ve both had visions of themselves on it. Obviously neither of them really wants that, but Rey refuses to cooperate with Kylo’s alternative plan. So when they fight on the Death Star wreckage, we play a slight motif from Duel of the Fates. They are literally dueling each other until one of them dies, fulfilling one of those visions. It’s only because of Leia’s intervention that neither of them dies and they both are in the light still.

I’ve got a few other slight changes I’d like to add to your version, hinventon. But I think the ones you did make are solid, so I’ve kept most of them:

“I pushed you in the desert because I needed to see it… I needed you to see it… who you are. The dark side is your birthright, Rey…”

“You’re lying.”

“I’d never lie to you. Your parents were no one. Junk traders expecting a child they never wanted.”

“Don’t!”

“But no father of yours had any part in your conception.” (people most associate Anakin with having no father)

“I don’t want this!”

“…just like Vader.”

“No!”

“You’ve seen it, too, haven’t you? Destiny.”

(Rey sees the vision of herself on the Sith throne)

“Your parents saw you as unnatural… they feared you.”

“Stop talking.”

“The same way Luke feared me.”

(Cutaway to heroes capture)

“The Force showed me glimpses of a girl like you long before we first met. When we fought, in the forest, the power inside of you awakened. You didn’t reveal yourself to me alone… you were exposed to the Emperor… just as he’d intended.”

(Visions of Rey beating Kylo on Starkiller, falling into the dark cave, etc.)

“No!”

(A pedestal shatters and the mask of Vader falls to the ground)

“So that’s where you are.”

“Before you chose the Jedi, Palpatine wanted you alive."

“No…”

"I’ll come tell you why.”

---

“Rey… I know the rest of our story.”

“Tell me.”

"The Emperor influenced the Force itself into creating life. First my grandfather, and then you. You were his chosen heir. You… are a rightful Palpatine.”

"The Emperor only wants us to fight each other, so his most worthy heir can claim the throne. But he hasn’t realized the strength of our connection, Rey… a bond, not of blood, but of raw power in the Force. We can end him and the Sith, and create a new order, together…”

(The most important changes I’ve made here is to make the references to the prequel trilogy as clear as possible so that as many people as possible understand what’s happening).

I’ve given this a great deal of thought, unlike Anakin turning to the dark side on a switch lol. At least this way we know that Anakin did have darkness in him, and the light side of the Force didn’t just screw up and make its chosen one be so evil. We all have good and evil in ourselves. We can’t blame others for the bad part. You have to take responsibility and make the right choices in life. There’s so much thematic goodness here that it truly is a shame you can’t see it.