This is a very good post, Broom Kid. It is the “fan theory” movie. Back in 2016 and 2017, I was cringing at all the Rey Skywalker, Rey Kenobi, and Rey Palpatine takes. Like, what thematic purpose would that have? Rey wants to be somebody, she’s sure her parents cared about her… Even if not, Luke will give her purpose…
TLJ, for all its flaws, is strong thematically. It looks at these things and says “well what if her parents just abandoned her and she’s no one? and what if Luke is in crisis and isn’t at all the saviour Rey had hoped for? What then? Can Rey still believe in herself despite not having some sort of bloodline legacy? Being a nobody is what she fears, but can she face that fear and prevail?”
There’s an amazing reylo video out there: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-qi4OhCii4
I think, despite star wars suffering from overanalysis, this is a great take on something that was likely intentional on the part of the writer-director. TLJ mostly answers the important TFA questions via thematic exploration. This new one answers them again, but differently and much the way a run-of-the-mill fan theory would… Interestingly, IX is making me appreciate TLJ more and TFA less and less because I now know what JJ’s takes on those setups are