Warning: SPOILERS ahead for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
Screenwriter Chris Terrio has directly addressed the omission of other Force ghosts at the end of Star Wars: Return of the Jedi’s satisfying resolution.
After redeeming Darth Vader and defeating the Empire, Star Wars: Return of the Jedi ends withthe Force ghosts of Luke and Leia smiling at her—the Jedi who have influenced her.
Given that Rey’s climactic battle with the Emperor concludes with her becoming the embodiment of all the Jedi who came before, a lot of fans have wondered why more Force ghosts didn’t appear upon the film's conclusion. Paying tribute to some (if not all) of the voices she heard on Exegol would make sense considering the story is the self-proclaimed end of a saga. The Force ghost of Anakin, for example, would have been a nice nod to the prequels. In an interview with THR, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker writer Chris Terrio discussed how he and director J.J. Abrams “debated endlessly” about how only Luke and Leia would appear as Force ghosts:
"Seeing them all at the end would be a lovely grace note, but we thought that Rey seeing her two masters, two Skywalkers, was stronger. Rey was in the unique position of having been trained by two Skywalkers, which is what’s going on in the moment where she destroys the Emperor." Said Terrio, "It’s her, Luke and Leia standing together because she’s got the two Skywalker sabers in her hands."
Legacy Jedi aside, the most surprising Force ghost omission is that of Ben Solo, who arguably had more to do with Rey’s story and training than anyone. As we learn in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, the two young force s’ connection represents a dyad in the Force—something very uncommon. The Emperor explains this hasn't occurred for millennia. Not only would it have made sense for this bond to exist after Ben’s death, but his appearance as a Force ghost next to Luke and Leia would have perfectly mirrored the appearance of Anakin’s at the end of Star Wars: Return of the Jedi.
The sequel trilogy’s revolving door of writers and directors could be to blame for what feels like an inconsistent narrative. Director J.J. Abrams was tasked with reviving the franchise before it was (one of which is also Anakin’s), it doesn’t necessarily land with the trilogy’s character arcs. An argument can be made that Ben and Rey's coned story is one of the major reasons she felt connected to the Skywalker ancestry (not to mention the fact that she is only alive because of him).
Source: THR
