Rey was a pseudo-Palpatine was arguably one of the most shocking narrative decisions of the sequel trilogy (and as we all know, there were quite a few), changing everything we thought we knew about Palpatine’s master plan and Rey’s connection with the Force.

Of course, there’s no denying that Rey’s connection to the dark side made for some interesting inner conflict, especially when it came to her dealings with Kylo Ren/Ben Solo, the other half of her Force Dyad. Rey being a Palpatine was never going to last, however. She wasn’t a nobody, yet she rightfully wanted nothing to do with her “grandfather’s” history or the dark side. What was she to do? Remain just Rey forever? Let’s be honest, this is Star Wars. Star Wars isn’t just a story about good triumphing over evil but about family, too – most importantly, perhaps, found family.

Star Wars Is About Found Family At Its Core

There is no shortage of found families in Star Wars. The iconic trio of Luke Skywalker, Leia Organa, and Han Solo in the original trilogy, Rey, Finn, and Poe in the sequels, Din Djarin and Grogu in The Mandalorian, the Ghost crew in Star Wars Rebels, Clone Force 99 and Omega in Star Wars: The Bad Batch, the Mantis crew in Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order and Survivor. Even the Jedi Order is a found family, of sorts – children leave their biological families behind to become a part of something greater, something more.

There is, arguably, no love more powerful than the one shared between people who choose to be there for one another, rather than being linked to one another by birth.

Star Wars is about love – love for each other, love for the galaxy, love for the light – and there is, arguably, no love more powerful than the one shared between people who choose to be there for one another, rather than being linked to one another by birth. The concept of found family is one of the things I love most about Star Wars. Even in the darkest of times, these people found each other and made the galaxy a little brighter because of their relationship. To me, that’s what makes Star Wars a beacon of hope.

Star Wars Has Proven That Bloodlines Are Meaningless

Star Wars has demonstrated that while family lineage is important and can, without a doubt, affect who you are – Kylo Ren was certainly influenced by his familial connection to Darth Vader – it has also proven that bloodlines are, more often than not, meaningless. While Luke Skywalker may have been emotionally attached to the idea of his father, Anakin Skywalker, and that connection helped him redeem his father when it mattered most, Leia’s situation, for instance, was entirely different.

Leia was raised by the Organa family, far away from the Skywalker drama and Anakin’s history on Tatooine. They loved her like she was their own, and she loved them in return. Who she was as a leader and as a friend was because of everything they had taught her. She defied the expectations set by her bloodline, following in her adoptive father’s footsteps instead, becoming an integral member of the Rebellion in direct defiance of her paternal heritage (though she was certainly channeling her mother, Pé Amidala, too).

The people you surround yourself with make you who you are, and Rey had some of the galaxy’s brightest lights in her corner.

Even Rey defied her bloodline. Palpatine was so convinced that the darkness of his familial influence would bring her to his side that he never even considered he wouldn’t win. In the end, she defeated him with the help and of all the Jedi who had come before her, the ultimate act of rebelliousness. Bloodlines don’t matter – not really. The people you surround yourself with make you who you are, and Rey had some of the galaxy’s brightest lights in her corner.

Rey Adopting The Skywalker Name Is Nothing New In Star Wars

For Rey, Luke and Leia were a part of her found family. Finn and Poe were a massive influence on her life too, of course, but Luke and Leia gave her what she needed to become the Jedi she was born to be. They were her mentors, her guardians, her friends. Of course, she would choose to honor them, and why not honor them by taking the Skywalker name, allowing it to mean something positive in the galaxy once more?

When Star Wars: The Last Jedi came out, and Kylo Ren revealed to Rey that she was a “nobody,” I clung to that notion because I loved the idea of another Jedi rising from nothing to take their rightful place as a protector of the light. Why shouldn’t she be a nobody, I thought, when so many Jedi who had come before had been born into families that weren’t historically important, either? I was disappointed when she was revealed to be a Palpatine (of sorts), but Rey choosing a name for herself, especially the Skywalker name, never really bothered me.

If Star Wars is about love, hope, and (found) family, it only makes sense that Rey would choose to become part of hers, even if only symbolically. She’s shepherding the next generation of Jedi, just as Luke did before her. Rey Skywalker may seem, to some, to be a blatant nostalgia trip, a way of keeping the door open for future Skywalker saga installments – and given the recent reports that Star Wars is focusing more of their efforts on Rey, those theories aren't entirely unfounded – but her choosing that name in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker was the obvious choice, really; perhaps the only one.