Three is Company? A love triangle between Rey, Poe, and Kylo
I know I am relatively new to the world of fandom but I was really surprised at the number of ships that this movie has generated. It is pretty crazy, between Rey and Ben, Rey and Kylo, Poe and Rey, Finn and Rey, Finn and Rose, Finn and Poe, and even Hux and Kylo… When it comes to emotions and preferences, I think everything is valid. I am a Reylo girl through and through, but also mostly because I believe their story is central to the plotline. What I try to do on this blog is read through the movies and novelizations for evidence and clues. And it is in this light, that I would like to investigate a possible love triangle for episode IX.
I will boldly begin by stating that, indeed, Poe and Rey are a match made in heaven. He is, arguably, the best potential candidate in her affection. They are very much alike, with shared skills and even the shared experience of being interrogated by Kylo in scenes that mirror each other. They have absolutely everything in common: they are on the same side, they have the same friends, and they would be great flying partners, and in a way their storylines are intertwined. One could even venture to say that by landing on Jakku with BB8, Poe is the very one that sets Rey’s personal journey into motion. And, to be perfectly honest, everything is set up to have Rey become attracted to Poe. As a hero of the Resistance, he has all the best qualities: in the novelization of TFA, he is described as proud (in a good way), confident, intelligent, and eager to fulfill the missions he is given. In the movie, we see him as brave, loyal, bold, practically charming to everyone around him from droids to generals. Even, Kylo, albeit sarcastically, admits himself as ‘impressed’ by him, as the best pilot of the Resistance. The way the characters meet also seems to highlight mutual liking or admiration. In the novelization, Poe and Rey actually meet at the end of TFA, brought together in the midst of the rejoicing following the destruction of Starkiller base. They end up embracing each other, ‘though their sudden, tight clinch of shared excitement led to a moment of mutual awkwardness’. The usually bold pilot mumbles his name. She seems to be taking a moment, nodding slowly, ‘searching his face and finding that she liked it’, then says: ‘I recognize the name. So you’re Poe. Poe Dameron, the X-Wing pilot, I’m Rey’. Then the iconic catchphrase : ‘I know’. For some reason (that may or not affect the unfolding of the plot), they decided to postpone this scene to the end of TLJ, which, but for the awkward embrace between two utter strangers, plays almost exactly the same. Because in the movie Rey comes to the rescue of the group led by Poe both through her piloting and Jedi skills, the WOW factor is definitely upped on Poe’s side. And obviously, it is very easy to see those two like and appreciate each other. But can we jump from that to love, call it a day, and wrap it up? Yes and no. Status: it is complicated.
Because their first meeting only took place at the end of the second movie, if Poe and Rey are destined to fall in love, this is not designed as the central plot of the story. We can’t for instance see them as partners at the beginning of IX because the development of their relationship would have occurred offscreen and thus it does not work really well. And if they do fall in love by the end of IX, it could only function if Kylo dies some way. The way the story has been developed, it is absolutely preposterous to imagine Poe and Rey walking away happily in the sunset while Kylo is still alive. But if Poe is matched as a rival to Kylo in Rey’s affection, the storyline works for many good reasons.
First, Poe, it seems to me, functions as a reminder of everything Kylo promised to be and chose to give up. If Ben Solo is Han and Leia’s biological child, Poe Dameron is their true heir on the screen, the child they could have had. He happily combines their charisma, with his talents as a pilot, his debonair, daredevil swagger, and her leading skills and staunch dedication to her cause. Virtually, by the end of TLJ, he has even become Leia’s heir, when she transfers her role as Leader to him by asking their group to follow him out of the caves of Crait. And the way she both dotes on him and chides him sounds as very motherly. So for Rey to feel attracted to the man that functions as a foster child of sorts for Han and Leia seems only too logical: she liked Ben Solo, well then, Poe Dameron might do just as well. And obviously, he likes the girl and she likes the guy…
Secondly, the ambiguities in the story may lead to Rey finding herself conflicted between two men. In TFA, Rey has a conversation with BB8 about his master: ‘Don’t give up hope… he might come back…whoever it is you’re waiting for’. Knowing that Rey is waiting on Jakku and that BB8 is waiting for Poe, this may be read as a clue that they may both be waiting for the same person, that Poe is the one she is waiting for. In the novelization of TFA, she utters more or less the same line, but she also has another one. BB8 gives her the name of his master and she goes ‘Poe. she shrugged diffidently. The name means nothing to me. Should it?’. Should Poe, the name mean anything to her, or, rather, should Poe, the man, mean something to her, in her future? It can be construed as an evidence, but also as the evidence of a doubt, an hesitation. Because the ‘waiting’ line has a counterpart, when Maz Kanata tells Rey: ‘Dear child. I see your eyes. You already know the truth. Whomever you’re waiting for on Jakku… they’re never coming back. But… there’s someone who still could’. Because the dialogue comes right after Rey sees Kylo in the Force vision, and right before she actually meets him live, the one she is waiting seems more likely to be Kylo.
Finally, Poe as a rival in Rey’s affection from Kylo’s point of view can bring some resolutions in the plotline. I think he has been effectively pitched that way, and seems a much more credible rival than Finn. As a fodder for Kylo’s jealousy (he charmed his mum AND his girl), he can serve as a way for Kylo to show signs of redemption and prove his love to Rey (say, by sparing his life for her sake, in a scene that mirrors both the torture scene and the fight with Finn), or as a way for Rey to acknowledge her feelings for him (say, by sparing HIS life against Poe’s orders if he is defeated by the Resistance or gives himself up).
On paper, Rey and Poe are really sweet, practical, and evenly matched. But this is not a practical story, and nothing so far has remotely indicated that as a couple they could be epic, iconic, fairy tale material. Make no mistake: this story was designed and written as a fairy tale. Oh yes, there is the ‘I know’, and I fully get why Poe and Rey shippers would have cause to rejoice, but, press the pause button. This story is NOT a reboot of Han and Leia as a romance. Actually, last November, over an interview for Yahoo!Japan, Rian Johnson explicitely stated, when quizzed on a potential romance in TLJ: ‘It is certainly true that there is romantic drama, but there is nothing the same as the two lovers Han and Leia, this time’. This quote has often been commented but I think we have to take it as literally as it is: there is no Han and there is no Leia. So the catchphrase for their relationship (a relationship that, it turns out, was a failure by the way) does not mean that Rey and Poe are meant to be in the grand scheme of things. Moreover, you have to keep in mind that originally, Poe Dameron was not even supposed to survive TFA. It was as a way to secure Oscar Isaac in their cast that the character was significantly developed. Spotify did not even provide him with a playlist, as it did other key protagonists. (By the way, someone on the internet offered a hilarious solution : Danger Zone, on repeat… )So if a love triangle is very likely, I would be very surprised to see Poe and Rey as the central romance for this new trilogy. It would be too little interaction too late, and it would be a total waste of all the material they have been carefully laying out and using so far. What it would mean is either they have absolutely no idea about what they are doing and play by ear (internal high pitched screaming), or they are misleading us in the most stupid way (intense feeling of utter betrayal).
Whatever is in the works for these three, I guess we will just wait, see, and try to enjoy the ride!
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