have we figured out whether or not the two shots of Rey and Kylo are from the same scene? the lighting looks kind of similar, but I'm not sure they're from the same scene. if they arent, whats the likelihood that its Rey he's reaching out to regardless you think?
Yes the lighting looks similar, but in Rey’s shot it’s sharper and coming from the left side of the screen, while in Kylo’s is more diffused.
Also there’s no trace of embers or even flickering light in Rey’s shot, while there’s plenty in Kylo’s. The air around Rey is calm and the hue is blueish, in sharp contrast with the warm lighting on her face, whereas Kylo seems to be in the middle of a giant fire or in the aftermath of an explosion. (x)
I also doubt Kylo’s offering his hand is a direct response to Rey’s line about needing someone to show her place. Either it’s two different scenes, or it’s the same scene but edited in a way that leaves something substantial out between Rey’s line and Kylo’s hand. I tend to think it’s the former, because Rey is in her first act hairstyle and costume, while Kylo’s scar is almost completely healed so that should be from act II or even III. It could be that Rey at some point reverts to her original hairstyle and jacket, but I don’t think it’s particularly likely.
Nevertheless, I have zero doubts it’s Rey that Kylo is reaching out to. She’s the most important character in his narrative aside from Luke and Leia, with whom he has a different relationship anyway. As I said in this post on my main, the outstretched hand combined with his demeanor and expression suggests he’s reaching out to a rival/equal, while Luke/Leia are parental figures to him; and parental figures are typically the ones who reach out to their wayward kids, rather than the other way around.
Kylo’s expression betrays eagerness, trepidation and awe, which is consistent with his interactions with Rey in TFA, the surprise of finding out how strong she is with the Force, the stunned look he had when she summoned Luke’s saber, his offer to be his teacher. And with the huge focus on Rey and Kylo in the trailer, and the heavy-handed parallels drawn between them, I see no reason to believe it’s anyone but Rey.
Being cautious is good, and it’s always possible that it’s someone else, but the Kylo/Rey dynamic is the central conflict of this trilogy, don’t let anyone convince you otherwise. TFA made it clear (well, clear enough for us) that this is not going to remain a static, uncomplicated hero VS villain dynamic. They intentionally made these two characters two faces of the same coin, one mirroring the other, one excelling where they other failed, two people of similar age, similar amount of powers, similar (yet opposite) struggles. It’s only a natural evolution of this dynamic that they would start gravitating towards each other, and shoehorning any other character in Rey’s place at the opposite end of that extended hand would be bad, clumsy and ultimately weak storytelling because no other “meeting halfway” moment was built up the way Rey and Kylo’s has. (not even Kylo and Luke’s. Luke is an important character, and definitely central in Kylo’s backstory, but he belongs to the old generation. The main conflict can’t be between the new villain and him. It’s not a coincidence that we have yet to see Kylo and Luke interact on screen—we know they have history together but we haven’t seen it—while Rey and Kylo had plenty of antagonistic BUT meaningful interaction in TFA).
If there’s misdirection, it’s one that plays on people’s assumptions and expectations that this is going to be Empire 2.0 so ~~of course Kylo will tempt Rey~~ to join him on the dark side. Except Kylo already made that offer in TFA, and Rey rejected it. So the context of Kylo extending his hand might be something entirely different from Vader’s proposing a dark side alliance to Luke. Maybe this time it will really be about meeting halfway, rather than one side “tempting” or trying to sway the other.
