The Romantic Force Bond Vision and a dissection of the dialogue.
Rey attacked Luke because she thought he had actually tried to hurt Ben. She was absolutely livid he lied, and also it may have scared her a little too. But she gave him a chance to explain and afterward tried to convince him that she saw conflict within Ben. Just as he had seen it in Vader.
Rey: “You failed him by thinking his choice was made, it wasn’t. There’s still conflict within him if he were to turn from the dark side that could shift the tide, this could be how we win.”
Luke: “This is not going to go the way you think.”
Rey: “It is. Just now when we touched hands, I saw his future as solid as I see you. If I go to him, Ben Solo will turn.”
Luke: “Rey don’t do this.”
Rey: “Then he’s our last hope.”
”If I go to him, Ben Solo will turn.”
Notice she doesn’t say “WE,” she says “I.”
Let’s analyze Rey’s dialogue on the matter.
To Luke: “I saw his future as clear as I see you.”
To Ben: “Ben, when we touched hands I saw your future, just the shape of it but solid and clear. You will not bow before Snoke. You’ll turn. I’ll help you, I swear it.”
What did she see? Well, a lot speculation can be made, and we don’t really know until we get the novelization and maybe not even then.
However, I’m going to try to crack the nut on this. No pun intended.
We now know thanks to Rian that Ben knew he was going to kill Snoke. He just didn’t know how it was going to play out.
Which tells me they **did not **see the throne room battle.
If Ben saw it, he would have known how he was going to do it. Rian already told us he didn’t.
It can be argued that he saw the aftermath, but that would have also shown him “how.” Ben had no plan. Skip to 20:30 in the video below to hear what Rian has to say.
I do not think Rey saw the throne room either. In the elevator, she tells him, “You don’t have to do this, I feel the conflict in you it’s tearing you apart.”
If she saw the battle, she would have already known this was about to go down and wouldn’t have tried to sway Ben otherwise.
Whatever she saw was beyond the throne room. It was a future that she assumed Snoke was absent from because if Ben was on her side– in the light, Snoke must be gone, right? But what’s bigger than this assumption is that it affected Rey deeply.
Seeing Ben slice his master in half did not move Rey to tears nor did the sexy fight directly afterward. The shock on her face when Ben kills Snoke should tell us that she wasn’t expecting it. She’s literally crying right in front of him because she thinks he’s going to do it.
Her vision was beyond, I’m almost certain of it.
So what could Rey have seen that made her immediately attack Luke, and leave to go to him?
Before I attempt to answer this let’s go back to that moment again where Rey confronts Luke.
Rey did not see the end of the war. Rey says to Luke “If he were to turn from the dark side that could shift the tide, this could be how we win.”
This statement says to me that she did not see Ben taking a side and fighting with anyone or anything of the sort. Or she would have said this IS how we win.
She has seen something else.
Rey saw Ben and her together romantically and as a family. **And so did Ben. **
A lot can be said about Bens vision as well. I’ve heard theories it was of Rey’s past etc. While I do believe he saw her parents fate, that wasn’t all.
Ben knows Rey wants a family to belong to. He confronts her about it during the third Force Bond meeting.
Ben: “They threw you away like garbage.”
Ben: “**They did, **but you can’t stop needing them.”
He already knew what they had done, but he would not know their fate because Rey couldn’t have known they were dead. (I think on some level she knows they are dead though.)
**But that’s not all he saw. **
Seeing Rey’s parents ditch her and their fate is not the reason Ben killed Snoke.
Ben also saw Rey with him by his side as his significant other as his family.
Ben: “I saw something too, and because of what I saw I know when the time comes you’ll be the one to turn, you’ll stand with me. Rey, I saw who your parents are.”
Note also at this moment he says who your parents are– not were.
I believe he says it this way because now is not the time to tell her that they are dead. Saying were in past tense gives it away. We as an audience are also left wondering.
He tells her the truth about them only after she admits out loud who they were.
Again, I think deep down Rey may have known that they were possibly dead. Because she says “They were nobody.”
This is no surprise to her. Painful yes, but Maz already said that **Rey already knew the truth. **
So finally my point— in conclusion
**Rey saw herself with Ben in a romantic relationship. And Ben saw the same exact thing. **
The problem is and was, that neither of them could fathom they would turn to the other side, for this future to come true.Ben thought for sure Rey would turn to the dark side with him because he can’t see himself on the light.
The same stands true for Rey. She can’t see herself on the dark side so if she was with Ben romantically then she **assumes **he has turned. Afterall, how could she be with him otherwise? The war would be over if this rings true. So Rey assumes– and sadly assumes too much– as does Ben.
The simple fact Ben brought up Rey’s parents to me seals the deal.
Rey wants a family, and her blood relatives are dead. He wants to give her that family. Make no mistake about it. Ben saw them as a FAMILY and in a saga like Star Wars that usually comes with children of some sort. They don’t need to be biological, but I’ll get to this in a moment.
There is the argument that Ben was trying to manipulate her by talking down to her about her origins and lineage. Rian has also intervened here saying what Ben said was in his mind true, he wasn’t trying to manipulate her.
Ben: “You have no place in this story. You come from nothing, you’re nothing… but not to me.”
He’s pointing out to her, in his own messed up way, that just because you don’t have a family or legacy is irrelevant to him. To him she is everything.
Rey repeatedly has in the past cast herself as a nobody from nowhere. Desperate for a familial connection— looking for it everywhere.
Ben thinks because she feels this way he can give her what she’s always wanted– legacy, a last name, a place and a family of her own. “**Because of what I saw, when the moment comes you’ll be the one to turn.” **
Ben points out the lack of family and legacy for a reason at the end. Not because he wanted to be cruel but because he’s already seen their future he’s trying to make her understand that he can give her everything and the Galaxy too. _He’s seen it; he’s so sure. _
Both Ben and Rey saw themselves as a couple, a family with children. That is what moved Rey to tears, and sent her flying across the galaxy to Ben.
Look at how she looks at him when she arrives in her little coffin escape pod. She’s so sure of what she saw. She looks at him as if he already loves her – because she’s seen him love her.
The idea of children as I said above could be metaphorical— they train Force-sensitive kids with no families– because both Jedi and Sith taking kids away from their parents is a huge no, no. Anakin and Ben are the two most significant examples of why this is wrong but also Darth Maul. So by this logic, I say they will have biological children. If we have children at all.
Rey and Ben both attack their Masters risking everything for each other —for this future. They BOTH want that future DESPERATELY.
Their body language towards each other in the elevator is another confirmation of the dramatic shift— how they now see each other as lovers.
The attraction was always there yes, we saw it in TFA. But it was subtext, and I’m pretty sure neither of them really recognized it for what it was.
But now Rey steps forward speaks softly and swears she’ll help him. Ben looks at her with a softness we have not seen in this context because it’s conscious this time.
Imagine already knowing you will love and be loved in return by the person standing in front of you. Rey showing up all but confirms to Ben that the vision is true. So he sees her as his lover and mother to his children maybe.
That’s why they look at each other like this now. It’s why they both beg each other to stay with them. Hoping the vision is still true, even though Snoke claims responsibility for the connection.
Rey: “Please don’t go this way.”
When Ben wakes up to find Rey gone, he may believe that the vision was false which is the reason for his tirade– he’s heartbroken. But when they connect at the end– I think Ben realizes no, it wasn’t Snoke, and I fucked up.
Body language here doesn’t lie. Ben Solo bowed his head in shame as the woman he loves shut the door on him.
For those wondering if Snoke had engineered the vision, there’s a bit of dialogue that suggests otherwise.
“Have you seen something, a weakness in my apprentice? Is that why you came? Young fool, it was I who bridged your minds. I stoked Rens conflicted soul. I knew he was not strong enough to hide it from you, and you were not wise enough to resist the bait.”
Snoke may or may not have bridged their minds– I’m in the camp of he didn’t and it was there in TFA see the Star Wars show at the 14min mark to see what they say about this. But even if he did, he did not interfere with what Ben “showed” Rey. He only admits to stoking Ren’s conflicted soul. Which means he knew Ben already had some level of compassion towards Rey (see TFA novelization) and perhaps this is the reason for the “You have too much of your father’s heart in you, Young Solo.” Because Han only cared about himself until he met Leia and Luke.
Snoke does ask Rey if she’s seen something? but follows in the same sentence with “a weakness in my apprentice?” Confirming that he did not engineer the vision. He only believes Rey has seen the conflict and compassion for her.
“And now you will give me Skywalker, and then I will kill you with the cruelest stroke.”
I hate Snoke, but this line ultimately tells us that he realizes that Rey loves Ben in some capacity. I mean it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to put two and two together here. She came to “save” him, of course, she cares– deeply.
Yet, he doesn’t realize that Ben cares for Rey more than he cares about anything else.
As Snoke is sifting through Bens mind, he thinks arrogantly that Ben is only thinking about Rey as his true enemy. The dialogue is spectacular in telling us everything about how Ben really feels for Rey.
Snoke: “My worthy apprentice, son of darkness, heir apparent to Lord Vader. Where there was conflict, I now sense resolve. Where there was weakness– strength. Complete your training and fulfill your destiny.”
There is a lot of Visual Storytelling going on here, and I’m only going to touch on it briefly.
When Snoke says weakness it cuts to Ben from Rey’s POV.
When Snoke says strength it cuts to Rey from Ben’s POV.
The significance of this isn’t that Ben is weak and Rey is strong. It is showing us that Ben is Rey’s weakness (she loves him despite his past dark deeds) Rey is Ben’s strength, (he loves her, and she gives him enough hope that he knows what he needs do.)
One last thing on this –at the end of TFA Snoke says to Hux.
“Leave the base at once and come to me with Kylo Ren, I sense it is time to complete his training.”
Snoke is already aware of what happened between Rey and Ben in the forest. I’m not sure how much he knew, but he says he can sense his mind, his every intent.
Ben’s heart was not in it when he killed his father, and he lied to Snoke later saying he didn’t hesitate– which we all know he did. Again look at the novelization “himself horrified at the act.” Add that to the fact Rey got away and bested him in a fight told Snoke what he already suspected. He was falling in love with the girl. Ben Solo is a beast he could have pushed Rey over the cliff, but he didn’t. Ben intended to be with Rey even then — even if that meant only as her teacher. However, I still think the attraction was there even if Ben didn’t realize it at the time.
This ain’t over, not by a long shot, guys. I know I went off track a little bit here and there. This was going to be short, but a lot of this is so connected its hard to not mention other aspects of the story.
Forest Gump Voice: “And that’s all I have to say about that.”
