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Rey and Finn know his name
Star Wars: Episode VII—The Force Awakens
Writers: J.J. Abrams & Lawrence Kasdan and Michael Arndt
Director: J.J. Abrams
The ending of The Force Awakens was a huge risk. The return of the franchise promised the return of our heroes Luke, Leia, and Han, the heroes a large percentage of us grew up with. Han was there. Leia was there. But where was Luke? The entire premise of the seventh chapter in the Star Wars saga was hinged around Luke Skywalker, the Jedi Knight of Jedi Knights, being gone. He had vanished. Poof. Off searching for the first Jedi Temple. Off running from the mistakes of past. The final sequence in which Rey, our new hero plucked from the sands of a faraway planet, slowly walks up ancient steps on Ahch-To to find Luke Skywalker is the most unique ending in the franchise. More could be written about it—actually (spoiler) I’m going to write more about it. Stay tuned. The ending of The Force Awakens was a huge risk that paid off with big rewards, but a lot of that was built upon a quick, little moment early on in the movie in which Rey identifies Luke Skywalker as a myth many no longer thought was real.
Rey and Finn meet in the dusty marketplace inside Niima Outpost. He’s a stranger on the run, already lying about why to himself and soon to her. After a one-sided tussle that finds Finn on the wrong end of Rey’s staff, Finn comes clean about one thing: BB-8 is carrying a map to Luke Skywalker.
In one beat, Daisy Ridley’s Rey goes through a galaxy of emotions. At the mere mention of Skywalker’s name, Rey turns back to Finn like he’s spoken in a secret language, given the special password. A lot has happened since Luke Skywalker stood victorious among his friends on the moon of Endor. Twists and dark turns that found a bona fide hero of the Rebellion essentially turned into a ghost and a whisper. Yet the whisper was powerful enough to reach the ears of a young scavenger living alone on Jakku. By saying the name Luke Skywalker alone, Finn has her attention.
Within a fraction of a second, Rey’s attention becomes a hopeful confirmation that the myth just might be real, and the galaxy does have a hero in it. She whispers back to him, being sure to keep the possible confirmation of the secret between them, “Luke Skywalker? I thought he was a myth.” There is a smile behind the first part of this response. Rey is excited by this news. She’s always dreamed of what was beyond this planet and her own life even as she was convinced she couldn’t be a part of it.
Living in the shell of an Imperial walker that took part in a legendary battle, Rey has spent her days in literal proof of big moments before her time. She occasionally wears the helmet of a fallen member of the Rebel squadron known as the Tierfon Yellow Aces and daydreams about the galaxy beyond her self-imposed walls. Yet all that has never been enough for her to believe in the Legend of Luke Skywalker or herself. She’s doesn’t accept that there is something more and definitely doesn’t believe she’ll ever be a part of something bigger than the endless rolling sand dunes she sees before her.
Yes, sounds familiar. Luke Skywalker started out his journey in a similar manner. Staring off into a binary sunset, convinced this was as far as he’d go. On one level, it’s that vaunted “Star Wars poetry” that George Lucas always talked about. On another level, though, it is used here again because it is still just as powerful now as it was then and is part of the lesson inside Star Wars. The hero’s journey often begins with someone who doesn’t believe they belong on this path. We’ve all been there. We all might still be there. Or will be again. Every generation looks ahead at what might be and expresses—or even believes—all the doubts placed there by themselves or society.
“I can’t do it.” That is our own myth we believe.
Rey’s sly smile turns serious as she adds, “I thought he was a myth.” It’s as if she can’t accept something that wild being true. Finn doesn’t have time to confirm or deny it. (And he’s not sure himself as the First Order doesn’t exactly want people to believe in heroes like Luke Skywalker.) The adventure kicks into high gear.
Rey is off on her hero’s journey and we’ve been pulled along for the ride, almost forgetting this small little moment back on Jakku. We’re caught up in her meeting old heroes, her fixation on wanting to get back home, and revelations about her possible past and potential future. It all moves so wonderfully fast, that you don’t catch your breath until Rey is losing hers as she stands in front of Luke Skywalker at the end of the movie. It is then that you can reflect back on this first moment when excitement, hope, and doubt coursed through her words: “Luke Skywalker? I thought he was a myth.” The weight of the moment is now felt. The unbelieving girl from nowhere is standing on a mysterious hill discovering that the myth of Luke Skywalker was real…and so is she.
And so are all of us.