In Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Rey announces that she is “all the Jedi” when reaching the end of her fight with Emperor Palpatine, but the moment could’ve been a whole lot stronger with one change. The Rise of Skywalker had to end both Disney’s sequel trilogy and the Skywalker saga as a whole, and to help do so conductor and co-writer J.J. Abrams brought back Emperor Palpatine( Ian McDiarmid) for one last combat. Although many of the hows and whens with regards to Palpatine’s return were left equivocal by the film itself, it ultimately( and unavoidably) boiled down to a final duel with Rey.

The final battle in The Rise of Skywalker wasn’t only Rey versus Palpatine or even only granddaughter vs grandfather, but striven for something grander still by making use of itself the fruition of the eons-long fight between the Jedi and the Sith. Palpatine, with the Sith Eternal crowd on Exegol behind him, declared that he was “all the Sith” and attempted to defeat Rey once and for all, after accepting that she wouldn’t take his plaza and become the brand-new Empress. In response, Rey says “I am all the Jedi” after having various Jedi articulations call to her, face-lift her up and encouraging her to win the fight, save the day, and regenerate balance to the Force.

Related: Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker’s Ending Explained (& What Happens Next )

Unfortunately, Rey’s declaration doesn’t fairly jam-pack the swipe it actually needs to in order for the moment to work. The proclamation itself is a little vague and perhaps even confusing to some, and while it isn’t helped by some of the broader issues smothering Palpatine’s return, it would have been much better – and clearer – if instead of having Jedi voice cameos, there were actual Force Ghosts who appeared on Exegol. Given the directory of Jedi who call to Rey when she’s struggling and needs help, there was the chance to bring back various beloved people for one last-place go-around in the Star Wars right, including Yoda( Frank Oz ), Obi-Wan Kenobi( Ewan McGregor ), and Anakin Skywalker( Hayden Christensen ).

The moment feels like it is literally designed to have Force Ghosts emerge – the Sith is on top, Rey is weakened and on her practice to defeat, and the arena, filled by the Palpatine loyalists, is a darkened placing that could’ve been visually ignited up by the Force Ghosts materializing. The doctrine of each of them appearing in turn – from the likes of Anakin and Obi-Wan to, say, Ahsoka Tano – could’ve been the sort of goosebumps-inducing moment that The Rise of Skywalker’s final battle desperately needed, and would’ve added more clarity in the moment very, yielding greater framework and meaning to her following “all the Jedi” line.

It would’ve had the lent bonus of making back fan-favorite courages who are core parts of the saga, and deserve a true final departing in a way that fits with lore fixed from original trilogy, and which is particularly lacking for Obi-Wan and Anakin( the latter not least given it’s the Skywalker saga ). It aims for this sort of effect when Lando Calrissian( Billy Dee Williams) and the calvary arrived here the aerial sequence, but this would’ve been its true moment of the heroes re-emerging, along the lines of Avengers: Endgame’s portals cycle but blended with the kind of mythic caliber seen in something like Lord of the Rings.

Disney’s Star Wars sequel trilogy had already reformed rulers around how Force Ghosts run, with both Yoda and Luke Skywalker( Mark Hamill) interacting with the environmental issues around them rather than simply being spectral presences, and that’s something that could’ve been developed further( perhaps with the Force Ghosts assembling a hindrance around the wounded Rey ). But even with the Force Ghosts applied simply in their more traditional sense, having them physically there and being able to actually recognize them interacting with Rey would’ve spawned it a more tangible, powerful moment. The reasoning behind the Jedi singers in The Rise of Skywalker was to stay inside Rey’s brain – and no doubt it helped in terms of both CGI and actor accessibility – but having the Force Ghosts would’ve having regard to the movie deeper connections to the part history of Star Wars movies, and more feeling as well.

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