*SPOILERS* - The Rise of Skywalker - *SPOILERS*

Bad news...

 

Seems a bit suspicious to me. I've seen many people and groups try to diminish or explain away the Fandom Menace. I've heard many arguments that they are simply "trolls" or "bots" or "a small minority". From my experience, the group is a lot larger than what it is given credit for and is definitely genuine.

Of course this doesn't refute the claims of the articles, but it is something to consider. If there is manipulation of some sort, I'd place my bets on Disney being the one to do it (but working in the opposite direction obviously). They have more to gain or lose than anyone else and they were already seen doing it in the case of Captain Marvel.

 

When it comes to the Disney Trilogy, there are no winners!

 

That’s so good, I wish I could like that twice. It also lines up well with the part of the plot where Palpatine instructs Rey to kill him and take her place as Empress, pretty much as part of his Rule of One. If she failed to kill him, he would kill her and probably steal her life force to become even more powerful - Palpatine wins. If she did kill him, she would be tempted to the dark side with that act and be tempted to become Empress - Palpatine ultimately wins because there would be another Sith to continue his legacy. Even though Rey refuses to kill him initially, she does still kill him at the end, and even though she professes to be a Jedi, she still killed him and took his life. Remember that a Sith can still feel emotional attachment to their friends and loved ones, which Rey does show at the end of the film.

Coupled with the fact that she always fought like a Sith rather than a Jedi (aggressive and rarely controlled), this certainly means Rey is not a true Jedi. A grey Jedi maybe, as they ignore parts of the Jedi code but avoid becoming tempted fully by the Dark Side as Rey has, but certainly not a pure Jedi - this does mean, then, that the proper Jedi pretty much do not exist anymore, and so Palpatine did pretty much win in that he succeeded in stopping the true Jedi from returning to power and that his own granddaughter, while refusing to seize power, certainly has the ability to do so due to being the strongest Force user ever. Therefore, the second of the two choices Palpatine gave Rey is essentially fulfilled.

You could also say that because both the Sith and true Jedi have died out as a consequence, the balance of the Force has been restored because the last Jedi is more akin to a Grey Jedi.

 

But does she? She doesn't actually land a single strike, it is his own lightning that arcs back on him. In my eyes, Palpatine looks like a fool in the end. Does he not remember how force lightning redirected back onto him when he faced off with Mace in Episode III? Why didn't he simply stop using force lightning and throw Rey around the chamber with his force powers?

Rey didn't really kill Palpatine... he did himself in.

 

She was still responsible for his death though by being the one to deflect the Lightning.

I agree that the continuity with Episode III was messed up there, however, now you mention it.

 

I just don't see Palpatine as a winner in any sense of the word. He went down like a chump. His plan was originally to have her strike him down so he could merge with her, however, since she didn't land the killing blow, he just plain died? His plan completely failed. He should have been able to easily overcome her if not for the "Force is Female" aspect of the DT.

His real sendoff will always be in Episode VI.

 

The less we think of these movies the better.

That said, a logical (and I use that term extremely loosely) explanation could come back to the point that I made two posts back. Rey didn't actually kill Palpatine, he sort of did that to himself. Maybe the transference/possession was reliant on Rey actively striking him down. Or maybe the DT simply sucks Gungan balls.