Who Are the Voices Rey Hears in The Rise of Skywalker?
First things first: Spoiler Warning! We’re going to talk about one of the final scenes in The Rise of Skywalker so, be warned if you haven’t seen it.
Now, on to the question. In the climactic battle between Rey (Daisy Ridley) and Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid) Palpatine, having powered up by sapping Rey and Kylo’s life force bond has thrown Kylo off a cliff and is ready to kill Rey, but she closes her eyes and listens to the force. This was something she was trying to do before and failed at, and we also have Palpatine saying all the bast Sith are in him.
But Rey rallies! She closes her eyes and hears the voices of Jedi who came before encouraging her! It’s a cool moment for fans of any Star War because Rey hears voices not just from the sequel, prequels and original, but even the Star Wars animated series The Clone Wars and Rebels.
So who does she hear? The first voice is Ewan Mcgregor as Obi Wan Kenobi, with Alex Guinness thrown in on the name (Rey). We also hear the familiar voice of Yoda and Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker. But McGregor isn’t the only prequel voice we hear: Liam Neeson Qui Gon Jin is there telling Rey “Every Jedi who ever lived, lives in you,” as well as Samuel L. Jackson as Mace Windu saying “feel the force flow through you, Rey.”
The most important prequel voice we hear is perhaps that of Hayden Christiansen as Anakin Skywalker who implores Rey to bring Balance to the force, as he did. Between Luke, Obi Wan, Yoda, Qui Gon and Mace Windu, those are impressive cameos and some serious power but we’re not done.
Rey hears some female voices. One saying “In the light. Find the light” and that’s Anakin’s Jedi apprentice Ahsoka Tano voiced by Ashley Eckstein! The cameo will surely excite fans of The Clone Wars animated series but might also worry them because it means Ahsoka, who was alive last time we saw her in Rebels is dead somewhere.
There are other Clone Wars and Rebels voices too: Jennifer Hale as Twi’lek Jedi Aayla Secura (the character appeared in Attack of the Clones too), as Angelique Perrin ad Adi Gallia. We hear Freddie Prize Jr as Kanan Jarrus and Olivia D’Abo as Luminara Unduli,
Whether you think it’s fanservice or a triumph, I think it’s cool that we hear so many voices – including women – urging Rey on and bring so many different Star Wars stories together for the final, big moment. At first, I thought I would have rather seen the ghosts, but when bringing in the animate characters that might have been hard.
As Palpatine cackles “I am all the Sith,” as he levels his final attack, I gotta admit it was pretty cool to hear Rey say “And I am all the Jedi.” Now if we could just figure out who the hell all those randos in black hoods were in Palpatine’s audience…
(via Vanity Fair, Image: Disney/Lucas Film)
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