Star Wars Just Changed The Meaning Behind The Rise of Skywalker’s Ending

A new Star Wars novel has completely redefined the meaning of Rey taking the Skywalker name at the end of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (and it's for the best). The final moments of The Rise of Skywalker showed Rey traveling alone to Tatooine and the abandoned Lars homestead, the place where Luke Skywalker's journey began. There she buried the lightsabers of Luke and Leia in the sand, a quiet act of laying the Skywalker legacy to rest while also carrying it forward. When a local woman asked her name, Rey glanced at the approving Force Ghosts of Luke and Leia standing nearby, declaring, "Rey Skywalker." 

Many Star Wars fans felt that this declaration was abrupt, with some claiming it was an emotional punctuation mark the sequel trilogy had not fully prepared for. Thankfully, Star Wars clarified this decision in a new novel. 

Star Wars: Legacy (via Holofiles), Madeleine Roux’s new novel set between The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker, redefines the meaning of Rey taking the Skywalker name at the end of Episode IX. 

In the final chapter of the book, after they managed to repair the shattered Skywalker lightsaber together on Tython, Rey told Leia that the weapon "belonged to your family."

"I don’t know if I could have done this without you. And this isn’t just mine; it belonged to your family."

Leia responded, "Rey, I think you know that it still does." The novel closed on the single word, "Belonging," making it clear that Rey was not inventing a connection. 

This reframing ultimately transforms the meaning of The Rise of Skywalker's ending. Rey's decision to take the Skywalker name is no longer simply a personal declaration of identity or a rejection of her Palpatine bloodline. Rey is simply responding to an explicit invitation: Leia had already welcomed her into the family. 

When Rey claimed the Skywalker name on Tatooine, she was accepting a legacy that Leia had affirmed earlier, turning what had once felt like an abrupt, self-conferred title into the natural culmination of a relationship forged by mentorship, trust, and chosen family. 

Insight Editions' The Secrets of the Jedi: The Chronicles of Luke Skywalker further explained Rey's controversial decision to take the Skywalker name, noting that she chose to do so "to proudly wear my Master's name" while honoring Luke's legacy:

"To proudly wear my Master's name while doing so, in honor of his life and his sacrifice. Luke Skywalker may be gone from this plane, just like all the Jedi who came before him... but he will live forever."

These massive revelations about Rey's decision completely reframed everything for her own legacy. What once read as a solitary, almost defiant claim of identity now stands as the fulfillment of a relationship already forged. 

By accepting the Skywalker name, Rey is not inventing a place for herself in the family. Instead, she is fully stepping into the sense of belonging Leia had already offered her, lending her final moments in the sequel trilogy greater emotional weight. 

This isn't the only big reveal about Rey in Star Wars: Legacy. The 2026 novel also provided an overview of Rey's eventual New Jedi Order, confirming that it will ignore the core anti-attachment doctrine from the old Jedi Order in the prequel trilogy. Rey is planning to instill a lesson that connection can be a source of strength, not weakness. 

How Rey Skywalker's True Legacy Creates a Precedent for Future Jedi 

Rey Skywalker's true legacy, now clarified by Star Wars: Legacy, establishes a powerful precedent for the next generation of Jedi. If anything, the reframing of The Rise of Skywalker's controversial ending carries major implications for the future of the Jedi, and it all boils down to what Rey will do with the path she forged. 

The Skywalker decision severs the last remaining tie between Jedi identity and bloodline. Following Rey's rejection of the Palpatine bloodline, she steps into a family defined by values and moral choice. Future Jedi, under Rey's guidance, now have the chance to forego inheriting a Skywalker, Solo, or any other famous name in their ancestry to inherit the Order's purpose. What matters most is the decision to carry the light forward. 

By taking the Skywalker name, it legitimizes found family and mentorship as the true core of the Jedi succession. It reinforces the idea that a Jedi's legacy is not confined to the students they train, but also to the people they deliberately choose to include. 

Doing this actually honors Rey's newfound path for the New Jedi Order, opening the door to a more flexible, humane Order that honors attachments without repeating the rigid detachment that contributed to the previous Order's downfall. 

It also models a living tradition rather than a rigid institution. Accepting the Skywalker name demonstrates that the Jedi path can fully evolve through personal conviction and mutual recognition. This means that future Jedi can adapt the Order and transform it into what they deem best without being restrained by old teachings.  

Ultimately, Rey's decision has far-reaching ramifications for future Force users, as it allows them to define their own place in the light.