My Conclusion

Rey is the living embodiment of the Force.

Rey is the living embodiment of the Force.

Rey is the living embodiment of the Force.

We’ve trod this path before. If Anakin had no father, biblical allusions aside, Rey had no parents to speak of. She was raised by strangers. Kylo lied … from a certain point of view.

Yin and Yang. Vader the former, who Kylo admires than any other. Rey the latter. Kylo assumes what he considers to be Vader’s legacy, and will become Vader himself (read on).

The Force encompasses the Dark Side, the Light, and the Gray. The Force as a whole is more powerful than the sum of its parts. This means The Force is also vulnerable to its darkness.

What it lacks is the human essence. Rey becomes that essence.

May of us thought, or hoped, that Rey would be revealed as Luke’s daughter in the last film. That would have been a mistake.

Rey being the living embodiment of the Force will cement her as the most powerful figure of the universe. The whole (I believe insulting) “Mary Sue” argument would be out the window, as not only does Disney appear to be heading in this direction, if Rey is indeed the Force personified she now has storyline reason to be so powerful.

Kylo Ren will go down in defeat with no redemption — he’s made his bed and cannot turn back unless Disney is willing to contend with cries of “Return of the Jedi ripoff!” — and the galaxy will be saved until, somewhere in a small corner of the universe, further trouble will brew.

By the way, to elaborate upon my prior reference regarding Kylo? As the Knights of Ren are rumored to be making their long-awaited appearance in Episode Nine, to stand out from the pack Kylo will legitimately become the new Darth Vader. As in, literally. A new version of Vader’s costume and mask, though he needs neither to survive, will be his. He will not have, as mentioned, Vader’s redemptive arc; instead, he will embody Vader as he has always seen him:

The epitome of evil.

He may return for future installments, though it’s been long said the quote-unquote “Skywalker Saga” ends in 2019.

Disney has stated they want to keep at least some of the new characters in adventures moving forward, so don’t be surprised if my hypothesis proves truthful.