Never forget this iconic Leia quote from TLJ:
âShe was more interested in protecting the light than seeming like a hero.â
Leia is talking about Holdo in this quote, but itâs important to note that when she says this the camera immediately focuses on the beacon.
The tracker that literally symbolizes Reyâs absent presence among the resistance.
Itâs obvious that in this scene, Leiaâs words also relate to Reyâs character. Before TROS was out, I genuinely viewed this quote as foreshadowing. I thought it wouldâve given a glimpse into what Rey would be representing in the last film.
TLJ as a whole taught us about failure in both heroes and villains, but itâs the failure in those we think are legends that is so important to understand.
Luke knew that the old teachings of the Jedi didnât make sense, and it ties perfectly into the idea of just protecting the light.
It ties into the fact that Luke realized too late when it came to Ben that he had to save who he loved rather than attack.
He had done the same thing with his fatherâhe chose to protect the light.
Itâs why Rose says this:
âThatâs how weâre gonna win. Not fighting what we hate... saving what we love.â
Because saving what we love is protecting the light and simply fighting what we hate can only make us seem like heroes.
Itâs important that the word seem is used when Leia refers to Holdo because seeming like a hero doesnât mean you are one. You may seem like a hero when fighting what you hate, but you are a hero when you save what you love (even if it doesnât SEEM that way).
Can you tell where Iâm trying to go with this yet?
Rey wouldnât be some hero that simply defeats the bad guy and âall is good.â
Rey would be more interested in protecting the light, a.k.a, saving what she loves.
In a perfect world, this idea wouldâve been carried further had there been no Big Bad in the last film, and the war was just between the FO and the Resistance.
Rey would be reunited with the good guysâthe ones that now look to see her as their hero. The last Jedi. The Resistance wouldnât dare to think that Rey would have any kind of link to, say, I donât know... the new Supreme Leader or something like that...
And to add onto that, Rey technically is partially responsible for the fact that Ben even became Supreme Leader in the first place because she helped him defeat the praetorian guards (even if her intention was assuming Ben would leave with her after).
The truth is that Rey does want to save what she loves, itâs just that doing so wouldnât really make her seem like a hero.
She loves her friends and she would do anything to save them; extending that same love to Ben and having it be understood would be almost impossible.
Because weâd think saving the resistance would be Reyâs version of protecting the lightâand to an extent it isâbut Ben is also inevitably part of this equation.
Ben is literally the embodiment of the word âseem.â
Iâll even throw in the definition for good measure.
Seem: to give the impression or sensation of being something or having a particular quality.
Rey protecting the light in Ben would not make her seem like a hero because Ben seems like heâs the villain of the story.
By the end of TLJ itâs only obvious to see that Ben is not the Big Bad and was never supposed to be.
And for Rey? By the end of TLJ itâs only obvious that she is not the âfight what we hateâ hero and was never supposed to be.
Rey protecting the light in Benâin the case of there being no returning villain, and at best having Hux be the true bad guyâwouldâve been her Holdo moment. That moment of saying, âfuck what other people might think of meâthis is what I have to do because itâs right.â
The Resistance wouldnât see it as something heroic because Ben is bad in their eyes and Rey should be fighting him (which mirrors Poeâs behavior towards Holdo) not saving him.
And so this relates back to my previous meta on Reyâs perspective of Ben compared to the Galaxyâs perspective of Ben.
Rey sees the light in Ben, which must be protected. The rest of the galaxy doesnât see the light in him, which calls for action against him.
It wouldâve been nice to have seen this truly play out in the end because Rey would have a hard time not only trying to let Ben back in after what happened in the throne room, but also probably dealing with the Resistance not being on board with the things she would do. Her conflict would be fulfilling that quote from Leia, of being a hero even if it didnât seem that way at firstâthat in the end, protecting the light and saving what we love is what makes a hero, and fighting what we hate can only give an impression of that.
It wouldâve been interesting to see for a time Rey facing opposition from those who had looked to her for leadership. It wouldâve been interesting to see her struggle in this way, about what it truly means to be a hero or a Jedi.