I told myself I wasn’t going to do it this time, but, dammit, after that trailer, I can’t help myself. Below are my predictions for Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker … in the form of a story outline. I’m not gonna lie, there are some vague spots in here, but it’s a theory ... an outline. Have fun with it. Discuss!
The opening crawl will tell us that in the years since the Resistance eluded total destruction at the Battle of Crait, the First Order has tightened their grip on the galaxy under the iron fist of Supreme Leader Kylo Ren. Pockets of Resistance have been hard to find and their last hope lies with a group of Pirates on the edge of the Unknown Regions.
The Resistance lands on a tropical planet (seen on the screen at Celebration) after receiving word from a “trusted friend” that he can introduce them to the Pirate gangs that will supply ships and supplies to overthrow the First Order. As we saw in the Resistance TV show, the First Order and Pirates don’t get along. We meet Naomi Ackie (Jahnna) who has promised to take them to her father, the Pirate leader: Lando Calrissian.
Meanwhile, Kylo receives additional Darth Vader artifacts from the Knights of Ren including, returning Vader’s helmet, maybe his hand or something. Snoke, we will learn, was a dark side acolyte who understood the Sith teachings and believed he could bring Sidious back if he collected all that remained of Darth Vader. He tells them he needs Anakin’s lightsaber to complete his mission and dispatches them to capture Rey.
As the Resistance outcasts and a massive Pirate fleet prepare to attack the First Order, Rey is visited by three Force Ghosts: Obi-Wan, Luke and finally Anakin. They reveal that Kylo is being used by Darth Sidious, who created the Chosen One. Through physical artifacts collected, a Sith Lord can maintain a connection to the living world. The draw of Anakin’s grandchild made Kylo the perfect vessel to achieve this mission. She must destroy the most important remnant of Darth Vader: his lightsaber. Turns out Kylo is obsessed with the wrong weapon.
Rey, Finn and Poe head to Endor to search for Vader’s lightsaber. It calls to Rey and she finds it underwater in the shadow of the long destroyed Death Star II. Kylo senses she’s found it and heads to Endor and tells the Knights of Ren to meet him there.
Rey faces Ren and pleads with him to listen. She tells him everything she learned from Luke, Obi-Wan and Anakin and he doesn’t believe her … of course. He says his master needs the kyber crystal to restore his physical form so he can “finish what he (Palpatine) started.” She says “he’s been lying to you and using you.” She summons some amazing Force power and destroys Vader’s saber in front of Kylo and suddenly, he is released from Palpatine’s spell. They join forces and head to Jakku to destroy the remaining Vader relics being held in a secret Sith Temple (Battlefront II) after they escape Endor by destroying the Knights of Ren.
On Jakku, all of them are met by a First Order war machine, they have to fight their way through (as seen in the trailer) to find the Sith Temple. They do some sleuthing and once they find it, the cackling spirit of Palpatine thanks Kylo for completing his purpose and bringing the most important piece to complete his mission to him: Rey. She is the second coming of the Chosen One, created through the Force years after the Battle of Endor and he takes over her body. There is a massive lightsaber battle between Rey/Sidious and Kylo.
Kylo sacrifices himself somehow to free Rey from the possession of Sidious.
Rey sees a vision of Anakin who tells her to fulfill her destiny and she overpowers the spirit of Sidious and destroys the Sith temple and Palpatine is erased from the Galaxy.
Oh, and the Resistance and the Pirates defeated the First Order somehow.
Rey returns to Leia after the battle and defeat of the First Order and tells her that Kylo is dead. This is the teary embrace seen in the trailer. The trailer has also shown the moment of the big twist: Leia tells her that she carried Rey and gave birth to her but “there was no father.” Han was out of her life at the time. Rey is a Skywalker and she has fulfilled the Prophecy of the Chosen One by bringing balance to the Force. There are no more Jedi. There are no more Sith. There is finally balance.