WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, in theaters now.
While Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) was absent from Star Wars: The Force Awakens, many fans were excited to see him return in The Last Jedi to mentor Rey (Daisy Ridley). He taught her the Force was meant to be used by everyone, not just the Jedi or Sith, and in addition to mental lessons, he helped her hone her abilities physically too.
So, when he died at the end of Rian Johnson's film and Rey took possession of the sacred Jedi texts from Ahch-To, it was obvious she'd continue her training to keep improving. In The Rise of Skywalker, director J.J. Abrams details how Rey's accomplished this by studying the books and absorbing the teachings of a powerful new master mentoring Rey on the ways of the Force.
While her friends are off on missions gathering data with the Millennium Falcon, Rey's at General Leia's base, meditating and harnessing her ability to defy gravity. We see her lifting rocks as well, before embarking on a training course that pushes her to the limit. She's blindfolded, walking a tightrope while using her lightsaber to fend off a shooting spherical droid like the one Luke used with Obi-Wan Kenobi on Tatooine. She races through forests and cuts down trees to win a game of capture the flag and performs feats we've never seen Luke or even Anakin execute during their tutelage.
Amidst all this, Leia continuously advises Rey on maintaining focus. When they talk throughout the film, Leia warns Rey about following her heart and letting the Force flow through her. She doesn't want the girl focusing on her identity (or lack thereof). And when Rey's meditation fails as she tries "to let them in," Leia tells her not to worry -- when the time is right, the ghosts of the Jedi of old will come to her. "Yes, master!" Rey replies with a wide smile as Leia walks off-camera to tend to her duties as leader of the rebels. It's one of Carrie Fisher's crowning moments as the character
Yet, Leia's not just there to pass on morals, values and ethics to Rey. In a flashback, we also see a young Leia with her blue lightsaber defeat a young Luke with his green one during a training session. Leia's wearing a vision-obscuring mask as well, which shows her prowess, something Luke reminded Rey about in The Last Jedi. In fact, he hinted that, had Leia continued her training, she would have surpassed him and probably become the greatest Jedi in the galaxy. It's subtle but it speaks volumes to Leia's abilities. And we can see Rey deeply respects her because she constantly seeks out Leia for guidance, not just as a teacher, but as a parent.
When Leia uses the last of her life essence to teleport her presence to Kylo Ren on the downed Death Star of Endor, she dies. However, it's one more testament to her power because this is something only the strongest Jedi can do. It killed Luke on Ahch-To in the finale of The Last Jedi. And in this sequence in The Rise of Skywalker, Rey feels Leia's spirit, confirming that underneath her warm, motherly disposition, Leia was indeed a force to be reckoned with.
It's a fitting end for Leia because, since The Force Awakens, she and Rey have forged such a powerful bond and share amazing chemistry. This dynamic is made even more powerful when Luke reveals Leia knew Rey was a Palpatine but she trained her anyway as she believed in the good inside her. It's also why he passes Leia's weapon on to her student.
Ideally, Leia should have been Rey's master all along, but since Abrams restarted the franchise, she was busy rallying the Resistance. It would have been epic to see her training Rey from the start, though. This isn't just about feminism or woman power, it simply feels right as Leia was always touted as a key Force user. Seeing her molding Rey -- the next great hope and Chosen One -- would have given the former princess the Force representation we were teased with by George Lucas in The Empire Strikes Back when Yoda told Obi-Wan's ghost "there is another." Nonetheless, Rey achieves greatness in The Rise of Skywalker, and a lot of that has to do with the faith and principles Leia bestows on the young Jedi.
Directed and co-written by J.J. Abrams, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker stars Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Lupita Nyong’o, Domhnall Gleeson, Kelly Marie Tran, Joonas Suotamo, Billie Lourd, Keri Russell, Anthony Daniels, Mark Hamill, Billy Dee Williams, and Carrie Fisher, with Naomi Ackie and Richard E. Grant. The film is in theaters now.