Over the course of five years and three movies, Reylo — a portmanteau of Rey and Kylo Ren — became the subject of intense debate among Star Wars fans. Strong feelings, both for and against the ship, led to the type of intractable division usually reserved for politics and sports, so it's surprising that Reylo has made it to number one of Tumblr's Top Ships of 2020, up six points from 2019's list. To understand why, let's examine the canonical evidence for Reylo, and the many valid reactions to it.
Rey and Kylo Ren are pitted against each other as protagonist and antagonist in The Force Awakens. However, their interactions are full of cinematic tropes that usually foreshadow romantic entanglement in the future. When Kylo Ren paralyzes Rey then renders her unconscious, he carries her over the threshold to his ship. As he interrogates her, he removes his helmet, signaling vulnerability, and they are able to access each other's minds. Finally, during their lightsaber battle on Starkiller Base, he tries to recruit her as his protégé.
The tension comes to a rolling boil in The Last Jedi, the Star Wars movie that became as polarizing as Reylo. The disdain for this film was partly because their complicated relationship is so central to the plot. The "will they, won't they" Force users are now able to communicate telepathically. They can even reach out into the void and make physical contact. Their motivations are still at odds, but it's clear they have some sort of special connection. Their experimentation with how their Force bond works is analogous to two young people figuring out they're in love. Things come to a climax in Snoke's throne room, in what is arguably one of Star Wars' best close combat scenes. There's no soft lighting, sweet music, or public displays of affection (quite the opposite), but for Reylo stans, the pair fighting off Praetorian Guards in perfect harmony was is exhilarating than any traditional romantic comedy or drama. From a Reylo stan perspective, that The Last Jedi ends tragically only adds to the Shakespearean quality of their story.
The Reylo shipping began after The Force Awakens, but ramped up (and received more push back) after The Last Jedi. The Rise of Skywalker gave audiences a resolution that didn't really satisfy Reylo's true believers or deniers. The two discover their bond is called a Force dyad and that it's exceedingly rare. This alone lends an aura of predestination. They literally bring each other back to life, with Ben essentially sacrificing his own life Force for Rey's, but not before they share a difficult-to-interpret kiss.
Initially, shippers were elated that The Rise of Skywalker made Reylo canon, though many were heartbroken at the extremely brief time Rey and a redeemed Ben had together. Based on Adam Driver's mostly dialogue-less performance, it seems that Ben's affection for Rey was at least a factor in his turn. Then, J.J. Abrams and the novelization of the film muddied the waters. In book form, the kiss is more of an acknowledgement of the significance of the moment. Their connection to each other and to the Light is what enabled them to prevail. Abrams called their vibe a brother-sister thing (which would seem like a stretch if Star Wars didn't have a history of relatively inoffensive incestual lip locking). That might've been his interpretation, but the sequel trilogy gave shippers plenty of text and subtext to work with, and Reylo fanfiction and fan art have flourished in the year since the final film's release.
Romantic couplings are such a common component of storytelling; almost every entertainment property has several to speak of. So why does Reylo, for better or worse, matter so much to many Star Wars fans? The not-so-controversial explanation is the strength and range of Adam Driver's portrayal of the fallen son of Han and Leia. Compared against previous Star Wars relationships, Ben's arc toward redemption is more compelling than Anakin's toward disgrace, and as such, audiences never invested in Anakin and Padme with as much fervor. Regardless of the narrative, Driver and Daisy Ridley had more mature, believable and palpable chemistry than Christensen and Natalie Portman, and people found more to identify with in Kylo Ren/Ben Solo.
Exactly what they saw in him, however, explains the Reylo schism. While some moviegoers simply didn't want a love story, another wing of the anti-Reylo crowd took issue with the toxicity of their relationship. These fans saw the Rey/Kylo storyline as one in which a capable, independent girl who was doing fine on her own (well, fine for Jakku) must save the misunderstood (actually genocidal and patricidal) guy, just because he's smoldering and bestows attention upon her. These fans think their dynamic — the ultimatums, the manipulation — amounts to emotional abuse, and that shipping them dangerously romanticizes such abuse.
The enthusiastic pro-Reylo crowd sees something different. Again, some fans just bought into Driver's and Ridley's energy, but others feel Ben Solo represents survivors of abuse and neglect. Throughout the sequel trilogy, Han, Leia and Luke all take responsibility for how their own shortcomings have negatively affected him. Rey, who has also been abandoned by her parents, is the first person who accepts him unconditionally. Devotees conceive of Reylo as everything from a story about two loners finding each other to a statement that damaged people are worthy of love.
Sometimes ships are less about romance and more about hope. It's telling that the vast majority of other ships atop Tumblr's list were queer, including Star Wars' non-canon couple, Finn and Poe. Public sentiment about LGBTQ relationships on screen may be changing for the better, but not fast enough for many in the community. Shipping characters through fandom is not only an act of hope, it's a chance to assert oneself and one's interests into a mainstream narrative that left out marginalized points of view. That Reylo is Tumblr's number one ship doesn't mean Star Wars fans suddenly see eye to eye, but the proliferation of Reylo content on platforms like Tumblr is an indication that, for a sizeable segment of Star Wars' fan base, Rey and Ben Solo's relationship is meaningful.