Rey And Kylo Ren Duel In Concept Art From 'The Rise Of Skywalker'

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It has now been a year since the release of Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker. It feels like a lifetime ago, given the weirdness of this past year. There has been, unsurprisingly, a lot of discourse surrounding the film and what it could have done better. From early ideas that did not make it to the screen, to words from the actors themselves about the process and their reactions, The Rise of Skywalker has been left with a reputation among many as a film that did not satisfy everyone as a conclusion to the Skywalker saga.

One of the more recent things that has come out is this concept art that Adam Brockbank shared on Instagram a week ago. This is from the early days of development for Episode IX, according to the caption to the post, which reads:

"Tangerine Dream... lightsaber duel in a sandstorm in the ruins of the homestead. Early development concept
#starwars #artofriseofskywalker #starwarsconceptart #conceptart #conceptartenvironment #dyad #reylo #sand"


I am somewhat familiar with the German electronic music band Tangerine Dream, though I am not certain whether Brockbank is a listener. Tangerine is definitely the dominant color in this picture, though. The image itself shows Rey, presumably with the Skywalker lightsaber, confronting Kylo Ren at the Lars homestead on Tatooine, bringing things full circle to where we first saw Luke Skywalker in the original film that started it all. It is a very striking visual that is fun to look at.

However, I think that Lucasfilm made the right move nixing this scene from the film. Bringing the fight to the Lars homestead feels too over the top, in my opinion. And it might have ended up feeling too sad seeing an intense duel take place over the grounds where Luke lost his family, and where Anakin buried his mother. As cheesy as the final scene in The Rise of Skywalker may be, I feel that it made better use of the Lars homestead, serving as a calm bookend and a beginning of sorts for Rey's next journey, looking back and then forward. Sure, Rey proclaiming herself a Skywalker has become the fodder of many memes, but having the character get adopted into the family is the direction I had been wanting for a while, even if there were some story decisions I of which I was not a fan along the way.

Another thing that catches my eye about the caption is that "dyad" is used as a hashtag. This makes me wonder whether "dyad" was already in the vocabulary of the film this early in development. It seemed like a bit of an odd thing to bring up in the film itself, mainly because I was not familiar with the word, and then I ended up not really liking some of the directions that Rey and Kylo's paths took in the finished film. But really, what can you do? The film is what it is.

With the sequel trilogy having concluded a year ago, we now have a plethora of other Star Wars projects to look forward to, and that means seeing a lot more concept art at some point down the road. The concept art that has appeared during the end credits of The Mandalorian have been a highlight of the series, and I hope that future shows, and even films, continue the trend. Concept art makes for good eye candy, and it is a great way to keep audiences around so that they can see all the names of those who contributed to the whole.

Source(s): Adam Brockbank

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