Daisy Ridley talks about epic Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker lightsaber duel, Rey’s parentage and more

December is approaching which means only one thing (And no it’s not Christmas). It’s the release of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker which will bring about the end of the Skywalker story which started the franchise over 40 years ago. So, excuse me if I allow myself to get caught up in the hype train for a little and get to geek out over what’s in store of all the Star Wars fans later this year.

We still know very little about the upcoming film directed by Star Wars: The Force Awakens’s JJ Abrams, but we have gotten a glimpse of what to expect in the first teaser trailer which teased the culmination of the epic battles we have witnessed over the past two episodic movies (i.e excluding Rogue One and Solo). One battle that we didn’t get to see in the trailer, but was revealed in a recent Vanity Fair article is that of a big showdown between the two key people in the story: Rey (Daisy Ridley) and Kylo Ren (Adam Driver).

The image teases an epic lightsaber duel which features them surrounded by water and looks pretty spectacular. Ridley got to talk about this fight on a recent Happy Sad Confused podcast where she shed more light (or is that water) on what is going down in this tussle:

We have a great fight. A great fight. And I was really happy that the Vanity Fair pictures did show a bit of it. It’s a great fight. Like I’ve become such a better fighter and they made the lightsabres lighter, so it actually looks like we’re swinging light and not like heavy, heavy [swords].

If there is one thing that has disappointed me so far about this latest trilogy of movies is that the lightsaber battles have been a little lacklustre. This was especially noticeable after the great duels we got in the Prequel Trilogy, which used a more acrobatic type of Jedi warfare. Hopefully, these new lighter prop swords that the actors get to use can help bring back some of that flair, though I imagine it will be a little difficult to do so with all that water being thrown at them:

This fight we did, it was November, we had water being thrown at us, and I got a great deal of respect because I did not… I was ‘I’m not gonna complain about the cold, I’m just not gonna do it (laughs)—so it was like a real thing of stamina. It feels really epic, and it felt epic even at the time. Imagine, we had the waves like this, and they’re gonna make the waves bigger, and one can only imagine what it’s gonna look like.

Let’s hope that this battle can deliver on giving this climatic send off the battle it deserves. Speaking of send-offs though, it would be remiss to not want to know exactly what is going on with Rey’s parentage and the source of her amazing force powers after The Force Awakens teased something special only for The Last Jedi to take all of that promise away. Will fans finally get the answers they so desperately want? Well, Ridley gave an answer a recent interview with USA Today, without obviously revealing any specific details:

(Director J.J. Abrams) did say the question is answered. So, at the end of the film, you do know what the dealio is.

So fans can expect at least one of the big mysteries lingering in this new trilogy to get answered by the film’s conclusion, which should lead to some satisfaction. This confirmation should be warmly received since some fans were left a little disappointed in that aspect following Rian Johnson’s The Last Jedi which didn’t answer address several of the mysteries from the previous film. A disappointment that Ridley can understand, as she continued:

I wasn’t surprised, no. It’s just a different thing. Everyone’s going to have an opinion now anyway on the internet, but I also think it’s fair. If people hold something incredibly dear and think they know how it should be and it’s not like that, it’s fair for people to think they were done wrong. It doesn’t mean they were – ultimately, Rian’s a filmmaker and one person can’t dictate how a film is supposed to be – but freedom of expression, sure.

As someone who really enjoyed The Last Jedi, it only makes me look even more forward to what is in store for this last film. It seems though that the studios are allowing the directors to have their creative freedom and to me, that is a good thing and given Abrams’ repertoire, and considering he is the man who set these new characters in motion, it makes me believe that this film could be everything that we hoped it to be and more. At least I hope so, otherwise it will be a miserable Christmas.  

Last Updated: July 3, 2019