The Rise of Skywalker was everything I hoped for, everything I  dreamed of and my heart is filled to the brim with emotions. As the credits rolled I couldn’t distinguish if my tears were of utter sadness for this trilogies end or joy because of how right the end felt.

It was the ageless clash of good and evil. The resistance against the first order, X-wings against tie fighters.  Red saber clashing with blue as Ray battled with Kylo Ren at every turn. 

But the battle was not limited to the physical world. It took place in both Rey and Kylo Ren’s minds. Rey struggling to fight the forces ability to corrupt and Kylo Ren trying to keep himself from caring.

JJ Abrahms seamlessly portrayed the emotional struggles of the characters from flashbacks to the goading conversation between the two. The strife they felt written plainly on their faces. But there was a deep passion for each other lurking in each interaction.

It was clear they cared for each other. Each of them wanted the other to join them, to be with them but neither was willing to yield their morals. In the contrast of light and dark this relationship was vital in humanizing both sides.

I loved that you could see that even though they wanted different things they were fundamentally the same. And in a weird way I was pulling for the both of them. 

Despite all odds, the thought of love between two people so at odds became inevitable through each interaction. At the end of the day they were the two most human characters. They were vulnerable and intense and it carried the movie.

Don’t get me wrong I loved the other story lines but they all seemed lacking in comparison to journey of Rey and Kylo Ren.

This might be because the moments they shared were given the time needed to breathe to grow and ultimately allow the audience to connect, whereas other interactions between characters like Poe and Finn seemed rushed in the hustle of war.

It was like time slowed for only Rey and Kylo Ren while everyone else was moving at lightspeed, which at times seemed disappointing. But looking back, it created the contrast needed to truly tell this story. 

Those blessed with the force see the world differently interact with it differently and the slowing of time within the moments of its use signified to me the importance it had.

This made the rushed storyline of others a way to set an anxious tone reflective of the anxiety of a galaxy on the edge of collapse while the slowed tone reflected the role the force plays in this storyline.

It was an ending that was bittersweet. Because the resistance may have defeated the final order but they sacrificed many along the way. But that’s what makes it so great. It’s not a truly happy ending because war is brutal and it doesn’t matter if you win or lose, all have felt lost.

Star Wars is real and raw and it allows you to connect and feel with each character in an extraordinary way.

So I ask you to watch this final installment and think not of how incredible the special effects are or how intense each battle is but of how each character has gone on a full emotional journey and let it inspire you to do the same.

Star Wars is and always has been about more than a galaxy far far away. It’s been about love, hope, and the ability of a person to learn to do good despite the temptation of evil. This movie professed these ideals in a profound and glorious way.