Star Wars: Is Rey a Jedi or Just a Force User?

When it comes to the world of Star Wars, a lot of protagonists ended up learning how to use the Force after they were discovered to be Force-sensitive. The sequel trilogy introduced Rey, who had a mysterious past that not even she knew about. However, she learned that she was unusually strong in the Force and quite talented despite the fact that she only started learning how to use it at 19. So, is Rey a Jedi or just a simple Force user?

Rey is a Jedi even though no one formally knighted or inducted her into the Jedi Order. After all, the Jedi Order didn’t exist during the sequel trilogy after Kylo Ren destroyed it and forced Luke into hiding. Instead, Rey became a Jedi in terms of her deed and assuming that role.

One of the things that we know about the Jedi is that it used to be a formal order that required members to be formally inducted into it. However, ever since the destruction of the Jedi Order due to Order 66, there was no proper Jedi Order at all, as Luke needed to re-establish it himself. So, while we know that Rey wasn’t formally inducted, she became Luke’s legacy as she continued the Jedi Order.

Rey was trained as a Jedi

Rey was designated as one of the new faces of the sequel trilogy of Star Wars, as she was introduced as one of the protagonists of ‘Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens.’ When she was introduced, we hardly knew anything about her because not even she knew anything about her past.

As a child, she was left on Jakku by parents she could never remember. And she spent her entire life as a scavenger that needed to scavenge destroyed ships and cruisers to find parts she could sell.

Nevertheless, she got entangled in the affairs between the Resistance and the First Order during the events of ‘The Force Awakens.’ The movie didn’t take long to reveal that she was strong in the Force and had an unusually powerful connection. She was so talented in the Force that she resisted Kylo Ren’s powers and was able to fight him on par when he was injured.

Because of her talents as a Force-sensitive person, Rey was entrusted with going to Luke Skywalker’s planet as all the other characters stayed behind to help the Resistance against the First Order. And on Luke’s planet, Rey learned more about the Force and was able to improve a bit despite the fact that Luke was hesitant to teach her the ways of the Force due to how he had given up on the Jedi.

Rey never got to finish her training with Luke Skywalker because she had to leave his planet when she sensed that her friends were in danger. Luke, who had a moment of wisdom with the Force Ghost of Yoda, realized what he needed to do.

That was when he used a Force projection that allowed him to fight Kylo Ren at the cost of his own life. But before he died, he told the former Ben Solo that he would not be the last Jedi, as Luke was most likely hinting that Rey was a Jedi and would follow in his footsteps as a Jedi.

After the events of ‘Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi,’ Rey completed her training under the guidance of Leia, who wasn’t a Jedi but was well-trained in the ways of the Force after spending one year of training under Luke many years ago. Leia completed Rey’s training, as she was now seemingly a Jedi with the skills and power of a true Jedi Knight.

Then, in the final battle with Palpatine, who was empowered with the strength of all of the Sith, Rey had a moment with the spirits of the Jedi. That was when they recognized her as one of them, giving her the power to defeat the revived emperor. In that regard, it was clear that Rey was as true a Jedi as any Jedi can be, even though she was never formally inducted into the Jedi Order, which was non-existent at that time. She continued the legacy of the Jedi and fought in the name of the Jedi when she defeated Emperor Palpatine using the power of all of the Jedi once and for all.

Is Rey the only living Jedi?

Before Luke Skywalker died after exhausting himself in his duel with Kylo Ren, he told his nephew that he would not be the last Jedi. He was probably referring to Rey when he talked about the fact that the legacy of the Jedi would continue as she became a Jedi at the end of the sequel trilogy.

Meanwhile, when Rey needed the power to defeat Palpatine, she asked the spirits of all of the Jedi to be with her, as we could hear the voices of some of the most prominent Jedi of the past, including Luke Skywalker, Anakin Skywalker, Yoda, Mace Windu, and Ahsoka Tano. That scene implied she might have been the last living Jedi in the galaxy.

Of course, the galaxy is huge and full of hidden mysteries never explored in the sequel trilogy. There could still be other Force-sensitive characters that were able to live through the events of the Empire and the threat of the First Order. After all, we are not privy to the ultimate fate of some Jedi Knights and Force wielders, such as Cal Kestis. Grogu, and even Ahsoka Tano.

This means there could still be a chance that certain Jedi and Force wielders were still alive during the events of the sequel trilogy but were merely inactive as far as their roles in the war between the Resistance and the First Order were concerned.

There’s also the fact that the galaxy never runs out of Force-sensitive individuals, as there have always been children born with the power to wield the Force. In that regard, even if Rey is the only living Jedi, she can still train other Force wielders in the ways of the Force.

Finn, for example, was hinted to be sensitive to the Force, although him being a Jedi probably isn’t something we would see in the future.

But the point here is that the Jedi will keep on living as long as someone is willing to live by the code of the Jedi Order and stay loyal to the light side of the Force. After all, the Jedi have been around for thousands of years, and Rey or someone else will likely continue the legacy set by the first Jedi long before the events of the Skywalker Saga.

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