Star Wars Novel Explains Rise of Skywalker’s Force Dyad Properly

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker introduced the Force Dyad – and it’s finally becoming clear how it works. There’s always been some sort of mysterious connection between Rey and Kylo Ren, one that meant they kept one another in a strange sort of balance. In Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Kylo Ren instinctively knew this mysterious “girl” could be a problem the moment he heard about her. In Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Supreme Leader Snoke claimed to have created – or perhaps – enhanced – the bond between the two.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker revealed Rey and Kylo Ren were something called a “Dyad” in the Force, an entirely new phenomenon. As the two grew in the Force, so the Dyad grew stronger, and as a result, the physical spaces they occupied began to bleed into one another; they were able to duel at a distance, and objects were able to transition from one place to another in an odd form of teleportation. Amusingly, for all this was a new concept, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker avoided properly explaining it.

Little by little, though, Star Wars tie-ins are beginning to explain the Force Dyad. The Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Visual Dictionary and Rae Carson’s recently-published novelization both shine a light on the Force Dyad, helping readers to understand what’s actually going on in the film.

The Force Dyad Is A Natural Phenomenon That Can Be Cultivated

The Force Dyad appears to be an entirely natural phenomenon. According to Charles Soule’s tie-in comic The Rise of Kylo Ren, it first manifested when Ben Solo began to surrender to the dark side. He was locked in a duel with the leader of the Knights of Ren, and abandoned himself to the darkness for the first time; far away, on the desert planet of Jakku, a young desert rat named Rey suddenly felt cold. It’s clear, then, that the Dyad was created by the express will of the Force itself, rather than from intervention by any third party.

The Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Visual Dictionary stresses the Dyad can be cultivated. That happened years later, when Kylo Ren captured Rey in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and attempted to probe her mind. This fits perfectly with Jason Fry’s novelization of Star Wars: The Last Jedi, in which he explained this was how Rey learned so much about the Force so fast.

“Kylo had retreated at finding Rey in his head – had practically fled from her. But that had not been the end of that strange, sudden connection. She had seen more – far more. Somehow, almost instinctually, she knew how he accessed some of the powers at his commend – even though she didn’t understand them. It was as if his training had become hers, unlocking and flinging open door after door in her mind.”

It’s telling that, immediately after the Dyad had been cultivated, Rey was able to use a Jedi mind trick to escape her cell on Starkiller Base; shortly after, she was able to match Kylo Ren in a duel.

The Force Dyad Requires Both Light & Dark Sides Of The Force

Rae Carson’s novelization of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker confirms the Force Dyad can be nurtured through both the light and dark sides. In one key scene, Rey uses the Dyad to hand Ben Solo her lightsaber so he can fight back against the Knights of Ren.

“Rey watched her grandfather’s dawning horror as he finally realized his mistake, allowing Rey and Ben to come together. Their bond – refined in the fire of mutual searching, shared grief, rage and hate, but also of compassion and empathy – was the one thing he had not foreseen.”

The morality of Star Wars is usually quite simple, with a strong dichotomy between light and dark. The Jedi are seen as servants of the light side of the Force, while the Sith are of the dark. But it’s increasingly becoming clear this is a perversion of the original Jedi teachings; Star Wars: The Last Jedi featured a mural showing the Prime Jedi, and it showed a teacher whose philosophy was very different. Light and dark were given equal prominence in the mural, with the Prime Jedi representing the darkness in the light, and the light in the darkness. This was supported by Cavan Scott’s audiobook Dooku: Jedi Lost, which revealed the ancient Jedi treated balance as a separate aspect of the Force, like light and dark.

Rey and Ben Solo both know the light and dark sides of the Force. However hard Rey attempts to commit to the light, there is still anger and pain bubbling up within her – explosively so, when she unleashed Force Lightning in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. Ben Solo, meanwhile, has never been able to quiet the siren song of the light side of the Force. Palpatine intended Han Solo’s murder to push Kylo to the dark side beyond the point of no return, but Han sabotaged it by his willingness to die for his son, unwittingly ensuring Ben never truly committed to the dark side. Like the Prime Jedi, both Rey and Ben are the light in the darkness, and the darkness in the light. The more they grew in the Force, the stronger their Dyad bond became.

The Sith Have Attempted To Reproduce The Force Dyad

According to the novelization of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, the Sith had been searching for – and, indeed, attempting to create – a Force Dyad for centuries. This was apparently the reason for the Rule of Two, the Sith doctrine that there should only ever be two Sith at any one time, a Master and an Apprentice. “[The Rule of Two] was a pale imitation, an unworthy but necessary successor to the older, purer doctrine of the Dyad,” Palpatine reflects. This explains why, according to the Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Visual Dictionary, the ancient Sith incantations denoting the nature of the dyad are strikingly similar to the Rule of Two. Of course, it is no wonder the Sith could never reproduce the Dyad; it requires light as well as dark.

There’s some evidence the Jedi cultivated their own version of the Dyad,  in their Master-Padawan bonds. Certainly, the strongest Jedi created powerful Force bonds with their students; Master Yoda shared one with his apprentice Dooku, and it was reactivated by Palpatine as a weapon in episodes of The Clone Wars. The novelization of Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith strongly implies the bond between Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker had endured for years. But, even if this Master-Padawan bond was indeed the Jedi version, it fell far short of the Dyad experienced by Rey and Ben.

Assuming Rey passes on what she has learned, it’s safe to assume she will form a very different Jedi Order. She wields a yellow lightsaber, after all, which acts as a symbol of balance between both the Jedi blue and the Sith red; this suggests she is committed to the balance of the Force. That shouldn’t really be a surprise, given she learned the secrets of the Jedi from the ancient texts Luke Skywalker had recovered, which contained secrets of the Force going all the way back to the time of the Prime Jedi. Thus Force Dyads may become a lot more common going forward.

About The Author

Thomas Bacon
(4898 Articles Published)

Tom Bacon is one of Screen Rant’s staff writers, as well as a Peer Mentor for new writers and a member of the Care Team, offering support and a listening ear to members of the Comics group. A lifelong fan of major franchises including Star Wars, Doctor Who, and Marvel, Tom is delighted his childhood is back – and this time it’s cool. You can find him on Twitter @TomABacon.

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A graduate of Edge Hill University, Tom remains strongly connected with his alma mater as a volunteer chaplain. He’s heavily involved with his local church, and anyone who checks him out on Twitter will swiftly learn he’s into British politics too.

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