The presence of the Force dyad in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker recalls especially at an important moment in Revenge of the Sith. Then, as in The Rise of Skywalker, characters were exploring the possibilities that could be created by bonding between Force users. While Star Wars may not have lined up all his cards to explain what exactly a Force dyad was back then Revenge of the Sith was released in 2005, the franchise even toyed with the idea of ​​two Force users working together to create something bigger and more powerful than their disparate selves that went beyond the established Sith Rule of Two.
The Force dyad concept introduced in The Rise of Skywalker signifies a naturally occurring bond between Force-sensitive beings. In that movie, this Force duo blossomed between Rey and Kylo Ren, but it was already starting to develop Star Wars: The Force Awakens as they probed each other’s thoughts. It was a Sith prophecy that such a bond would not only fuse two Force users into one being, but give them a power as vast as life itself, spanning time and space. However, the idea of ​​a Force dyad was also mentioned in Revenge of the Sitheven though it wasn’t called that at the time. Palpatine says to Anakin: “Cheating death is a power that only one person has reached, but if we work together, I know we can uncover the secret.”
What did Palpatine know about the Force Dyad?
The legendary Sith Lord Darth Plagueis is the one Palpatine quotes in his conversation with Anakin. Darth Plagueis is Palpatine’s Apprentice’s Sith Master Decades Ago The Phantom Menace takes place (and before Palpatine knew it, Jedis were able to achieve their own version of immortality by becoming Force spirits). Plagueis’ success with immortality sowed the seeds of obsession for Palpatine, and he sought his strength in the Skywalker saga.
It also predates the Sith Rule of Two, which dealt with power cultivated by the Sith Master and Apprentice dynamics. This is what Palpatine as Darth Sidious tried to form with Anakin as Darth Vader. The Rise Of Skywalker novel even refers to the rule of two as one “…pale imitation, an unworthy but necessary successor to the older, purer doctrine of the Dyad.” Having been unable to bond with Anakin two generations earlier, Palpatine believed that producing a Force dyad with his granddaughter Rey could hold the key to his immortality. By tricking her into killing him, he was able to possess her body. He didn’t understand that Rey had already formed a dyad with Kylo Ren, which became his downfall.
Why the Emperor Couldn’t Create a Force Dyad with Darth Vader
Why Palpatine Failed With Darth Vader In Revenge of the Sith is for the same reason it worked with Rey and Kylo Ren in Rise of Skywalker: A dyad requires a balance between the light and dark sides of the Force. Both Rey and Kylo Ren had flirted with both sides of the Force during the sequel trilogy and were suitable avatars for the dyad’s formation. One theory holds that the Sith cannot create a Force dyad as unambiguous users of the dark side of the Force, and both Vader and Sidious were dark users at the time.
Another theory points out that Anakin was the Chosen One, an ancient prophecy similar to the Force dyad that claimed that one user would one day bring balance to the Force between light and dark. If Anakin was already a balance between light and dark, then it makes sense that he wouldn’t need another user to balance what he already personified in Revenge of the Sith. After Vader sacrifices himself to save Luke, his death paves the way for the formation of Rey and Kylo Ren’s dyad and culminates in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalkerbecause the balance he embodied was lost.
