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It's here! The final installment in the Skywalker Saga has arrived and audiences are learning how director JJ Abrams decided to wrap the whole thing up. Whether you like Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker or not, the ninth entry in this long-running story is a special moment in Star Wars history. There was a lot for this movie to pull off. Not only did it need to conclude the current trilogy--and the Skywalker Saga as a whole--but there are a number of characters who needed closure, including those from previous films and those introduced in this one. Thankfully, some of the characters were given definite closure on their stories. Others, however, weren't so lucky. Warning: The following contains spoilers for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. If you haven't seen the movie and don't want to know what happened, look away now. Given how jam-packed this movie was with a variety of storylines, it's entirely possible you missed how some characters were wrapped up in The Rise of Skywalker. Take a look below at how each major character's story ended in the film. Also make sure to take a look at GameSpot's review of The Rise of Skywalker, in which Michael Rougeau wrote, "It should never be so clear to audiences that something in the filmmaking process has gone so terribly wrong--that the people who made the first film in a trilogy apparently didn't bother to sketch out a plan for the second and third, and that the movies' directors had visions for the series' future that were so fundamentally at odds."
1. Rey Skywalker
The Rise of Skywalker revealed Rey is actually the granddaughter of Emperor Palpatine. After refusing to join him to rule over the Sith--and the galaxy--though, she destroys Palpatine and restores balance to the Force. From there, she travels to Luke Skywalker's childhood home on Tatooine where she buries Luke and Leia's lightsabers, putting their spirits at peace once and for all. She also reveals her own lightsaber--powered by a yellow Kyber crystal--and her new name. When a passerby asks who she is, she replies, "Rey Skywalker." While she may be a Palpatine by blood, Rey knows who she wants to be and the type of life she wants to lead and will, presumably, now follow in the footsteps of her Jedi masters--Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa.
2. Kylo Ren
In the end, Kylo Ren saw the light (side of the Force). He gave up the Kylo Ren name, chucked his lightsaber into an ocean, and became Ben Solo once more, thanks to a vision of his dead dad Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and a Skype call from his mom. He faced off against Palpatine with Rey and ultimately brought her back to life using the Force--there's a lot of Force healing going on in this movie--before the two shared a kiss and he died. Ben really was the Vader of this trilogy. He was redeemed and didn't make it out of the final movie alive.
3. Poe Dameron
Poe Dameron may be the general of the resistance now--if there even is a resistance after the dismantling of the First Order. He was named interim general after the death of Leia and, as far as we know, that status didn't change before the movie ended. He also made it clear he was romantically interested in Zorii Bliss (Keri Russell), though she clearly wasn't into it. In the end, he got to hug Finn a lot and save the galaxy with his best friends. The only way his ending could have been happier is is he flew into the sunset with BB-8.
4. Finn
Finn's ending is a weird one. Any potential romance with Rose (Kelly Marie Tran) was completely forgotten. Any potential romance with Rey was completely forgotten. There was even a vaguely teased romance with Jannah, though that vaporized like a dead Jedi quickly. At least his bromance with Poe is still alive. That said, who knows what happens to Finn after this war? He could potentially join Rey on whatever her next adventure is, or settle down somewhere and just live his life--which could make for an intriguing Disney+ workplace comedy set in space.
5. Rose Tico
Rose is the character most underserved in The Rise of Skywalker. After being introduced in The Last Jedi in a fairly significant role, she's mostly forgotten in the new film. While everyone's off on their missions, Rose stays at the resistance base with Leia and rarely appears in the film before the climax, in which she plays a third- or fourth-tier role at best. As for how her story ends, there's no telling because the movie didn't give her much of a story to begin with.
6. Leia Organa
As many expected, The Rise of Skywalker saw the death of General Leia Organa. Given that Carrie Fisher died after filming The Last Jedi, her role in this final chapter of the Skywalker Saga was crafted out of previously unused footage from The Force Awakens. That said, Leia's final moments played a major role in the outcome of the movie. She used the last of her energy to reach out to her son Ben, which helped save him from the dark side. She last appeared with her brother Luke as a Force ghost on Tatooine.
7. Luke Skywalker
While Luke may have died in The Last Jedi, he still played an important role in The Rise of Skywalker. After finding out she was Palpatine's granddaughter, Rey isolated herself on Luke's island. There, his Force ghost visited her to let her know that both he and Leia knew of her lineage all along--but they also saw her heart. He also was able to raise his old X-Wing from its underwater grave, giving Rey a way to travel to the final battle with Palpatine. Who knew Force ghosts could levitate fighter jets? The last time we see Skywalker is on Tatooine, when he appears as a Force ghost alongside Leia, to look in on Rey one last time.
8. Jannah
Jannah, oddly, gets one of the most promising endings of the film. Upon meeting Lando Calrissian, he asks her where she's from. When Jannah--a former Stormtrooper who was conscripted by the First Order as a child--admits she isn't sure, he tells her they should go find out. The moment could be nothing, but it also plays like a tease for a future Disney+ series or film featuring the pair searching out the secrets of Jannah's past.
9. Lando Calrissian
All we knew about Lando's ending is he gets to pilot the Falcon with Chewie one more time and plays a major role in bringing support to what's left of the resistance during their final stand. After that, he meets Jannah and proposes to her that they go find out what planet she's from. As previously mentioned, this feels like it's a setup for another movie, or even an original series on Disney+.
10. Zorii Bliss
All we know about the end of Zorii's story is she turned down Poe's romantic notions and, we presume, is still flying around with Babu Frik. When we met her, she was trying to get away from Kijimi to move on with her life. Well, now Kijimi has been destroyed and there's no First Order to hold her back. So, theoretically, she could go anywhere in the galaxy she chooses.
11. Emperor Palpatine
While he was kept alive on space life support, Palpatine is definitely dead now. And with him, seemingly, so are the Sith. The Sith temple crumbled, his granddaughter embraced the light side of the Force, and his reign is finally over. For now, at least. After all, we already thought Palpatine was dead once and were very wrong.
12. Maz Kanata
Maz Kanata may not officially get together with "her boyfriend," as she called Chewbacca in The Force Awakens. The two still share a nice, but confusing moment, though. She gives Chewie a Medal of Bravery--like the ones Luke and Han got after the Battle of Yavin. Chewie never got one in the movies and it doesn't make a lot of sense for him to get one now--or for Maz to have one lying around. Still, it gave her something to do.
13. Chewbacca
Poor Chewbacca. He's lost his best friends--Han, Luke, and Leia. All he has left is the new kids that keep getting him in trouble and the medal gifted to him by Maz. It's unclear what'll happen to Chewie after The Rise of Skywalker, but no doubt he'll go wherever the Falcon goes.
14. General Hux
The twist that General Hux was a spy for the Resistance was a truly unexpected (and arguably nonsensical) turn. That he was simply doing it so Kylo Ren would fail, however, was not. Giving Hux any kind of character arc was a really interesting choice, even if it was only played for a joke and he was killed seconds later.
15. Snap Wexley
Snap Wexley is back! For a bit, anyway. Then his X-wing is destroyed and he's dead. Thanks for coming, Snap!
16. C-3PO, R2-D2, BB-8, and D-O
The Rise of Skywalker set up a really touching character arc for C-3PO as his memory was wiped so Rey, Finn, and Poe could get directions to the Sith wayfinder. He told them he wanted to take one final look at them--his friends--before his "life," as he knew it, ended. Then a few scenes later, R2-D2 reinstated his memory and everything was fine. So, for 3PO, his story ends quietly, with nothing really having changed. That's the case for all of the droids, really. None were lost in the final battle, and, we can only assume, they all continue on doing droid things until the end of time.
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