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'Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker' Concept Art Reveals A Change To The Ending And Alternate Dark Reys

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Concept Art - Dark Rey
By Ethan Anderton

Even though the Art of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker book provides some fascinating insights into the creation of various characters, ships, props and locations of the movie, due to the sensitive nature of certain elements in the final chapter of the Skywalker saga, it's missing concept art that fans have really wanted to see. Thankfully, Lucasfilm creative art manager Phil Szostak has revealed some of the unseen Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker concept art featuring alternate designs for the Dark Side version of Rey, the double-bladed lightsaber she wields, and even the new lightsaber revealed in the final scene, which almost included an added throwback to both the prequels and the original trilogy.

First up, there were a couple designs done by concept artist Adam Brockbank, who took a cue from Luke Skywalker's training scene in a cave on Dagobah, in which he fights a vision of Darth Vader, only to see his own face in the broken helmet after he slices the villain's head off. Seeing Rey wearing Kylo Ren's helmet is certainly a jarring image, but one can't help but think that if she did turn to the dark side, she wouldn't try to emulate him.

Not all the ideas for Dark Rey took a cue from the original trilogy or Kylo Ren. Here are a couple of alternate looks that the vision of Rey going to the Dark Side could have resulted in. The concept art of Rey in a detailed red outfit looks like it's out of The Matrix. Meanwhile, the one of her wearing a hooded cloak with rocks floating around her feels too simple.

The real standout piece of Dark Rey's ensemble is the new switchblade-style double-bladed lightsaber that she briefly wields. Concept artist Matthew Savage posted these pieces he did while designing the weapon, and in case you don't spot it in the first image, the second slide points out a piece of the lightsaber featuring an element of Darth Vader's lightsaber.

The ending of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker has caused some debate among Star Wars fans due to Rey's questionable return to Tatooine. The scene almost included an additional element where Rey stumbles upon some Tusken Raiders scavenging parts from Luke's homestead. The simple ignition of her lightsaber is enough to scare them off. It's probably for the best that this scene got cut though, because it calls back to a pretty dark moment in the life of Anakin Skywalker. But there's another reason it probably ended up not being included as well.

If there were Tusken Raiders that Rey needed to scare off with her lightsaber, then there wouldn't be the surprising reveal of Rey's new lightsaber in the movie's final moments. This is the lightsaber she built out of her staff, and concept artist Matt Savage reveals a closer look at the mechanics of how the staff opens to reveal her yellow blade, a first for live-action Star Wars.

Hopefully, more concept art like this will be revealed as time goes on, but we'd really like some kind of updated book or maybe an all-encompassing compendium that rounds up concept art from the entire Skywalker saga, that way we can get a glimpse at some of the more spoilery elements that didn't make it into The Art of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.

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