Featured image: Rey on Tatooine in the film's conclusion, where she claims the surname Skywalker. Lucasfilm source →
lightsabers buried
new surname
chosen kinship and collective memory
- Year
- 35 ABY
- Continuity
- Canon
- Location
- Lars homestead, Tatooine
An aftermath beyond the fleet battle
Following the defeat of Palpatine, Rey traveled to the Lars homestead on Tatooine, a place connected to Luke Skywalker's youth and Anakin's family history. She carried the lightsabers of Luke and Leia with her.
A ritual of remembrance
Rey buried the two lightsabers in the sand, making a private gesture of respect toward the siblings who had taught and protected her. The ritual placed objects used in battle into a site associated with their personal history.
A chosen surname
When asked who she was, Rey chose the name Skywalker in the presence of Luke's and Leia's Force spirits. Her answer marked a decision to define belonging through the relationships and values she accepted rather than through descent from Palpatine.
Anthropological assessment
Names and the burial of meaningful objects can transmit kinship and collective memory. Rey's act treats family identity as both inheritance and choice, closing a history in which she repeatedly struggled against definitions imposed by others.
Interactive evidence lab
Did Rey adopt the name Palpatine when she arrived at the Lars homestead?
No. She chose the surname Skywalker in honor of Luke and Leia.
Select a perspective on the story:
Chosen identity at the Lars homestead
After the battle, Rey travels to the old Lars homestead on Tatooine and places Luke and Leia's lightsabers beneath the sand. She reveals a lightsaber of her own and chooses the Skywalker name. Luke and Leia appear as Force spirits as she claims the identity.
The surname is a declaration of affiliation and remembrance, not a claim that Rey's biological descent has changed. Her act suggests that social kinship can arise through teaching, care and chosen identification. The scene does not specify a new galactic legal process for changing names or establish that every community will interpret her decision in the same way.
Source and date boundary: Lucasfilm's official Episode IX account. The year 35 ABY is the chronology label; the precise day and any postwar settlement are not asserted where unstated. Anthropological interpretations are editorial analysis.
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Canon · original evidence analysis
Rey's chosen family name
After the defeat of the Sith Eternal, Rey traveled to the former Lars homestead on Tatooine and buried Luke and Leia's lightsabers. The act was not a claim that she had been born there or that she carried the Skywalker surname as a genetic fact. She chose to identify herself with the family whose members had helped her resist the history imposed by Palpatine.
This ceremony distinguishes objects inherited through teaching and care from a bloodline one cannot choose. A lightsaber can function as a material reminder of a personal bond, while a spoken surname makes the public meaning of that bond explicit. The film shows the visit and a vision of Luke and Leia; it does not specify a formal Republic legal name-change procedure. The original image highlights the burial, memorial and chosen identity rather than inventing a legal document.
Check your interpretation: Does Rey's use of Skywalker establish that her biological parents were Luke and Leia?
Explanation: No. The surname represents a chosen association and an act of remembrance.
Compare a related history → · Skywalker and sequel-era research guide →
Source reference: Rey's chosen family name — official Lucasfilm or publisher source. Individual motive, source perspective, exact dating and offscreen outcomes are discussed as interpretations, not quoted eyewitness evidence.
Canon · 35 ABY · Source analysis
An ending defined through remembrance, not biological descent
After the defeat at Exegol, Rey travels to the Lars homestead on Tatooine. The site is tied to the family history of Anakin and Luke, and the weapons she carries connect her to the two teachers who guided her. She buries Luke and Leia's lightsabers in the sand and reveals a newly made weapon of her own. Luke and Leia appear as Force spirits as she identifies herself using the surname Skywalker. The sequence should be described as a personal act witnessed by another traveler, not an official adoption ceremony or a legal registration documented in the film.
The choice does not alter Rey's biological descent from Palpatine. Lucasfilm's biography explicitly separates that ancestry from her decision to identify with Luke and Leia. Their relationship through teaching, loyalty and protection is the reason the name carries meaning for her. The weapons are material links to a community and its history, but the film does not establish that burying them ends all Jedi traditions or that Rey has renounced using the Force. Her own lightsaber is presented as evidence of a continuing practice.
IDS's anthropological discussion focuses on selected affiliation, memorial acts and the meanings given to inherited objects. Those are interpretations of a fictional narrative, not evidence for a general social rule outside it. Compare Ben Solo's sacrifice with the wider galactic uprisings to keep the personal and political endings distinct.
Lucasfilm reference: Lucasfilm Databank: Rey. Narrative events are from Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. Official Databank pages provide corroborating context; interpretive arguments are original IDS analysis. Publication year is not the 35 ABY story date.
Sources and method
The Rise of Skywalker; StarWars.com Rey Databank. Read the event's source →. Image captions distinguish the depicted character from the historical scene.