No One's Ever Really Gone...

As the much-anticipated last chapter in the Skywalker saga is almost within our sights, we unearth rumours and facts, and give you everything you need to know about STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER....

- Mark Newbold

From its low expectation beginnings over forty years ago on May 25th, 1977, through a decade of incredible zeitgeist-bursting highs and dark time lows, an unprecedented resurgence and a period of constant content that’s lasted now for almost three decades, the Star Wars saga finally comes to an end with Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker. To say the world is watching would be an understatement - the GALAXY is watching, and listening to every snippet of rumor and information, attempting to divine clues as to how writers J.J. Abrams and Chris Terrio have wrapped up not only the hugely lucrative sequel trilogy but the entire Skywalker saga itself.

Here, we look at the characters and locations of the film with facts, rumors, and expectations surrounding the film’s release...

Our Resistance heroes

Rey

Like Anakin in the prequel trilogy and Luke in the original trilogy, Rey is at the very heart of the sequels, and as the story circles around her, the tendrils of history intertwine to make this not only her resolution but also that of the nine-film saga and the fate of the galaxy with it. We’ve seen Rey discovered, and within days blossom into her powers at the climax of The Force Awakens and into the overlapping The Last Jedi, but now, a year into the trilogy’s timeline, where is she? She looks incredible as she leaps high over what appears to be Kylo Ren’s TIE Silencer, but we feel her frustration as she flings her repaired lightsaber away, slicing through trees in the process, and her fierce determination is obvious for all to see.