Star Wars: The Force Awakens script offers crazy new details about the ending

For awards consideration, Disney has sent the official screenplay for Star Wars: The Force Awakens to members of the Writers Guild of America. And in doing so, we've been provided with new insight into the film's ending as well as other key plot points.

As detailed by /Film, the screenplay reflects much of what we saw in the final film, but provides more clearer descriptions, such as official planet and character names, lines, and specific character thoughts. It also gives us a better understanding of Kylo Ren, Rey, and Luke Skywalker, as well as the ending, which has been open to much interpretation and debate.

***WARNING SPOILERS FOLLOW***

Regarding the final moments of the film, the script mentions the name of the planet Luke Skywalker is on as "AHCH-TO." It's described as having a "pristine and mighty OCEAN" with "endless BLUE dotted with random, beautiful mountainous BLACK ROCK ISLANDS, dotted with countless GREEN TREES." Not much is known about the planet, but /Film does point out that "ahch" is a Hebrew word meaning "brother," which may be a clue as to Rey's relation to Luke. In no way do I think Rey is Luke Skywalker's sister, but perhaps it's referring to Leia sending Rey to Luke.

As for those final moments when Rey is handing the lightsaber to Luke, the script notes that he looks at her with "kindness in his eyes, but there's something tortured, too." The script also confirms that Luke knows who she is and what she's doing there. I don't know if this means he knows her because she's his child, Han and Leia's child, or because of the connection with the Force; the script only says "his look says it all."

The script also mentions Rey holding the lightsaber towards Luke is a "an offer. A please. A galaxy's only hope." The last bit calls for a hold on Luke's face, "amazed and conflicted at what he sees." As detailed in the film, Luke was training a new generation of Jedi before Kylo Ren and the Knights of Ren rose up. Perhaps Rey was one of the survivors, hidden away until the right moment?

Speaking of Rey, the script also details the vision she had when first touching Luke's lightsaber, while also confirming who she was left with on Jakku. According to the screenplay, Rey is left with Unkar Plutt (Simon Pegg), the alien junk dealer. The script says, “A little girl. Rey as a child. She is sobbing, hysterical. Unkar Plutt’s meaty hand holds her thin arm. She is on Jakku, watching a starship fly into the sky, abandoning her.” Rey yells, “No, come back!” and Unkar Plutt responds, “Quiet, girl!” as the “ship flies towards the desert sun, which is strangely eclipsed, as if being eaten by darkness.”

This is interesting because the film treats their relationship as strictly business, as he barely offers her "portions" for her scraps of debris. Why would Luke, or Han, or someone who presumably cares for her leave her with some junk dealer who clearly has no desire to care for her. Must've been a business proposition to truly hide her from the Dark Side.

There's also more information regarding her flashback. The script confirms the flashback had at least one scene set in a "hallway from deep inside Cloud City," with the mention of a "mechanical breathing sound" and "disembodied voices fill the air." It also confirms the scene with Luke's mechanical hand touching R2-D2 is after the attack on the Jedi Training Academy. We "see a BURNING TEMPLE AT NIGHT" in the background, it says. And while this was assumed by many already, it confirms that the group of men surrounding Kylo Ren are the Knights of Ren.

On the subject of Kylo Ren, the screenplay gives us some more insight into his character, specifically after the moment he kills Han Solo. It appears the internal struggle displayed on the bridge was not just an act to trick Solo, but real emotion. The screenplay knows that "Kylo Ren is somehow WEAKENED by this wicked act," noting that he is "horrified." It mentions his "SHOCK is broken only when" Chewbacca cries out in agony and blasts him with the Bowcaster, which many argue also weakened him physically during his final fight, justifying his defeat to Rey.

/Film points out that in the official novelization Snoke tells Kylo that Darth Vader's one weakness was his love for his son Luke Skywalker, and that if it were not for that one flaw, the Dark Side would have one. Knowing this now, I'd be interested to go back and watch those final moments as he calls for his father to help with this one thing that's supposed to make him stronger; but, in the end, only makes him weaker. After seeing The Force Awakens, I maintained that Kylo Ren's story arc will be one of the more fascinating ones in the new trilogy, and these details only reinforce my belief. How will this affect his character moving forward in the trilogy as he completes his training with Snoke? Clearly, Kylo is tortured with his emotions, and as such I believe he is the most interesting character in the new trilogy thus far.

Apparently, Kylo Ren isn't the only one with conflicted emotions. The script also notes that Rey feels the pull of the Dark Side during her final battle with Kylo. It specifically mentions that as Rey slashes at Kylo over and over, he goes down and becomes "a fearful man, a large burn scar slashed across his face."

The screenplay adds, as he reaches for his lightsaber: "And she could kill him – right now, with ONE VICIOUS STRIKE! But she stops. Realizing she stands on a greater edge than even the cliff – the edge of the dark side. The earth SHAKES. The earth splits. A gully forms." Again, in the novel, it's mentioned that Rey actually hears a voice inside her head that says "Kill him." It's described as "amorphous, unidentifiable, raw" and "powered by pure vengeful emotion." The audio book apparently reveals it to be the leader of Supreme Leader Snoke, who in the film does want Kylo to bring Rey to him — perhaps because of her potential.

There were moments where Luke also struggled with his anger and emotion, as did Anakin, so if Rey is related to the Skywalkers, that could explain her internal pull to the dark side. It's interesting, however, that she was able to resist. I expect we'll see a greater struggle with Rey's emotions unfold in the coming movies.

The screenplay certainly helps shore up some of the uncertainties I had after the movie, but there are still plenty of questions that I'm dying to have answered! What do you think of the new details that have emerged?

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