Rian Johnson, director of Star Wars: The Last Jedi, completely reframes how we understand the relationship between Rey and Kylo Ren in one forgotten quote. The dynamic between Daisy Ridley’s Rey and Adam Driver’s Kylo Ren lies at the heart of the Star Wars sequel trilogy, but it’s always felt rather ambiguous.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker revealed they are two parts of a Force Dyad, a mysterious bond in the Force that allows them to tap phenomenal power when they eventually unite. The movie ended with a final kiss between the two, but Star Wars has gone to great lengths to insist this wasn’t romantic; it was apparently a “kiss of graтιтude.“

But it turns out some of the key shapers of the sequel trilogy most definitely thought there was real chemistry between Rey and Kylo Ren…

Director Rian Johnson Believed Rey & Kylo Ren Shared A Moment Of Real Intimacy

The Last Jedi shows one beautiful, intimate scene in which Rey and Kylo Ren – bound together in some mysterious way by the Force – reach out to one another, their hands brushing. Speaking at the SXSW film festival (via Business Insider), director Rian Johnson confirmed this was deliberately intimate.

“The ultimate expression of [the intimate] is focusing [the sH๏τ] even тιԍнтer when there’s contact. To me, one of my favorite sH๏τs of the movie is those two fingers touching. It’s the closest thing we’ll get to a Sєx scene in a Star Wars movie.”

This, of course, adds a certain humor to Luke Skywalker walking in and recoiling in shock as he sees the two together; it’s akin to a parent walking in on two teenagers having Sєx.

I Genuinely Think Star Wars Intended Rey & Kylo Ren To Be An Item

The clear implication is that Rian Johnson, at least, believed there were sparks between Rey and Kylo Ren. Other figures at Lucasfilm presumably disagreed, which explains the very odd “kiss of graтιтude” line in The Rise of Skywalker. But personally, I quite like the idea that they were indeed romantic.

Such a concept adds another level of depth to the Force Dyad, essentially turning it into the Platonic idea of “soulmates” – two individuals who are incomplete without one another, and who need each other to find balance. That certainly seems to be what Rian Johnson was building towards in Star Wars: The Last Jedi, even if Lucasfilm pivoted from it.