Star Wars recently revealed that Rey Skywalker has a secret Force power, and it’s the key to rebuilding the Jedi Order. As a Force-user, Rey is an outlier in Star Wars. She was one half of a Force Dyad, a rare phenomenon in the Force that inextricably connected her to her dark side counterpart, Kylo Ren. Their Force Dyad granted them powers previously unheard of in the Star Wars universe.

Rey’s Jedi journey started in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, when she experienced a vision after touching the Skywalker family’s lightsaber. This led to a series of “Forcebacks,” from her arrival on Jakku to the destruction of Luke Skywalker’s Jedi Temple. In one part of the vision, she stands before Kylo and the Knights of Ren in the rain, and Kylo clearly stalks towards her with his lightsaber.

There’s now evidence that Rey was actually traveling through time during these Forcebacks. In Legacy of Vader #8 by Charles Soule and Stefano Raffaele, a Knight recalls Kylo reacting to a presence they couldn’t sense. It’s implied that Rey’s consciousness was actually pulled back in time, allowing Kylo to perceive her through the Dyad. This incredible ability could be the key to building a new and lasting Jedi Order.

The Empire Tried To Erase Jedi History

When Palpatine enacted Order 66, he did so with the intention of destroying the Jedi Order. Not just the current Order, though. He sought to destroy the very idea of the Jedi as saviors and peacekeepers, along with their legacy. He branded them as traitors, had them hunted down in the streets, and converted the Jedi Temple on Coruscant into his own Imperial Palace.

The Empire rewrote history, shifting the blame for the Clone Wars onto the Jedi. By the time the first Star Wars movie, later reтιтled A New Hope, takes place, the Jedi and the concept of the Force itself are seen as no more than a myth, as clearly evidenced by Han Solo’s disbelief about Obi-Wan Kenobi and Luke Skywalker’s training.

Should Rey want to succeed in rebuilding the Jedi Order before the upcoming, tentatively тιтled Star Wars: New Jedi Order movie, she’ll need to learn about the Jedi’s history, both the good and the bad. Aside from the “sacred Jedi texts” she pilfered from Ahch-To in Star Wars: The Last Jedi, where else could she get that all-important information from?

Rey’s Secret Force Power Allows Her To Learn The Truth About The Jedi

Rey’s apparent ability to “time-travel” could be the key to unlocking the Jedi’s history. Her vision in The Force Awakens proves she doesn’t merely see the past as an outsider; she’s actually present during those moments. While she can’t interact with anyone (other than Kylo), physically experiencing the Jedi’s history could go a long way towards understanding what they did right and what they did wrong.

The Jedi weren’t perfect. They allowed their pride and fear to overwhelm them when they should have been focused on the Force. Rey needs to be careful. Like Yoda says in The Last Jedi, it’s just as important to remember the Jedi’s failures. If Rey can fully comprehend the past and understand where the Jedi went wrong, she could potentially prevent history from repeating itself.

What lessons might she learn from glimpses into the past? Will she seek another alliance, or conclude that the Jedi should refrain from politics? Will she fear Anakin Skywalker’s obsessive love, or will she instead be inspired by two loving Jedi in the High Republic era? If Rey can truly access this secret Force power, the future of the Jedi in Star Wars will be hers to shape.