The following post contains SPOILERS for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, which opened in theaters last December.

Of all the unforeseen twists and turns in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, none might have been more unpredictable than Rey’s crop of brand-new Force powers. It wasn’t just Rey was good with a lightsaber or could levitate objects; now she could destroy stuff with lightning blasts from her finger tips, and heal people with her hands. Obviously, Rey is extremely powerful with the Force. But why is she so good at this stuff suddenly?

The Rise of Skywalker never really said, but a new book called The Star Wars Book explains it all. The book is billed as 200 pages of “the characters, history, and technology of Star Wars” and “how it all connects together,” between movies and TV shows and amusement parks and video games and books. A preview of the new book on StarWars.com includes some of the secrets the book reveals — including the source of Rey’s gifts. It turns out that Rey’s connection with Kylo Ren (AKA Ben Solo) makes them a “Force dyad,” a state that brings with it special Force upgrades:

Ben Solo and Rey are a dyad in the Force, connected to each other in a bond that allows them to see and feel what the other is experiencing, and even pass objects to each other over any distance. This type of Force connection hasn’t been seen in generations, meaning that there might have been other dyads earlier. Also, healing by transferring the individual’s Force energy to another is a dyad ability, as shown when Rey heals Ben, and when Ben sacrifices all his energy to restore Rey from death.

So there you go. This Force dyad was the reason Rey could heal Kylo Ben and vice versa. (It’s not entirely clear from that description whether their healing abilities would only work on each other or if could also be used on others.) For more on this and other arcane subjects from the galaxy far, far away, check out The Star Wars Book by Pablo Hidalgo, Cole Horton, and Dan Zehr. It’s on sale now.

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