Source: screenrant.com

Part 6: Character Arcs

Failure helps our characters accomplish some truly great arcs. Let's go one by one.

Rey starts the film literally begging Luke to come back and help. She's handing him the lightsaber. “Come back,” the film subtextually says to us. “We need you to save the day.” But Luke isn't the hero this go-around. He helps, and he teaches Rey, but Rey herself is the hero. And that’s what she learns throughout the movie. She may not be birthed of great lineage or a long-studying Jedi Master, but she doesn't need to be. She is exactly what she needs to be: a hero.

Poe learns to temper his brashness, and Holdo teaches him that he needs to fight smarter and weigh his options. Sometimes the best option is not to take a presented opportunity. Finn learns bravery, not just to fight, but to avoid cowardly sacrifices in the name of heroism. Rose loses her hero worship in favor of actually being the hero of the Resistance that she originally assumed Finn was. Luke learns to accept his failures, as opposed to simply running from them. He faces Kylo, his greatest failure, and deals with him head on.

Kylo fully commits to his leanings toward the Dark Side, but as the one in charge. He isn't playing Motocross Darth Vader anymore. And he certainly isn't wavering toward the light. Some of these arcs are smaller than others, but all are important and well done.