The concept of a Force dyad was introduced in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, but previously Emperor Palpatine tried and failed to become one with Darth Vader – why? Despite long being thought dead, Palpatine returned in The Rise of Skywalker, re-emerging on the Sith world of Exegol to unleash his Final Order plan. Unfortunately for him, the person he hoped would be his salvation – his granddaughter Rey – proved to be his downfall, defeating him in the movie’s final battle.
That Palpatine was almost able to fully reclaim his old strength, though, is due to something he had not foreseen: Rey and Kylo Ren were a dyad in the Force; two individuals bound together by itswill, giving them an almighty power. Although introduced as a new concept in The Rise of Skywalker – albeit one that build on the pair’s established Force connection from the previous sequel trilogy movies – Star Wars has subsequently started to flesh out the idea more. The Force dyad was an ancient Sith prophecy that even pre-dated (and served as a pre-cursor to) the Rule of Two.
The Sith had tried for generations to create a Force dyad, which is in part why the Rule of Two was instigated, with Master hoping to bond with Apprentice, and that goes for Palpatine himself. Darth Plagueis attempted to create one with Sidious, and then Palpatine in turn, once the Master, tried to create one with Darth Vader, as confirmed in The Rise of Skywalker novelization, with Palpatine believing the Rule of Two to be “…a pale imitation, an unworthy but necessary successor to the older, purer doctrine of the Dyad.” Palpatine was as strong and skilled in the Force as anyone, so why couldn’t he create a Force dyad with Anakin Skywalker? While Star Wars has suggested the Force dyad can be cultivated, with Rey and Kylo Ren’s developing when he probed her mind in The Force Awakens, it still requires the Force to willingly bond them.
The Force dyad is a natural phenomenon, which suggests it would be highly difficult for the Sith to actually succeed in making one, but there’s another reason too: a Force dyad requires both the light and dark side of the Force, which is something most Sith do not possess, swaying only to the latter. Rey and Kylo Ren are perfect for the Force dyad because each has been shown to have light and dark within them, despite their best efforts to shut out one of those elements respectively. There is some greater ambiguity when it comes to Darth Vader in that regard, because Anakin did eventually return to the light. It’s entirely possible Palpatine’s efforts failed purely because both individuals were dark side users, which would be why he and Plagueis failed like so many Sith before them, but it also likely has something to do with the fact that Anakin is the Chosen One.
The way the Force dyad works is reasonably similar, at least on a surface level, to the Chosen One: an ancient prophecy that doctrines that will of the Force, and one that requires a sense of balance. Balance in the Force is a shifting, malleable thing in Star Wars, but it needs both light and dark to work. Because Anakin Skywalker was the Chosen One – even if he hadn’t defeated Palpatine and earned his redemption just that – then it makes sense that he couldn’t be used to create a dyad, because he as an individual is already the Force’s act of balance. Indeed, it’s likely not a coincidence that the Force dyad was only confirmed to have been created after Anakin’s death and his final act, the defeat of Palpatine, being undone, meaning the Force brought together Rey and Kylo Ren, a Force dyad in place of the Chosen One.
