A Force dyad, which can also be referred to as a dyad in the Force, was a unique and unbreakable Force-bond between two Force-sensitive beings, effectively making them one entity within the Force. The power held within such a dyad equaled the strength of life itself; the individuals involved shared a connection that transcended the boundaries of both time and space.
Those who were members of a dyad experienced a complete attunement to each other's senses. This encompassed everything they saw, heard, and felt. Furthermore, they demonstrated extraordinary Force powers, including the capability to interact physically across vast distances of light-years within the galaxy. The power of Force healing was also amplified within a dyad to the extent that, should one member die, the other could potentially resurrect them by transferring their own Force energy, albeit at the cost of their own life.
According to an ancient prophecy, a dyad in the Force would emerge, an event unseen for countless generations until the era of the New Republic Era. This prophesied dyad manifested in the persons of Ben Solo and Rey. Despite their adversarial roles during the war between the First Order and the Resistance, Solo and Rey shared a distinctive bond that played a significant role in the beliefs of the Sith Eternal cultists. During the climactic battle that occurred on Exegol, their combined life force was exploited to restore the Sith Lord known as Darth Sidious.
The term Force dyad describes a particular state where a unique Force-bond exists between two Force-sensitive beings, linking their minds across the dimensions of time and space. While they remained physically distinct, they were essentially unified as one within the Force. This type of connection facilitated communication between the linked individuals over immense distances.
The existence of a Force dyad, a bond uniting two separate individuals, was not always immediately obvious. The Sith Lord Darth Sidious remained unaware of the dyadic connection between Ben Solo and Rey until he inadvertently drew upon a portion of their bond's life force. Supreme Leader Snoke, the dark side master behind Solo's persona as Kylo Ren, recognized that his apprentice had an equal on the light side of the Force. Initially, however, he mistakenly believed this equal to be Solo's uncle, Jedi Master Luke Skywalker, before realizing that it was in fact a scavenger girl from Jakku.
According to Darth Sidious, the Force dyad represented a power akin to life itself. Members of such a dyad possessed exceptional Force powers that were unattainable even by the most skilled Force users who lacked this dyadic relationship. His belief was that if two Sith were bound together to such a profound degree that they transcended their physical forms, the combined power they could access would be limitless.
Those who formed a dyad in the Force had access to the uncommon ability of Force healing. This power could be employed to mend the injuries of a person or animal, although the healer would experience a temporary weakening as they transferred a portion of their Force energy. However, using this ability to resurrect a deceased individual could prove fatal to the user, as it necessitated the sacrifice of their entire life force.
The bond between Force dyads was an exceptionally rare connection, allowing them to communicate across vast distances measured in light-years. Through this bond, dyads could perceive and experience what the other was feeling, as well as gain a clear understanding of each other's thoughts and emotions. Another unique characteristic of their dyadic relationship was the ability to transmit objects to one another via the Force, irrespective of distance, time, or space. This was demonstrated when Rey passed Anakin Skywalker's lightsaber to Ben Solo during their final confrontation with Palpatine and the Knights of Ren.
Dyads displayed an inherent inclination to fight side-by-side, defending one another when facing multiple adversaries. Their bond enabled each member of a Force dyad to anticipate the other's actions. The strength of their bond amplified when they fought in unison, with their Force powers mirroring and enhancing each other.
It was also possible to drain a dyad of their combined power, which allowed a Force user to harness the dyad's healing ability while simultaneously gaining a significant boost in Force power. However, this process would leave the dyad in a weakened physical state, potentially leading to near or complete paralysis.
The Doctrine of the Dyad was a concept that revolved around the Force dyad. This doctrine was a key component in the lore of the Sith Eternal, a Sith cult that prophesied the emergence of a dyad. The power of the dyad had not been witnessed for many generations by the time of the New Republic Era, a period when the fall of the New Republic led to a war involving the First Order and the Resistance.
Long before the era of Darth Sidious, the Doctrine of the Dyad was inscribed on the walls of the Sith Citadel located on Exegol, serving as a constant reminder of the dyad's importance to the Sith Order. During the Republic Era, Darth Plagueis attempted to forge a dyad with Sidious, his Sith apprentice, but his efforts were unsuccessful. Sidious also tried, but failed, to establish a dyad with his own apprentice, Darth Vader. It would take decades before he realized that a dyad had naturally formed between his granddaughter and Vader's grandson, Rey and Kylo Ren.
The warlord of the First Order, Kylo Ren, first encountered Rey, a scavenger from Jakku, while leading a military raid on Takodana in 34 ABY. As he used telepathy to probe Rey's mind, Ren was perplexed by a strange connection he sensed with her. This innate connection inextricably linked their minds, although at the time he was unaware that they were the prophesied dyad.
Ren and Rey both possessed considerable, undeveloped strength in the Force, stemming from their respective bloodlines as the grandson of Darth Vader and the granddaughter of Darth Sidious. While exploring Rey's mind, Ren discovered that she could also sense his thoughts and feelings. As a consequence of their bond, Rey absorbed some of Ren's Force knowledge and Jedi training while their minds were connected. Her latent Force powers awakened rapidly, enabling her to employ techniques such as the mind trick and telekinesis. By delving into Rey's innermost thoughts, Ren not only detected her loneliness and longing for family, but also uncovered certain details about her past that she had subconsciously suppressed as a child.
The bond between Ren and Rey intensified following their duel at Starkiller Base. Their connection was so intense that it reminded Rey of touching a live wire within the wreckage of a starship. It was at this point that they discovered their ability to see, hear, and touch each other through the Force. The bond allowed Rey to gain new insights into Ren, who no longer attempted to conceal his pain and misery from her. Convinced that the light side still resided within the former Ben Solo, Rey decided to confront Ren in person, believing she could help him turn away from the dark side of the Force.
Ren's master, Supreme Leader Snoke, was aware of his apprentice's connection to a certain entity in the light. He knew that Ren's growing strength with the dark side meant that his counterpart would rise in the light. Initially, he assumed this to be Luke Skywalker, Ren's former mentor, until he discovered Rey after her awakening in the Force. Snoke reveled in his success at gathering Rey and Ren before him, as it confirmed the existence of a unique bond between them. Exploiting Snoke's reliance on sensing his thoughts, Ren outmaneuvered his mentor and ultimately killed him. Following Snoke's unexpected death, the Elite Praetorian Guards attempted to stop their leader's assassin, leading Ren and Rey to fight together. Their bond intensified during combat, amplifying their respective powers.
Despite the sympathy Rey developed for Ren due to their connection and her own prolonged isolation, she chose to distance herself from their burgeoning relationship. She could not condone Ren's actions against the Resistance and his schemes to rule the galaxy. Before his demise, Snoke had recognized that Rey and Ren were the prophesied dyad in the Force. As the new Supreme Leader of the First Order, Ren vowed to destroy Rey for rejecting his offer to rule the galaxy by his side, although he later admitted that he had no desire to harm her. During the final days of the conflict, Ren was able to use their connection to track Rey's location, first on Pasaana and later aboard his own flagship, the Resurgent-class Star Destroyer named Steadfast. After discovering that they formed a Force dyad, Ren shared this information with Rey, along with the fact that it was unknown to Darth Sidious at the time.
With their combined power as a dyad, Ren believed that they could destroy Sidious and claim the Throne of the Sith together, an offer that Rey rejected. Despite being stung by her rejection, Ren continued to pursue Rey at Sidious's urging, which led to their final confrontation on Kef Bir. As they fought amidst the wreckage of the DS-2 Death Star II Mobile Battle Station, Ren's mother, General Leia Organa, died while reaching out to her son through the Force. His mother's sacrifice, coupled with Rey's compassion and the memory of his father, Han Solo, prompted him to abandon the persona of Kylo Ren and embrace his former identity as Ben Solo. Meanwhile, Rey resolved to confront and destroy her grandfather, Sidious, on the dark world of Exegol.
While the Resistance and its allies engaged the Sith Eternal forces in the Battle of Exegol, Solo and Rey confronted Sidious in the heart of his citadel. Having failed to secure Rey as his new vessel, Sidious resolved to destroy them both, but in the process, he discovered that their bond possessed the power of life itself. Realizing that they were a Force dyad, Sidious chose to remain in his clone body and have it healed by nearly draining their combined life force. However, his triumphant return was short-lived. Calling upon the spirits of all the past Jedi, Rey was able to defeat her grandfather, but at the cost of her own life. Upon finding Rey's lifeless body, Solo sacrificed himself to resurrect her. The two embraced and kissed, acknowledging their bond as a dyad, before Solo vanished while still in Rey's arms.
Rey grieved for Solo, feeling as though she had lost her other half in the dyad. However, Solo reached out to her moments after becoming one with the Force, assuring her that he would always be with her. This provided Rey with a sense of relief, as she realized that Solo was not truly gone.
The concept of a Force dyad first appeared in the 2015 film Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens, which was the initial installment of the Star Wars sequel trilogy. The term "dyad in the Force" was first used in the 2019 film Star Wars: Episode IX The Rise of Skywalker, and it was later officially identified as a Force dyad in the StarWars.com Databank entry for Emperor Palpatine/Darth Sidious. Within the Star Wars Legends continuity, a similar Force bond existed between the Sith twins Quillan and Dromika in the 2011 novel Knight Errant by John Jackson Miller. They were described as "separated in body, but conjoined through the Force" and as "one being, that no power in science or Sith alchemy could separate."
Chris Terrio, the co-writer of Episode IX, has described Kylo Ren and Rey's Force dyad as being soulmates within the Force. He explained that despite their roles as enemies on opposing sides of the war, the Force acted as fate, bringing them together and enabling them to understand one another.