I know I'm going to regret this, I usually stay out of the TLA talk, but to me, these things seem apparent:
Rey was already a strong, capable / skilled combatant.
While she was stuck on Jakku and had plenty of time to learn how to defend herself out of necessity. By the time we meet her in TFA, she's already exceptional with her staff which plays well into her ability to swing a lightsaber at the end of TFA.
She also has above average climbing skills thanks to her scavenging skills inside the wrecked ships. Her intro climbing scene foreshadows her free climbing escape on Starkiller base.
And then she holds her own against Kyo Ren in a duel even before remembering to tap into the force.
So, by comparison, given what the movies tell us, Rey is stronger, more skilled and more capable going into TLA than Luke did going into ESB. Does she need more
physical training from Luke? My opinion is no based on what we already know about her. But she still gets about the same training that Luke got from Yoda.
I know my opinion is not everyone's but here's another way to look at it...
How many scenes of training did we get with Luke in ESB?
- Lifting rocks (tapping into the force)
- The vine swinging (physical) which I think leads right into...
- The cave confrontation (self discovery / mental)
- Conversations with Yoda (teaching moments)
How many scenes of training do we get with Rey on Ahch-To (g'bless you)?
- Sitting on the ledge and stretching out (tapping into the force)
- Lightsaber practice on the ledge (physical)
- The dark side mirror cove (self discovery / mental)
- Conversations with Luke (teaching moments)
Looks about the same to me. Maybe the issue here is that Yoda was a better teacher than Luke?
I just thought of another parallel, Yoda didn't want to try Luke for a variety of reasons similar to how Luke refused to train Rey. Their "training" mirrors each other in so many ways.
Anyway, thanks for pushing this issue. I enjoyed thinking through all this. You guys can rip me apart now.
