The final scenes of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker do indeed appear to reuse stock footage. It was teased that the final scenes of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker would be "mind-melting," but in truth they seemed pretty much par for the course for the movie; an appeal to nostalgia that leaves a lot more questions than answers.
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker saw Rey ultimately head to Tatooine, the homeworld of both Anakin and Luke Skywalker. There, she buried the lightsabers of Luke and Leia Organa in the shifting desert sands, before seeming to make her home at the old Lars Homestead. Abrams ended his film with a final scene in which Rey stared off into the distance, watching the double-suns set over Tatooine. It was meant to be reminiscent of a classic moment from the first Star Wars movie, which Lucas had considered as an ending for Return of the Jedi as a way of bringing the story full-circle.
Surprisingly, though, eagle-eyed viewers have realized that the last scene used stock footage. Abrams appears to have taken a number of generic shots of Rey standing in the deserts of the Wadi Rum in Jordan, with visual editing then used to switch the locations. Some of the shots were used in Pasaana, when Rey stood waiting for Kylo Ren to attack in his TIE Whisper, while others were used at the end. Even the way the wind tugs at Rey's clothing is familiar, confirming the reuse.
No doubt this was necessitated by The Rise of Skywalker's hasty production schedule. It is rather surprising, though, that Abrams used this footage in scenes that were featured so prominently; the first in marketing, the second as the climax of the entire Skywalker saga. Many viewers will have seen the Pasaana scene countless times, both on social media and on the big screen as a trailer that aired before another film. It was inevitable that someone would notice he was reusing the same stock footage.
As noted, all this is particularly ironic given Abrams really seemed to think he'd come up with the most impressive ending possible. When Kevin Smith visited the set while it was being shot, he was told it would "melt his mind," and later said some crew members wished they hadn't seen it being filmed. Presumably he was referring to Rey's burying the lightsabers, rather than the generic stock footage of Daisy Ridley staring into the distance. It sounds as though this last shot was added late in the game, with Abrams feeling he needed one final touch of nostalgia to finish his story off.
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