SPECULATION Do Rey's Parents Matter?

Exactly. At this point it doesn’t matter. Only to those that think she needs to be a Skywalker to be so powerful.

 

But it thematically undercuts it. That's why I asked the narrative purpose. It would thematically change that she did it because she was no one to "Oh she clearly only did it because she is a seekrit Skywalker"
Even if they say it didn't matter it will undercut the theme and narrative that TLJ set forth...which would be bad because TFA didn't really build any theme or narrative other than "Star Wars is dope!" (which is true but not wholly worth building a series on)

 

They should not have tied this trilogy to the First 2. It just tears down what came before. It’s not really a part of that Saga. It is a spin off where they just happen to kill off the old hero’s. So no, the parents are a waste of time in this trilogy.

 

How does it tear it down?

 

They dont I think some of our fellow fans took it too far like Snokes Origin it doesnt matter and isnt a prevlent Story Thread doesnt matter what mattered was reys idealism of The Force which will be further explored in Episode IX her parents dont matter they never did like Snokes Origin and he was the false Supreme Leader

 

They don't matter. We'll probably see a comic about them one day though, which I'm not opposed to.

 

It seems to me that the reason Rey did what she did in TLJ was because she was trying to emulate the past. The theme was, what role does the past play in the future? Luke and Kylo wanted to simply be rid of it altogether, but Rey seemed to want to completely emulate, remarking to Luke in a kind of 'legendary awe of the past' of what he did with Vader and then doing exactly what Luke did in the past and failed because of it. There's a message there that the past is to play a role in the future, and so it shouldn't be completely disregarded, but neither should it be something over which we almost obsess to the point from which nothing new can emerge. That sets up a cycle unchanged and unrenewed like the vision of identical Rey extending backward and forward in a rigid unchanging line of reptition. Yoda touches on this talking to Luke about passing on the past, especially the failures so that which follows can 'grow beyond' that which came before.

So within that broader theme, there's the idea that bloodlines don't matter in the sense of defining who you are and your place in the proverbial story. If we reveal in IX that Rey is the daughter of someone we know, that theme remains true from the narrative being told in TLJ. Meaning that the theme in TLJ that, the past does matter, but not to the point that it controls who you are, will always remain true and can even be seen as potentially setting up a reveal in IX while first stating that the bloodline doesn't or shouldn't write your story. Then we have that shot of 'broom boy' in the end which seems to emphasize the point. Whatever happens in IX involving Rey's parents (serving whatever the theme of IX) can't undo broom boy, as it were; he is the proverbial exclamation point of TLJ's theme that the past doesn't define you.

Now, if Rey's parents are truly nobody, then that thematic undercurrent of 'nobody lineage' has two exclamation points. And of course there's nothing wrong with that. But I look at broom boy and think, why a double-exclamation point on this theme of nobody parents? And that leads me to think there is the potential that one of the exclamation points is going to change so broom boy is there to be the real exclamation point to the theme after IX.

 

What makes me mad is how Rian handled the reveal in TLJ. Rey saying "they were nobody" makes no sense. That line was specifically aimed at fans. Rey is from Jakku, did she think her family was royalty or something? No, she just thought of them as family. She loved her family regardless of who they were. You would think she remembered them a little bit since she was like 6 or 7 when she was abandoned. There's a big difference in WHO they are versus WHERE they are. Even in the force cave, she wanted to see WHO her parents were but the whole point should have been WHERE her parents were. I liked TLJ for a while but my forgiveness for how important scenes were handled (Luke's failure with Ben as well) is eroding.

 

Everyone knows you only have to go through one big trial in life...

--- Double Post Merged, Nov 20, 2018, Original Post Date: Nov 20, 2018 ---

She was in denial. She was abandoned, sold for drinking money. She was disillusioned about her family. She grew up on stories of Luke Skywalker, Han Solo and Leia Organa. She wanted to feel important in the worst way, so she more or less convinced herself it wasn't true. This is a common coping mechanism, especially for young people.

Rey hoped and longed for them to be good, decent people who cared for her and would come back. Thus her obsession with staying on or returning to Jakku. It's not about her remembering or not, she's in denial. She doesn't want to admit she was essentially thrown away.

The cave scene wasn't about who her parents are. It's about Rey and only Rey...which is why she's the only one you see. Her past is all her and her future is all her. Not her parents. Even if the big question was where not who (for fans), it wouldn't change anything about the cave scene. It would just change the meaning from "It's not about who your parents, are it's about who you are" to "it's not about where your parents are, it's about where you are" which is not as nice.

Luke was from Tattooine and was essentially royalty by Star Wars standards. So why couldn't Rey have been from Jakku and been royalty?
Lost royalty only to be found again is a classic story trope. So yeah, they played it up that way a bit.

 

But what's the point? Rian introduced an issue for Rey that wasn't there at the end of TFA. She came to the realzation with Maz that her parents weren't coming back. She embraced Han as a father figure. Instead of going back to Jakku she went to find Luke. She embraced HER future as a Jedi. Why spend so much time on this if it's not important to the story? It hasn't changed Rey at all. It's one thing if it actually impacted the story. But her parents in NO WAY impact the story unless they are secretly IMPORTANT TO THE STORY. I think Rian tried to introduce some weakness for Rey, ie her parents, and it fell completely flat.

In all honesty, I think the parents story line still has legs only because there is literally nothing else going on other than the question of will Kylo turn back. This story hasn't moved the galaxy forward. Hasn't moved the Jedi forward. Hasn't moved the old heroes forward. Hasn't moved the force forward. Nothing is any different. Just different people doing the same things.

 

TFA has almost no narrative theme. It's just "Star Wars" as a theme. TLJ gives this trilogy a purpose. To dismantle the notion of only a few names matter. It creates a theme of EVERYONE and ANYONE can matter. You don't have to be a Solo or a Skywalker. You can be Rey from nowhere and matter. You are important.

It creates a direct opposite of the legacy character that is Kylo Ren. Who has the name. Who has the special lineage.
Hasn't moved the old characters forward? Luke literally has a soliloquy about it. Han directly confronts his shortcomings as a father because of it. Leia gets to be a surrogate mother after losing her son.

Doesn't move the force forward? It directly causes the tension between Rey and Kylo that allows for the force-connection between them to have any actual impact on the story.

Rey's desire to belong is her weakness. She's naive. She's insecure. Her parents aren't her weakness.

 

So you think it would've been better for Rian to completely ignore it, just because you don't think it's an issue for her at the end of the The Force Awakens? I can't imagine that would've gone over well with audiences at all. Many people already think The Last Jedi is a huge middle finger to the fans. Many already think that Rian threw out a bunch of JJ's ideas and things that he set up, you yourself said you think that the "they're nobody" line was specifically aimed towards us/them. Now can you just imagine how much bigger that would all be had Rian not addressed the biggest set up in TFA at all? There would have been riots, I probably would've rioted and I'm someone who loves the film. I don't at all see how Rian introduced more issues with the revelation, I think he gave us as clean of a resolution as he possibly could have.

Also, you mention that she found a father figure in Han... but then he dies. Luke isn't the person she thought he would be. She embraces the idea of becoming a Jedi and then is told by the last living Jedi how much of a failure they are and how they have to end. She's still very much confused, very much disillusioned and it isn't until the very end of the second film, after reuniting with Finn and meeting Poe that she understands her place and comes to terms with everything.

 

I think it only matters if her parents are the source of her midichlorions or force abilities (or whatever), or if she's actually like Anakin and gained them spontaneously. I think it would be a very cool parallel tie-in that she's like Anakin, a vergence, just to show that it wasn't some freakish one-off occurrence, that it can happen repeatedly. It's like the midichlorions have their own intent in the grand scheme of things, which may underlie the entire story. She's a female version of Anakin, and perhaps just as vulnerable to the same weakness, especially without structured guidance.

 

The theme from TFA is the awakening. It's about three people making choices and to set out on their journey. Finn made his choice (renouncing the First Order). Rey made hers (leaving her past behind on Jakku), Kylo made his (killing Han). Unlikely heroes thrust into a larger conflict. Echos of ANH. Nothing wrong with that. The theme of anybody can be somebody has already been established in this saga. I totally disagree that TLJ gives this story a purpose.

They didn't move them forward. No development. Just, Hey these guys screwed up as parents and Luke tried to kill Ben. They are old. Let's move on to their younger alter egos (Rey/Poe = Luke) (Finn = Han) (Kylo = Vader/Anakin). Leia a surrogate? She has 3 lines to Rey in the entire two films. It would be one thing if they built up their relationship. Nope. Not with Rey and Leia or Luke.

Introducing a few force powers doesn't move the force in any meaningful way. There was more force based stories in TCW series. Rey and Kylo's force connection was a plot device and nothing more. It would have been better if they were brother and sister and she went to join him with the purpose of turning him. The force connection/romance wasn't needed.

Again, my issues are that the purpose isn't really about saving the galaxy from opression. Hell, LUKE SKYWALKER DOESN'T GIVE A CRAP WHY SHOULD WE! Nobody cares about the suffering in the galaxy because they don't show it. It's just about Rey and her parent issues and Kylo and his parent issues.

Okay? Not much of a weakness when she only made one wrong decision in her entire life so far. And she didn't even pay a price for that decision.

 

My take has always been that everybody has midichlorians. It's just that some are born with more than others. It's a scale, not an either-or. Rey probably has a lot!

 

You are describing plot, not theme. People making choices is part of the plot. No one fully makes their new identity in TFA except for arguably Kylo. Finn never embraces the Resistance. Rey never fully embraces her role as the hero. But these are more or less plot points more than a theme because JJ builds in his mystery boxes and essentially undercuts them all at various points.

Yes they did. Luke went from the idealist wide eyed kid he was to a cynical old man much like Yoda was. He had to learn from his mistake and grow back into the hero he always ways. If you didn't like it, fine. But don't argue that it wasn't there. It was.
Yes a surrogate. Watch how she treats Rey in the end of TFA and in TLJ. It doesn't need a lot. That's how Leia is.

There is a whole point of this movie about making the force belong to everyone. Rey being no one is a big part of that. It isn't just for Jedi and Skywalkers. The force connection is more or less the dramatic realization of that.

And the entire plot of the OT is eventually reverted into Luke's daddy issues. What's your point? Saving the galaxy has only ever been the main plot in 1 saga movie, ANH. Since then it's almost exclusively been a family drama. Hell the destruction of the 2nd Death Star is basically a throw in because they needed a big explosion and something for Lando to do.

Wrong decision: running from the saber's call and being captured, directly leading to Han's death.
Wrong decision: Trusting Kylo Ren
TFA and TLJ don't exactly cover a lot of time. Not a whole lot of bad decisions to be made.

Basically I would sum this up with: Just because you didn't like something, doesn't mean it didn't happen or it isn't in the movie.

 

Just throwing an idea out there, I'm sure it's probably not new... What if Rey is just like Anakin? For this I'm going to dip into non canon books. Darth Plagueis. What if Rey is just another seed Plagueis scattered across the universe? It could have something to do with the bond Rey and Kylo have. It would make for an interesting backstory to all of the future spin-off movies. These seeds can immaculately happen anywhere at any time. The Skywalker Saga would explain the rest of this in detail in episode IX and be the reason the Skywalker Saga will always be special. The flashback will likely have to do with Plagueis' death involving Palpatine where Plagueis is defeated and Snoke is the result, instead of Hego Damask we get Snoke for obvious reasons, (the cover up Plagueis by Lucasfilm/Disney would be too obvious). The book would never be canon but just like Thrawn we get something from something else from legends that fits in perfectly. In the book Plagueis had a succession plan from Palpatine's fall and it was all planned that there would be a new empire from the ashes of the old. Plagueis knew of the fall of the Empire before the Empire began he even was involved helping Palpatine become part of the Senate, Palpatine in essence was just a puppet of Plagueis even in the original 6 films and Palpatine didn't even know it. The book also explains why Darth Maul was on Tatooine as well as Plagueis felt Anakin's awakening in The Phantom Menace.

Please no hate. I know some people hate the Plagueis theories. Just throwing ideas out there. I felt it was pertinent to the subject of the thread by Snoke/Plagueis being father of Anakin and Rey.

 

--- Double Post Merged, Nov 20, 2018, Original Post Date: Nov 20, 2018 ---

Ya I guess that's true, it's just that the special ones have more or are more in tune. In any case, like Thretosix I like the idea of Rey and Anakin having that common unusual lineage.

 

No thanks.
We had Space Jesus in Anakin. We don't need another.