SPECULATION Do Rey's Parents Matter?

Yes, I think that the fact that Ben has legendary parents and relations (unlike her) plays on her mind, much more because he didn’t or doesn’t apreciate how much they loved and cared for him... this love is i think what she primarily envies.
Of course, the fact that Han Solo, Leia and Luke are legends impresses her very much, that is clear in TFA. But in spite of all of this glamour, in TLJ we discover that it is love and connection what Rey truly craves.

I understand however what you mean. Rey may have fantasized about being a celebrity force child like Ben ( like an orfaned girl might dream of being a princess). Maybe Rey started to believe there was truth in this fantasy because of the force, and yes, maybe her disappointment about this is not only real but deeply embarrassing as Kylo has seen this in her mind. It would make sense.

 

no, that's exactly right. they are yin and yan. it wouldn't make sense for her parents to be heroes or powerhouses in any way.
Ben comes from everything. she comes from nothing. it's part of the balance.

 

I have been lurking for a long time, not posting, so please forgive the length of my post. For me, Rey's parents are inherently important to this story and I still believe anything is possible.

There are so many unanswered questions about Rey, Kylo Ren, and their connection at this stage, so that I believe Rey's parents must be tied in somehow. The mystery that has been created by the filmmakers about Rey's parents is the central issue I have with the ST and what we have been provided thus far. Having said that, I do not believe what I am going to suggest after this is necessarily going to happen, and in fact I doubt it will. But I merely present it because I still believe anything is possible.

Snoke connected Rey and Kylo Ren's minds. Why? How would Snoke have known she, this previously unknown junker on the dead planet of Jakku, was the rising of light to meet his darkness? What relationship did Snoke have to Han and Leia that he was able to prey upon Kylo in the first place? How did Snoke thereafter come to power? To me, these are just some of the questions that cut to the heart of who both Rey and Kylo Ren are and what are their individual motivations. And I believe the answers should be found in the overarching question of who Rey's parents are.

This question was deliberately set up in TFA and the debate thereafter raged (probably as TPTB expected) about whether Rey was a Solo, a Skywalker, a Kenobi, a Palpatine... the list goes on and on. But what would have been the most predictable answer, before the ST of the "Skywalker Saga" began, to the question of who is the good-gal-protagonist-that-becomes-a-Jedi related to? The most obvious answer to that was Leia and Han, or slightly less probable, Luke Skywalker. Now, imagine you want your female lead to have this predictable lineage and as the filmmakers in a franchise known for the most famous "twist" in cinematic history, how do you present it to your audience without being accused of just simply re-packaging or re-booting the same old story? I suggest that you purposefully subvert the expectations of the ST audience, which would also be the only chance of coming close to the surprise of the OT. You set it up to provide a false answer to the question:

NO ONE EXPECTS REY TO BE RELATED TO THE OT HEROES NOW. (Or the Spanish Inquisition...)

Yup, Muhammad Ali would be proud.... mission accomplished.

As everyone in this thread has already noted, the ST is obviously providing us a stark contrast in the background and upbringing between Rey and Kylo Ren. While perhaps they both feel as though they were abandoned by their parents, there is a stark contrast between Kylo's "privileged" upbringing and Rey's harsh, meager, and surviving-on-her-own childhood.

So Ben and Rey seemingly come from opposite ends of the spectrum. Despite everything wonderful Ben appeared to have, he turns out rotten to the core. Despite how horrible her life was, Rey is seemingly pure of heart and good. Her only seeming weakness is her longing for connection to her parents, wondering who they are, and why they left her. As Rian Johnson said, he answered that question with what would have been the hardest thing for her to hear:

Let me add just a small suggestion: Rey saw no one in the cave because who her parents are didn't matter... in that moment and for her character development at that time (in TLJ and TLJ alone). This works on two levels. First, it provides Rey the impetus she needs to move forward and take agency over her own future. Second, we get the message that a person is a hero or a villain not because of their lineage, but the choices they make and who they decide they want to be. Ben chose his dark path, despite his hero parents (or villain grandfather). Rey is choosing her path. She leaves Ach-to accepting her disappointment without a clear answer to her troubling question because she has chosen to do what she believes is right. When she confronts Kylo Ren, he tempts her with this question and providing her, again, the toughest answer for her to hear in that moment. What made Rey the hero is that she chose to move forward and not allow that perception of her past to choose her destiny for her.

Under the broadest brush strokes, Kylo Ren and Rey are facing the same fundamental question of whether or not they are going to allow their past to define who they are. However, they are seemingly facing that question from a much different background and upbringing. So my question is, what now in Episode IX would be the most difficult answer that Rey could receive that would challenge her character and development? I think we can all agree that after TLJ, it is hard to see what it is that would be a difficult challenge for Rey that could further shape her character and tempt her between the pull of the light and dark.

I would suggest that the most difficult thing now for Rey to face would be an answer to the question that would actually draw her even closer to Kylo Ren and what has made him feel torn apart. Up until now, she could look at Ben and say, "You had everything! The love of family and parents who were heroes! Instead of embracing that love, you turned against it! Killed your own father (and maybe your mother...)! I am NOTHING like you." But what would she do if she found out that she and Kylo Ren come from the same place.. from the same family... only her existence was EVEN WORSE? What her (their) family did to her was even worse than what they did to him?

To me, this would be the most challenging thing Rey could now (in Episode IX) face and it would help to inform Kylo Ren's motivations. Imagine that they both learn that they are siblings. She would be tempted like never before and Kylo Ren would be seemingly justified (on some level) and cemented in the dark side. Talk about tension and agency. Retrospectvely, this kind of subversion of audience expectations from pre-TFA, to one movie, to the next, to the finale, would be the only way I can see to even attempt, let alone potentially exceed, a "No, I am your father" moment in the ST. Like it or not... but it would be a bold way to go.

The biggest challenge for me is how do they accomplish this without making our OT heroes look even worse. I contend that it is possible (not probable), but it completely depends on the execution.

For those that would argue that having Rey and Kylo Ren be related (as siblings or cousins) would undermine the message of "anyone can be a hero" from TLJ: I disagree, as I actually think the message would be strengthened: A person is a hero or a villain not because of their lineage, but the choices they make and who they decide they want to be. Rey has chosen the light, not because of wh her parents were, but because of who she is. Kylo Ren has clearly not chosen the dark because his parents were heroes. Rey and Kylo Ren provide a contrast, as even the children of heroes (or villains) still have a choice to make and it is all about who they are as individuals. Each movie will stand for this kind of message. Anyone can be a hero, anyone can be tempted, and we all have control over our own fate.

I agree with George Lucas: I want to know whatever happened to Anakin Skywalker's grandchildren. You know, the future Knights of Ren. (WHOA. )

 

--- Double Post Merged, Oct 19, 2018, Original Post Date: Oct 19, 2018 ---

@Dark Toilet - in all seriousness though, how do you get around all the issues of her being a Solo and one mentioning her, recognising her etc?
Let's say that Leia was pregnant and something went wrong and she thought she lost the baby, but she was really taken. Would Leia still not mention this in the pivotal scenes of TFA and TLJ: "I lost one child, I cannot bear to lose another", or something? It would just be the cheapest of tricks and for me personally would be a huge turn off.

 

This could work. Rey needs new challenges and her being abandoned as a baby by Leia and/or Han, her heroes, would certainly challenge her... I’m sure JJ could pull that off. It would only work though if Han and Leia were unaware that Rey was really Han’s, Leia’s or Han and Leia’s daughter... also the interesting part in this scenario would be the real reason why Han and/or Leia abandoned a child of theirs: Were they protecting this new born baby? Because this could only be a proper challenge for Rey if she had been purposely given away, still being a baby, to the horrible drunk junkers... (as a way for Han and/or Leia to save Kylo perhaps? emphasis in Kylo being more important for them than baby Rey was). It would be tough for JJ to make Leia or/and Han sympathetic if this was the case unless he devised a Sophie’s choice situation to explain their decision.

But I’m not sure if JJ would want to challenge Rey in this way... I rather see JJ making Leia responsible for Rey’s drunk parents demise... I think that would certainly challenge Rey without making her Kylo’s sister. Because I can’t see how those two can be related... even if Reylo never happens in any shape or form, the chemistry between both Rey and Ben/Kylo is palpable. Turning them into siblings will feel somewhat unsatisfactory, at least to me.

 

I've always wondered if going into Empire people cared about who Luke's parents were.

 

Well that place in TLJ was strong with the dark side. The last time we've seen such a place on the big screen it did Luke show only himself. So why did we expect Rey to see anything else but herself.
Rey might expect to see more but she wasn't instructed what to expect (unlike Luke (Only what you take with you))

 

Empire turned SW into something very different from what most of us kids thought the story of Luke, Han and Leia was and where it was going... it turned this fun space story into a serious family drama.

But we aren’t those wide eyed kids anymore and SW is not an oddity of a space tale anymore either. There is a precedent of what these stories are really about (family, growth) and that, whether we like it or not, does play a part in what we expect from SW and how we receive it.

--- Double Post Merged, Oct 19, 2018, Original Post Date: Oct 19, 2018 ---

Just for the sake of defending the argument of Leia being Rey's mother, we could say that she had this baby after Han left and never told him about it... I'm not sure if the chronology of it all would work... If so, Leia could, for whatever pressing reason, have abandoned baby Rey (and of course for this to work Leia doesn't know the baby she gave away was Rey...). One can imagine abandoning her baby would have been something undoubtedly so difficult, painful and traumatic for Leia that she would have buried it deep in her memory, never dealing with it, mentioning it... much less to Han in their tete a tete in TFA...

This is all plausible but... a bit soap opery perhaps?

 

Han and Leia have only been "split up" for less than 6 years (and after Ben's fall) at the start of TFA, so no, this is not a possibility.

 

There we go, soap opera axed

 

Obviously the significance of Rey's parents matter in direct proportion to the story the writers are wanting to tell. Since we don't know what that story is, the question is impossible to answer. BUT I can indeed think of one very specific scenario in which not only do Rey's parents significantly matter, but it changes everything that has occurred up until this point. It would completely change the way Rey looks at Kylo Ren. It would change the way the audience looks at him. It would change his character in a dramatic way. It would change the way Rey would proceed forward. Everything would be turned upside down.

Good question. I'd suggest (if this case were true which I'm not suggesting it is, only offering explanation) it has something to do with the reason no one told Luke who his father really was. Something about "not ready for the burden" something about having to be a fully trained Jedi before the informaion could be revealed. Remember, these revelations almost cost Luke because he couldn't keep the knowledge hidden from Vader i.e. "So you have a sister. Your thoughts have now betrayed her as well. Obi-Wan was wise to hide her from me. Now his failure is complete."

Suppose Leia wanted to keep Snoke from getting her daughter with the help of her son, and so staged an "attack" that killed Ben's little sister. If Snoke thinks she's dead? No reason to come after her, too, right? If Ben thinks she's dead what is his reaction? I guess that depends on what kind of feelings he had for her.

But hey, this is obviously not going to happen. Timelines and continuity and everything renders it zero probability (or, in Luke's words "That's impossible!") I'm just spitballing here.

I always wondered what Owen meant when he said "That's what I'm afraid of" in reply to Beru's "He's got too much of his father in him"; I was like "What's that supposed to mean? What about his father is fearful? Who is his father?" It reminds me of VII when Han said of Ben "Had too much Vader in him" and I was like "What does that mean? Too much Vader?" I mean, Vader joined the dark side to protect the person he loved the most but what does that have to do with Ben Solo? No idea.

 

You're using a Dragonball (Super) gif?! My job is done here. You're now a woman of culture : P

 

Whatever theories you have must match up with what JJ said and what Maz said.

Maz said in TFA that Rey's parents never coming back and JJ said that Rey's parents were not in TFA. So this eliminates Snoke, Luke, Leia, Han and more.

Unless of course you believe JJ will retcon TFA and what he said about TFA.

 

Hey, I get it. It is difficult to reconcile, I must concede. However, for all of the banter that has taken place since immediately after TFA about who Rey is, there are at least plausible scenarios that could work as so much of the scenes that are cited as definitive evidence are all really still open to interpretation. Granted, there is a sizable portion of the fan base that may scoff and just think it is a retcon... but what if this was the plan all along and it won't make sense until finally revealed?

I agree that the only way it could even be remotely palatable is if it really was some sort of Sophie's choice or misguided, but deemed-necessary plot to protect Rey...

No doubt, and not necessary, as these issues have been debated ad nauseum immediately after TFA and still to the present.

I would tend to agree that "Rey Skywalker" and Luke as her father would be the more plausible scenario, but I don't think it would have the same shock value that "Rey Solo" would have. I also believe the most challenging thing for Rey, no matter who her parents are, but certainly more so if they were one or more of the OT heroes, would be the fact that she did actually find her parents, but did not realize who they were until after they were gone. The question of "why" is certainly integral to that revelation.

I don't know... it is a "space opera" after all...

Overall, I think the ST to this point is missing some kind of overarching, high-level drama that changes everything about how we and the characters view this conflict and the saga as a whole.

While plenty of people have pointed out the "timeline holes" with the theory that Rey's abandonment was somehow related to an effort to protect her from Kylo Ren (in my mind, more likely Snoke), I see this as really the only plausible scenario that helps to justify all of the actions of our OT heroes and Kylo Ren, as well as providing a satisfying explanation of Snoke's involvement with this family. To me, Snoke preying upon Kylo Ren provides the most logical explanation for why Rey was a "lost princess" and abandoned. Who was it (related to someone in the production) long ago that explained that the story being told was strongly related to the old tale of "Anastasia"? I still hold out hope for that (as silly as it may be)!

Anyway, I still think there is a possible storyline where the OT heroes realize that Snoke is corrupting Ben Solo, Rey is born, and the effort to protect her from a similar fate goes awry. No one talks about it because they are either still trying to protect her, or she was presumed to be killed and it is too painful because they know they were directly responsible. I still have not seen any convincing argument as to why this is not possible.

EDIT: Here is a wrinkle, what if she was immaculately conceived by Leia, as the light to meet Kylo's darkness? They know she has to be protected because it was the will of the Force that she came to be. Something for PT and OT fans alike... YAY!

Does anyone really believe that JJ is incapable of subterfuge? Or, the narrative that all of this is just being made up as it goes along? I will believe that once the final credits on Episode IX begin to roll...

I appreciate everyone's feedback and completely understand the skepticism. Maybe it is all just my wishful thinking, but I hope to the Force that there is some larger overarching plot like this, otherwise I fear the ST will end up falling very flat. I would rather TPTB go all out and take the risk of this kind of major twist than to just continue on with the majority-predicted outcome of this trilogy so far.

Go for it JJ.

 

I agree. Let’s not get too comfortable with our ideas of what may or may not happen in 9 ... subterfuge all the way!

 

I want Rey to be Luke’s daughter. I just don’t want him to die and not have a descendant. To me that would be sad. I hope Ben Kenobi had a secret love child with that mandalorian leader. It would be sad for him not to have a child.

I want Rey to be a grandchild of Anakin Skywalker and Pademe Amidala. Pademe died to soon, I want her to continue through her grand daughter. I’d like to see Rey become a Political Jedi.

There is no good reason to the Saga to make Rey a nobody. There is no reason to prove anyone can have the Force. It’s a stupid objective and not even worthy of a Trillogy to make that point when you could prove that in 2 minuets with any other characters.