SPECULATION Do Rey's Parents Matter?

Because we see Obi Wan guide him when he shuts off his target scan during the Death Star run. Obi-Wan tells him to trust his instincts. It’s something we see him teach earlier in the movie.

The time gap is important because the passing of time indicates that Luke has changed. Luke uses a lightsaber in A New Hope. Time passes so it is safe to say he has learned to wield it alright in Empire. And guess what? He loses big time to Vader.

The time gap is relevant because Luke clearly has been studying the force on his own prior to Yoda.

Rey, with no training, can get herself out of any situation. Kylo Ren has her kidnapped. She’s never used it before but she can then use the Force persuasion to free herself or to have it backfire on Kylo Ren. We don’t know what or how she was able to do that. She just can. Then we get to Last Jedi, no explanation or attempt to show her learning. Just some vague exposition that the Light Side chose her. I am sorry, but to me that feels like an excuse for lazy writing. What’s worse is that she’s not even the main focus, she’s just a catalyst for Kylo Ren.

Her lightsaber skills wouldn’t bug me except there is no real explanation. how does using staff you can do all those advance fighting moves?

Just because I can play the guitar really well doesn’t mean I can pick up the Banjo and instantly be an expert within a day. It takes time and practice. You don’t pick up the guitar and immediately start playing like Keith Richards

The reason why this is bugging me because we are in Episode VIII of 9 part saga and part II of a new trilogy and there’s no real clear dynamic or sense of where the story is going(and not in a good way). It’s just going in circles. Instead going on a new path and a new direction, like Kylo Ren and Rey teaming up to form a new Order, we’re back to Empire vs Rebels conflict.

And because it’s going in circles, it just seems to me that they are committing to any clear or a specific story/vision. They’re just throwing whatever is out there and seeing what sticks without trying to make it cohesive. This is why, for some people, not everyone there is backlash to things like Rey’s parents or Snoke’s origin.

 

I see what you mean, Plagueis, and what I find interesting is the fact that I accept Rey as this super talented heroine, unlike you. If she’s a good sword fighter I immediately think that sworfighting just comes naturally easy to her, I don’t analyse it because I like that about her. If she’s able to bend the will of clones. I just fix on the idea that the clones are just moronic and, of course, Rey, as someone who is starting to experience her ability within the force, can make the automaton do what she says, and much more after the mental gymnastic she previously endured with kylo ren.

I just accept Rey as she is presented to me. She’s a prodigy, an exception to all these Jedi rules and preconceptions. It makes sense to me. I have zero idea as to where this trilogy is going and I don’t care. I’m enjoying the ride. The story so far is compelling, the actors are good, the visuals are a delight. It just works. It’s keeping our attention and that’s is an achievement in itself (with the uninspired PS I honestly thought SW was over. I’ve been proven wrong, thank god )

 

For the record, I like the idea of Rey and Daisy Ridley is great. I have problems with the way the story is executed, not just for Rey but the way Poe and Finn are handled. This is just how I see the film, doesn’t mean you're wrong.

 

I know. TLJ is not perfect. As a film TLJ is not as polished as TFA. It has a lot of clunky moments, but it is interesting, original and deep. The evolution of Poe and Finn I find appropriate. I just wish their storylines had been a bit more exciting.

 

As a person of color, I found the way Finn to be written, and even Poe and Rose to be somewhat offensive but that’s another story.

There are a lot of inspired moments in the movie but they feel, at least to me, undone two minutes later.

I would say TFA is a better paced film but they kind of even each other out. I’d rank them equally with ROTS, lot of moments of greatness that are scattered throughout a middling movie(no doubt that’s controversial).

 

After watching the scenes in TLJ where Kylo discusses Rey's parenting many, many, times, I am convinced they had Adam say it in a way that could easily be turned around to be a lie later on. If you look and listen closely he says his lines about her parents in a cold and definitive way. He isn't really talking to her but rather talking down to her and trying to be as hurtful with those words as possible. It would not be hard for JJ to go another direction that way.

 

I'm not sure if they matter or not, but they do make me curious. I wouldn't mind knowing more, but I also like to know a lot about characters in general.

 

Rey's parents don't matter. Maz Kanada explains this in TFA. Her journey lies ahead. Not behind.

--- Double Post Merged, May 16, 2018, Original Post Date: May 16, 2018 ---

Me neither. We need to take Maz Kanada's advice and move on.

 

No they don't matter at all.

I'll go further, I'll say is of the best developed characters in the ST and one of the key reasons she is so interesting and unique is she is a fresh, new protagonist without the "weight" of all the clunky lore and stories that tie the brand down.

Rey is working, her character is very strong. It's Finn and Poe that seem a little lost as characters. I'm still not confident I understand Finn's motivations and Poe is highly erratic and even annoying in TLJ. I honestly think one of the characters needs to fade a little, to let the other develop a little more.

But leave Rey alone, in fact the reason why TFA is such a delightful, strong entry into the brand is because Rey was rendered with such care, precision and patience.

 

My take on this exactly. These characters have been meandering around the main plot with importance but not without being predictable.

 

While it is very interesting to know who her parents might be, it ultimately isn't super important I don't think.

 

Don't know, it depends on what story direction they take.

 

That has to be the real answer, if a little underwhelming.


For what it's worth, watching the Last Jedi and especially the broom boy bit at the end, I have to say I felt a bit suspicious that they were cashing in on the "anyone can be a jedi" idea so quickly. I just wondered whether that may have been necessary because they knew that IX was going to rather undermine that feeling by revealing that Rey's parentage is, after all, important.

 

I think they have past the point where they could have made a meaningful connection to who she is. How crappy would it be to find out NOW that she is Han and Leia's daughter, or Luke's daughter. Sure she might be related to Kenobi or Palatine but that really just creates stories they can't spend a long time telling in 3rd movie of the trilogy particularly when flash backs don't fit well.

Now some people want her to somehow be born of the force or want to find out that Snoke is Darth Plagueis and that he created her but that starts a whole other question of who her mother was and why she was left behind.

I don't think it matters.

 

IMO the explanation given by Snoke is adequate enough. As Kylo Ren ascends, his equal in the Light will also rise. Snoke said he wrongly assumed this equal in the Light would be Skywalker. If Rey was a Skywalker, Snoke would have known and would not have been surprised by Rey.

Snoke tells Rey that she has the spirit of a true Jedi and therefore needs to die. This, I believe, is why the Force chose to work through Rey. That Jedi spirit within her makes her the right vessel. The lightsaber called to her because the Skywalker heir has gone astray and isn’t worthy of it. Rey is worthy to wield it.

 

They matter to Rey. Their abandonment of her is something she has had to overcome. A true test to the type of person she is. She easily could have been bitter and angry. Instead she has stayed hopeful and good. This makes them important to the character development of the story. However as far as the rest of the galaxy her parents are insignificant

 

Bingo.