Force skills awareness

Yes this was one of my nit picks as well. I'm trying to make up a defense for it in my mind and what I've come up with is that she was physically controlled by Kylo Ren when he paralyzed her. He also penetrated her mind. Who knows what she experienced in that moment but she absolutely knew that the force was capable of making people do things they don't want to do. So I suppose she might have been able to come to the conclusion that she could command someone to do what she wanted them to rather than physically control them into doing it.

Hey, I've almost talked myself into this!

 

Well, she knows what the force within her and Ren uses force on her for mind reading\control. So, she just figure it out.

 

Perhaps she was trained as a young child, before being left on Jakku. Perhaps she had seen Luke perform this on others.

The flashback/vision she had at Maz's castle can also explain away a lot of mysteries. The Force was calling to her.

But you're correct, even with explanation, it seems to undermine the idea that of a lot of training is required to perform these skills.

 

Let's use history as a guide shall we.

Luke Skywalker had no knowledge of what the Force was as he lived as a farm boy on Tatooine. Yet mid-way through ANH he deflected laster blasts from a remote on his 3rd try BLIND!
He "used the Force" instead of a targeting computer to place two proton torpedoes into a target less than 2 meters wide.
He could hear Obi-Wan speak to him and him only.

In Empire Strikes Back, an injured Luke (still without training) hanging upside down incased in ice reached for his lightsaber, closed his eyes and was able to Force pull it to himself. There was no prior training on this from anyone. He just did it in ESB. Later Luke called out to his sister Leia after failing to reach Obi-Wan. His instincts told him he could do this.

In ROTJ, Luke Force choked guards without prior training from Yoda. I honestly doubt Yoda would have taught him that move anyway. Seems a bit dark.

REMEMBER, Luke was training with Yoda but not extensively. The principals of the force, how to reject and respect the dark side, discipline, a clear mind. Those were the main things the Jedi practiced during their training. Luke learned an awful lot on his own. Much from instinct.

Circling back to Rey, she definitely seems more advanced than Luke at this stage in her life. However, her story is very different. Repressed memories and knowledge of the force seem to be what Rey is dealing with. She could have learned a lot by age 5 or 6. Rey knew about Luke Skywalker's legend. She knew of the force. She used it daily without thinking about it. When she scavenged through Star Destroyers and fought off thugs, she was practicing. She just didn't know it. When Kylo got in her head, I believe he awakened many of her dormant memories and help make Rey more powerful.

Besides, things like Jedi Mind Tricks were probably talked about among the thieves and scavengers on Jakku. I'm sure there were many ex-Imperials that spoke of Luke, Vader and the Emperor. Heck, Rey knew about Darth Vader as well.

 

I really think that Rey has the "awakening" when she picks up the saber at Maz's - maybe she had her mind wiped/put to sleep when she was left on Jakku and the saber awakened her mind. This seems to fit in well with i) the film's title ii) how afterwards she becomes one with the force...

and possibly (i cant quite remember) but does snoke say there has been an awakening directly after this?

Just a thought but it makes sense to me.

 

When Kylo tried to probe her mind it went both ways, as she said "you're scared that you aren't as strong as Darth Vader"... so maybe she got it from that?

 

at this point it wouldn't be close.

Snoke knows this!

This is why I am very happy they didn't go with the someone saves the day aspect.

 

I wholeheartedly agree with the tenor of your post, but I have a tiny gripe regarding the extent of Luke's informal training. Disney Canon materials (books and comics) seem to show that Luke had much more training in the force by the time he met Yoda than you give him credit, albeit through highly unconventional means (EG how to deflect blaster shots using the force in the novel Weapon of the Jedi, etc. ).

Moreover the novel Moving Target, seems to indicate that Luke trained with Yoda for far longer than you have implied. He trained for weeks if not months post-ESB while they were searching for Han Solo. Admittedly, that may seem short compared to the length of training prequel-era Jedi received, but I believe that it was than sufficient for someone with the potential of Luke.

 

Kasdan has said he does not consider the books or comics or games when writing for the movie. Luke training with Yoda after Empire makes no sense and I wish they would stop writing these books that negate the lines of the movies. Luke says in ROTJ "were going to the Dagobah system, I have a promise to keep, to an old friend". The promise was made in ESB. The promise he would return.

My suggestion, when watching the movies, only consider the movies. Even these new canon books are not considered when writing the scripts for the films. The books are always written AROUND the movies, which is why they take such liberties.

 

I took Rey's skill as a mix of three things:

1.) Her old training coming to the fore. The vision makes me think that she's a Skywalker (since it was more about the legacy of that family than the plot of TFA). My personal theory is that she's Luke's daughter and the teenage Kylo couldn't bring himself to kill her during the academy massacre (the Light is very tempting, after all), so he erased her memory and left her in the middle of nowhere. Luke (and everyone else) thought she was dead. But even if she's not a Skywalker, she definitely appears to be one of his former pupils.

2.) Picking up skills from Kylo. He tried to mind trick her, so she observed the technique firsthand. She felt him use the Force on her mind and learned from that. Use of the Force seems more about belief than anything else; Luke had to "unlearn" his cynicism and self-imposed limits. Rey didn't have that problem. Her personality was a bit different than his. She seemed just naive enough to believe she could do it.

3.) Most importantly, it was the Will of the Force; same thing for her skill during the final battle. She was just a conduit for that will. Once she let it in, it did all the real work. It reminds me of many, many scenes in the old EU, when characters would open up to the Force and become capable of tremendous feats, even without years of training. Kyp Durron definitely comes to mind; he was far more powerful than Rey, before he had any real training (granted, I always felt that Kyp was way too powerful, but he's a good comparison). I also think of little Anakin on Tatooine. Without any training at all, and despite being a child, he was able to master podracing, which other humans couldn't even do. He had superhuman reflexes and heightened senses (and latent precognition) as a nine-year-old; that's more impressive than her skills, IMO. I don't think that Rey has as much talent or power as even little Anakin, but she's been chosen by the Force, too. Once she learned to feel it, to let go and let it guide her, the rest came easy.

 

You may be right, but you have to admit that the idea isn't entirely ridiculous, unless Luke figured out how to build a lightsaber by himself. Second, there is a notable improvement in his jedi abilities. Should we assume that an individual who got his butt kicked by a Vader who was barely trying got better on his own to the point of defeating Vader?

Don't get me wrong, I don't think that everything published by Disney makes sense or think that it ought to be treated as the holy gospel (first or second issue of the Star Wars comics, Luke is inexplicably facing off against Vader in a saber duel), but certain things fill gaps.

Finally, your assertion that the new material is not being considered for the scripts is incorrect as it would defeat the purpose of having canon material in the first place; Disney has stated on numerous occasions that they're trying to devise a rich and cohesive universe.

 

Is there a Illustrated screenplay out for this yet?
That would cool to see

 

Also, directly after the flashback, Rey runs away as she does not want to be a part of this. That might indicate that she suddenly got some of her memory back.

 

My understanding on first and second viewing was that Rey learned that from Kylo Ren's mind.
She'd pulled some of his Jedi training from his mind (just like he said he could "take what he wanted," Rey realized she could do the same).
This seemed immediately clear to me. During that mental fight, she learned how the Force worked by probing Kylo's mind.

It was a similar situation during the lightsaber fight.
When Kylo said "You need a teacher! I can show you the ways of the Force," Rey realized that she was fighting the wrong way; she was relying on brute physical technique like Finn (which she was doomed to lose because Kylo is physically stronger than her); she realized that she could use the Force to augment her ability during the fight and to ultimately defeat him (because she is stronger in the Force than he is; that's why Snoke was so eager to have her brought to him- he realized that he'd found Kylo's replacement).

TLDR;
- Rey learned how the Force works when she gleaned Kylo's Jedi training from his mind during the failed interrogation.
- During the lightsaber fight, she realized that she could use the Force to better wield a lightsaber and beat Kylo Ren.

--- Double Post Merged, Dec 20, 2015, Original Post Date: Dec 20, 2015 ---

Exactly.
I think we should consider the possibility that her latent Force abilities might be stronger than Luke or even Anakin; she may have the greatest potential of any Force user we've seen in the saga. That is a real possibility.

The "awakening" referred to by the title, and by Snoke and Kylo....it's Rey.

 

Maz also tells Rey to close her eyes and let the light in, or something like that. Then Rey says she doesn't want the saber. Later when fighting Kylo and he says she needs a teacher, she remembers what Maz says and closes her eyes and then beats his ass. Love it!

I also like the fact that the lure of the light side is being an element explored, not just the dark path. This movie shows it can go both ways, contrary to Yoda's teachings.

--- Double Post Merged, Dec 20, 2015, Original Post Date: Dec 20, 2015 ---

Rey definitely gained power during the mind probes. Kylo inadvertently helped awaken Rey.

 

Meh. They already toned down Rey's crazy powers:

 

I couldn't agree more, she had to 'know' it was possible to even try it in the first place.

Apparently the original cut was about 3 hours, and it got cut back heavily. My theory is there were a lot of 'set up' scenes, including a set up for this, that were cut or shrunk to bring the run town down. We'll on the DVD I guess....

I think it's important though, like Anakin in Phantom Menance, she's strong in the Force and has extraordinary but untrained abilities. We see that with her extraordinary flying the Falcon when she's never flown anything before, and shutting the blast door to cut of the tentacle and rescue Finn.... it could have been fun with her arguing with the scrap dealer with credits ( they were worth half (?) a credit (?) last time) if she 'accidentally' Force mind influenced him ... and thus learnt that she could ;-) ;-)