SPECULATION Is Luke Rey's Father? - The Evidence For and Against

I knew a lot of what was coming in The Force Awakens, but I asked to be kept unspoiled for the latter half of the film – so all of that surprised me a great deal.

So I suppose he knows not much about ep VIII if he didn't know the end of ep VII.

 

The actors like Ridley and Fisher are waiting - like we the audience - for the reveal to make the final cut of whatever movie because they don't know what's going to be in the final edit for certain.

I think that's what Maryann Brandon was going on about, information about Rey's background "shifted back and forth" out of the story and edit. "The whole idea there [with Leia and Rey] I think is that they have a special connection that they don’t even know about. There was an earlier idea at one point that Leia knows who [Rey] is. And we sort of took that out because it didn’t make any sense. Um… because we don’t know who she is! <laughter>" (May 15, 2016)

 

Is that the wrong link? If so your claim is a little misleading. Mr. Wendig knew some plot points for TFA, but not the entire film. He certainly doesn't know the entire ST story.

This quote is in line with what Claudia Gray was given for Bloodline. The authors are given what they need to write the books, but they're not in the know about Rey's origins. That makes sense since the less people who know the less likely it leaks out.

 

I was responding to Bandini's claim that the authors knew nothing about Rey. Clearly that was not correct with respect to Chuck Wendig since he knew about TFA. I didn't say that Wendig knows about Rey's parentage.

"Q: Because you were working on these novels, you have a little knowledge of what's planned for the new trilogy. So, what was your experience like watching The Force Awakens? What parts inspired the novels you’re working on now?
A: I knew a lot of what was coming in The Force Awakens, but I asked to be kept unspoiled for the latter half of the film – so all of that surprised me a great deal."
Note that Wendig didn't dispute the assumption behind the question, just pointed out that he kept himself unspoiled on the latter half of TFA.

Later in the interview -
"Q: With this series of novels, you’re balancing characters you’ve created yourself alongside characters that were already established in the Star Wars universe. How does that process work?
A: Mostly, I get a list of things I can’t do, and then we go from there. With Life Debt, some of those restrictions fell away because TFA came out, so I had more freedom to include the tentpole characters in a bigger, more meaningful way."

Finally, I want to point out one thing. I have seen arguments in this thread that something is unlikely because it has not been written in any of the books published so far (e.g., mentions of a second child of Han and Leia). We have to keep in mind that perhaps something is not in the books published so far because of restrictions by the story group, and there are restrictions, as indicated by Wendig's answer above.

 

It's possible that Luke stayed hidden away at Ahch-To because he had failed to achieve something, prompting Leia and the Resistance to search for him in TFA.

Here's another interpretation of Leia's dream of dying at child birth. The child birth represents the awakening of Rey in the light side of the Force and the awakening of Ben in the dark side during TFA. As a result, a part of Leia "died" because Han was killed and she became a widow. Note that in this interpretation Rey doesn't have to be a biological child of Leia - she could just be the surrogate/substitute for Ben. Of course, this interpretation would also work if Rey does turn out to be the second biological child of Leia.

 

Lol it's a question, I did quote his anwser which is : I knew a lot of what was coming in The Force Awakens, but I asked to be kept unspoiled for the latter half of the film –

He doesn't know about Rey that's obvious.

 

Chuck Wendig said he was unspoiled about the LATTER HALF of the film, while Rey was introduced in the FIRST HALF of the film. I don't know how you can draw the conclusion that he didn't know about Rey.

Since you are the one who first made the following general claim - "BTW, the authors of the novels said they don't know about Rey ...", I challenge you to list the source(s) to back up your claim. Provide us with the links to any article that will get us to conclude that none of the authors knew about Rey.

 

No, you misunderstood me. He doesn't know about Ep VIII. And indeed about Rey's lineage. He only knows she's a scavenger.

 

It also is meant to show that Luke will become just like Vader if he gives into his fear

 

The argument about a second Solo child is based on whether or not the Lucasfilm story group is incompetent. It would be incompetent storytelling if there's a book about Leia and her family set 6 years before TFA and there's no mention of another child. Sure it's possible, but I won't be reading any more books if Lucasfilm is making these kind of decisions. So in the meantime, I'm going to assume the story group knows what it's doing until I'm proven wrong.

 

That was my guess. We all have that dark side in us and at that moment Luke was on the edge of falling too because he was impatient and untrained.

 

yeah and Luke overcame this temptation in the throne room, the most iconic moment ever.

 

By letting go.

 

So I just caught TFA on cable. Only my 3rd time seeing it because I didn't love the flick like most did. Too many problems with character motivations, plot, and how they handled the big 3.

That being said, I really really don't understand how any Star Wars fan would not hope Rey is a Solo or a Skywalker.

When you see moments like the Leia hug, the saber going to her rather than Darth Emo, etc- how do you wish for her to be a nobody?

Not to mention the music that plays during these scenes!

Nah, Rey nobody or Rey palpatine or Rey kenobi or Rey resurrection or whatever would not only be disappointing and corny- but each of those would actually require more explanation than her being a legacy character.

Not to mention her NOT being a family member makes TFA even worse and more manipulative.

I really hope she is a solo or Skywalker.

She can be the Luke daughter he never knew, the daughter he thought dead, or a solo and memories have been wiped by Snoke. They already have introduced new force powers, this can be one too.

It doesn't make the universe small, either. You have other characters in comics, tv, spin offs etc.

To me, what set Star Wars apart from say Star Trek is the fact that it is essentially a story about family- family drama, secrets, failure, etc.

I just don't see how someone can watch that saber hit her hand and think "I hope she is a nobody/kenobi" etc.

 

Well, this thread is not about wishes actually. It's about evidences.

 

I can only comment on what you have written, not what you mean to say. I am now guessing that when you said "BTW, the authors of the novels said they don't know about Rey ..." you actually meant to say "No author has said that they know about Rey's origin". I can agree with the latter statement.

 

Dillon Selph ‏@DILLWEED017 4 h
@pablohidalgo I was watching TFA and noticed Rey and Shmi Skywalker look VERY similar to me, is this done on purpose? #fantheory

Pablo Hidalgo ‏@pablohidalgo 4 h
@DILLWEED017 For what it's worth, there were no physical resemblance requirements in casting the role of Rey.
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Jonathan Rogers ‏@Jones6192 1 h
@admiraljello @pablohidalgo I hope VIII is going to justify Luke running away after his academy's destruction beyond just 'angst'.

Pablo Hidalgo ‏@pablohidalgo 1 h
@Jones6192 @admiraljello "he went looking for the first Jedi temple" sounds like there may be something to it.
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Pablo Hidalgo ‏@pablohidalgo 6 h
1/ Head's up. Incoming tweetflood full of unsolicited views about the Force. About 14 or 15 tweets. Bear with me.

Pablo Hidalgo ‏@pablohidalgo 5 h
10/ No, the midi-prereq was to enter the prequel-era Jedi Order. It's a rather soulless way to look at potential, by narrative design.

Warregory ‏@Warregory 5 h
@pablohidalgo Are you saying anyone can become Jedi, or at least skilled in the Force, no matter midichlor. count, if they put work into it?

Pablo Hidalgo ‏@pablohidalgo 5 h
@Warregory I'm gonna rip off @BradBirdA113 and say 'not everyone can become a Jedi, but a Jedi can come from anywhere'
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Zoe Wowie ‏@mrs_moog 9 de set
@pablohidalgo You said you guys have Star Wars stuff plotted out years in advance so there must be a certain amount that's non-negotiable?

Zoe Wowie ‏@mrs_moog 9 de set
@pablohidalgo Like do you know who will live and die and how the ST will end, or will these things be up to Colin Trevorrow in Ep IX?

Pablo Hidalgo ‏@pablohidalgo 9 de set
@mrs_moog You can know something at an outline level that'll change at the script level that will change at the editing level.

Zoe Wowie ‏@mrs_moog 9 de set
@pablohidalgo I understand things can evolve & that's fair enough. I suppose it just makes looking for clues in TFA redundant to an extent.

Pablo Hidalgo ‏@pablohidalgo 9 de set
@mrs_moog Like looking for clues that Luke and Leia are brother and sister in A New Hope. You're not gonna find any real ones.

Zoe Wowie ‏@mrs_moog 9 de set
@pablohidalgo In retrospect, things can be made to fit. But no, no one was thinking it at the time.

Zoe Wowie ‏@mrs_moog 10 de set
@pablohidalgo There's been such forensic examination of things like Rey's parentage, I guess some will feel cheated come what may.

Pablo Hidalgo ‏@pablohidalgo 10 de set
@mrs_moog Its their time to waste.

 

Meh...

pablo certainly says a lot without saying nothing at all.

And he's already been caught contradicting himself 100% a couple times.

I honestly think he isn't nearly as important as he used to be. Seems like he is just a social marketing tool.

Good for him though he's getting paid and a lot if attention that he clearly enjoys. He's just not all that reliable if you pay attention.

That being said I agree that there is very little sense in searching TFA for clues....for the simple fact that it's clear JJ no-plot really didn't have his mind made up and decided a bunch if senseless sh!t in editing.

I wouldn't search any Abrams film for sense or foreshadowing...he's a hack and a poor story teller.

The search for "evidences" in a JJ film and some mediocre novels is laughable frankly.

There's a ton of reasons she should absolutely be a solo or a Skywalker though.

 

By Matt Martin's and his own admission his goal nor his job is to tell people about the future or spoil story twists so he's not entirely useful. You need only look through my archives or his twitter post history.

See: Story development

The other fact is we shouldn't assume that these people haven't been changing their minds about the direction of the sequel trilogy every five minutes since Disney took it over in 2012. We like to think they have a plan and are competent, but what if they're just winging it as they go along? They got themselves into trouble in 2013 and had to delay the movie for 6 months. They went from having the story be Luke Skywalker as the mentor figure to Han Solo as the mentor figure. Rian Johnson gets hired and he changes or nails down other details from 2014 to 2015. The 'Making of' book was once coming out and now it's indefinitely suspended. Devin Faraci - whom I'm not very fond of - has written for years about how indecisive a human being J. J. Abrams is according to people he's talked to. There's a lot of cooks in the Lucasfilm kitchen - more than ever before - and it could be contributing to behind-the-scenes problems. And their master is Disney now. Bob Iger has said he was frequently reviewing the dailies for The Force Awakens and giving notes. Stuff gets put into the edit, stuff gets taken out of the edit (even if the intention didn't change and is just being put off until the next movie). It's more like a sausage factory. Remember Josh Trank was once hired for a movie and then he disappeared into the ether seemingly! And then Rogue One suddenly found itself in reshoot controversy with a new writer and director...

 

I hear you but some people mightn't see a need for any more Skywalkers in the saga. Han was a "nobody" character with an unknown lineage who's presence enriched the Skywalker story. Besides Rey has discovered she is a demigod - she'll never be a "nobody" again.

Not having her as a Solo/Skywalker can possibly add further dimensions of intrigue and depth e.g. possible sexual subtext between Bren and Rey that mightn't otherwise be available. (ANH already went there!)

Could well be but I'm enjoying the flux. What can be seen as uncertainty and second-guessing could also be interpreted as willingness to accept criticism, openess to creative changes, or more democratic input in decision making processes. A cautious and thoughtful methodology that allows for fluidity in deadlines and last minutes changes may have resulted in better creative decisions and improved films.

I'm relieved to hear of last minute script/staff/editing changes, reshoots, and deadline pushbacks - god forbid another project with a rushed hierarchy playing outside it's strengths, surrounded by timid artists, "yes" people and sycophants!