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

He has said if Rey is a Skywalker the story will be bad and he won't like it (I'm paraphrasing). Thats a pretty strong attachment to his position.

 

And yet still you persist...

It is as though people are willing to accept a bad story just so that it is different... kind of like how so many people are willing to accept an absolutely deranged ego-maniac as President just because they are so desperate for change and something different from politics as usual in Washington.

Both will end up as unmitigated disasters.

 

I respectfully disagree on the issue that having Rey as a non Skywalker is the result of projecting his own will and view in the movie we saw.

I do think it's quite the opposite.

If you stay with the movie and only the movie, it's hard to find clues that lead to the Skywalker outcome.

 

They obviously had a plan for who Rey's parents were going to be before production began on TFA. My only disappointment would be finding out they changed it, in either direction, mid-way through the trilogy.

No studio green-lights a movie with a budget of $50million (let alone $200million+) unless they think it's what people want.

That's an oddly contradictory viewpoint since ReyLo would require Kylo being redeemed, which would be a repeat of Vader arc.

Personally, I don't really see a difference between future Star Wars stories being about Skywalkers or unrelated people. If Kylo was not a Skywalker, they wouldn't need to change his character. His family heritage is more about tying in the OT characters into the new story.

 

I don't think that happened. Rian Johnson pretty much mapped things out during the TFA production. Lucasfilm would have been aware the Skywalker fixation long before TFA. It seems the most significant story shift came from Lucas' treatment, but that happened long before JJ was on board.

No question about that, but it can also be very limiting from a creative standpoint. If this trilogy becomes Rey Skywalker/Solo attempting to redeem Ben Solo I'll watch it, but the "this is a retread" argument will grow.

 

i'm not sure if you can compare Vader's redemption with a Ben Solo redemption that sees him switch sides..

as the audience, we never had to make a choice about how we felt about Vader being redeemed. he died and that decision about how we, and how those within the GFFA that suffered at his hands would feel about his redemption was lessened.

I personally love that there is such a huge divide about whether or not Ben will/should be redeemed.. that makes telling that story worthwhile. however it turns out, it will be a challenge to accept/understand.

your going to hate me for saying this (be kind bro), but until they physically stop making films about the Skywalker family it will seem like a retread as they show the different generations.... they are all powerful and will always be on the light/dark side tightrope.

 

The same can be said about A New Hope. But given the question that automatically arises... and the blatant vagueness about her origins and that it's the biggest mystery of TFA, "IS SHE A SKYWALKER???" For the answer to be, nah, we don't know who they are, never will. Would be highly unsatisfying. That a Skywalker doesn't rise from the aftermath of the Empire to lead a new Jedi awakening would be a shame.

 

Exactly.... the difference now is that Lucas is out of the way so these 15-20 year gaps between trilogies is over. Disney didn't buy Lucasfilm to "let it breathe." So the challenge now will be how to keep making episodes and keep in interesting.

 

I get that you see it that way but the vast majority of moviegoers came out of the theaters believing that the movie was pointing towards Luke as her father. Clearly, there are things in the movie that made them think that even if you didn't. None of those things are iron clad proof that he is just as your views of what they truly mean aren't iron clad proof that he isn't or that the hints don't exist in the movie.

 

That's what I said.

You're directly referring to a new hope because the supposed clue of the movie are ... not in the movie.

--- Double Post Merged, Feb 21, 2017, Original Post Date: Feb 21, 2017 ---

Because of the OT but not because of TFA. That's for sure.

 

We don't know that. While I agree we'll get Star War every year for as long as its profitable, we might not get Saga movies every other year.

 

Just to be sure we all on the same page here, I didn't say that @master_shaitan is the only one projecting his desires on the debate about Rey's origins. Quite the contrary, what I said was:

WE ARE ALL PROJECTING OUR OWN DESIRES. Frankly, the reason why I made reference to @master_shaitan "especially" is twofold:

First, I like him even though I don't necessarily agree with him on all points. In fact, I enjoy his perspective because he is well-thought-out and logical. But just being logical doesn't mean we are not clouded by our own selfish desires (sound like any PT era Jedi you know?). However, @master_shaitan, to his credit, has shown a willingness to acknowledge the weaknesses in some of the arguments, even recognizing that it would not be totally unheard of if Jedi in the future are able to have families. So, I think he has admirably evolved in his thinking through these debates in this forum, and I admire him for that.

Second, I mentioned @master_shaitan specifically... as a playful jab. And I know he can take it. It was not intended as a slight whatsoever. In fact, I think of it as more of a compliment for the same reasons I have mentioned above.

Perhaps I should have been more clear in my playful jab above... when I was referencing a "bad story" I was specifically talking about the notion of "Reylo" as a serious romantic story. Sorry, that is one that I can't ever see as a worthy addition to the saga...

Here is the thing about "re-hashing" the original stories, "soft re-boots," and so on. There is definitely a segment of the fandom that was not happy with TFA on this basis. But the overwhelming reaction of the general viewing audience was quite positive (I, too, would like to see a poll on this subject...). So much so that I suspect that the number of people who did not like the film is in the minority. The reality is, there are a finite number of storylines that are a proven success... and there is a reason that the OT is widely beloved, not just by the hardcore Star Wars fans, but general viewing audiences, too.

In other words, we are undoubtedly going to see successful plot lines and themes repeated (i.e., inner turmoil and the difference between "light" and "dark" within us, redemption, joining in a cause greater than ourselves). In fact, I have not heard anyone object that the stories should not follow the Campbell monomyth for the hero's journey. In my mind, however, I think it is a bit nearsighted to think that we cannot be presented with a satisfying, familiar family storyline ("Skywalker Saga") of a fall from grace and redemption in a similar way as that which has come before, but with some fresh and new wrinkles, like adversarial Solo siblings or Skywalker grandchildren of Vader who both struggle with the light and dark but from opposing sides. After all, who is the most likley to be able to bring Kylo Ren back from the dark side if not family? I am not saying this is the only way we can get a satisfying story, but I don't believe that just because it is familiar means that it cannot be good.

At the end of the day, for me it all comes down to what will be the most satisfying and best story, not just the story that is most different from what has come before, just so that we can say we got something never-before-seen. We have never-before-seen an all powerful Luke Skywalker ripping apart a Star Destroyer with his mind... but that is certainly not the best story, knowing what we know about the saga and about the character. Again, I just hate seeing people close-minded to any particular possibilities because I believe that any story can be satisfying if done the right way (except "Reylo" ... see, I too am projecting my own desires...)

 

We don't know for certain, but the idea that Disney would wait 15-20 years between trilogies/episodes seems like an extreme long-shot that is detached from the economic realities of the movie business. I'm not sure about every other year, but the wait won't be very long.

One can acknowledge some the rehash issues and still enjoy the film. I'm in that group. I loved TFA, but I acknowledge there's an element of tapping into the nostalgia bank that made it work. Eventually that will quit working and new ideas will have to propel the series forward. Fortunately, I'm confident they picked the right guy for the next film.