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

My evidence/clues that Luke is Rey's father...

1. The Maz Conversation...
Maz: "the answer you seek is ahead of you, not behind you."
Rey: "Luke."

The question of course for Rey is "when will my family come back?"

2. The Island
When Kylo is probing Rey's mind he sees the island where Luke is hiding.
This may be a reach, but Rey is waiting for her family to come back. It's the #1 thing on her mind throughout much of the Force Awakens. While she consciously wants her family to come back, her dreams/force visions are showing her Luke's island. So her subconscious is showing her the answer to her question.

3. The TFA script explicitly states that Luke knows who Rey is.

4. Who is Luke Skywalker? (Opinion)
As this question has been linked to the very beginnings of TFA development, I don't think we can dismiss it in these discussions.
If we can go off of the very little we've seen from TLJ, it appears as though Luke is almost hopeless. What could've driven Luke to such hopelessness? While the destruction of his Jedi temple would be ample reason enough for this defeated attitude, I still think it would give added weight if he were a widower whom had also (mistakenly thought) lost his daughter.

 

Daisy says that Luke obviously doesn't know who she is, but it's likely he knows why she is there. It's not explicit that Luke knows who she is specifically in regards to origin. Luke has likely felt the awakening as well and recognizes this young woman is the awakening.

 

No, it suggest that Darth Vader is his father, cause that's the individual he sees in such vision.

--- Double Post Merged, Apr 17, 2017, Original Post Date: Apr 17, 2017 ---

No big question in the saga will need a spin-off to be explained. Rey's parenthood is a big question.

 

From how I heard it, Daisy was saying that Luke does not know who she is when she arrives on Ahch-To and offers the lightsaber, or rather doesn't know what she's doing there.

As for her being the awakening itself, I disagree: the awakening is described as the reawakening of the Cosmic Force which was made dormant at the end of ROTJ, and remained so up until the events of TFA. The Force, and her ability to use it, was awakened by the awakening, but she did not trigger it herself.

Finally, let's not forget that Daisy Ridley is an actress. As much as we all lover her and Rey, misdirecting fans is not beyond anyone involved in the SW universe at this point. Let's not take her word as the be-all and end-all when it comes to solid facts until we see the film for ourselves.

 

FWIW: A member of the story group has already stated that "it's you" quote by Kylo Ren is referencing that Rey is the "awakening."

 

Man, the story group is really starting to confuse things. As much as I love those guys and girls, sometimes I wish they'd be a bit quieter in regards to important story beats (for example, Pablo coming out and stating that he hasn't seen a single correct Snoke theory, or immediately dismissing what Kenobi said in regards to Luke being the Chosen One in Rebels) outside of official canon material.

I mean, that statement goes directly against what is printed in the TFA Visual Dictionary, citing the awakening of the Force as an event where the Cosmic Force is awoken, and not in a single person.

I can't remember Kylo saying "it's you" or anything along those lines to Rey, though (been a while since I watched TFA), any idea where this is in the film? And any idea who might have said it in the story group? I'd like to see what they had to say, word-for-word, before I go ahead treating that as canon, lest I incorrectly correct people on the topic.

 

From The Phantom Menace script:

QUI-GON : With your permission, my Master. I have encountered a vergence in
the Force.
YODA : A vergence, you say?
MACE WINDU : Located around a person?
QUI-GON : A boy...

I think the force can awaken in a "cosmic" way, yet be manifested in one person. Anakin "changed the fate of the universe" and Rey will probably do.

 

If we're talking about her being a vergence in the Force like Anakin is described as being, then I completely agree; what I was disagreeing with is the statement that she is the awakening itself (an embodiment of the awakening is not the same as the awakening itself).

 

Josh Horowitz (MTV News): Obviously there's so much conjecture about Rey's parentage. For you is that question integral to the story of these last two films? Or is too much being made of that question?
Kathleen Kennedy: No, I think it is integral. I think it is important. I think it's something that - you know, interestingly enough, even when we were sitting and coming up with Episode VII The Force Awakens - it was one of the central questions we were all asking ourselves. So it's not surprising that the audience is gonna continue to answer...er, I suppose 'ask' that - we have to answer it at some point. I think that's what everybody's intrigued by - do we answer that now [or] do we answer it later? I'm not going to answer that! <laughs>

 

Quite frankly being such a central point, I don"t think they were like:

KK: "oh wait let's make her a Kenobi! no worry guys she can be Satine's granddaughter, or at some point we just pick up Ewan Mc Gregor (if he is available, if not we will make him CG and James Arnold Taylor will voice it) and make an standalone film where she finds a girl! We call this the Skywalker saga so this will be the biggest twist ever isn't it? The new protagonist of the Skywalker saga is a Kenobi. Then Luke can tell her the truth in VIII, and finally we can present her parents by the end of IX, the daughter of ObiWan Kenobi and his husband: two individuals we haven't seen before. Happy and emotionally satisfying ending! It's perfect: we go away from the boring Skywalkers and we deepen and improve Obi Wan's story by giving him (yet) another woman and a family that he never cared about... It will make him.... tougher!

Wait, let me call George..... Hey George! We have made some departures from your treatment! You will love it."

 

Kathy's a strong, tough woman.. I would be my left nut she has made them stick to George's plan about the parents. Some small changes, sure, age being one. I'm sure he wanted them as young teens. Being that whole young Ani thing didn't go down well, I see why they made them 19, ang 29 respectivly.

Knowing how close they were, and that George insisted she was top dog, I bet Rey and Ben are Anakins grandchildren still.

I appreciate that JJ, RJ, and CT are given some creative freedom with filmmaking, however script wise I think there leash wasn't THAT long.

 

Apparently Lucas wasn't very happy with the decisions they made. We won't know the exact details for some time but my guess is that Lucas' plan was for Rey to be Solo. We know Rey was a Lucas idea, but I assume the story group made some significant changes in her story arc.

Either way they've ticked of Lucas. They departed his wishes by making Rey Luke's child. I don't think Lucas wanted that to happen. Or they've made her a random character which wasn't his intention.

If the story group really wants to create a story where a hero can come from anywhere at some point they'll have to abandon the idea "every strong force user who happens to be white is a Skywalker."

 

George gave up any right to be angry or upset when he sold the rights.

I think making different choices than George at certain points is not only smart but inherent to the success of Star Wars as a franchise.

 

???

There are plenty of force users in Star Wars that are not Skywalkers. White, black, green....

Where is the problem on having a saga that is starred by a family? Harry Potter got a whole bunch of books and no one complained that every single book was starred by Harry Potter. It's the same for the Skywalker saga. And yes, Rey is a no-one. She doesn't join the war for being a Skhwalker, but because og her own merits. Same for Luke.

 

"strong force user"

Basically the argument here is every protagonist/white/super force user automatically has to be related by blood to Anakin Skywalker. At some point they'll have to depart from that pattern or the story will be too predictable. It doesn't mean they have to change for Rey, but I'm sure it's something they're thinking about down the road.

 

Luke having to start a new Jedi order from scratch, all by himself, seems like a pretty good reason for the Force Ghosts to continue guiding him.

But I think your Obi-Wan story is certainly a possibility. If they were to make an Obi-Wan movie, I certainly hope it would be more than some one-off Tatooine adventure that had little consequence. Those sorts of stories can be told in the comics and novels. There's no reason to do an Obi-Wan movie unless there is some real weight to it.

It wouldn't "need" a spin-off movie to explain it. As far as The Last Jedi goes, all they would have to say is that she is the Granddaughter of Obi-Wan Kenobi - and have it confirmed somehow (like by Obi-Wan's ghost perhaps). No further explanation required. The Force Awakens raced past how Han and Leia separated, the Falcon got stolen, Luke's academy got destroyed, Maz found Luke's lightsaber - all things that before hand seemed like they would need lengthy explanations, but it turned out they didn't. It's not an incredible leap to think Obi-Wan could have fathered a child at some point in his life - I think audiences could accept that pretty easily.

 

The biggest issue with force ghosts is how to handle them in regards to the Chinese market. China will not let a Star Wars movie with a force ghost be released in their country. The only way around this is to simply cut it out in their version of the film. In order to make that work it means the force ghosts can't add much to the film.

 

I'm still 100% against her being a Kenobi at this point: from the perspective of the character, having him fall in love again - and have a child, no less - goes against his forbidden love for Satine, against what he witnessed happen between Anakin and Padmé after Anakin's attachment caused him to become disillusioned, and the Jedi Order he's trying to uphold, at least in tradition.

Having Obi-Wan's ghost simply go "hey, I'm your grandfather" is a poor idea, in my opinion, and her being a Kenobi doesn't potentially add to the story being told in this trilogy. Heck, I'd argue that her being a Solo is more likely at this point. As a casual fan, I'd have to be wondering why Obi-Wan would have a kid after what he saw happen between Anakin and Padmé and the ramifications their relationship had on the galaxy, and as a hardcore fan, it goes against his love of Satine and his desire to protect Luke above all else (as I mentioned above).

 

I have thought many things when it comes to who Rey really is - that she's a Skywalker/Solo, a Kenobi, a random, the light side personified, etc. - and although as of late I've been leaning towards Rey Random, I just can't help but think she is Luke's daughter. It just makes too much sense. That's not saying all the other theories are trash, because most make a lot of sense, just that there are so many signs, hints, and whatnot all throughout TFA pointing towards her being Luke's daughter. Literally every person I talked to after their first time watching the movie said the same thing, from my diehard Star Wars friends to those who were just general audience members to those who had never even seen Star Wars before.

Now, of course people like us are going to speculate like crazy and come up with all sorts of theories, but in the end, Rey Skywalker seems to be the one that makes the most sense - especially from a theatrical perspective, as most people watching the movies never read supplemental materials, watch the TV shows, or even know the lore of the GFFA. It is certainly fun to speculate and it's part of what makes Star Wars great, but sometimes I wonder if fans like us can't see the forest for the trees.

Usually, the answer to a question like this is A) the most obvious one and B) the one you think of first, and the majority of people came away from TFA believing she is Luke's daughter and almost everyone outside of the diehard fanbase still thinks so due to all the clues throughout the film.

I am keeping an open mind on the subject because I want to see what Rian and Colin will do with the story, and I will love Star Wars no matter which direction it goes, but in the end...Rey Skywalker just makes too much sense.

 

I've made the same argument before, but I had it pointed out to me that Hollywood has come up with some pretty creative ways to get around this - generally having to do with what the "ghost" characters are called. It's not as restrictive as I once believed.