Nature vs. Nurture, why Rey seems more Force capable than Luke or Anakin

A very valid criticism of The Force Awakens has been how quickly Rey becomes so capable at using Jedi powers and tricks without any apparent training. The old Jedi mind trick on the stormtrooper, and pulling a lightsaber out of the snow. Luke wasn't able to pull off these until long after he had taken his "first steps into a larger world."

Now, I've always found Yoda's argument that some are too old to begin their training was a dubious effort to put road blocks in our hero's way for story purposes.

But if we assume that Rey was trained by Luke, or another, at a young age. The moment when she closes her eyes in the final battle seems to be her remembering some old lesson about tapping into the Force.

We know that Ben Solo was not initially being trained by Luke to become a Jedi until Leia and Han saw the Darkness in him.

Rey and Ben Solos separate paths, as well as Anakin's, suggest that Yoda was right to say some are too old to begin their training.

By being trained from an early age, Rey took her first "steps into a larger world," long before Anakin, Luke, or Ben Solo.

This, in addition to what must have been a calculated decision to leave Rey under the tough love supervision of Unkar Plutt has made Rey the woman she is when we first see her in TFA. Anakin was a junkyard assistant, Luke was a farm boy. Rey is a scavenger who has learned to fend for herself. She is more badass and street smart than either of them.

Luke went out looking for R2-D2 without any weapons, despite knowing the danger of Sand People. And he got knocked out and robbed. Rey carries a staff with her at all times, and when she encounters her own Sand People trying to rob her, she knocks them out. Do you think was a coincidence in the script?

Rey has likely tapped into the Force without completely knowing it and used her earlier training countless times to survive alone on Jakku. This is much different than using it for POD races and shooting Womp Rats.

Of course Rey can adapt to using the Force for her survival more quickly than Luke or Anakin. She's had a lifetime of more experience adapting and surviving than they did when their journey's began.

Combining the Skywalker bloodline with the proper foundation could make Rey the most powerful of them all. I'm therefore not surprised that she can trick a weak minded stormtrooper, or use the Force to grab a lightsaber that was calling back to her.

 

That is a little too much Deus Ex Machina for me.

I might accept the idea that with Yoda, Obi-Wan, and even Qui Gonn as the first Jedi to discover the ability to Force Ghost, that they have been serving as Guardian Jedi Angels over her. Perhaps each night as she slept alone in that AT-AT she had dreams and visions that have aided in her development.