Rian Johnsosn: Rey's parents question is still open

I think it's because this story connects and ends the Skywalker Saga.

 

Or Kylo isn't telling the truth.

I like it how they keep saying "I don't know whose writing what for the next episode". Trust me, it's a smoke screen. They know perfectly well what they are doing. They have a broad plot synopsis for the three movies to work from. It was produced early on (2012/13) under the direction of Rick Carter and constitutes an adaptation of Lucas' vision for the sequels. Just take a look at the concept art book for episode VIII. They know where they are going. There is a direction. Yet, there is still a lot of room for the directors and writers to translate those plotpoints to the widescreen.

--- Double Post Merged, Jan 2, 2018, Original Post Date: Jan 2, 2018 ---

Because it is about the legacy of the Skywalkers. Which basically means it is still centred around the Skywalkers. Rey and Ben both represent one side of the Skywalker legacy.

 

Then we deserve answers as to how we got here. Because when we last saw the "Skywalker Saga", all was right in the world. When we pick it back up, everything has essentially reverted back to how it was during ANH. Imagine watching episodes 1-8 if you had never seen Star Wars before. Wouldn't you feel the shift from 6 to 7 & 8 to be quite jarring?

 

JJ has known the truth for years. The theme of The Last Jedi is clear. It makes no narrative sense for another Rey twist. We're essentially arguing the same thing people argued after Empire Strikes Back after the Luke reveal.

It might be jarring if I was watching Star Peace and not Star Wars.

 

I'm confident that we will get these answers eventually. The Star Wars timeline was confusing before the ST. It's just getting worse for normal fans with all the spin-offs, etc. My in-laws didn't want to see TLJ because they hadn't seen Rogue One. Try explaining that to 70 year olds that just want to see what happens next.

 

I'm not agree is a different story. It's a new generation of characters (as from PT to OT) but it's still the same story starred by the same family and the same conflict. Rey we will know later if she's a Skywalker/Solo or not., but Kylo is the case.

 

You can have the same people and a different story during a different time in their lives.

 

Irrelevent for TLJ. And JJ may want to use this to introduce the KoR in IX.

Can be answered in IX. Again, not relevant in TLJ.

He didn't. LST found a map to Ahch-To where he suspected Luke was.

The relevance was explained in TFA.

It was a separate massacre where the KoR killed a clan and took Luke's lightsaber - which Maz then stole back. Not relevant for TLJ. JJ will probably use it.

 

I have said before that I'm convinced Rey is a port of Ree Dolly from Winter's Bone. Ree was searching for her father, whom she found in a shallow watery grave where his body had been dumped after he was murdered by fellow Meth dealers to keep him from snitching. Her father had also put up the family home as collateral for bail.
Ren's statement sounds to me like an effort to make it 'different enough' that has run through much of this trilogy on creativeness.
I have to say that I was and am still not enthused about RotJJ. There really aren't any hanging questions from this film; all the viable characters from this trilogy going into RotJJ have 'made their choices'. I'm with (of all the people in the world :/) RLM that the trilogy feels 'done'.
And, in watching the news feed on TLJ daily, I've noticed things like "Snoke's Origins in IX!!" being teased and then we get this today which is not the first time I've encountered a retcon tease on this topic. Meh... Fool me once/Fool me twice. I'll believe it when I see it.

 

I believe the design of the trilogy was to have 7 be Han's time with Rey and his death, 8 to be Luke's time with Rey and his death, and 9 to be Leia's time with Rey and her death. It's apparent to me that Rey is the keeper of the Legacy of Han, Luke and Leia. It's unfortunate we aren't going to get to see Carrie's role as mentor to Rey. I feel like the build up here was for Leia to face down her son one more time.

I think IX will be the resolution to the Ben Solo/Kylo Ren story and the beginning of the "Rey - Jedi Knight" story. The baton will be passed. The Skywalker bloodline gone.

 

No.

 

I was thinking the same thing, Han Luke Leia .. at least until I read that tidbit in the artbook. Lucas' idea for the ST does sound ballpark of what Rian Johnson did. It seems Lucas was complaining about chopped fingers; they used the torso.
But JJ did delay introduction of Luke, claiming an overshadowing issue. Did Luke feel like he overshadowed Rey? Not really. Maybe JJ saw something else in George's Idea that he felt best to punt the character to Rian.
In any case Ree Dolly's 'guardian' if you will was her uncle Teardrop, quite the scoundrel himself. So it indeed was a the perfect choice to start with Han for many reasons.
Whether both of these men actually mentored her.. what did either of them actually teach her, I have been wondering. One of the things the MarySuebees would often claim is that there was nothing for Luke to teach her and if anything Rey would be teaching him. 2 viewings in and my list of 'Luke teaches Rey' is as shallow as her parents grave. Most of what he did teach her was already taught to her by Maz in the last movie. And by the time we got to Yoda I was aghast.. the MarySuebees nailed it. Hate to say it but they called that ball.
I think we already had that resolution in this movie. If that's what we're looking forward to.. they're gonna have to come up with something better.

 

Michael Arndt had that problem in his attempt at the script. Luke overshadowed the new main characters.

 

Exactly.

This is all ended by RJ just saying simply, "Yes, we felt it was best for the character to have her be separate from the legacy characters. She will journey forward on her own."

But he doesn't. Several times now, he doesn't. He leaves it open. He mentions JJ. He references Obi-Wan by name and his "Certain point of view." which was famous in the OT for him basically lying about Luke's parentage.

There is a reason for all this. And we'll all just see I guess.

--side note--

Took my wife to watch TLJ on Sunday morning. She's not a SW fan. She's seen each film once or twice, and teases me about my nerd passion, but she's not into the lore. No forums, no books, no outside materials (games/TV shows/etc...)...hasn't seen them very much but knows the basic story.

Her take? Complete unspoiled by me, for what it's worth?

• Kylo and Rey are brother and sister.

"It's why they can connect. Like Luke and Leia always could." (yes, you and I know Snoke set it up or he claims too....but these are just her impressions as more of a casual movie-goer)

• There was nothing onscreen that was romantic. It was a connection but not love.

Though she said it would be interesting for the characters when I asked, she doesn't see it. She still leans siblings.

• Luke was weak.

"Felt weird from the old ones, where he was the hero." She was glad he came out at the end and thought the Force Projection was cool, "it showed him as powerful, but most of the movie he was just sad and scared."

• Glad that Kylo stayed evil.

Still thought he was whiny and emotional in this movie too. But "if he would've turned good that would be stupid, it would be just like Darth Vader."

• Mary Poppins Leia was stupid.

She literally turned to me when that happened and went "What the F?" and laughed.

• ReyPoe.

She asked "So are they trying to make it like she's going to end up with Poe now?" "That's what it seemed like at the end."

Overall, she said she wasn't sure what to think. She liked some of it, and some of it was weird.

I'm at an 8/10 and do enjoy it for the most part.

We both agree that it's going to depend on what happens in IX.

I'm off the threads for awhile. I'll watch (aka "lurk") as official news comes from time to time, but I've no need to debate anybody. I liked the film well enough and we'll see what happens in 2 years.

From a certain point of view....

 

This is why so much of the ST has fallen flat.

There was just so much missing between ROTJ and TFA that few of the beats in the ST hold emotional weight. We know almost zero about the relationship between Kylo and his parents, so when Kylo kills Han it's almost like a stranger killing him. We know nothing about why Han and Leia fell out, so their reunion means little. We don't see people mourn Han. In fact he's barely mentioned at all in TLJ, if at all.

You don't need a full recounting of every event in the 30-year gap, but the ST suffers from not dealing with these relationships well. The fact that they need flashbacks, force visions, and expository dialogue to fill in the blanks shows how unwieldy the storytelling is.

 

What did Rian Johnson say:

Very wise. IX isn't his film and it would irresponsible for him to speak about it. However, he does speak about The Last Jedi.

Going further, he justifies his decision...

Maybe JJ will go against the theme of The Last Jedi and call the next episode Wish Fulfillment.

 

Valid points. Your comment made me think about something. If the ST replaced the Legacy characters with different new characters, would it be all that different?

 

Oh gawd you’re not dragging your poor wife into these delusions now are you? Brother and sister? You’re still on that? I think a break will do you some good...

 

So JJ didn't tell Johnson who Rey's parents are or what was his general idea is ? How selfish is this ? No wonder why TLJ feels so disjointed, how are you supposed to make a sequel if you don't know what is the story about ?