SPECULATION The Official Rey's Parents in Ep. IX Thread

A backstory of "my parents were actually Skywalkers" would be lazy, lame, and useless to me at this point. Yoda was strong in the force and I didn't need his backstory for him to be a compelling character. I don't know who Palpatine's parents were and he's a strong force user. He's a compelling character.

The Rey Skywalker/Solo things only serves a weird fan service at this point. It doesn't make Rey a better or more developed character. She's been on her own since she was a child. Imagine finding out 15 years later your Mom or Dad was some dead Skywalker? So?

Rey's path has always been in front or her. It's the dark side, Kylo, and probably Palpatine who will continue to want her to look back.

 

I would disagree with Daily in so far as this: This is the Skywalker saga. The saga is about the Skywalker's, at the end of the day. Central to the story of PT is the relationship of Anakin to Padme. A story of.... Skywalkers. Central to the story of the OT is Luke and his relationship with his father and, as we discovered in ROTJ, his twin sister.

Move forward to the ST. To not have Rey be somehow tied into all of this, and just be a random no body, doesn't sit well, at least not for me. And making the central hero of the ST a Palpatine???

Like Buckeye (welcome back my friend) I want a deeper and richer backstory for the heroine. I don't think that's a negative. Maybe I'm wrong?

I said immediately after TLJ that I didn't believe a word Kylo said, and asked why do people think he's telling the truth? That post got several dislikes, and I was chastised. People used the director's quotes or beliefs to basically defend Kylo. But in the film there is absolutely NOTHING said or done to validate Kylo's story. He's manipulating her. He's fallen to the dark side and lies and deception are his way now (to paraphrase Yoda in AOTC).

At the end of the day we all want the same thing: Good Star Wars films.

 

That's fine if you feel that way. I'm not here to put down anyone else's opinion, but there are several of us who feel differently. I think the difference between Rey and your examples of Palpatine, Yoda, Kenobi, etc. is that there wasn't this mystery and questions built up about their backgrounds and families. There was for Rey and many of us want something of substance. Personally, being a fan of the OT characters, I would really like it if there was one legacy character that wasn't a mass murdering, patricidal villain. So Rey being the good that came from the Skywalker family would be something I would be happy with. Like I said, I'm not going to work myself up too much right now about rumors. I'll wait for the real spoilers, and IF Rey is connected to Palpatine then I will be a bit disappointed but will keep an open mind and see how the story plays out.

 

The alternative is Luke had a child that he either abandoned or had with some random woman they'd have to introduce in the story and explain why a Jedi was YOLOing. Give that Luke died having to go back and put this into the story is a big waste of time. The other option is now Leia/Han had an additional child that has never been mentioned. We'll never have them explain it since Han Solo is dead and Leia can talk about it. For Rey to be a Skywalker at this point would just be weird.

Which is why...

Spoiler

I think the leaks lead to this conclusion: I can see her doing the opposite of Luke in Return of the Jedi. He saved his father through their bond and became a Jedi. If Palpatine attempts to seduce Rey via some kind of family connection she can reject it and assume the Skywalker name.

This was mostly by fans and these questions were answered for the most part in The Last Jedi.

 

Disagree (shocking, I know) and it appears that Daisy does too.

 

IF, and I do mean if, they say Rey is simply a random person, I'd have had no problem with that myself had they not teased it so much, especially in the run up to The Force Awakens. That whole line in the trailer about "The force is strong in my family... you have that power too!" really set them up for some MAJOR expectations. I wonder if JJ regrets that now?

I also think they are trying (tried) to go back to story telling the way the OT did it, but I'm not sure that was ever possible. I mean, not with the PT there. The OT did the minimum amount of world building needed to tell the story. Nothing wrong with that. But then you get the PT, which, for better or worse, did a HUGE amount of world building. And once they did that, let that genii out of the bottle so to speak, I don't think it's possible to go back. We can blame JJ and his mystery box technique, we can blame RJ for not answering it and passing the buck (I'm sorry I don't believe Kylo at all).

I think they could explain this quickly with a conversation between Luke and Rey ala Ben and Luke in Return of the Jedi. Either way, JJ made this mess so he needs to clean it up. Making her a Palpatine? Heck man, I don't wanna imagine that dude "gettin his freak on"! Sheesh I'm going to never get those images out of my mind if it comes true.

 

For example, Kylo pursuing the power to cheat death* to bring his dead sister back to life would provide both a Saga narrative tie in as well as give Kylo Ren a motivation for the final movie and making a faustian bargain with the new villain and to explain the past for why he got sent away in the first place to Luke pre-TFA. It would also fulfill Rey's motivation of wanting to reunite with her family that she had in TFA in the operatic fashion of the old Greek mythological stories or Shakespeare. She succeeds in her goal but not quite in the way she expected.

* same power his grandfather wanted (and is pursuing with ancient Sith artifacts and temples in the recent canon like Vader Immortal to try to resurrect Padme) and started pursuing. "I will finish what you started" Kylo Ren once said. Kylo Ren is also pursuing ancient Sith artifacts in the recent canon.

 

It would be lame if this wasn’t The Skywalker Saga. Rey being a Skywalker would not deminish her value, but explain so many loose ends that honestly TRoS has not enough time to tie up neatly. If Rey is Jaina Solo, then if she kills Kylo Ren (Darth Cadeus) we EU/Legends fans will know our stories will be reborn and just as OT fans have their Mandalorian Series and the Prequel fans are getting a new season of The Clone Wars, we EUians will have our stories too.

I argue respectfully, all SW is fan service, because we fans have kept it alive in dark times, between trilogies. We have been loyal, like fans who go to every game even when their football or soccer ball team isn’t on a winning streak. We are the vanguard, and I believe Disney is honoring that, not pandering.

 

Amen. As a fan of the Washington Redskins for 4 decades, I've known the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. But I'm still here, with my gear. Watching every Sunday on DirecTV. I may Vhlor about the team, the ownership, the coach. But I'm still here, pulling for them.

I'm not sure if TROS has the time to tie it up perfectly, but darn ROTJ showed how you can do it and do it quite succinctly. I guess we will find out in about a month.

 

I am glad you are dedicated and loyal fan. Its hard in the lows, but kinda obnoxious in the highs when all these fair weathered winning streak fans who have only sown hatw towards a team start cheering again. Oh well such is life.

You make a good point ROTJ ended the OT and answers a lot of questions in one movie. Here’s to keeping lightsabers crossed.

 

I've seen this argument a million times, but this story has Luke, Leia, Ben, and Han Solo... These are all members of the Skywalker family in this trilogy. Rey could turn into a Jawa and this trilogy would still be full of Skywalkers. It isn't requirement that she has to be one. This is something that a segment of fans have created.

George Lucas didn't think the EU wasn't his story and I'm pretty sure that JJ hasn't read any of that stuff.

I understand that some people are never going to let go of this Rey thing. Kind of the same boat for the Reylo people. The people who are most invested in either outcome or going to be disappointed in a month.

 

I will let go of Rey being a Skywalker/Solo if I see she isn't one in TRoS. until then I can speculate to my heart's content.

 

To be fair I don't think you're in the two groups I outline. There's nothing wrong with having a favorite theory.

 

Not to to go off topic too far but I feel your pain #FireBruceAllen

Now to get back on topic, I do think that we are to late in the game for her to be a Skywalker or Solo

 

Where's the rest of this theory? Because I love it yet I feel like I'm missing something.
To add to it in a terrible, terrible manor, what if Kylo's sister died and The Force brought her back to deal with the Dark Side that was again rising. But Kylo knows (or rather, thinks) the soul in the body isn't his sister's, so he's looking for a way to find her soul and put it back in her body.

 

Anakin's grandchildren. Rey representing Anakin, Kylo representing Vader.

 

This. If they had wanted Rey to be of no notable lineage, why create the mystery around her parents and the ship leaving her and her waiting for her family to return? Why not just: Rey lived on Jakku with her parents. She was orphaned when they got sick or were killed in an accident. She lives as a scavenger. Here's her story.

And the voice-over you mentioned is spot on as well. I've heard that the people that make the trailers aren't the filmmakers themselves, is it possible this wasn't JJ's fault? If he did make the trailer, why have Luke say those things? We know he was talking to Leia when they were originally spoken. Luke and Leia don't share any screen time in this movie and Leia isn't shown using the force. Was this supposed to be directed at Rey, who shares a minute with Luke without any dialog? I don't think so. I seriously think it was done because it sounded cool and it would generate interest. It feels lazy.

It's like watching a movie about people searching for pirate treasure. They only find the treasure chest in the sequel, but it's just filled with sand. Oh well, here's some other things those treasure hunters did to entertain you for a while since the mystery about the treasure lead nowhere.

--- Double Post Merged, Nov 22, 2019, Original Post Date: Nov 22, 2019 ---

Interesting that while Rey approaches her saber is stowed and she has her staff over her shoulder. No staff in scene with Kylo.

 

Thanks for clearing that up. I usually don’t fit in the two camps. An example, Rose Tico, I am not a Rose hater or lover, I just like her as a supporting character and she says my favorite TLJ line:

 

Important as a theme... especially when we think of Ben.

 

Former Episode IX writer/director Colin Trevorrow claims that there was no 'bringing back Palpatine' (whatever form that means now) in his Episode IX and that he never even considered it.

Colin Trevorrow: "I’m not sure anyone who chooses the creative life should expect things. But I’m grateful to JJ [Abrams] for embracing some of our ideas [for Episode IX]. It’s exciting that fans will get to see the moments that felt essential to all of us." "Bringing back the Emperor was an idea JJ brought to the table when he came on board. It’s honestly something I never considered. I commend him for it. This was a tough story to unlock, and he found the key." "That’s not my place [my specific work on the Episode IX script], especially right now. I know how hard this crew has worked over the past two years, a lot of them are working with us now on Jurassic. I want to support them as they put this film out into the world. In the end, I’m just proud to have my name in space." "I just asked Rian [Johnson] if he could include a little moment where Rey and Poe meet for the first time. They’re such beloved characters, it felt right for them to have some history in the next movie. I thought the way he did it was perfect." (November 22, 2019) (archive)

Colin Trevorrow: “It’s kind of that creative socialism that you would dream would happen. [Laughs] Where I am surrounded by people who are brilliant and all have PhDs in Star Wars and able to engage in some really challenging questions we’re asking each other – not just about what happens, but about why it happens and what does this all mean and why was Star Wars? Kathy Kennedy and Michelle Rejwan who is my creative producer and Kiri Hart and her whole story group are really the main people that I interface with but then there’s Rian [Johnson] and J. J. [Abrams] who are also involved and Lawrence Kasdan – theses are names that give you a certain amount of confidence – the story we’re telling has been vetted – it’s extreme vetting! [Laughs]” (June 15, 2017) (archive)