I suppose we shouldn’t be surprised that even though The Force Awakens is a Star Wars movie, it is also a J.J. Abrams movie; meaning we have mysteries heaped upon unanswered mysteries by the time the credits rolled. Among many of the various mysteries, none have reached the heights of who is Rey. She is the movie’s protagonist, but by the end of it we know little to nothing about her.
We know she’s a scavenger who has been stranded on Jakku for a long time waiting for her parents … but that’s it. By the end we know she is not only a force sensitive, but in fact the Jedi hero of the series. That is all we know, and with so many unanswered questions and so very little to go on, there’s no doubt to be a litany of theories that all have varying levels of credibility. So, with that in mind, let us propose our own (after all, we’re fans. It’s what we do)
So here at Nerd Union the staff has been bouncing back and forth between all the different theories (from Rey being the daughter of Han and Leia to the idea she could be Anakin Skywalker reincarnated), but nothing we came across quite fit with characters we know and what we know about them. Let me first lay out what she can’t be, and in the words of Mr. Holmes, “when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth?”
She can’t be a Solo
This is the most common idea. This comes from the fact that Luke and Leia were twins. In addition, Kylo Ren’s story is loosely based on the arc of Jacen Solo, who was the twin of Jaina Solo, who was a powerful Jedi. Firstly, just because Luke and Leia were twins doesn’t mean Leia will have twins (although it is more likely she would than if a relative did not have them). Secondly, we can’t base her identity on a now defunct story, as the old extended universe has been scrapped. Here are the facts: 1) If she was Han and Leia’s kid then they would have said something. They would have known especially if she was Ben Solo’s twin sister, 2) Kylo Ren would have known that she was his sister. Therefore she’s not a solo, 3) We see her being abandoned on Jakku when she was a child, probably around 5 or 6. We see Kylo Ren probably already an adult or near adulthood wipe out the New Jedi Order, which makes me think they are not the same age, because …
She was abandoned to hide her from the Dark Side
This is taking a leap of logic (as I’m assuming just general bad parenting wasn’t involved) because force sensitives are a rare and valuable commodity. We know from the novelization that the First Order, specifically Snoke, was looking to build an order of dark siders and wanted to seduce Ben Solo to the dark side (which he eventually succeeded in doing). It would make sense that after the decimation of the Jedi Order that no force sensitive would be safe from his influence, so then you hide her on a remote world that no one would ever think to look for her on, just like how Obi-Wan did with Luke. It also seemed that Kylo Ren might have known her when she was reported to have left Jakku with Finn, Ren responded “What girl?” and was quite angry about it. This is probably because she was a youngling in the New Jedi Order and Kylo Ren missed one when he slaughtered the order. So, then …
Who left her?
In Rey’s trippy force vision we see her being held on Jakku as a freighter flies off and she’s screaming either “Mom! Come back! Mom!” or “No! Come back!” So it’s possible that her mother is who dropped her off. It may be that she was working for or with Luke’s new order and put her daughter into hiding when the order was destroyed. But there’s something else no one has caught yet…
She has seen Luke’s island before
When Kylo Ren is interrogating Rey he is peeling back layers of her memory to get to the map that will lead him to Skywalker and says, “You imagine … an ocean. I can see the island.” At the time I paid no attention to this, but it wasn’t until one of our writers noticed this bit of dialogue. This means that either the force has showed her this island before, she has been to the island, or she has a connection to someone on that island. We know that Luke is on an island in the middle of an ocean. In Star Wars, there’s no such thing as a coincidence…
Since She is a Skywalker
Seriously, she has to be a Skywalker, in particular I think she is Luke’s child (although I could be wrong). It’s Luke and Anakin’s lightsaber that is calling to her. Lightsabers have a connection through the force to their wielder, and it’s connected to her. She seems to also have a connection to Luke as well. In addition, Star Wars is the story of the Skywalkers. It’s a family drama, and a Skywalker has to be the hero. The problem is, I don’t think she remembers this because …
Her memory has been altered
I think that she has had some sort of “force whammy” for lack or a better term. Think about this like a neuralizer from Men in Black. We know that the force can not only manipulate a person’s perception, but it can penetrate the mind and extract thoughts. Who is to say that it cannot erase and fabricate memories? Rey knows how to do things that only a trained Jedi can do. In A New Hope Luke could barely swing a lightsaber, and only after some training was he able to guide his proton torpedoes into the exhaust port of the Death Star (and that is an insignificant gesture for a well trained Jedi). We see her use a Jedi mind trick and go all out in a to-the-death lightsaber battle with Kylo Ren who is a trained Jedi Knight. He leads the Knights of Ren. He was trained by Luke who defeated Darth Freaking Vader. There is no way Rey could have stood a chance against him if she had no lightsaber training. We don’t see her do any of these things until after Kylo Ren tries to probe her mind. It’s possible that he triggered some mental defenses, or that he dislodged some of the blocks to strengthen her ties to her latent memories. It would also explain the look Luke gives her at the end when she pulls out his lost lightsaber, but there’s so much understated subtext in his look there is no way to know what he was thinking until Episode VIII rolls around.
So what do y’all think? Is it possible? Sound off in the comments.
Check out some of our other posts below!
Does Episode VII understand Luke Skywalker’s Legacy?
State Of The Nerd Union: Spoilercast! (The Spoiler Filled Discussion Of The Force Awakens!)
Spike Lee “Relevant As Always” Chi-Raq Review
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Everyone is seeming to forget the fact the Millenium Falcon was also on Jakku, Rey is Han and Leia’s Daughter, she was hidding on falcon when it was stolen from Han and was left on Jakku when it was sold. Plain and simple
What?! So much of this is wrong. Ben was Jacen/Jaina’s COUSIN. The “extended” universe? Honestly, you might just change the site name to “fanunion.us”
First off, I actually like the name fan union. I like that and I may use that for a side project.
Second, you’re EU is as dead as a burnt up Uncle Owen or Aunt Beru. So you can get over it now. It’s gone and it’s not coming back. So you can get over it now.
Third you are correct in that Ben WAS their cousin, but see point #2. So, now he is the son of Han but he acts like Jason. Is that how you spell his name? Since you seem to be our new editor.
Fourth, we are all very impressed on how much more of a fan you are than us. So suck it.
There seems to be an other hint, she can pilot and repair stuff like a Skywalker.