Star Wars Speculations: Who Is Rey?

Speculation Wars: The Lineage of Rey!

After the 2 week MMFF interruption celebration, anyone who missed Star Wars The Force Awakens can finally catch it again in theaters! Good luck though, ‘coz by now you’d have probably already heard all the spoilers, easter eggs, tidbits and fan theories. (If you managed to avoid them all, GOOD FREAKING JOB! YOU GOTTA TELL ME HOW YOU DID IT!)

Since people are catching up to the Star Wars craze, I guess it’s safe to talk about the identity of its female protagonist, Rey. Who is Rey? Who is her family? And why the heck is the force so strong with her? This article is going to tackle that specific question through different fan speculations and predictions. Needless to say, if you haven’t watched the movie, go now, and check back on us later! (Enjoy! It’s gonna rock your socks, I swear!)

Who is this masked maiden?

Rey is Lando’s daughter

L and L Forevah!

During the time Han was encased in carbonite, Princess Leia and Lando Calrissian unintentionally developed a secret love affair…Leia was lonely and distressed, no one could blame her for her reluctant attraction to Lando’s innate charm…

No. I kid. No one thinks that. Or at least I hope no one does.

Also, it sounds like an intro to Star Wars porn.

Rey is Luke Skywalker’s daughter

Continuing the trend of father and child.

I think I read somewhere that Disney and/or George Lucas has stated that Star Wars will always be about the Skywalker family, so this is hands down the most obvious route they can take for Rey’s lineage. Being Luke Skywalker’s daughter would explain her natural talent in using the Force, why the Skywalker lightsaber called to her, why she has sick piloting skills, and why Luke and Rey kinda, sorta looked like they recognized each other when they finally met at the end of the first film. Also, that rebellion pilot helmet she has on Jakku may very well be Luke’s.

She DOES scrub like Luke in Episode IV!

Two problems though: 1, is that she was just as surprised as Finn when finding out that Luke Skywalker was real, and 2, that she was already of age when her family/parents left her, so she SHOULD have known Luke was alive and whether or not he was her father.

"Luke Skywalker? I thought he was just a legend!" ...or something like that.

Unless…

…Unless Rey didn’t know Luke as “Luke”. What if, during his years of self-exile, Luke assumed a different identity to stay hidden? For all we know, his name could have been Boyet, and that Rey knew her father as “Boyet”. Maybe as Boyet, Luke took a break from the Jedi life altogether, found love and started a family.

That, or Rey might have just been Force mind-wiped and abandoned for her own safety. Either way, Luke as Rey’s father makes the most effortless sense.

Rey is a Kenobi

I say effortless because there’s another very valid theory out there that’s not as clear-cut – Rey is a Kenobi, more specifically, Rey is Obi Wan’s granddaughter.

Is it still Skywalker's lightsaber if a Kenobi had it longer?

The theory supposes that in between Episode III and IV, Obi Wan / Ben Kenobi had a family who for one reason or another became estranged to him. (I mean, I HOPE he was doing something that whole time other than being a creepy stalker to Luke. Eew!) If Rey was Ben Kenobi's grandchild, it could explain her attunement with the Force, her almost immediate grasp of the Jedi Mind Trick (an ability Obi Wan uses with great proficiency), and the fact that it was Obi Wan’s voice that spoke when she held the lightsaber – the lightsaber that’s technically Skywalker’s but was in Obi Wan’s possession for YEARS! It could just as easily been linked to him as it was to the Skywalkers.

You can't unsee it now!

Aside from the similar costumes, both Rey and Obi Wan have British accents. I know this isn’t really definitive, but when you realize that John Boyega (Finn), who’s also a British actor, was made to talk in an American accent, you gotta wonder if letting Daisy Ridley (Rey) keep her accent was intentional.

This doesn’t explain why she’s so familiar with space ships and flying, but that could just be from her experience on Jakku. Or who knows, maybe Obi Wan Jr. was a rebel pilot or something. Whoever the father was, this is just the kind of plot swerve that Star Wars has made a name from. And how cool and fitting would it be that Rey and Kylo Ren would be echoing the feud of their grandfathers, Darth Vader and Obi Wan Kenobi? And that Luke is to train a Kenobi just as a Kenobi once thought him.

Rey is Anakin Skywalker reincarnated

Personally, I find this this one too loony. But for the sake of journalistic integrity (What journalistic integrity?!) I’ll add it in too.

Rey is Anakin; or at least, his reincarnation. Reincarnation? Isn’t that a bit too “out there”? Well Star Wars has shown us beings who control minds with a wave of the hand, have visions of the future, lift objects with their minds, and give birth without a mate – so really, for Star Wars, what is “too out there”? Call it “the reemergence of the one”, if that makes it easier to swallow.

Being "the one" would explain her exceptional Force strength.

In Episode III, Anakin was trying to find a way to cheat death, and maybe this was it. Maybe he was able to transfer his essence into another being. Or maybe it’s just the force working its divine hands again. Either way, when you consider Anakin as an option, you’ll notice more parallels between Rey and Anakin that with Luke. Like Anakin, Rey has so much raw Force energy within her and is naturally gifted with it (whereas Luke needed training), she treats droids with respect and is an exceptional mechanic and pilot (like Anakin in Episode I), and she has intense psychic visions (like in Episode III). On top of that, Rey’s connection and reaction to holding Anakin’s lightsaber was miles stronger than when Luke touched it for the first time. Some believe that the reason why she had such an intense link with the lightsaber was because it was hers.

Droid lover, much like Luke...OR ANAKIN! BUM-BUM-BUUUUUUUM.

Is Star Wars all about Anakin Skywalker? Even more than the Skywalker-Kenobi relationship, Anakin being the central figure of the three Star Wars trilogies brings the saga full circle. From his fall to the dark side, to his return to the light, and finally, possibly, his redemption and the fulfillment of the prophecy that Anakin would bring balance to the Force - I admit, as silly as this theory sounds, it’s kind of poetic.

***

The galaxy's most badass heroine at the moment!

At the end of the day, this is all just speculation-slash-fans nerding out. I am Jon Snow and I know nothing. While they all have elements of validity to them, only one of them could be true…or NONE of them, I don’t know! So as the song goes, only time will tell! Until then, let your brains marinade on these ideas or maybe develop a theory of your own (like my Lando theory), we have 2 more years to speculate. And as always, May The Force Be With You!

BONUS THEORY: 

Kylo Ren is actually UNDERCOVER!

I know it has nothing to do with Rey’s family, but F it. This Star Wars fanfic is just too awesome not to share!

What if Kylo Ren was actually working with Luke this whole time? What if he went over to the dark side with the primary purpose to destroy Snoak? What if the destruction of the new Jedi Order was just a farce that Luke and Kylo planned to give Kylo some Dark Side street cred and Luke’s disappearance was merely to sell the lie?

If this were the case, then Kylo and Han’s confrontation in Starkiller Base would have a new, more heart-breaking meaning. When he was torn between light and dark, maybe what he was really wavering about was whether or not to kill Han for the greater good. When Ren asks Han, "will you help me?", maybe he really was asking for a way out, desperate for any idea to help him finish his mission and save the universe without needing to kill his beloved father to prove his allegiance…

Having Kylo tread the line between light and dark would be revolutionary in the Star Wars universe. It’s always been black and white with the Jedi’s and Sith, but maybe Kylo Ren, an agent of both the light and the dark, is the one who would bring about TRUE balance in the Force. Maybe “balance” is not the elimination of one side, but the harmony of both. AAAAAGGGHHHH!!!! MIND BLOWN!!!!

*First seen on The Philippine Online Chronicles!