Chevron icon It indicates an expandable section or menu, or sometimes previous / next navigation options. HOMEPAGE

The biggest question we have after seeing 'Star Wars'

star wars force awakens rey
Disney/Lucasfilm

Warning: If you haven't seen "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" there are spoilers ahead.

Advertisement

We have a lot of questions after seeing "Star Wars: The Force Awakens," but one of the biggest mysteries revolves around the main protagonist of the film.

Who is Rey?

rey millennium falcon
Disney/Lucasfilm

When we talked to fans at New York Comic Con, many believed she and Kylo Ren were brother and sister, the twin siblings of Han Solo and Princess Leia. It was the most logical guess for fans to make considering the characters seem similar on the surface to Han and Leia's twins Jacen and Jaina from the "Star Wars" expanded universe. 

The only problem with that theory is that everything in the EU isn't considered canon anymore since Disney purchased Lucasfilm in 2012. 

Advertisement

While there's a slight possibility Kylo and Rey may be siblings — Kylo's interest piqued whenever he heard about Rey — it looks like that probably isn't the case.

So who is Rey?

The best guess is that she's Luke's daughter and Kylo's cousin.

This is the theory many fans already have on Reddit and it seemed heavily hinted at in the film. There are a lot of coincidences to ignore.

Rey happens to be a ridiculously good pilot without any training.

Advertisement

Who else do we know who are naturally good pilots?

Anakin and Luke Skywalker.

star wars anakin skywalker vader
Lucasfilm
luke skywalker pilot
Fox/Lucasfilm

She's also force sensitive and is mysteriously drawn to Luke and Anakin's original lightsaber deep in a mysterious room in Maz Kanata's palace. 

lightsaber star wars force awakens
Rey receiving Anakin and Luke's lightsaber from Maz Kanata. Disney/Lucasfilm

Similar to Luke in the original prequel movies, Rey has a spunky, proactive do-it-herself attitude. Luke often went off on his own, unafraid of whatever danger was set before him in the prequels. He leaves his friends in search of Yoda in the Dagobah system in "Empire Strikes Back" and later leaves Han and Leia in search of Vader in "Return of the Jedi."

Advertisement

Rey is much the same way.

star wars force awakens rey
Look at this girl. She's a badass. Lucasfilm

Rey lives on her own on the desert planet of Jakku for most of her life. By the time Finn and Han go to rescue her from the clutches of the First Order she has already made her escape. She's seen scaling walls on her own. She certainly doesn't need anyone looking out for her, and by the end of the film she heads off in search of Luke with only Chewbacca by her side.

Her force abilities are what have me most convinced this is Luke's daughter. She appears to be the only one powerful enough to stand up to Kylo Ren/Ben Solo, the son of Han Solo and Leia Organa and Luke's nephew.

kylo ren rey star wars force awakens
Strike Rey down? Psh. Get real, Ren. Disney/Lucasfilm

Anakin and Luke are the strongest of any Jedi who have ever lived. Leia should be pretty powerful, too, but because she had a child with someone who isn't force sensitive — Han — we could expect that Kylo's powers may not be as powerful as a child from Luke, provided he had a child with another person who was force sensitive. 

Advertisement

That's part of the problem. We have no idea who Rey's potential mother could be. It's possible Luke could have found other long lost Jedi who had been in hiding since the end of "Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith." 

Viewers were made to believe that Yoda and Obi-Wan Kenobi were the only two out of thousands of Jedi to make it out alive. But many ongoing stories in the "Star Wars" expanded universe revolved around other surviving Jedi knights including Kanan Jarrus, a character in the animated "Star Wars Rebels" series which takes places 14 years following "Revenge of the Sith."

It's highly possible after Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine were destroyed after the events of "Return of the Jedi" that Jedi who were in hiding for decades finally resurfaced and made themselves known to Luke. Maybe he found a companion in one of them.

You can't deny that at the end of "The Force Awakens," Luke appears pretty rattled when he lays eyes on Rey. 

Advertisement

Though it would be pretty messed up for Luke to then abandon his daughter Rey and leave her on a desert planet at a young age. I guess he'd have to have a good reason.

rey bb 8 star wars force awakens
Disney/Lucasfilm

At the least, Rey is most likely a Skywalker.

There's evidence in the expanded universe to support this, too.

Yes, we know Disney scrapped everything in the EU from canon, but that doesn't mean the new films can't take inspiration from the many novelizations that came before them.

In the "Star Wars" EU, Luke has a son with Mara Jade, an assassin who was originally sent to kill him, but the two ultimately married. They ended up having a son, Ben Skywalker. Maybe Episode VII genderswapped Ben for Rey.

Advertisement
star wars union
Dark Horse Comics

The argument for Rey being Kylo's sister. 

kylo ren
Lucasfilm

Maybe Rey is Ben Solo's long lost sister. 

Han had a real attachment to Rey. Every time the two were on screen together they instantly gelled. The two even finished each other's sentences at least once.

rey han
ABC/Disney

Plus, Kylo seemed really affected any time someone brought up conversations about Rey. He was really intrigued by her but didn't seem to know who she was.

The biggest problem with this theory is that Han doesn't make any mention about a daughter, let alone other children. Wouldn't Leia have said something to Rey when she saw her? Did Leia keep another child she had hidden from Han? And if so, why?

Advertisement

We probably won't learn who Rey is until "Star Wars: Episode VIII." 

Who do you think Rey is?

Movies Star Wars
Advertisement
Close icon Two crossed lines that form an 'X'. It indicates a way to close an interaction, or dismiss a notification.

Jump to

  1. Main content
  2. Search
  3. Account