‘Star Wars’: Does Rey Have a Major Force Power the Movies Only Hinted At?

Of all the characters in the Star Wars sequel trilogy, few, if any have prompted more discussion and debate than Rey, played by Daisy Ridley.

Whether it was the hotly contested question of her parentage or the accusation that she was a so-called “Mary Sue,” Rey was at the forefront of Star Wars discussion. And she continues to be, even though the sequel trilogy wrapped a year ago.

Some fans think that Rey has another significant Force power that the movies only hinted at. And it goes far beyond lifting rocks. 

The controversial Rey 

For most of The Force Awakens, Rey was shrouded in mystery. She was more or less the sequel trilogy’s version of Luke Skywalker, a person living on a desert planet in search of some greater purpose in life. At the beginning Rey insisted that she was “no one,” but evidence showed she was strong with Force – so strong in fact, that she could fly the Millennium Falcon like Han Solo only moments after boarding it. 

This, among other things  led to allegations that Rey was a “Mary Sue,” officially defined as “a type of female character who is depicted as unrealistically lacking in flaws or weaknesses.”

Others observed that if Rey had been a male, but still had the same abilities and story trajectory, no one would have found fault with him. But the most daunting question of all turned out to be the identity of Rey’s parents. 

The Force Awakens showed she had been abandoned on Jakku, although it was not clear by whom. The Last Jedi intrigued some fans and infuriated others by saying that Rey was indeed no one, that her parents abandoned her for drinking money.

Then, The Rise of Skywalker said that was a ruse to conceal the fact that she was a Palpatine, and Rey was as surprised as anyone to find that she had Force lightning.

What is the power that Rey has?

The power that fans have uncovered is called “psychometry,” and that hasn’t really been explored in the movies.

According to the official Lucasfilm publication The Star Wars Book, “A small number of Force users, including Rey and Cal Kestis, have the rare ability of psychometry, which allows them to learn about people or events by touching an object associated with them.”

An example of this was in Force Awakens, when Rey touched Luke’s lightsaber and had frightening visions about what had happened to him, although she did not understand what the visions meant and was shocked by the experience. There was another instance in Rise of Skywalker, when she touched Leia’s lightsaber and saw a vision of her Force training with Luke. 

One fan on Reddit said, “Love this. I was pretty sure of it already but it’s nice to have it confirmed. The connections between Rey and Cal are strong and many. The mirror scene in TLJ and the mirror/vision scene in Fallen Order. The way Cal senses the past of Trilla’s saber the same way Rey senses the past of the Skywalker saber and the Sith dagger.”

Are ‘super powers’ like these legit? 

Sometimes when a character gets extra super powers that solve a particular problem but are never in evidence anywhere else, that’s considered “cheating.” An example of this is the end of Superman II, when Superman can make doubles of himself or can kiss Lois Lane to make her forget that he’s Clark Kent.

Problem was, these powers had never been established, so it seemed like they were made up on the fly.

So is psychometry “cheating?” One fan remarked that “I thought Rey was just having ordinary traumatic flashbacks to be honest.” Since Lucasfilm made it official and gave the power a name, it’s not cheating, although it is another example of  Rey being more powerful than anyone expected. At the same time, one could argue that’s the whole point of her character. 

Whatever the case, it’s unlikely we’ll be seeing more of her to find out how Rey’s story continues. Much ado was made about this being the end of the Skywalker saga, and since Rey adopted that name at the end of Episode IX, that probably means we’ve seen the last of her. We’ll have to look to other Star Wars stories to find out more about psychometry.