Skip to main content

Certain Star Wars questions are like a litmus test. Many fans are wondering if Rey’s parents will finally appear in this December’s Episode IX. If you want them to appear in the new movie, you didn’t like The Last Jedi. If you don’t want them to appear in the movie, you loved The Last Jedi.

The very title itself, The Rise of Skywalker, is a nefariously clever tease, because the folks at Lucasfilm know the question of whether Rey is a Skywalker has been a major focus of the sequel trilogy. There are cases both for and against it.

Star Wars Celebration Chicago
Star Wars Celebration Chicago | Barry Brecheisen/Getty Images

Junk dealers, Jedi, or both?

When we first met Rey (Daisy Ridley) in The Force Awakens, one of her very first lines was “I’m no one.” She thought of herself as this scrappy scavenger who lived on a desert planet but dreamed of a better life elsewhere. Sound like anyone we know?

It was obvious she was strong with the Force. Already a master at fixing things (like Anakin Skywalker once was), Rey took to the controls of the Millenium Falcon like she was Chewbacca. And she seemed to have flashbacks of being abandoned on Jakku, as she recalled tearfully looking on as a child when a spacecraft flew away.

But then The Last Jedi blew all that apart. While trying to convince a reluctant Luke to join the fight, she began communicating with the villainous Kylo Ren (Adam Driver), the tortured spawn of Han and Leia. SPOILER if you haven’t seen The Last Jedi.

Kylo told Rey her parents were mere junk dealers who callously left her behind. She wasn’t special. She wasn’t part of any bloodline. She was truly nobody, skilled though she might be. Rey was confused and devastated.

The case for Rey’s parents

Fans were confused and devastated too. They were sure Rey and Luke were connected somehow. It was nothing less than Rey’s destiny for her to become a Jedi, trained at the feet of Luke, just as Luke trained at the feet of Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda. Kylo Ren was obviously lying for his own gain and shouldn’t be trusted.

JJ Abrams, director of Episodes VII and IX, told ABC News:

“I will say that we knew going into this that this movie had to be a satisfying conclusion, and we’re well aware that [Rey’s parentage is] one of the things that’s sort of been out there. I don’t want to say that what happens in Episode VIII—you know, we’ve honored that. But I will say there’s more to the story than you’ve seen.”

There has also been speculation that Rey’s parents appear somewhere in the teaser trailer – sort of. One of the shots in the trailer features a spaceship flying towards a blue-tinted rocky planet. The ship looks very similar to the one Rey’s parents were seen flying away in during Rey’s Force Awakens flashback. Or was it even her parents at all?

The case against Rey’s parents

On the other hand, fans of The Last Jedi have countered that Rey being a nobody made the story more powerful, not less. The movie was trying to say that anybody could be a Jedi if they had the will, and it didn’t depend on being part of a bloodline or having X amount of midichlorians. A close look at the final shot of Last Jedi suggests that a new generation will carry on the fight, bloodline or not.

To paraphrase Ratatouille, not everyone can be a Jedi, but a Jedi can come from anywhere. Many sites have suggested that Skywalker isn’t the name of a particular character, but the new name for a Jedi.

Rian Johnson, the director of The Last Jedi, told MTV News:

“I want to let go of all my expectations. I want to sit back. I want to be entertained. I want to be surprised. I want to be thrilled. I want [JJ Abrams] to do stuff I wasn’t expecting him to do and just go along for the ride. For me, that’s why I go to the movies, you know?”

We’ll see how happy (or unhappy) everyone is just before Christmas.

Best in Entertainment