The moment is almost upon us, the release of Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi is almost upon us, and a lot of people believe we are going to be having our very own “I am your father” moment in this movie. The makers of the new Star Wars films have definitely kept Rey’s lineage a secret for an eventual “big reveal” for us all to potentially gasp about, and pretty soon we may know just who her parents actually are. Until that point, there’s nothing like a good round of speculation, so here’s a few ideas as to who her real parent may actually be:
Han Solo
Narratively speaking, this does make sense. We saw the beginnings of a relationship forming between them both in Force Awakens, only for that to be taken away at the hands of Kylo Ren. Imagine just how shocking it would be to discover that not only was this man your father, BUT he was killed violently by your own brother?! This would have a lot of dramatic weight behind it, and also make any future confrontations between Rey and Kylo even more meaningful.
What makes this theory fall short for me is that Rey and Leia have already met, and what with Liea’s force powers (and of course mother’s intuition), she would surely know that Rey is her daughter.
Luke Skywalker
The franchise has always been about family, and in particular the Skywalker family, so it does make sense that Rey would herself be a Skywalker to carry on this tradition of the series. It would also be thematically in keeping with previous films, in which Anakin revealed he was Luke’s father, for Luke to then make the same shocking reveal to his own daughter.
However, again Leia would surely know that Rey was her niece when the pair of them met. Also, Rey being a Skywalker is kind of a safe and obvious choice for the series to follow, so I’m hoping that we get something a bit more shocking, such as…
Snoke
Imagine that, the big bad shrimp face himself being Rey’s daddy. Again, its in keeping with what we’ve seen in the past, with the “big bad” being revealed as the father of the hero, and it would give Snoke’s interest in Rey some plausibility.
At the same time though, seeing as this is a reveal that would be similar to the one in Empire Strikes Back, the filmmakers would be more likely to steer clear of copying themselves and instead give us something different.
A Kenobi
We hear Obi Wan speak to Rey in her trippy vision during Force Awakens, perhaps it was him contacting his…whatever relation she would be? It would explain her abilities with the force and certainly be something that we wouldn’t be expecting.
However, it is maybe a little too unexpected, and would possibly be a little underwhelming as a reveal. There hasn’t really been any mention of the Kenobis in the new films, so there wouldn’t be much emotional weight to this being the reveal. You never know though.
That Old Dude At The Start Of Force Awakens
Max Von Sydow. The man has had an acting career of nearly 70 years, starring in The Exorcist, Dune, The Seventh Seal, Flash Gordon, Minority Report. He’s a great actor who has a long, acclaimed career, so I find it difficult to believe the filmmakers would bring in an actor of his calibre and acclaim for about 1 minute of screen time.
With his character Lor San Tekka being killed by Kylo Ren at the start of the film, it would give Rey more of a reason to fight with him, and have more emotional weight to their fights. Also, he was on Jakku, perhaps looking over Rey much like Obi Wan did when Luke was growing up on Tatooine. The more I think about it, the more plausible this option becomes. Unless it is….
Someone We’ve Not Actually Met
Perhaps the “big shock” of the reveal is that it isn’t Luke or Han or Snoke or anyone that we’ve theorised about. Just someone that to the franchise hasn’t been of any importance, so that Rey can carve her own destiny rather than following in any familial footsteps like we’ve seen in previous films.
The film seems to be hinting towards not being part of the dark or the light, but somewhere in between, not sticking to the traditions of previous films’ portrayals of the force, so perhaps similarly it won’t follow story conventions either. Heck, maybe they won’t even reveal who Rey’s parents are, perhaps it’ll always remain a mystery that is only ever hinted at but never confirmed.
Unless of course its…no…It couldn’t possibly be….
Just think about that for a second. Rey Binks.