Back in 2015, you couldn’t talk about Star Wars without wondering who were Rey’s parents. I remember the popular choice was Luke’ daughter. It made sense, especially since Luke had a daughter in the legends comics, but those are past history. My prediction was actually the popular choice and I too believed that Rey was the daughter of Luke Skywalker. It made sense. She was immensely powerful, had that force connection with Kylo Ren (Han and Leia’s son), and it wasn’t hard to believe that Luke would’ve met a woman before The Force Awakens. Theories, theories, theories, is all what we Star Wars fas love to think about. Many people firmly believed that Rey was Luke’s daughter and when The Last Jedi came, it was revealed that they were all wrong.
Rey was not the daughter of Luke Skywalker. In fact, she was the daughter of nobody at all. I mean, she was indeed someone’s daughter, but not the daughter of any popular Star Wars character. Her parents were basically junkers who traded her for scraps. Not the twist we were expecting, but at least it surprised us. I’ll admit, I didn’t like it at first, but I grew to appreciate the meaning behind it. Rey came from nothing and she became something great. She didn’t have to be related to someone significant in the Star Wars universe in order to become a powerful Jedi. Not a bad idea, but then Rise of Skywalker happened. She actually turned out to be the granddaughter of Palpatine. Turns out she did come from something. So did Kylo Ren actually lie about it on purpose? That wasn’t even touched on, but whatever.
All of the back and forth was rather irritating, but it turns out, it occurred behind the scenes a lot more than we thought. In a recent interview Daisy Ridley had with Josh Gad, she revealed how many ideas J.J. Abrams had with Rey’s parentage. The very first one she mentioned actually stood out to me the most. From the very beginning, Daisy Ridley claimed that J.J. Abrams was toying with an Obi-Wan Kenobi connection. When I first heard that, I raised my eyebrows with glowing curiosity. I actually remember when fans began making the “Who is Rey?” theory videos and one of them was actually Obi-Wan-related. The theory was that she was actually Obi-Wan’s granddaughter.
I liked the idea, but it didn’t grab me. To me, Obi-Wan’s story ended in Return of the Jedi. He did his part when he looked after Luke and continued to guide him on his journey as a force ghost. Even in death, Obi-Wan Kenobi lived on and his legacy lived through Luke Skywalker. Well, it turns out J.J. Abrams, at least briefly, didn’t think so and wanted him to be directly related to Rey in some way. My guess, he originally told Daisy Ridley that he was going to make Rey Obi-Wan’s granddaughter. It would make sense, considering Obi-Wan acted as the old and wise grandpa-like mentor to Luke because his father wasn’t around. Plus, Obi-Wan was an exceptionally powerful Jedi Master, so that gene, aka midichlorian level, would’ve passed down to Rey. It would’ve been interesting, but I suppose Abrams came to believe that idea wouldn’t of worked.
Or perhaps he was just spitballing like a guy in the writers room during pre-production. Either way, I feel like he didn’t get a chance to tell the full story he wanted. That’s probably why Kathleen Kennedy should’ve just let him direct the whole trilogy. One of the many mistakes that were made during the course of the making of the new trilogy. Before I go on a crazy nerd rage rant, I need to get to the main point. I originally didn’t dig the Obi-Wan connection, but after watching the Rise of Skywalker twice, I did some serious reconsidering.
Now I actually did like how Rey was Palpatine’s granddaughter. I believed that reveal flowed much better with all three films and explained why Rey was so powerful. However, I thought about the Obi-Wan connection and realized how much better Rey would’ve been off as a Kenobi instead of a Palpatine. I’l begin by stating the obvious and point out Obi-Wan’s old age by the time he died. He spent twenty years on Tatooine and lived as a hermit, choosing to dedicate his time to watching over Luke. By the time A New Hope happened, he was an old man, much wiser, but far past his prime. We’re to assume that he lived as a total hermit during his time on Tatooine, but I don’t find it impossible to believe that he came into contact with some woman during that time.
Now who could that woman be? If it was someone who lived on Tatooine, whether it would’ve been on Mos Eisley or some other small town on the planet, she probably would’ve sought him out after she realized she was pregnant with her child. Unless, of course, she wasn’t from Tatooine and came from somewhere else. She could’ve been from another planet, but who would want to visit Tatooine? There could be many reasons behind that, but any woman from anywhere would’ve discovered that Obi-Wan was a Jedi. Obi-Wan certainly would’ve known the dangers of a relationship from the start, but if the feelings are there, something would’ve happened. Obi-Wan has felt love before with Bo-Katan’s sister, so he’s definitely capable of loving someone again.
If some woman had a romantic interaction with him, then discovered she was pregnant with his child, that could only mean danger for her. She would’ve abandoned the planet without telling Obi-Wan and taken her child with her. Who could blame her? After all, Tatooine is a planet rife with crime, bandits, and all kinds of danger. If someone discovered that her kid was the child of a Jedi, they both would’ve become a target. They run away, she raises the kid until the kid grows up, and that now-adult son or daughter of Obi-Wan eventually married someone and had Rey. It would’ve fit wth the timeline and continued the legacy of Obi-Wan. Sounds like an interesting subplot, one that could’ve been explored in the upcoming Obi-Wan show on Disney+. Unfortunately, that won’t happen.
Now let’s go back to Rey. Her connection to Obi-Wan was first hinted at when she touched Anakin’s lightsaber. She had that very weird set of visions when they came to an end, we heard a familiar voice call out her name. That voice came from Obi-Wan himself and from the tone of his voice, it sounded like he knew her. That made me very curious as the insinuation was there, but of course, that went no where. That one scene at least implied that Abrams was once committed to the idea of that Obi-Wan connection, but changed his mind, probably during filming.
For real, why did Obi-Wan sound like he knew Rey? It led to the idea that he was aware of her existence somehow, but why would he care to begin with? Not because she was related to him, but because she was apparently the last surviving Jedi. Kind of a missed opportunity, but there’s more to it. If Rey did turn out to be a Kenobi, think about what she did in the end. She managed to bring Kylo Ren back to the light and save him from the dark side. Obi-Wan failed to save Anakin from the dark side, but Rey managed to save Anakin’s grandson. If Rey was a Kenobi, there would’ve been some seriously good poetic justice there. Obi-Wan, Rey’s grandfather, a wiser and more powerful Jedi, failed to save one Skywalker, but Rey, the younger and less experienced Jedi, succeeded in saving a Skywalker.
That’s a story of true redemption and carrying on a great legacy. There could’ve been a scene where Obi-Wan appeared as a force ghost (CGI Alec Guiness) and had a quick and emotional interaction with Rey. Elements from every trilogy would have come to full circle and reach a more satisfying conclusion. Unfortunately, that’s not the story we got, but it’s nice to make up our own Star Wars stories. Do you agree Star Wars fans?
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