Though she is the center of the movie and is, from all appearances, going to be the protagonist of the new films moving forward, Daisy Ridley’s character Rey is the great mysteries of Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Though we get to know her in the movie, we don’t really know much about her, especially her past and her familial connections. There has been a great deal of fuss made about who she is or isn’t related to, and as we’re going to be speculating about this for the next 18 months until Star Wars: Episode VIII, we thought we’d break down a few possible candidates, from likely to not so much.
There are going to be SPOILERS for The Force Awakens. Do what you must.
She's Luke Skywalker's Daughter
This is one of the most popular theories floating around, that Rey is the daughter of Luke Skywalker and some as-yet unidentified woman. It’s apparent that there is some connection between the two. When Kylo Ren gets into her head, he sees that she has dreams of an isolated island in the middle of an ocean, which we now know is where she finds Luke at the end of The Force Awakens. Such a genetic link would also explain how she is so strong with the Force, and be a very good reason why Han and Leia each immediately look at her with such affection; she would be their niece after all.
At the same time, however, there’s not enough information to really know how legitimate this is. Luke has been gone for quite some time, but we don’t know how long. Is it long enough to have a daughter Rey’s age? If he did have a daughter, do Han and Leia even know? It could have been in secret, after his disappearance, and they just feel a connection, but it seems like there’s more going on. Also, I know Star Wars is big on abandoning kids in order to protect them, but is Luke really a big enough dick to ditch his daughter on a desert planet (he, of anyone, knows how much that will suck for her) with no one to look after her? This is possible, but we’re not convinced just yet.
She's Han and Leia's Daughter
This is probably the most prevalent, perhaps even likely option. Again, there is an obvious and immediate connection between Rey and both Han and Leia when they first meet. Han even goes so far as to offer her a job as a smuggler in training in order to keep her around. And do we think that it’s sheer coincidence that she just happens to be on the same backwater planet where the Millennium Falcon has been chilling out for years? Maybe they hid her on Jakku to keep her safe from their various enemies, especially after everything went south with Kylo Ren at Luke’s failed Jedi academy.
But if Rey is Han and Leia’s daughter, even if she doesn’t know, wouldn’t Kylo Ren have at least sensed it when they come into contact? Then again, maybe he did; he obviously knows that she’s special and different immediately. Another question: if this is the case, how close in age would that make Rey and Ben Solo? (If we want to get really conspiracy minded, we could look the fact that the names both only have three letters.) It’s possible she was born after he had his little murder-y freak out. Just as actors, Adam Driver is nine years older than Daisy Ridley, so it’s possible the two are siblings that never met.
She's Related To Obi-Wan
In the wake of a video the other day, Rey being the granddaughter, perhaps great granddaughter, of Obi-Wan Kenobi has gained quite a bit of traction. He’s been romantically linked with both Siri Tachi and Satine Kryze over the years, so it’s possible he had child who had a child. The two dress similarly, both are proficient with the Jedi mind trick, and Rey climbing around like a monkey on Starkiller Base calls back Obi-Wan hiding out on the first Death Star. Though we hear both Luke and Yoda in her vision, the combined voices of Obi-Wans Ewan McGregor and Alec Guinness say, "Rey, these are your first steps." And though it is Luke’s lightsaber that kicks this off, it was in Obi-Wan’s possession for many more years than it was in Luke’s, and the Kyber Crystals that power the weapons are Force sensitive and form a bond with Jedi, so it would make sense that it calls out to her, the closest Kenobi.
There’s a ton to support this claim. And then there’s the accent. I hadn’t thought about this until a friend mentioned it on social media the other day, but if John Boyega, who’s from Peckham in London, England had to speak with an American accent in The Force Awakens, why didn’t Daisy Ridley? Granted, accents aren’t hereditary, but this could be a hint to link her to the highest profile character in the Star Wars saga that speaks with a British accent. Though that might be reaching a bit.
She's Related To Kanan Jarrus
After Palpatine enacted Order 66 to wipe out the Jedi, it was widely believed they were hunted to extinction. Though not far off, there were still some lurking out there, like Obi-Wan Kenobi, Yoda, and a few others, including Kanan Jarrus, one of the key players in Star Wars Rebels. Since that animated series is official canon, and since the beginning there has been talk of it linking up with new slate of movies, including The Force Awakens, one has to consider the possibility that Rey is related to Kanan.
During his time in hiding and through his adventures with the Ghost crew, he has become familiar with out of the way outer rim planets, like Jakku, so he could stash a daughter there for safekeeping. Or, more accurately given the timeline—Rebels takes place prior to Episode IV—it would probably be a granddaughter. There’s no evidence to support this, but considering how few Jedi bloodlines are left, even by the time of The Force Awakens, there aren’t that many prominent Jedi households Rey could be linked to.
She Isn't Related To Anyone
There are a couple of ways to interpret the phrase "she isn’t related to anyone." First, it’s possible that Rey, by accident of birth, simply happens to be particularly gifted in the ways of the Force. Think of it like how in Harry Potter sometimes two non-magical parents can have a surprise wizard baby, like Hermione. Maybe Rey is an accidental Jedi, someone simply born with an abnormally high midi-chlorian count for one reason or another, someone who just happens to be Force strong.
A second way to look at "she’s not related to anyone," is that, perhaps, like Anakin Skywalker, Rey was a virgin birth. She could have been created by the midi-chlorians, maybe something like a new chosen one, the latest attempt to bring balance to the Force with the rise of the likes of Kylo Ren and Supreme Leader Snoke on the Dark Side. Then again, there have also been tales like that of Darth Plagueis, the Sith who was so powerful he could create life—many Sith believe he created Anakin—and while something like that would paint Rey in a sinister light, it would mean she isn’t related to anyone.
In reality, given how everything in Star Wars is so interconnected, we don’t really buy that Rey isn’t related to anyone.
She's Related To A Jedi-Connected Family We Haven't Met
Just because there aren’t many Jedi left, and that they have largely faded into myth and legend, that doesn’t mean there aren’t some still lurking out there. Though Order 66 wiped most of them out, a few went into hiding, and it’s possible they continued to procreate in secret. There’s the potential that Rey could be linked to one of these heretofore-unknown clans. The Force Awakens drives home just how big this far, far away galaxy is with the idea that Luke is hiding out in an unmapped region of space (C-3PO says BB-8’s map matches no known star system), so maybe Rey is part of a family who has been keeping a low profile.
While this would inject some new blood into the Star Was saga, given how interconnected things have become—damn near everything is linked to something else to an almost fan fiction degree these days—it’s hard to imagine that Rey is not somehow tied into the larger history. It’s possible, and would be unexpected, but given that during the build up to The Force Awakens we heard that her last name was being kept under wraps for spoiler reasons, it seems unlikely that she is not related to one key figure or another.
This poll is no longer available.
