It has become one of the biggest unanswered questions in the history of the Star Wars lore: who are Rey's parents? Ever since The Force Awakens hit theaters last year, various theories have popped up like wildfire trying to explain the existence of Daisy Ridley's new Star Wars heroine. However, it now sounds like the answer actually is present in the film. Ridley explained:
I thought a lot was answered in The Force Awakens. Then after the screening I went for a drink with my agent and everyone, and we were chatting away and I realized that oh, in their minds it's not answered at all!
Daisy Ridley recently spoke to Time Out about the mysterious nature of Rey's parents, and it seems that she actually doesn't find it very mysterious at all. Recounting her experience of attending the first screening for The Force Awakens, she apparently thought the mystery received a fairly clear answer, and the number of people who begged her for more answers subsequently surprised her. It appears that the answer to the question of her parentage may actually be hidden in The Force Awakens, and we just never noticed it. That at least provides some explanation as to why everyone in The Force Awakens generally knows who Rey is, except for Rey herself.
It's fairly obvious that Daisy Ridley has underestimated the mental gymnastics that Star Wars fans are willing to perform in order to make their theories work. Innumerable ideas regarding Rey's origins have surfaced online over the course of the last year, and some of them are interesting -- to say the least. These theories range from the plausible (Rey is Obi-Wan's illegitimate daughter) to the truly insane (Rey is Anakin Skywalker reincarnated). Now, even after all those theories, it seems entirely possible that the solution to this mystery was hidden under our noses the whole time.
Personally, I think the easiest and most likely answer is that Rey is Luke Skywalker's daughter. It's a boring answer, I know, but it makes sense. Everything she sees during her vision relates back to the Skywalker family in some way, and the lightsaber that she inherits (which "calls" to her) belonged to Anakin AND Luke Skywalker. It makes plenty of sense for her to be part of that lineage.
Check out Rey's vision sequence below to see if you can pick up any new details:
Of course, at the end of the day it's definitely worth noting that Daisy Ridley could just as easily be having some fun with Star Wars fans. She knows how obsessed we are with this franchise, and it probably delights her to watch us go on a wild goose chase. After all, misdirection makes it much easier to keep a secret.
No matter what, the events of The Force Awakens very clearly laid the groundwork for this mystery to receive a resolution. We will likely have definitive answers regarding the truth behind Rey's parents when Episode VIII debuts on December 15, 2017. Stay tuned for more awesome Star Wars news!
