Even if The Force Awakens hadn’t pushed all my nostalgia buttons, I’d consider it a triumph in jump-starting a franchise. The new Star Wars film does exactly what it should do as the first movie in a trilogy. First, it introduces several questions. Then, it answers a few of them. And finally, it leaves even more unanswered and the door open for a hiatus filled with fan speculation and anticipation for the rest of the series. One of the major topics being debated on movie message boards and in person over beers is the question of Rey’s parentage. The Force-sensitive scavenger Rey could be Luke’s daughter, but what if she’s not?
Spoilers ahead! The Force Awakens doesn't leave audiences wondering who Kylo Ren comes from for long. His origin story ties the new conflict directly to original trilogy characters. The film hints heavily that Rey is also connected to the old Star Wars guard, though confirmation of her parents’ identities is being withheld for now. I walked out of the film confident in the theory that Rey is a Skywalker by birth. But after having a few days to ruminate on the facts as presented in The Force Awakens, I’m not so sure. Here are eight reasons to suspect that Luke is not Rey’s father.
1. It's Too Obvious
The film finds Rey living on a desert planet not unlike Tatooine. She's as rootless and restless as Luke was in A New Hope. In fact, she essentially fills the Luke role in this movie, right down to safeguarding a droid and feeling the hell out of the Force. Are all her similarities to Luke a clever fake-out?
2. Han Instantly Trusted Her
Han Solo is always Han Solo, and he still doesn't trust easily. But even though he finds Finn and Rey flying his stolen ship, he takes to the young woman in record time. Maybe it's her cool confidence or maybe it's her way with the Falcon. Or maybe Han felt a familial pull towards her. Did Ben Solo have a sister?
3. Out Of All The Planets In The Galaxy, She Lives On The One Where The Millennium Falcon Is Parked
That's an awfully big coincidence, even for sci-fi/fantasy.
4. Jedis Aren't Supposed To Procreate
The Jedi code forbids knights from forming romantic attachments and expressing those attachments through having a family. Luke hasn't always been the most rule-abiding of his order, but their monk-like vows are an argument against his producing Rey.
5. And Even If He Had, Would Luke Have Abandoned A Child?
If Luke is Rey's father, how did she end up on Jakku, poor and alone? I buy that Luke would leave his adult friends and family (who he probably assumed better off without him), but I don't believe for a moment that he'd leave a young child to fend for herself on a barren planet. Not with his daddy issues.
6. Leia Was So Affectionate With Her
Another tick for the Rey Solo column. After the survivors return from the mission that kills Han, Leia gathers Rey up in a silent embrace. Is she reaching out to the person who was with her love in his last moments? Or is she comforting a child on the death of her father?
7. Rey May Be So Skilled In Using The Force Because She's Already Been Trained
Of course, Han and Luke aren't the only available candidates for the position of Rey's father. She may be the child of another Jedi, who absorbed some training in her youth.
8. Kylo Ren Is A Little Obsessed With Her
The showdowns between Rey and Kylo Ren have an intimacy and a desperation to them that doesn't quite fit two characters who have no connection to one another. Kylo Ren is all about destroying his old self. Perhaps taking out a sister who's in danger of awaking some compassion is his next mission.
Star Wars fans will have to wait until Episode 8 to receive any more details on the origin of Rey, but the time for running wild with theories is now.
Images: Walt Disney Studios, Giphy (8)
