Ever since The Force Awakens premiered in 2015, Star Wars fans have ben clamoring to find out how lead character Rey is related to the rest of the series, and if she is, in fact, biologically related to anyone at all. Once the trailers for Rogue One hit the universe, big speculation about whether or not lead rebel Jyn Erso was in fact Rey's mom began to circulate. Now that Rogue One is out, we know that the movies answers that question definitively and — major spoilers ahead! — as it turns out, Jyn is not Rey's mother, and here's why that is.
Sadly, Jyn doesn't survive the final, climactic battle of Rogue One. Of course, knowing how A New Hope ends, we know that her quest to steal the plant to the Death Star are successful. She dies a heroic death, having sacrificed herself for the mission, and becomes a Rebel Alliance hero as a result. But since she dies at the end of Rogue One, it's pretty much impossible that she'd be Rey's mother. Even if Jyn had a secret child at some point before the events of the movie, that child would be way too old to be Rey, who is about 20 or so in TFA. Jyn would have to give birth some 15 or so years after the events of her own movie, and well, that's not gonna happen.
So who is Rey's mom? We're still on the hunt to find out. One possible theory connects another prominent Rogue One character to Rey: Mon Mothma. After briefly appearing in Return of the Jedi, Mon Mothma gets much more screentime in Rogue One. As played by Genevieve O'Reilly, the female politician and rebellion leader survives this movie (obviously, since Jedi takes place after Rogue One) and she also survives the end of Jedi. After that, she helps form the New Republic. But after that, it's not clear what happens to her. But we know The First Order eventually comes into power, and if Mon Mothma did have a child, it would make sense to want to send that child into hiding somewhere, just like what was done to Rey.
Other fans are floating around an even wackier theory that Padme Amidala is Rey's mother. But didn't she die at the end of Revenge of the Sith? According to one theorist at Uproxx, Padme could have faked her own death in order to escape her abusive husband, gone on to help lead the rebellion, and even had more kids. Now I know what you're thinking, that would make Rey a sibling, and an extremely much younger one, to Luke and Leia. It would also mean that Padme would be really, really old when she had Rey. But hey, we don't know how the Force works. Extreme age or miraculous births could always happen. But until we know for sure, anything is a possibility.
Images: Walt Disney Studios
