Lawrence Kasdan says “The next Star Wars will be weird,” and it’s because of who Rey actually is.
Or at least who I think she is. On December 17th, opening night of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, many of us were treated to the latest chapter in our favorite story from a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. Many of us left the theaters with all sorts of feelings, good or bad, but there’s one thing we all had in common. The question: Who are Rey’s parents?
But I had a different question on my mind: who the heck is Rey?!
I’ve done countless hours of research (thank God for being on Holiday) and what I’ve come up with has astounded all whom I’ve told:
SPOILER ALERT! (Obviously..)
Rey is Shmi Skywalker. That’s right. The movies that obviously take place in the future also take place in the past.
For context — this isn’t the first time a sci-fi franchise has done this. The original ‘Planet of the Apes ‘ films did something very similar. The first two movies take place in a future Earth where apes rule — and our protagonist reaches that timeline through space travel. Humans blow up the planet, and 3 apes use space travel to go back in time when humans rule. They are eventually captured but not before giving birth to a baby — who then goes on to re-create the planet of the apes. Albeit there’s the slight glimmer of hope that things will be different, but the story stands as a cyclical one. History repeats itself. (Also a key point to consider as this stands true in Star Wars too.)
I’ll explain why this is where the story is headed with a few “meta” proofs and then jump into proofs from the new movie and the movies we already have.
Exhibit A: JJ Abrams, the director responsible for the first entry in this franchise kick-off has a history of reviving old space flicks. Of course I mean the Star Trek films. In his first foray into The Final Frontier, Abrams, along with writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman incorporated a multi-verse, where timelines have intersected bringing together heroes of old and heroes of new in some kind of cyclical storyline. It worked really well, in my opinion, and was a nice nod to fans.
Exhibit B: This kind of thing has never been in a Star Wars movie before. In fact, time travel as a whole has not been in Star Wars movies (or the EU much for that matter.) Normally that would be a solid argument against this theory, but Kasdan himself has been recently quoted saying about the upcoming Episode 8’s director “If you’ve seen Rian’s work, you know it’s not going be like anything that’s ever been in Star Wars.”
We can take two things from this. The first being the argument I just made but second, Kasdan specifically cites the work of Rian Johnson, who will be directing 2017’s Star Wars: Episode 8
Rian Johnson’s breakthrough director role was in 2012’s Looper. Looper is about time-travel — and how young Bruce Willis has to team up with Old Bruce Willis to stop something bad (the chosen one) from becoming an evil dictator and destroying the world as we know it.
Now — imagine a movie that follows Shmi Skywalker as she grows in the force and has to prevent the chosen one (her own son) from becoming the dark lord and destroying the galaxy as we know it. That’s one big responsibility for our hero. And fit enough for a new story.
Disney/Lucasfilm hired Rian because he has a way of integrating Time Travel into a great plot without letting it become distracting or too deep in the “science” of it. It’s just part of the worlds he paints. Disney NEEDS the next film to be understandable for the general public and will place their bets on a winner.
Exhibit C: Star Wars is famous for the BIG REVEALS, and we need one for the next film. Everyone suspects Rey is a Solo or is Luke Skywalker’s daughter and while either of those are fine — I feel from a film maker’s perspective this arc is too easy and predictable. Imagine this exchange instead.
REY: Are you my father or what!?
LUKE: No Rey, you are my grandmother.
WHOA.DUDE. MIND BLOWN, right?! That would be a huge, unexpected reveal. One that would leave our minds roaring upon leaving the theater. “Can it be true? But how? But he said..? But..”
That same feeling after watching “ Empire Strikes Back” for the first time.
Exhibit D: When the prequels came out — despite their quality — they also gave new life to the original trilogy. We could go back — watch those movies — and analyze why Obi-Wan reacted the way he did when he saw Artoo or what Darth Vader meant when he said “the circle is now complete.”
Making Rey-Shmi would breathe that same life into the prequels, adding depth to Shmi, giving genuine tragedy to her death and answering the questions about where Anakin came from — or what happened before Episode 1.
Now I will go more in-depth on lines, scenes and themes from the 7 movies to prove why we are witnessing the real birth of Anakin Skywalker.
First off — they’re basically twins.
Item 1: I’ll start with Episode 7. One of the lines that resonated with us the most is “I will finish what you started.” This is spoken by Kylo Ren, to the “spirit” of Darth Vader. Perhaps this line has so much more meaning when it comes to a cyclical timeline.
Item 2: Maz Kanata says “she sees the same eyes in different people.” this line is also really deep and highly indicative of her actually seeing the same people over and over again. It’s much more than surface level.
Item 3: Time has already been introduced to us as a tangible object in the Star Wars universe through Rey’s flashback/flash forward. Time affects her differently than it has anyone in the past.
Plus, we hear the voice of Obi-Wan Kenobi call to her in this scene specifically. Sure, it could be a force ghost — but what if it’s more than that?What if it’s the past calling to her future self (who is also in the past. Time Travel is fun.)
Item 4: Starkiller base was eating stars. When a star dies, it becomes a black hole — and if anything Interstellar taught us that black holes will take you to the past so you can change the future.
Item 5: Now, looking at Rey’s character against Shmi’s dialog in Episode 1, we see a lot of similarities and indications of deeper meaning to Shmi’s character.
In this exchange:
Anakin: Will I ever see you again?
Shmi Skywalker: What does your heart tell you?
Anakin: I hope so. Yes… I guess.
Shmi Skywalker: Then we will see each other again.
Anakin: I will come back and free you, Mom. I promise.
Shmi Skywalker: Now, be brave, and don’t look back. Don’t look back.
Instead of giving Anakin an answer, she tells him to search his feelings. She is training him in the force! Surely he gets it from somewhere. But she also is trying to prevent Anakin’s pain — don’t come back! Don’t be afraid! She’s trying to stop him from becoming Darth Vader!
However, Rey is quoted saying something similar to Finn at the very end of the movie.
Rey: We will see each other again. I believe that.
Item 6:
Shmi Skywalker: There was no father. I carried him, I gave birth, I raised him. I can’t explain what happened.
Can’t as in unable — or can’t as in can’t? Could this be hesitation from Shmi about revealing this timeline and creating a paradox?
Also here’s this similar line from Rey.
Finn: How did you escape?
Rey: I can’t explain it.
Item 7:
Shmi: He can help you. He was meant to help you.
How does she know so much about her son’s destiny? These can be seen as very broad strokes towards her knowledge of Anakin’s future.
Shmi: You can’t stop change any more than you can stop the suns from setting.
Shmi: Son, my place is here, my future is here. It is time for you to let go.
This is all I’ve gathered so far. The pieces are there and as I watch all these movies over and over, I only fall deeper into this theory. I haven’t quite pieced together who will be the father of Anakin. It could be Kylo but I guess that’s sort of weird… But there’s lots of possibilities here.
Would love to hear your thoughts so be sure to comment below or on the reddit thread.