Rey is one of the best characters in the Star Wars universe.

Disclaimer: This includes blatant Spoilers. Be warned.

Ever since Star Wars: The Force Awakens blasted box office records and nerds’ minds, there has been a slew of activity, or convenient lack thereof, around the new lead character of Rey. Much has been said about how Rey is too ‘perfect’ of a character. A supposed Mary Sue, a fan fiction inspired character perfect in every way but otherwise empty to let the viewer insert themselves into the movie à la Bella Swan from Twilight (a certifiable Mary Sue).

She’s a pilot, a mechanic, a climber, a rappeller, a staff weapons specialist, multi-lingual and lightsaber weapon duelist, generally hyper-competent with everything she does with no emotional baggage. Maybe in an attempt to provide a self-sufficient female heroine those gosh-darned liberals overcompensated?

After watching the movie a customary three times, it slowly became clear to me that this argument is hogwash. Every skill she learns is explainable within the Jedi universe, and prominent Jedi characters before her have gotten away with more. Remember, Luke Skywalker went from “bulls-eyeing womp rats on his T16” to doing the same to an Imperial death star. As a scavenger left to fend for herself on a planet full of diverse criminal elements her strengths are much more believable than that of a golden boy growing up with his uncle fixing robots and growing food.

The quick learning abilities of characters strong with the force are consistent throughout the Star Wars universe. More importantly, there has been a lot of speculation about her apparent lack of emotional baggage, a lack of an ‘arc’ to her character and a supposed ‘bland-ness’. This is probably more distinct due to Finn’s (her louder counterpart), constant breakdowns in the face of stress. However, under closer introspection, this thesis also falls apart. She is just as emotionally hesitant and perhaps more unable to let go of her past than some of her predecessors. Remember when Luke saw the charred remains of his family, and his first thought was “Obi-wan, I’ve always wanted out, now this is my chance, let’s GTFO”, where was the arc there? In contrast, Rey is much more thoughtful, she is unable to accept her connection to Luke’s lightsaber and has a breakdown when confronted with the fact that a reunion with her family is not going to happen. And thanks to some terrific acting by Daisy Ridley, she is infinitely likable with a clear character definition of someone who is witty, idealistic and charmingly impatient.

As the movie progresses, you see both Rey and Finn slowly grow and become more confident in their abilities. By the end of the movie even Finn tries to take on a (partly) trained force user (Ren). It is almost logical to expect that Rey at the end of her arc, is able to defeat the injured Kylo Ren.

I am expecting great things from this spate of new characters! Most of all I can confidently say I identify with Rey more than Luke and consider her one of the best characters in the star wars universe perhaps second only to Han Solo.

P.S: Han Solo, a sweet-talker, who gets the woman, saves his friends, kills the bad guy and can fly better than most Jedi’s, all WITHOUT the force. Nobody needed to explain where he got all that from? We may soon know.

Thanks to Chantal Jandard and Erin Grace Burns for reading drafts of this!