14 Star Wars Fan Theories About Rey's Past

TheForce.net user rrlevy believes he's cracked the code to the entire Star Wars saga, discovering once and for all to whom the prophecy referred. For those who don't know or remember, the prophecy says, "A child will be born from the Force and will bring balance to it." This means that a person will literally be created via the Force as a balancing device.  A powerful Sith created Anakin as a red herring, of sorts. In the prequel trilogy, some Jedi indeed believed Anakin was this Force-child, who had many amazing traits.

BUT! Introduced in a movie meaningfully titled The Force Awakens is Rey, the literal awakening of the Force, who also displays the very same amazing traits Anakin had, as rrlevy points out:

"- Rey proves to be an excellent pilot in the film, almost instinctively, without practice or training. Her piloting of the Millennium Falcon shows that. She even tells Finn after the escape from Jakku that she had never done that before.

"- Rey also knows how to fix things in an unusual way, being more familiar with the Falcon than Han Solo himself. Han’s awkwardness is noticeable in several scenes.

"- Rey possess a very strong connection with the Force, apparently much stronger than Kylo Ren. Although Kylo have been trained by Luke himself, he does not overcome Rey, neither on mind powers nor lightsaber.

"- Rey seems to speak every language in the galaxy. The movie draws attention to this several times, as she communicates with native Jakku, BB-8 and Chewbacca. Even Finn gets surprised by that. You can understand that she speaks droid, but Wookie? I don’t think there are enough Wookies in the galaxy for her understand the language so well."

Rey is the child of the prophecy, the chosen one.

So many hints are dropped about Rey's lineage that one has to wonder if it's all a ruse. Redditor Joshikins29 has decided the answer may very well be that her parents are nobodies, and that's okay:

"Daisy Ridley said a lot was answered in The Force Awakens regarding Rey's parents, and that she was surprised that people thought it was a big question. What could she be referring to?

"The only character that makes a definitive statement about Rey's parents is Maz Kanta: "You already know the truth. Whomever you’re waiting for on Jakku, they’re never coming back... The belonging you seek is not behind you. It is ahead." I think this line is meant to signal that Rey won’t get any clues about what path she should take by looking to her past. It would be really easy for Rey if she were Luke or Obi-Wan’s daughter, because then she would know that she was born to follow in their footsteps by becoming a Jedi and fighting the Dark Side. By making her parents just a pair of average Joes, Rey will be even more confused about her place in the galaxy. This should set up a nice emotional conflict for Rey in The Last Jedi, especially since Luke doesn't seem like he is going to give her much clarification about her role in the universe.

"Another reason why I believe Rey does not come from a family of Force-sensitive or powerful beings is a thematic one: Rey is meant to serve as a mirror for Kylo Ren. While Kylo comes from Force royalty being the son of Leia, nephew of Luke, and grandson of Anakin/Darth Vader, Rey should come from nothing. Though Kylo believes that Anakin/Luke’s lightsaber is his by birthright (“That lightsaber. It belongs to me!”), he is not worthy of carrying on its legacy. Instead, the lightsaber, or, more accurately, the Force, has chosen Rey to be its champion. The Force has “awakened” in Rey not because of factors she can’t control like who her parents are, but because of factors she can control like whether she is a good person or not."

Ben Ostrower shares his theory on Medium that Rey is the granddaughter of Obi-Wan, and his argument is well reasoned. First, she has a British accent; the only other good guy to have a British accent in the series was Obi-Wan (discounting C3PO), and this is noteworthy as other British actors have indeed affected American accents, e.g., John Boyega. Another clue is the Jedi mind trick she used on the Stormtrooper at Starkiller Base, a skill for which Obi-Wan is famous. Also at Starkiller base, Rey's infiltration and navigation of it hearkens back to Obi-Wan doing the same on the Death Star.

Ostrower then offers three concluding points:

"Similar costumes between Rey and Obi Wan (in the Prequels).

"Both Ewan McGregor’s and Alec Guinness’s voices appear in the key basement lightsaber flashback scene at Maz’s.

"And, lastly, JJ Abrams has suggested that Rey’s loneliness is a key to her origin, likely a referencing Obi Wan’s status as a lonely hermit between Episodes 3 and 4. Unless Rey is Yoda’s granddaughter, but probably not."

While his argument continues for a while, talking about themes and parallels and so on, these points alone offer at least some intriguing evidence that Rey may indeed be a Kenobi.

Redditor TeddyBdaGOAT's theory that Rey is the twin sister of Kylo, and thus daughter of Han and Leia, is lengthy, citing those involved with the creation of the films, broader Star Wars canon, and evidence from the films. You can check out his full theory by clicking the link, but the film evidence he shares makes a good case on its own:

"While Ben Solo has his mother's eyes, Rey has her father's.

"Rey is at home in the Falcon. It's second nature to her. She knows the ship on a personal level.

"Several times in the film Rey and Han finish the other's sentences, and on more than one occasion Han looks at her like he's looking at a ghost before being overcome by blatantly obvious guilt. I posit that Han does not know Rey is his daughter, but she makes him wonder what it would be like if the daughter he lost was still around.

"I'm stealing the next line from the viral theory of Snoke's identity:

"One of the most maligned issues in The Force Awakens is when Leia embraces Rey and not Chewbacca. It makes a little more sense if you consider she not only lost her husband that day, but her son as well, and down the ramp comes a girl that would be about the same age as the daughter she lost years ago."

"Kylo Ren's behavior is also a massive clue. Ren goes from obsessing over Skywalker to obsessing over Rey in probably the span of two days." 

Whether he was her father or grandfather, Redditor The_Iron_Zeppelin is unsure how Rey descends from Qui-Gon, but this Redditor is pretty sure that she is of his bloodline: 

"It's no secret that the Jedi oath requires all Jedi to remain celibate... and partake in no romance. Because of this solemn vow, I don't believe Rey is related to Luke or Kenobi. Qui Gon Jinn, however, was known to bend the rules of the Jedi Order and is considered a "Gray Jedi." It's also known that Qui Gon had a romance, but that the person (Tahl) was killed some time before Phantom Menace. I believe that Rey is a descendant of Qui Gon Jinn and whomever his romantic partner was.

"Qui Gon was originally the one who would have ended up training Anakin if he hadn't been killed by Darth Maul, and some argue that his ability balance the Force would have been passed onto Anakin and he wouldn't have been corrupted by the Dark Side. There is also some speculation that Rey may be able to access both Light and Dark, if that's true, she may also wind up becoming a Gray Jedi.

"That sort of got me thinking that perhaps Rey was drawn to the blue lightsaber and Luke because the two bloodlines are destined to balance the Force. Staying rigid in either Light or Dark causes an imbalance of power, so it may take a Gray Jedi to truly balance the Force. Originally, this balance would have been completed through Qui Gonn Jinn and Anakin, but QGJ died unexpectedly. Now his bloodline (Rey) has returned to be trained by Luke Skywalker (a role reversal) and Rey will be the one to finally balance the Force.

"I think Rey will give Luke his old lightsaber and Luke will give Rey an old Jedi relic left in the temple by Kenobi. A green lightsaber once owned by Qui Gonn Jinn."