THIS ARTICLE HAS MAJOR SPOILERS FOR STAR WARS EPISODE IX: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER. This movie finally answered the question fans have been asking for years — who are Rey’s parents? The answer was mind-blowing.
Ever since Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens fans have been asking who Rey’s parents were. She is clearly strong in the Force. but why? Can just anyone have the Force? How exactly does that work. There was plenty of speculation — is she a Skywalker? Was she Kylo Ren’s twin? Well Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker is here and it answered that question — and I didn’t see it coming.
In Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Kylo Ren tells Rey that he parents were nobody. That they sold her and didn’t care about her. In The Rise of Skywalker the real truth was revealed. Honestly, I was cool with the fact that they were nobodies. It meant that the Force could live on in anyone….
LAST CHANCE! MAJOR SPOILERS FOR THE RISE OF SKYWALKER ABOUT REY’S PARENTS TO FOLLOW!
Rey Is A Palpatine
Yea you read that heading right. A Palpatine. Rey. When this was revealed the entire audience gasped and I was like WAIT, WHAT?! This was a twist I did not see coming — and I loved it. So basically you have Kylo Ren, whose grandfather is Darth Vader, and Rey, whose grandfather is the Emperor. As Kylo said, the Dark Side is in their blood. I love me some Dark Side, and so I was low key excited about this.
But why did her parents abandon her? To save her of course. The Emperor (who is kind of like a zombie now? Weird…) was hunting her down and his son knew it would be to kill her or turn her. Turns out Palpatine would have liked to do either. Anyways, when his son and wife sold her and refused to reveal their location, he had them killed.
Turns out that Luke and Leia knew this already, but they didn’t want to let it define Rey. That checks out and makes plenty of sense since lying about parents is something they do in this franchise. Of course, Star Wars didn’t want to give up on the fact that anyone can have the Force — so they gave Finn the feelings side of it.
Does this work? Absolutely. For me anyways. It made sense and I didn’t see it coming. Another big shocker that will go down in Star Wars history.
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About Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker
The surviving Resistance faces the First Order once more as Rey, Finn and Poe Dameron’s journey continues. With the power and knowledge of generations behind them, the final battle commences.
The Rise of Skywalker is in theaters now!
Tessa Smith is a Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer-approved Film and TV Critic. On Camera personality and TV / Film Critic with 10+ years of experience in video editing, writing, editing, moderating, and hosting.