- Warning: There are major spoilers ahead for "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker." Do not read ahead unless you've seen the film or want it to be spoiled.
- "The Rise of Skywalker" finally revealed who Rey is.
- It turns out she's a Palpatine!
- If you're mad, upset, or confused, you shouldn't be. Rey's reveal was hinted at throughout the latest movies and winds up being the perfect mirror to the start of George Lucas' prequel trilogy.
- Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.
Who is Rey? That's been the biggest lingering question of the "Star Wars" sequel trilogy, and "The Rise of Skywalker" finally gives us a definitive answer.
If you were among the many to guess she's a Skywalker or a Kenobi, you were wrong. It turns out Rey is Emperor Palpatine's granddaughter.
Yep, these two are related.
Kylo Ren reveals the news to Rey during one of their Force chats on the planet of Kijimi in between battling.
If you're still in disbelief and trying to figure out how this all makes sense, let's break it down together.
Who exactly are Rey's parents?
Great question. This is explained so quickly that you may have missed it, especially if your theater had a big reaction to the reveal.
Kylo Ren tells Rey that her father is Emperor Palpatine's son but that he and his wife chose to be "no one" in order to keep her safe from the emperor.
Rey's father and mother (who is, unexpectedly, played by the "Killing Eve" star Jodie Comer) decided to hide Rey on Jakku so Palpatine couldn't find her. The emperor was apparently searching for Rey and had her parents killed as a result.
Wait. Rey's origin story sounds really familiar.
You're right! If you think you've heard this story before, it's because it's essentially Luke and Leia Skywalker's story.
Both were hidden at the end of "Revenge of the Sith" to protect them from their father, Anakin Skywalker, aka Lord Vader. Neither of them knew their real identity, just like Rey.
Isn't that lazy writing?
It seems that way at first, but I actually think this thread makes a lot more sense when you look at the nine movies as a whole. More on this in a little bit.
Also, Palpatine had a son!?
It seems so!
In the "Star Wars" expanded universe, a mutant with three eyes and white hair named Triclops was created using Palpatine's DNA. It's worth noting that Triclops worked in spice mines. I bring that up because it's randomly mentioned in "TROS" that Poe used to be a spice runner. Maybe he knew Rey's father. Honestly, though, that detail may not mean much, since none of this is technically canon anymore since Disney purchased Lucasfilm.
For what it's worth, the son mentioned in "TROS" is never named and doesn't have white hair. He's unlikely Triclops and instead is an original creation of Lucasfilm. Though we don't get any real information on Rey's parents from "Episode IX," I'm sure Disney already has some book or Disney Plus show ready to explain more about Palpatine's mystery offspring. (You don't just hire Jodie Comer to play Rey's mother for a few moments, right?)
I wouldn't be surprised if this is explored more in the upcoming Obi-Wan Kenobi show or one of the future "Star Wars" movies. Other than Luke, Rey heard Kenobi's voice in her head more than any other Jedi in her "Force Awakens" Force vision. McGregor's voice specifically called out to her when she reached out to Luke's lightsaber, saying these were her first steps. Again, in "TROS" he can be heard telling Rey "these are your final steps" when battling Palpatine, suggesting he knew of her existence and was a guardian angel of sorts.
For all we know, it was Kenobi who suggested hiding Rey away on Jakku so she couldn't be found, in the same way he helped hide Leia and Luke Skywalker from their father.
Back to Rey being a Palpatine. Is this out of left field? No.
After "The Last Jedi" dubbed Rey a nobody, Simon Pegg, who played Unkar Plutt in "The Force Awakens," told the "Happy Sad Confused" podcast that the director J. J. Abrams originally had a plan for Rey to have a "relevant lineage" to the "Star Wars" universe.
Abrams told Uproxx that he and the "Star Wars" screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan always discussed bringing Palpatine back into the fold in some way. Why wouldn't they? Palpatine was always the central antagonist to the Skywalker clan.
"When you look at this as nine chapters of a story, perhaps the weirder thing would be if Palpatine didn't return," Abrams said. "You just look at what he talks about, who he is, how important he is, what the story is — strangely, his absence entirely from the third trilogy would be conspicuous."
Concept art in "The Art of 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens'" even shows that Rey would have traveled to the crashed Death Star in Palpatine's old throne room to discover a map to Luke's location.
OK. But are we truly believing that Rey was always thought to be a Palpatine?
That's up for debate. There are certainly teases in "The Force Awakens" that Rey could have ended up belonging to another famous family. For instance, would Anakin's lightsaber really call out to a Palpatine instead of a Skywalker? Why did Han Solo and Rey have such a connection? It certainly seemed like "The Force Awakens" was emphasizing certain relationships in the event the saga decided to go another route with her identity.
But the more I think about it, the more I believe the saga gave us the most convincing evidence that Rey could be a Palpatine. I also believe it was the right choice.
Why making Rey a nobody never made sense
Rey was so connected in the Force to Ben, Leia, and Luke in "The Last Jedi" that it would have been odd if she wasn't related to someone in the "Star Wars" universe, if not all three of them. Her raw, untapped power seemed too great for Lucasfilm to suddenly introduce a new lineage seven films into the "Star Wars" franchise.
If this was one of Disney's "Star Wars" spin-off films or franchises, I wouldn't have had any issue with Rey being an outsider. But Lucasfilm introduced Rey into the Skywalker saga. It wouldn't make sense with the 40-plus years of history to dismiss the Skywalker family in its series of films; it would have been disrespectful. If she wasn't connected to them in some way, it wouldn't have made sense.
There are plenty of hints that Rey was a Palpatine across the sequel trilogy
The parallels between Rey and the Emperor go beyond Rey showcasing some Force lightning abilities in "The Rise of Skywalker." In the years since the release of "The Force Awakens," many fans have pointed out that the composer John Williams' themes for both characters shared similarities.
Palpatine's voice can also be heard if you listen closely to Rey's mysterious Force vision in "The Force Awakens." For whatever reason, Disney and Lucasfilm don't have his name in the film's captions, but an official Lucasfilm graphic breaking down the vision proves he's there.
"The Last Jedi" also contains a few hints that Rey had Palpatine blood coursing through her veins, including Rey's immediate draw to the dark side, which unnerved Luke Skywalker.
J. Kenji López-Alt, a chef and New York Times bestselling author, noticed the two had comparative fighting styles. The first time both of them are seen wielding a lightsaber, in "Revenge of the Sith" and "The Force Awakens," they wear similar expressions in very similar stances.
You can read our full breakdown of clues that Rey was a Palpatine all along here.
Most importantly, it fits into George Lucas' rhyme scheme
At its heart, "Star Wars" has always been about Palpatine versus Skywalker. Everything that has happened to the Skywalker family, including Anakin's creation, was because of the Sith's obsession with trying to create life from the Force. (Depending on whether you follow canon before Disney purchased Lucasfilm or afterward, Anakin was created in one of two ways: He was either willed into being because of Palpatine's master, Plagueis, or, according to how you interpret Marvel's 2018 comic Vader issue No. 25, Palpatine directly or indirectly had a hand in creating Anakin.)
Either way, as Abrams said, why wouldn't you have Palpatine appear in a third trilogy in some way? The two are directly connected. It seems one can't exist without the other.
Lucas always intended for "Star Wars" to rhyme like poetry. If Kylo Ren was the grandson of a great power that originated on the light side of the Force, then it makes sense that his counterpart would be the granddaughter of another great power that originated on the dark side of the Force.
They're mirrors, something that's perfectly captured on the cover of "The Art of 'Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.'"
That's why I don't see Rey's origin as lazy writing. When you look at the trilogy as a whole, it's just another stanza in a larger poem that often repeats and has parallels.
Anakin destroyed the droid command center in "Episode I" similarly to how his son, Luke, later blew up the Death Star in "Episode IV." Lucas said that was on purpose. Similarly, it doesn't surprise me that Rey was hidden on another planet for her safety in the same way that Luke and Leia were hidden from Vader years before.
The larger payoff for me is looking at the mirroring stories that the prequel trilogy ("Episodes I-III") and the sequel trilogy ("Episodes VII-IX") tell.
The prequels introduce us to a young Force-sensitive boy who is assumed to be the chosen one to bring balance to the Force. Instead of becoming one of the greatest Jedi, he becomes one of the greatest (if not the greatest) Sith Lords. In "Return of the Jedi" ("Episode VI") he is arguably the last Sith to fall before peace and order are restored to the galaxy for a brief time. (While Vader technically died a Jedi because he sacrificed himself during his final moments for his son, I believe it's fair to say Vader "killed" the last of the Sith to bring back Anakin in the same way that Obi-Wan said Vader "killed" Anakin.)
The sequel trilogy introduces us to an older Force-sensitive young woman who is assumed to be a nobody. Instead of becoming the Sith empress that Palpatine wants her to be, she ends the series as one of the greatest and most powerful Jedi. She is also, as far as we know, the last Jedi.
In "Star Wars," it always comes full circle.
- Read more:
- 12 clues you may have missed that hinted at Rey's true identity in the 'Star Wars' sequel trilogy
- The 23 biggest questions we have after seeing 'Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker'
- 'Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker' finally gives us an explanation for Snoke, and it's a big letdown
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