It’s not been a great week for Star Wars‘ Rey. First she gets left out of the Star Wars Monopoly set, despite being the main protagonist of The Force Awakens. Then a convincing new fan theory suggests that (SPOILER ALERT!) she’s not related to the Skywalkers at all – despite heavy signposting and the majority of fan opinion – thanks to a canny interpretation by Mr Sunday Movies.
That theory, in short, is that she’s this guy’s granddaughter.
https://vine.co/v/iqgd9mlgXpt/embed/simple
Yep, it’s Obi Wan Kenobi. Reason 1? Their clothing. They have similar clothing. But it gets a lot better, don’t worry.
Maybe, just maybe. Grandfather #obiwankenobi Can Rey be the granddaughter of Obi Wan? #rey #StarWarsForceAwakens pic.twitter.com/8Ixe4xh6Vb
— Sergio Estevez (@slestevez) December 25, 2015
When Rey is held in captivity in the malign First Order base, she manages to free herself, untrained, using a Jedi Mind Trick. Another person who’s displayed a particular aptitude for this Force power in the films is Obi Wan.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdSUKIFnYc8&start=501
Ok, so he only does it twice, but he’s better than his master Qui-Gon Jinn
When Rey escapes from her shackles on Starkiller base, she moves around using stealth and resourcefulness to evade capture. Just like Obi Wan does when he deactivates this tractor beam. Writer/director JJ Abrams might have just been characterising Rey, but he might also have been providing a subtle hint.
Rey ends up with Luke at the end of The Force Awakens, presumably to be trained. It’d be neat if Luke trained the granddaughter of the man who trained him and his father. And actually this would render their final scene – the strangely spinny, eternal arm-outstretchy bit – not a scene between father and daughter but between old man and old man’s hero’s granddaughter. Bit weirder? Perhaps.
As well as that, though, there’d be a nice parallel between Rey (Obi Wan Kenobi’s granddaughter) and Kylo Ren (Anakin Skywalker’s grandson), especially since both Kenobis leave both Skywalkers severely injured at the end of both fights.
Watching the final fight between Anakin and Obi-Wan always gives me the chills. Such a powerful event. #StarWars pic.twitter.com/UgqjE4smai
— Jacob Wagner (@TheWagbag) March 11, 2014
Rey actor Daisy Ridley also asserted before the film came out, “Because I’ve said that I’m solitary, and that’s how I begin, that is probably a big clue as to what [Rey’s parentage] is”. A lot of people interpreted that as a Skywalker comment, and sure, Anakin and Luke were solitary people – but they didn’t live completely alone. Obi Wan Kenobi lived as a hermit on Tatooine for 30 years.
https://twitter.com/rudixworld/status/659012943858769920
In the film, Rey touches Luke’s old lightsaber and experiences a crazy vision, in which both Obi Wan actors Ewan McGregor (young) and Alec Guinness (old) make an appearance, in the words “Rey, these are your first steps.” In the original film Obi Wan said, “you’ve taken your first step into a larger world” to Luke after he started using the Force. None of that proves anything, really, but it could be significant that you don’t hear Anakin’s voice in the vision.
Mr Sunday Movies isn’t all about the geeky facts – he’s also thinking commercially. There are rumours of a one-off Obi Wan movie set between Episodes 3 and 4 – Revenge Of The Sith and A New Hope. If Rey’s revealed as Rey Kenobi in Episode 8, that’d be all the fan interest Disney would need to drive people into the cinema for the Obi Wan film.
As for Rey’s connection to Luke’s old lightsaber – well, it was Anakin’s lightsaber first, actually, but Obi Wan had it for longer than both Luke and Anakin put together. He kept it for the entire period between episodes 3 and 4. He’s got as much to do with it as any of the Skywalkers.
this was your father's light saber… pic.twitter.com/USamHp5Tik
— zombie ninja kittens (@47zombiekittens) December 16, 2015
Not convinced? Have a look at the theory video below and decide for yourself…