Why it’s so important fans still want to know Rey’s parents in Star Wars: Episode IX

Though The Last Jedi wants us to believe Rey is nobody, some of us think Star Wars will still reveal her true parentage by Episode IX.

One of the biggest questions fans asked in the two years between Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Star Wars: The Last Jedi‘s respective releases was who Rey’s parents truly were.

Many theorized that she was the daughter of one of our legendary heroes. For the sake of the story, these theories serve to connect our current protagonist to the bigger picture.

As Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy put it once, “The Saga films focus on the Skywalker family saga.” Thus, it’s safe to assume that a Skywalker offspring with that specific name would reappear. Because, after all, we just want to hear “Master Skywalker” one more time.

However, The Last Jedi zigged instead of zagged. The film declared that Rey was “a nobody” traded on Jakku for drinking money (and apparently a ship?). It only makes sense on a superficial level, especially when you take two hours of emotional manipulation between her and Kylo Ren into account.

Some maintain that Rey could still be revealed to be a Skywalker. Likewise, Reddit features innumerable theories about Rey, from reincarnation to a descendant of Obi-Wan Kenobi. But if there’s one thing The Last Jedi taught us, it’s that Star Wars is an open-ended sandbox for the director, and basically, the director only.

So, if Rey is a nobody, that’s fine. Unfortunately, it’s her struggle more than any of ours. We’re just the audience, but our protagonist spent all of two hours heartbroken in each scene in The Last Jedi. Separated from Finn, she meets Luke Skywalker, who’s essentially a big letdown for her. She starts to confide in Kylo Ren, who later reveals she’s nothing and asks her to join the very cause she’s trying to disrupt. Plus, she still doesn’t fully understand what her role is in the entire story.

If you’re a Daisy Ridley fan, like myself and John Williams, ultimately, you want to see her play a character unshackled from her past and living a happy life. Even Williams believes that Episode IX will reveal Rey’s true parentage. Although, it might not be what we think.

For example, what if her parent is Snoke? Sure, it seems farfetched. But we’re in a different place after The Last Jedi. Moreover, Star Wars: Rebels introduced time travel. So, anything can really happen. What if they reveal her as the daughter of Han Solo and another unnamed woman?

A lot of people follow movie canon and nothing else. It wouldn’t be that hard to give anyone two lines to say “your parents are…” Since we all plan to see Mark Hamill as Force ghost Luke again, five minutes of exposition isn’t too much to ask for.

The point very well could be “anyone can use the Force.” But Rey might not be the best character to do that with. Finn would’ve been the perfect character to dive into that arc with, but The Last Jedi sent him to Canto Bight instead.

Many of the characters in the Star Wars sequel trilogy are all but useless, so giving Rey a grander connection to the six previous films would be more satisfying. What matters most, though, is that she finds happiness and peace somewhere. With whatever family she cobbles together.

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Theories are like fan fiction. It helps the audience fill in the gaps of anything they didn’t really buy into or think made a lot of sense. With The Last Jedi being such a controversial film, of course many of us still think about who Rey’s parents really are.

Do you think Rey’s really just a random character? Or are you hoping for her to be a Skywalker or Solo still?