Who Is Rey? A few theories

by Mike Lunsford, Editor-In-Chief

Edit - 9/4/2019
I do not question Rey’s parentage at all in this article. I assume that Kylo’s statement that her parents were not important. Instead I focus on how Rey got to be as powerful as she is so quickly. - Mike
 

I wondered aloud via an article "how did Rey manage to be so powerful with little to no training in the ways of the Force?" At this point, she's fought off the very powerful, much more experienced Kylo Ren/Ben Solo in a lightsaber duel. She talked Luke Skywalker into training her in the ways of the Jedi (with a little help from R2). She managed to defeat several elite Praetorian Guards on Supreme Leader Snoke's flagship. She's no slouch essentially a week into her Jedi experience. But how did it happen? How is it even possible? Here is some wild speculation that uses previous Star Wars tales to determine how the heck this "Rey from nowhere" managed to be such a badass so quickly. 

- Rey is "The Chosen One" 

When it comes to this theory, there is a lot that has to be assumed that has never been stated in Star Wars lore previously as canon. The first would be that "the Chosen One" would have to be a manifestation of the Force, specifically the Cosmic Force. What is the difference between the Cosmic Force and the Living Force that Qui-Gon Jinn spoke of in The Phantom Menace? The living force is energy that all living beings create and it allows all Force users to convene with them. This living Force feeds into the Cosmic Force, the energy that binds all things together: space, time, the planets, etc. The Cosmic Force is obviously much larger and in fact, when a living thing dies, its Force energy goes into the Cosmic Force. When we talk about "the will of the Force," its thought that they are referring to the Cosmic Force. So there is the first part of the theory.

The second part that must be assumed is that parts of the pre-canon novel Star Wars: Darth Plagueis is, in fact, canon. In conjunction, you must also assume that Supreme Chancellor Palpatine was lying to Anakin in Revenge of the Sith when he told him that Darth Plagueis was successful in creating life out of midi-chlorians. Here's the wiki entry about the novel's scene in question: 

Nearly a decade before his death, Darth Plagueis, and his apprentice, Darth Sidious, committed an act in direct violation to the nature of the Force. To further the Grand Plan, the two Sith had attempted to will a being of their own design into creation, pouring their malicious intent into waves through the Force to the countless midi-chlorians spread across the galaxy. The experiment yielded unfruitful however, as Plagueis perceived the Force growing silent to his probing. When Anakin Skywalker was discovered by Qui-Gon Jinn in 32 BBY, Plagueis became convinced that the midi-chlorians, unwilling to comply to his and Sidious's "unnatural" usurpation of the power of the Force, struck back in retaliation, conceiving a savior to ultimately destroy the Sith: the prophecied Chosen One, whom Plagueis had considered creating in the past. Though Plagueis purportedly taught Palpatine all he knew, and Palpatine himself had also participated in the earlier failed attempt at manipulating midi-chlorians that resulted in Anakin's birth, Palpatine himself was unable to fully master Plagueis' teachings to cheat death through the Force via midi-chlorians...

So, all that being said just to establish two things for this theory:

1. The Force has a will of its own, which we've seen evidence of before.

2. Palpatine could be a liar. he did single-handedly overthrew the Galactic Senate to put himself into power with an incredibly elaborate plan that involved a massive war. Let's not act like this is so unlikely.

When Plageuis and Palpatine started mucking around with the Force to create a dark being of their own design, the Force got pissed and created the Chosen One to overthrow their designs. In the end, it overthrew the Jedi's designs as well but that leads credence to what Luke said in The Last Jedi:

That Force does not belong to the Jedi. To say that if the Jedi die, the light dies, is vanity. Can you feel that?

that quote, taken out of context makes it seem like Luke is saying "can you feel THAT? BOOM! mic drop." And this pose works well for his mic drop.

So, the Force doesn't play favorites, that's for sure. With all of that backstory, let's set the table for what is happening in the post-Empire galaxy. There are no Dark Side users that we know of (Snoke is out there, somewhere doing something). Luke starts to rebuild the Jedi Order. Somehow, the dark forces of Snoke begin to corrupt Luke's nephew and student Ben Solo. He is dubbed Kylo Ren and tasked with destroying Luke's new Jedi order. In doing so, the universe is out of balance with Snoke and the incredibly powerful Solo/Ren being agents of the darkness and Luke being the only light side user left, the "last Jedi" if you will. We all know that Leia "has that power, too" but she would be no match at this point in her life against the likes of Snoke and her corrupted son. And with Luke exiling himself in shame, what would the galaxy do to balance the Force?

I tried to find the goofiest picture of Rey.

Why do you think the first film was called The Force Awakens? It's talking about Rey. The Cosmic Force needs an equal light to balance the dark that was Kylo and Snoke. In fact, in The Last Jedi, Snoke even states this specifically to Kylo Ren:

Darkness rises, and light to meet it

Snoke realizes that Rey's Force sensitivity and ability was heightened by the galaxy to match the growing darkness of he and Kylo Ren. The Cosmic Force did this is retaliation to Plageuis trying to create an evil Force entity and in turn, Anakin Skywalker was created.

Could Rey be "the chosen one" in the sense that she is the reincarnated Anakin? No. I don't think it works like that. However, it would explain why she saw the visions she did when she picked up the Skywalker lightsaber. There's a movie about the life and times of the current Dalai Lama called Kundun. In this film, there is a scene where a young boy, who is believed to be the reincarnation of the the Dalai Lama, is given a series of items that may have belonged to the previous Lama. He is asked to choose the item that belonged to the spiritual leader. The boy chooses an unassuming pair of glasses and proudly states "those are my glasses!" They did in fact belong to the previous Lama. Are they the same person with the same memories? No, reincarnation doesn't work like that. As the current Lama states to an Indian Buddhist who asks if he is Buddha:

"I think that I am a reflection, like the moon on water. When you see me, and I try to be a good man, you see yourself.

I think Rey was chosen by the Cosmic Force to become the counterweight to Kylo Ren. With her survival abilities as a scavenger, her fighting skill with her staff, and the piloting skills that she had learned in her time on Jakku, she was the perfect candidate. While I'm mentioning some of those basic skills, let's debunk the whole "why is she so good with a lightsaber" thing right now. Her abilities with the staff show that she can handle a simple melee weapon, and with her, she does it quite well. It's not far fetched to think that she would be fine with a laser sword. For crying out loud, Finn did passably well with one and no one said a word about that. Anyway, moving on.

With her "awakening" at an older age, it shows the Cosmic Force's disregard for the Jedi's dogmatic view that only children can start learning. It also really opens up the Force to everyone, just like when we saw the young boy on Canto Bight use the force to move the broom. During the Grand Republic days, the Jedi made the Force elitist. You could only be allowed to learn the special teaching and tutelage if you passed their blood test, weren't too old and you paid the enrollment dues (there's no way that temple on Correscant pays for itself.) 

"Conferred we have. Tuition, due it is. Payment in full it must be."

Not only does it show that the Force does what it wants, it also bears witness that the Will of the Force truly is a thing. The Force does not want there to ever be an imbalance. Light never completely triumphs over dark, and vice versa. It's why, if you're familiar with the Star Wars stories, even dating back to the Old Republic stuff, the Jedi and Sith are in a constant struggle for dominance yet neither fully wipes the other out. They need each other to exist. It's a weird Jerry Maguire sort of "you complete me" thing that gets even weirder imagery-wise when you picture Darth Vader saying that line to Luke in Return of the Jedi. 

- Rey is Revan

For all you Star Wars nerds who are already scoffing at the mere mentioning of the Revanchist in comparison to Rey, calm yourselves, please. I'm not saying she IS Revan, I'm saying that she might be based on the character and have a similar story. If the name Revan doesn't register with you, stand by. It's story time.

Back in the Old Republic days, there was a powerful Jedi. The Republic was at war with the Mandalorians. Unlike the Clone Wars, the Jedi were not involved in the war at all, much to the dismay of many of the Jedi Knights. In defiance of the Council's wishes, the man who now called himself Revan started a revolt that demanded the Jedi be involved. The council continued their non-involvement stand, but there were many Jedi who felt the Republic needed to be defended. Revan and his apprentice Malak lead a group of Jedi in petitioning the Council to allow them to fight for the Republic. Although the Jedi Council did not give the Revanchists their full support, they begrudgingly allowed them to join the Republic Military under the banner of a Republic Mercy Corps. 

Revan taking out a Mandalorian.

The Republic Mercy Corps was the difference maker and the Republic defeated the Mandalorians. However, like death, destruction, and hate often do, it lead Revan, Malak and many of the Revanchists to the path of the Dark Side. In fact, Revan and Malak became Darth Revan and Darth Malak (there's an eternal Sith Emperor involved. It's a whole thing). They reigned their terror on the galaxy and were taking a heavy toll on the Jedi Order. 

The Jedi were desperate and sent a strike team to take Revan and Malak out, lead by Bastilla Shan. Bastilla directly attacked Revan's ship and in the moment of distraction, Malak turned on Revan and had his ship open fire on his fellow Sith Lord. Revan was near death but Bastilla was able to keep him alive with the Force. It was decided by the Jedi Council to wipe Revan's mind and give him a false identity as a Republic soldier. He would eventually learn that he was Force-sensitive, train under Bastilla and become a Jedi Knight again, helping the Jedi turn the tide and defeat Darth Malak and his Sith fleet. 

I told you all of that backstory to lead you to this theory: Rey is already a strong Force user, her memories have been wiped, just like Revan's. The whole "scavenger on Jakku" thing is the backstory she was programmed with. This would explain why she was able to tap into the Force so easily and quickly, and why she is a badass with a lightsaber. If we're taking the Revan-as-a-Rey-template theory even further, it would also explain why she is able to be tempted by the Dark Side and not be consumed by it. Revan was a unique figure in the Jedi and Sith lore in that he was able to be incredibly powerful for both the light side and the dark. His comrade, Malak had this to say about him

...In the end, you belong to neither the light nor the darkness. You will forever stand alone.

Let me paint the theoretical picture: Ben Solo has turned to the Dark Side. He's on whatever planet that Luke has his Jedi academy established and he goes on his killing spree. Rey is a young trainee with incredible potential. In his massacre, he "kills" her and the other students and is off to go meet Snoke for a post-Jedi-slaughter sundae.

"I didn't even own that building. The landlord is going to be pissed."

But Rey isn't dead. Luke finds her clinging to life and uses the Force to save her. He knows that she is nowhere near ready to face Ben or Snoke and the two Dark Side users will be searching for the remaining Jedi endlessly to snuff out their lives. Luke decides to go into hiding, cut himself off from the Force so he can't be found and wipes Rey's memories, implanting the ones of her childhood and her parents leaving her on Jakku. Splitting up is the only way to give "the good guys" a fighting chance to even the score, or, balance the Force as it was. 

You might be thinking "this theory has way too many holes. Why would Luke leave a young girl on a desert planet to fend for herself?" Ah, here's where it gets fun. So, remember when Finn shows up on Jakku and they're running from the First Order and they just happen to find a Corellian YT-1300f light freighter under a tarp? But not just any Corellian light freighter, THE FREAKIN' MILLENNIUM FALCON?

"Wow, this ship is just sitting here, with its hatch open waiting for us to jump in! Why should we question this?"

The Millennium Falcon was sitting there, waiting for Rey to find it (why didn't she notice it before?). The official story says that it was stolen by one person, stolen by another, and then ended up in the hands of the junk dealer on Jakku. This is all way too convenient if you ask me. Luke had to go into hiding and so did Rey. But before Luke did so, he put into motion a plan that would allow Rey to start on the path that would eventually lead her back to him. With the Millennium Falcon on the same planet, I suspect that Han and Chewie knew EXACTLY where it was because they were essentially Obi-Wan-Kenobi-ing Rey: they were watching out for her but not getting involved. In fact, if this theory is true, they did an even better job than ol' Ben because Rey had no idea they were around. Think about it: if Han and Chewie had a tracker on the Falcon the whole time, why didn't they find it earlier? This was part of the plan. When all the pieces came together, they would help Rey find Luke and well.

On top of that, where was the final piece of the map to find Luke Skywalker? Jakku. Who was keeping it? A companion of Luke's who helped him locate many lost Jedi artifacts, Lors San Tekka. Lors was a member of the Church of the Force, someone who would know a great deal about the history of the Jedi and how they did things. 

Where was the Skywalker lightsaber that Rey would eventually use? With Maz Kanata, who Han Solo brought Rey and Finn to directly. Are you starting to see the pattern here? 

ok, maybe it's not a pattern, maybe I'm just reading into stuff. BUT IT COULD BE A PATTERN!

This theory does raise questions about Luke's response to Rey. Wouldn't he have recognized her? If this was his plan to begin with, wouldn't he be excited to see that she has found all the pieces? If he wants his plan to succeed, he wouldn't. He can't just accept her with open arms and say "REY! YOU FOUND ALL THE PIECES! YOU GOT THE GOLDEN TICKET! SO PROUD!" and then just go about training her. First off, he still feels responsible for creating Kylo Ren and feels that not only did he fail, but the whole Jedi concept failed. For the sake of this theory, let's say Luke was underplaying his knowledge in order for Rey to find her own path to defeating the Dark Side. Some may say that would taint his legacy and make him manipulative of Rey. Warping a young person to do their bidding because they created an evil monster is not the Jedi way...

"How did my father die?"
"Well, he got all whiny and annoying, killed a bunch of kids and choked out your mom, so I dismembered him and left him to die next to a flaming lava river. He might be dead, he might not be. Heck, he could be the guy inside that Darth Vader suit!"
"What????"
"I mean, a young Jedi named Darth Vader: he was a pupil of mine until he turned to evil..."

OK, so maybe it is the Jedi way. If Luke DID wipe Rey's mind and then played dumb to make sure she was ready for what she would have to face, it means that he just learned from his masters, Obi-Wan and Yoda. They both hid the full truth from him in order to get him to defeat Vader and the Emperor. The Jedi have a long history of weaponizing children with selective release of information and "certain points of view."  

It does raise another question. Why didn't Ben Solo/Kylo Ren recognize Rey? Here's the thing: Kylo Ren is a self-absorbed juicebag. He's only focused on finding Luke and killing him. He's too arrogant to think that someone from the academy survived. Anger and hate have clouded his judgement so much so that he doesn't even question this random girl showing up and being ridiculously powerful. When he scans her mind, all he sees is what he's looking for and the planted memories. Never once does he stop and wonder "why is this girl only letting me see certain things?" or "how the heck is she so powerful with the Force? She's had Uncle Luke's saber for like 20 minutes!" or " HOW THE EFF DID SHE GET UNCLE LUKE'S LIGHTSABER??????" or "HOW THE HECK AM I STILL ALIVE??? I TOOK A CROSSBOW BOLT TO THE ABDOMEN!!!"

"wait a second: didn't we have an 'Intro to Mind Tricks' class together?"

To end this theory with another bit of proof, let's look at the source material for Revan: Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic. In this video game, Bastilla and Revan share a "force bond" that ends up strengthening as time goes forward, eventually having the two fall in love. Their connect allows Revan to turn Bastilla back from the Dark Side after she is turned by Darth Malak. This sounds eerily familiar to what we've seen with Ben Solo/Kylo Ren and Rey up to this point. A "force connection," a strange attraction to each other, one trying to turn the other from the Dark Side. It's not proof, but it certainly raises a few eyebrows.

If you're asking me which one of these theories I think is the more plausible, I can't say for sure. They both would be cool but need some refinement. I personally think the "Chosen One" theory makes a bit more sense, but I also love the Revan story. Knights of the Old Republic is my favorite video game of all time. If one of these or some combination of them were to be true, it might be fun. However, if neither is part of the story, that's cool, too. For me, Star Wars is always enjoyable. It's my favorite property and I'm just ecstatic that they continue to make movies every few years for me to see. In fact, the speculation of what might happen makes these movies that much more fun. I can tell you that when I discussed the possibilities of what would come from The Last Jedi I really wasn't even close, but who cares? It's a blast to try to come up with your own theories!

What theories do you have about Rey? Why do you think she's so powerful? Let us know in the comments or you can write your own editorial response! All are welcome, as long as you're not a juicebag :)