This thread was inspired by a Matt Stover interview where he apparently expressed more interest in Rey being a “Random” or a “Nobody.”

See, I’ve generally always thought that was a shallow perspective based off more of an obstinate refusal of something more predictable, even if it was more substantial and dramatic answer. To *me*, Rey Skywalker or Solo was the only creative yet practical answer for an escapist story that’s supposed to bring people joy. And it seems an awful lot like the original female lead was a Skywalker or Solo under Lucas and Arndt, then became a mystery box that Abrams introduced and that Johnson could choose from, before TROS went with the Palpatine/“Skywalker” answer.

Like, I know I'm going to be obstinate, and this is a highly subjective bit of speculation/storytelling. But I’m curious how some of you guys who liked TLJ think it could have been resonant and rewarding for the end of a 9-film story.

So, to make things simpler, here’s the issues that occurred to me when I read Colin Trevorrow’s Duel of the Fate’s script, since it’s actually known to have kept “Rey Random” for her story:

- How important do you consider the Skywalkers getting a “happy ending” is? To me, this is something that was always huge; better to leave ROTJ as the end of the family story than resurrect it just so Kylo can be a blight on his house, than die.

- How important is it that Rey outshine and overshadow Kylo, since that’s a definite risk of leaving him the only Skywalker? This is highly subjective, but I tend to think TLJ, the DOTF script, and TROS all still show that the audience *and* LFL is naturally more drawn to Kylo than is helpful to Rey; I mean, it’s already accepted as “fact” Kylo should overshadow Finn by those stories...

- Does it actually add something to the mythos, seriously? I think I understand the idea in principal, that proving Star Wars is larger than the Skywalkers... but that also feels like a serious “no duh” bit of redundancy, an unneeded point of emphasis that feels more like spite than conviction; why burn an the family to the ground, if they aren’t holding the story back?