Rey's Parents - Who Do You Want Them To Be?

[Güicho]

The Force Awakens already revealed who Rey's father is, they did it so honestly a child could get it.

The whole story plainly built up to it, from the wonderful the Force is strong in my family promos, the narrative build up, clues and learning throughout the movie, to the fantastic powerful ending which beautifully drove it home.
They did everything but say the words out loud, which the movie didn't need.

So of course because of that, adults, fans and the internet in their quest to be eternally miserable and unsatisfied, have decided - well they didn't spell it out enough so that's unsatisfying and disappointing!
Or the opposite - No it's too obvious they spelled it out to much so that's unsatisfying and disappointing!
Either way they get to be eternally miserable and unsatisfied!

Dedicating themselves to come up with an endless barrage of lame theories (they've convinced themselves are visionary) all to justify their misery and dissatisfaction with a wonderfully climactic and satisfying ending they can never enjoy.

That is the story people, the entire internet need to stop deluding themselves.

Re-posted: ........This!

I'm with Daisy Ridley on this, I thought it was answered in The Force Awakens, it's what the movie wonderfully built up to. From the promos, to the unfolding, to the spectacular and powerful ending!

[Güicho]

Just not a Skywalker. That would make Luke like the biggest piece of **** in the universe to just dump his kid off on some horrible shithole planet and abandon her there. There is not reason they could give that would make him look good in that situation. Even if he was trying to hide her your telling me he could not find anyplace better than that?

Unless of course he didn't know she existed, or believed that she ceased to exist.

[godisawesome]

Yeah, I always think that argument neglects the fact that Rey Skywalker has a giant unknown factor in Mama Skywalker who could easily be used to explain Rey's situation. I've always though that her being on Jakku and apparently left in Plutt's protection implied she was dropped off by someone who intended to come back, and that the someone probably took off for the next door Unknown Regions and the First Order.

Cruel parents trying to get rid of her probably would have literally sold her to Plutt, but she's clearly in the same situation as everyone else and doesn't express hatred towards parents, so that's out. Neglectful or burdened parents probably would have found a better place to drop her off, or again been so obviously horrible she again wouldn't idealize them. And no responsible parent trying to set their kid up long term would leave them with Plutt as the permanent guardian.

Plutt is a creature you would maybe pay to temporarily keep your kid safe when you intend to drop right back from wherever your going, using money and threats to ensure the most powerful person at Niima Outpost does your bidding. So, I figure Mama Skywalker, who concealed her daughter from Luke for some reason, went to investigate the First Order, dropped Rey off for a brief stay, then got killed/captured/marooned.

[WebLurker]

Yeah, I always think that argument neglects the fact that Rey Skywalker has a giant unknown factor in Mama Skywalker who could easily be used to explain Rey's situation. I've always though that her being on Jakku and apparently left in Plutt's protection implied she was dropped off by someone who intended to come back, and that the someone probably took off for the next door Unknown Regions and the First Order.

No information about her parents doing anything to or about the First Order, but the novelizations do confirm that they planned to come back.

Cruel parents trying to get rid of her probably would have literally sold her to Plutt, but she's clearly in the same situation as everyone else and doesn't express hatred towards parents, so that's out. Neglectful or burdened parents probably would have found a better place to drop her off, or again been so obviously horrible she again wouldn't idealize them. And no responsible parent trying to set their kid up long term would leave them with Plutt as the permanent guardian.

Rey doesn't actually have any memories of being left on Jakku or anything before that (Rey's Survival Guide), although the novelizations do confirm that whoever left her there did love her.

Plutt is a creature you would maybe pay to temporarily keep your kid safe when you intend to drop right back from wherever your going, using money and threats to ensure the most powerful person at Niima Outpost does your bidding. So, I figure Mama Skywalker, who concealed her daughter from Luke for some reason, went to investigate the First Order, dropped Rey off for a brief stay, then got killed/captured/marooned.

Maybe, although there's no information about the exacts of the deal made with Plutt (he did keep charge of her until she struck out on her own, barring her working with other scavengers during her childhood, per the Survival Guide) or what they did after leaving Jakku.

[Jaddor]

Luke and a brand new female character.
it seems like the most sensible + realistic thing to do.

[WebLurker]

Luke and a brand new female character.
it seems like the most sensible + realistic thing to do.

I think there are difficulties to having Luke be her father (the timing of her birth in regards to the other characters' lives, etc.), but if Luke is her father, I think you're right that this's the most likely way it'll go down.

(I'd like it be the way that it happens, too, but I'm skeptical that it will.)

[BeastieRunner]

To add fuel to the mother angle, Disney filed for a bunch of Mara Jade copyrights last year.

Will it be for that reason?

[Starter Set]

Oh man, that would be sweet.

[Güicho]

I think there are difficulties to having Luke be her father

Like what?

(the timing of her birth in regards to the other characters' lives

How so?
(again keep in mind he did not necessarily need to be there at the time of her birth. Or even know about it, or know for certain that she survived past a certain point, people seem to ignore this)

etc.

What else?

Honestly what is so unsatisfying to some people about that exciting build up: From the promos that hinted at it, to the incredible unfolding where she first denies and runs away, then finally claims her now clear legacy, and new destiny, "The belonging you seek is not behind you - it is ahead." - to the spectacular and powerful ending, which clearly, beautifully and satisfyingly drives it all home!

They did everything but say the words out loud, which the movie didn't need.

So somehow people need to be unsatisfied, dedicating themselves to come up with an endless barrage of lame theories and obstacles (they've convinced themselves are visionary) all to justify their misery and dissatisfaction with a wonderfully climactic and satisfying ending which they apparently can never enjoy, because it points to exactly what it built up to.

[Starter Set]

Honestly when he sees Rey at the end of the last movie he looks more interested by the light saber than anything else really. And well, even if he doesn't know that he has a girl, he would sense a strong connection thanks to the force i guess (you're my sister Leia, didn't you sense the force when you kissed me two times...you pervert) and that's not what it seems to happen there.

But eh, 10 seconds of movie and a couple of grumpy looks from Hamill, hard to build a theory on that so who knows? I would love to see some incarnation of Mara Jade and the idea of a "you're my father" scene with Rey and Luke sure is worth some lolz but..hmm..don't think so.

[Carabas]

Like what?

A serious mother deficiency and either the necessity of a lot of flashback scenes or some very glaring holes in the story (not the same as plotholes, IMO worse than plotholes).

[Carabas]

But eh, 10 seconds of movie and a couple of grumpy looks from Hamill, hard to build a theory on that so who knows? I would love to see some incarnation of Mara Jade and the idea of a "you're my father" scene with Rey and Luke sure is worth some lolz but..hmm..don't think so.

What I get from those 10 seconds is a bitter old man who really, really does not want to get involved again, because look how that turned out last time, and just had the Force personally headbutt him in the face with a "Well, you're going to have to. Get up." by dropping Rey with his lightsabre on his doorstep.

[Güicho]

Honestly when he sees Rey at the end of the last movie he looks more interested by the light saber than anything else really.

You mean the weapon that carries the weight of the legacy passed from father to son, now to daughter, pretty much the through-story-arc symbol of the entire franchise.
Yeah why would they focus on that?

And you didn't see Chewie or R2 walk it up there. Of course it's about who is carrying it and placing it before him. The whole movie built up to that!

And well, even if he doesn't know that he has a girl, he would sense a strong connection thanks to the force i guess ... that's not what it seems to happen there.

Maybe that's just your shallow reading of his look and "connection".
Who said his look doesn't carry the weight of what he may have been intentionally been blocking out or trying to avoid, the overwhelming weight, responsibility truth of it all, and what is to come.

But eh, 10 seconds of movie and a couple of grumpy looks from Hamill, hard to build a theory on that .

"on that"?
I like how you ignore the entire movie, all the information, everything that built up top that scene.

[Starter Set]

You mean the weapon that carries the weight of the legacy passed from father to son, now to daughter, pretty much the threw-story-arc symbol of the entire franchise.
Yeah why would they focus on that?

The weapon he has lost in ESB and didn't give a **** about since then? Ah yeah, must be that one.

[WebLurker]

Like what?

How so?
(again keep in mind he did not necessarily need to be there at the time of her birth. Or even know about it, or know for certain that she survived past a certain point, people seem to ignore this)

Here's how things break down. Rey was born 19 years before TFA and left on Jakku a few years after that. Luke went into exile after his Jedi academy was destroyed six years before TFA. The popular assumption behind Rey being a Skywalker was that she was left on Jakku as being a survivor of Kylo Ren's attack. We know know that's not the case, so it seems to discount the theory.

Now, they could make Rey the product of a one-night stand Luke had and that would fit fine, however, the novelizations do pretty strongly suggest that her parents were the ones who left her on Jakku. There could be other explanations (the people who left her were other family members, her mom married/remarried, she was taken in by others who accepted her, etc.). However, the theories start to get more complex than they need to be.

It's also worth noting that it appears that post-ROTJ, Luke disappeared from public and began focusing solely on rebuilding the Jedi. That doesn't make it impossible for him to have had a family or a lover or a one-night stand, but it does raise the possibility that he might not have.

What else?

There is no indication anywhere in the canon yet that Luke had a daughter who went missing and/or was presumed dead. In Bloodline, Leia thinks about her family, but makes no indication that she ever had a niece. (That could be explained away by Rey being an unknown love child, but still.)

In the movie, Maz tells Rey at one point: "Whomever you're waiting for on Jakku [her family], they're never coming back. But there's someone who still could." That seems to suggest that Luke is not related to her ("You won't be able to find your parents, but you can find other ways to find fulfillment." In fact, in TFA, one of Rey's main story arcs is her wanting to belong to a family and finding a surrogate one along the way. The Rey's Story novelization spells it out a bit more clearly in its rendition of Rey finding Finn, Han, and Chewie on Starkiller Base: "After all those years, someone had finally returned for her. She didn’t have to wait any longer" (Ch. 14, page 119). That could mean that the movies have done all they're going to do with Rey's family.

Finally, it seems like it's such an obvious answer that I wonder if they'll do something different to make it more of a surprise.

Now, I could be wrong. Certainly if they wanted to make Rey a Skywalker they could make it work as is right now (and I do like the idea). I guess I'm just skeptical that they will go this route.