Who [the heck] is Rey?

Prior to December 26, 2015, I wasn't a fan of the Star Wars series.  Not because they weren't good movies are anything (although something could be said about how cheesy Episode 2 was...search your feelings, you know it to be true).  I just never really got into them for whatever reason.  I grew up in the generation that got Darth Maul toys in our Happy Meals, and my family watched all six movies once, and I knew enough about the universe of the story and the Force to have a decent conversation with actual fans.  But that was it.

As of December 26, 2015, I'm officially now a fan.  This is because I saw Episode 7 The Force Awakens, and was so amazed by it that I saw it in the theatre 3 times in 5 days, and am currently planning to go a 4th time this week.

Other than the amazing talent of director J. J. Abrams and his trusty DP Daniel Mindel, one of the things that I think makes this movie so engaging (and makes people return to the theatre multiple times) is the fact that the main characters aren't your typical leads.

Finn is a former Storm Trooper [who just happens to be black, by the way] who deserts the First Order (the new bad guys).  Finn's character shows the humanity of the Troopers, that they are still human and capable of independent thought.  When he realizes what he is and what he's being ordered to do (kill a bunch of innocent people on Jakku), he's devastated and escapes with the assistance of a Resistance pilot named Poe (previously captured by the First Order).  Finn's knowledge of the Storm Troopers and the First Order's new weapon, the Star Killer Base, become crucial to the plot later on.

Our new head villain, Kylo Ren, wants to emulate his evil grandfather [Darth Vader], but feels a pull toward the Light.  This is interesting because it's the exact opposite of Vader, who was pulled to the darkness.  I'm not going to get into this much more now because we'll be discussing Kylo Ren in some detail later on.

Finally, we have Rey, a scavenger on Jakku.  What makes Rey such an intriguing character is that she's a woman who, well, doesn't fit the Hollywood model.  She's not constantly flirting or using her womanly wiles or anything like that.  She's just trying to survive.  In fact, she's pretty good at holding her own.

Here's the thing about Rey.  Other than the fact that she's a tomboy and that she's a brunette, we know next to nothing about her.  Over the course of the movie, we find out that she's been left on Jakku, that she's waiting for her family to return for her, and that she's Force-sensitive, but other than that we know nothing.  Who her family is.  Why she was dumped on Jakku.  We've got nothing.  I mean, other than that it places her in the perfect position to conveniently collide with BB-8 and Finn.


So, who the heck is she?

I have a theory.

WARNING!  

SPOILERS AHEAD!!!!!  

(turn back now if you don't want to be exposed to massive amounts of spoilers)

LynZ's Theory About Rey

Granted, having seen the movie 3 times now, I'm not entirely sure how I feel about this theory, but here's what I want to believe is going on and the evidence I'm going off of.

Theory: Rey and Kylo Ren are siblings.  Because of Ren's pull to the Light, he couldn't bring himself to kill his little sister when he murdered all the other Jedi (as seen in Rey's vision), so he dumped her on Jakku so that he would never have to see her again.

Well, not exactly dumped.

Kinda, but not exactly.

During Rey's vision (when she touches Luke's lightsaber), she sees a flashback of herself as a child crying as a ship departs the planet.  We also notice the hand of an alien creature holding her back, and hear a voice coldly order her to be quiet.  We all recognize the voice as being that of Unkar Plutt, the greedy guy on whom the scavenger's existence depends (as he is their main source of food and water).

Someone obviously approached Plutt and just kinda handed the young Rey over to him.

Handed over or sold to.

This all depends on who gave/sold Rey to Plutt.


So, Who Left Rey on Jakku? 

Three viewings later, I still have no idea.

But I have a theory.

Theory: It wasn't her parents.

Why?

What kind of loving parent leaves their five-year-old on a desert planet to fend for herself?

Well, okay, not entirely by herself.  But let's admit, scavenging for Plutt isn't a picnic.  Plutt is anything but fair, and as a result how much the scavengers get to eat each night is entirely dependent on how generous he's feeling...which isn't often.

The scavengers are basically Plutt’s slaves…or indentured servants.

Therefore, Rey is basically a slave.

Reasons I think this:

1) There's a short little clip near the beginning of the movie where she's polishing up some of her finds before turning them over to Plutt, and she glances up and stares [kinda randomly] at an older woman in the station next to hers.

In the book (yes, I've read the book), this scene makes a little more sense because she's observing a tender interaction between a mother and son, and this becomes the first clue that we the audience/readers get that she's either been orphaned or abandoned.  However, two viewings later, I'm still not sure what the purpose of having her randomly stare at this woman is.  Perhaps she's thinking that this woman could be her mother?  Maybe this woman raised her when she was little?  The first time around, I took it as she saw how old the woman had become and was a tiny bit sympathetic because the woman couldn't really be much of a scavenger at her age and there's some kind of unspoken "You know what happens when you've outlived your usefulness" thing looming over the scavengers.  After the second viewing, I'm not so sure what they were going for with that.  Perhaps a fourth viewing will make this clear?

Random woman aside, Rey's randomly staring at her, absently scrubbing at some odd piece of machinery, when this alien guy (the book says it's one of Plutt's assistants) comes up and bangs his staff against a canape leg (or a chair leg, it's hard to tell...suffice it to say he bangs something with his staff).  The book specifically states that this is to imply that "it would be in her best interest to focus on her work, and not allow herself to be distracted."  It may be nothing, but my boss doesn't have people hovering over me to be like, "Hey, you should be working instead of writing that random blog post about Star Wars!"  Three viewings and multiple reading later, this incident still strikes me as odd for free, independent contract scavengers who happen to all sell their goods to the same greedy alien guy.    This seems more like the kind of incident one might find in a prison or a slave camp.

Again, maybe I'm reading too much into this.

Maybe not.

2) At one point in the book, Rey actually faces off with Plutt and basically tells him that she's "an independent operator" who is "beholden to no one", and finishes by stating, "As to what I have, that would be my freedom and my pride".  Now, again, I don't know about the rest of you, but from what I've observed the only people who feel the need to affirm their freedom are people who feel like that freedom is being abused or circumvented and people who want an excuse to do whatever the heck they want (who hasn't heard phrases like, "It's a free country"?).  And since the latter clearly isn't the case with Rey, I'm left asking "Why else would Rey feel the need to make this statement if she already knows she's a free woman and she's not trying to get away with something illegal?"

The reactions of the other scavengers who overhear this conversation is also interesting.  "Murmurs of assent rose from behind her," the book tells us, because she's just said everything the other scavengers have been thinking but never dared say out loud, especially to Plutt's face.

Question: Why would a bunch of independent scavengers have the same thoughts or feel the need to affirm their status as free people?

Answer: Plutt abuses the freedom of his scavengers.  I'm calling them his scavengers on purpose.  As far as he's concerned, they're dependent on him and his less-than-fair payments.  As far as he's concerned, they are his slaves, and he treats them accordingly.

3) Rey's flashback.  I thought it was the most obvious, but I could be wrong.  In the movie, one of the visions she sees when she touches the lightsaber in Maz's basement is of herself as a child on Jakku.  She watches her younger self crying as a spaceship leaves the planet, and we see that something (okay, someone) is holding her arm, holding her back.  As it turns out, this something/someone is Plutt, and the only reason we know that is because we hear him say, "Quiet, girl!" as younger Rey is screaming and crying for whoever is on that mysterious ship to come back.

It's not much to go off of, but there are really only two possible reasons this vision/flashback exists.

Either someone left her with Plutt in the belief that he would actually take care of her, or the person who gave (or sold) her to Plutt didn't really care what happened to her.

So either Plutt's just a horrible surrogate parent, or Rey has been put (or sold) into a sort of slavery to him.

Just saying.


So, I ask again: What kind of loving parent leaves their five-year-old in near-slavery on a desert planet?

Argument: While this situation is not ideal, working like a slave on Jakku keeps Rey too busy to discover her Force powers.

This makes sense.  After all, if you don't want somebody to find out something, the best thing to do is keep them busy or distracted, right?

But this isn't solid evidence that her parents put her there.  The bad guys could have put her there for the same reason, not wanting her to reach out and Luke or Leia know where she was or that she was okay.


How Does Kylo Ren Figure Into All Of This?

Good question.

Theory: Kylo Ren is Rey's brother, and he's the one who put her on Jakku.

Why?

We could argue that Ren could've gotten someone else to dump his sister on this planet, but Rey specifically tells BB-8 that she's waiting for her family, that she believes they'll come back for her.  Her family can't come back for her if they didn't drop her off in the first place.  They can come get her, but they can't come back for her.

Does that make sense?

Moving on...

Notice that she says her "family", but her parents.

Family could be anyone.  It could be an uncle, aunt, or cousin or an immediate relative like a brother or sister.  Just because she says her "family" is coming back for her doesn't automatically mean her parents were involved or that they know where she is.

Enter Kylo Ren.  Masked, cruel, freaky powerful, and yet the mentioning of "a girl" helping Finn and BB-8 escape the Storm Troopers on Jakku catches his attention.  Later on Takodana, when Ren is informed that BB-8 has been spotted in the woods with a girl, Ren leaves the actual battle to go after them.  Inevitably, Ren and Rey crash into each other, Ren uses the Force to take her captive and probe her mind, discovers she has what he needs (the missing piece to a map that is said to lead to the hiding place of Luke Skywalker), and calls the other Troopers to retreat.

What he does next confused me a bit if we're talking about a ruthless Darth Vader character who's never met this random scavenger from Jakku before.

When Ren knocks Rey out with his Force powers, he personally scoops her up and carries her back to his ship.

What?

We've just seen this guy order the mass execution of an entire village of innocent people.  Now he's personally carrying this random girl from a desert planet to his ship?

Argument: He didn't want her to get damaged in case actually collapsing to the ground would compromise the information in her mind.

Problem: He does let her fall to the ground in the book (yes, there's a book!), so obviously head injuries aren't a huge concern.

But why carry her back to his ship?  This is a point both the book and the movie agree on; Kylo Ren carries Rey onto his ship in his arms.  Why?  Why not have a Storm Trooper do it?  Why knock her out?  When Resistance pilot Poe Dameron was captured at the beginning of the movie, he was taken conscious, stuffed into some handcuffs, and dragged off by a couple Troopers.  So, why knock Rey out and carry her?  To prevent struggling, probably.  But still, why carry her?

Theory: She's his sister, and despite what he wants us to believe, he still cares about her.

We know Ren feels a pull toward the Light.  We also know that he still has some feelings for his parents, Han Solo and Leia Organa.  We can also guess from certain exchanges that he's keenly interested in finding his uncle Luke for reasons other than destroying the good Jedi people.

Fast forward a couple scenes.

Rey wakes up in prison aboard the Star Killer Base.  Kylo Ren is waiting for her.  She asks where she is.  He says she's his "guest", and [in the book] releases her restraints.

Side Note:  I understand why they chose to keep Rey restrained during this scene in the movie.  As much as I love it in the book because it's a display of power on the part of Ren, it's probably not a good idea to perform a forceful mind probe on someone who isn't restrained.  Further still, it makes no sense that Rey would simply submit to it (as happens in the book).  Hence, keeping her restrained for the duration of their encounter was a good move.

Back on topic.

As you've probably figured out from reading my little side note above, Ren does perform another mind probe on Rey after she blatantly refuses to spill the beans about the map to Luke Skywalker.   What's interesting is what happens in the book.  Kylo Ren, feared protégé of Supreme Leader Snoke and grandson of Darth Vader, actually says (and I quote), "I would have preferred to avoid this [mind probe].  Despite what you may believe, it gives me no pleasure."

What?

Theory: Ren doesn't want to hurt Rey because she's his little sister and he still has surprisingly strong feelings for his family.

Argument: This doesn't necessarily mean that he doesn't want to hurt Rey because they're related and all that jazz.  It could just be a result of the pull he feels toward the Light.  He sees (or feels?) the pain his mind probing causes, and deep down he feels remorse.  But if he does, he doesn't admit to it.

Rebuttal: We do know from one of Ren's conversations with Supreme Leader Snoke that he does have some feelings for his parents, Han and Leia.  Although he denies it and says he will not fail "the test" (choosing his family over the Dark Side?), he later admits to Grandaddy Vader's burned-up helmet that he feels the pull toward the Light.  And while he never voices it, it is possible that the pull he feels somehow includes feelings for his family.  Thus, killing Han is an attempt to demonstrate that he doesn't have feelings for them anymore, and this becomes his official turning to the Dark Side.  However, he still feels kinda (maybe) bad for hurting Rey with the mind probe, and later during their climactic lightsaber duel, he offers to train her in the ways of the Force.

Why would he care so much about this young, inexperienced Force-sensitive person?  If she's the one padawan who somehow escaped the Jedi massacre all those years ago, wouldn't Ren just try to finish the job?  Why is he suddenly so concerned about her and offering to take her on as an apprentice?

Theory: Because Rey is his sister.

Argument: But when Ren takes off his helmet, Rey doesn't react.

Here's the thing.  Over the course of thirty years, we've seen various Jedi and Sith use the Force in various ways.  One of the classic examples is, "These are not the droids you're looking for."  You can do a lot with the Force, from strangling your general from many light years away to swaying a pair of dice so that they roll in your favor.

Theory: Rey doesn't remember Ren because he (or another bad guy) wiped her memory.

We have to admit, it is a possibility.  We know one can do a lot with the Force in the Star Wars universe.  So why couldn't Rey's mind have been wiped.

Argument: She doesn't react to Han or Leia when she meets them either.  If she was related to Han, Leia, and Ren, she would've recognized them.

Rebuttal: Not necessarily.  Maybe all memories of her family have been wiped to prevent her from trying to contact them.  She knows her family left her on Jakku, and she wants to believe they're coming back for her, but it could also be argued that she didn't seem to remember the flashback with Plutt (mentioned somewhere above) before her lightsaber-induced vision.  Rey does seem genuinely surprised by the vision of her younger self screaming and crying as the mysterious ship flies away.  Almost like she wasn't expecting it.  So, perhaps, her memory was wiped so that she wouldn't recognize her parents or her big brother on the off-chance that they all ended up in the same room ever again, and then her memories were replaced with another set of memories of her faceless family promising to return for her.  While this vision is much different (and more confusing) in the book, it makes it sound like Rey never actually sees her parents in the vision, only hears their voices telling her to wait for them.


Rey Solo
...or tactfully not telling your parents that you dumped your little sister on a desolate desert planet...

Rey Solo: I Want to Believe

Argument: But Han, Leia, and Ren, at least, should have recognized Rey.

Rebuttal: Who says they didn't?

Han does appear to recognize her a bit at one point, when they're on Takodana and he asks who she is.  Why he doesn't just blurt out, "Yo, you're my long-last daughter!" is definitely questionable.  But think about it, how many people have the same name?  I went to school with at least 2 people with the same name.  So, this strange girl suddenly shows up who looks kinda like a grown up version of your long-lost daughter, and she even has the same name, do you naturally assume that she is your long-lost daughter who wasn't killed by your evil son, and you just never got the memo?  This person who looks like your long-lost daughter and has the same name could know about your long-lost daughter and try playing the "I'm your long-lost daughter" card for her own exploits.  How long has it been?  Fifteen, maybe twenty years since the Jedi massacre?

Question: If he has suspicions about Rey being their daughter, why doesn't he mention it to Leia?

Answer: Who says he didn't?

At the Resistance Base, Finn approaches Leia about rescuing Rey from Kylo Ren, and Leia says, "Han told me about the girl."  In the movie this is kind of brushed over, but in the book Finn is surprised by this comment.  If Rey was just a random scavenger who helped Finn and BB-8 escape the First Order, why would Han feel the need to tell Leia about her?  Certainly they have bigger problems, like blowing up Star Killer Base because the First Order can blow them up.  In fact, Rey's rescue does take a back seat during the Resistance's battle planning.  So, why would Han bother Leia about this girl from Jakku at this crucial time?

Possible Answer: Because Han thinks Rey might be their long-lost daughter who has been living in a sort of slavery on a desolate desert planet all these years.

Then why aren't they jumping for joy?

Theory: Han and Leia believe Rey died in the Jedi massacre.

It makes sense.  After all, if you've just turned from your family to join the bad guys, and killed off your uncle's padawans, would you really run home to be like, "Hey, just wanted to let you know that your daughter is alive.  I just dumped her with this really horrible scavenger guy on a desolate desert planet far, far away."?  I think not.  So, if Han and Leia think Rey's dead, they have no reason to go looking for her.

Also, we know there has been a strain on Han and Leia's relationship ever since Ren went bad.  I mean, having your son turn to the Dark Side is bad enough, but it's even worse if your son who turned to the Dark Side is also responsible for your young daughter's death.  Perhaps this is part of the reason Han assumes Leia doesn't want to see him, because seeing Han reminds her of Ren, and Ren reminds her of Rey and what Ren did to her.

Thankfully I've never been through this, but I'm guessing that if they spent 15-20 years thinking their daughter was dead, they wouldn't immediately assume that the scavenger from Jakku who happened to find Han's ship, looks similar to their daughter, and even has the same name is their daughter.  There would be shock, disbelief, hesitation.  They would probably be excited, hoping against all hope that it's true, that this girl is their daughter, that their evil son didn't kill her, and she's been living in a form of slavery on this desolate desert planet all these years...not that any parent would want that sort of hard life for their children.  I think they would hesitate.  It is still the possibility that Han is wrong and Rey just coincidentally looks like their daughter and has the same name, then all parties involved would be disappointed.  Han and Leia already had their hearts crushed once by their evil son.  They can't bear the thought of going through that again.

Question: But, why wouldn't Ren acknowledge this relationship to Rey during either of their many confrontations?

Answer: If you memory-wiped your little sister so that she wouldn't remember you and discover her Force powers, why would you just blurt out, "Yo!  I'm your big brother, you know, the one who dumped you on Jakku when you were five!"  I think not.

Argument: Darth Vader didn't know that Luke and Leia were his children because Obi Wan and Yoda sent them into hiding to protect them from him.  It's possible that Luke, Leia, or Han could have hidden Rey on Jakku to protect her from Kylo Ren.


Case In Point: Luke and Leia

Dad is an evil super-villain.

Mom dies from despair.

What to do with these two adorable Force-sensitive twin orphans?  We don't really want super-villain daddy in the picture because the last thing we need are more Dark Siders.

Leia is taken in by the King and Queen of Alderaan, thus becoming a princess.

Luke is taken in by his father's mother's stepson and his wife.

Even though it can be argued that Leia grows up in luxury as a princess, she quickly becomes entangled in the conflict with the Empire, leading to her almost getting executed by her own father (unbeknownst to him).

Luke, on the other hand, lives in the desert of Tatooine and works very hard for/with his step-uncle.  However, I will make the argument that he is in a two-parent home, he's not a slave, and there is always food on the table.

Both of them were placed in situations where they would be cared for AND stay under the radar.

Rey, on the other hand, is basically dumped on this desert planet and left to the mercy of the greedy Plutt.  How much (or if) she gets to eat are determined by how Plutt is feeling each day.  This girl lives in the remains of an AT-AT in the middle of nowhere, clinging to a vain hope that whoever left her there is actually planning to come back for her.

Argument: Plutt does take care of her, in the most basic sense.  He keeps her fed (although not very well) and provides water for her and the other scavengers.  And, if he does know something about her Force-sensitivity, he hasn't turned her in yet.

But I'm not entirely sure if I'm convinced that this is the case, mainly because of the "Quiet, girl" command mentioned above.

First off, he refers to her simply as "girl" which is not generally something people do unless they're from that generation that says things like, "You got this, girl!"...or they don't think you're important enough to bother learning your name.  And since I highly doubt Plutt grew up in the "you got this, girl" generation, I'm leaning towards he just doesn't deem it necessary to know her name, or use it.

Second, there's no attempt whatsoever to reassure her that her family (or whoever left her there) are actually planning to come back.  Just the simple command, "Quiet!"

Other Argument: That one older guy who gets killed by Kylo Ren at the beginning of the movie.  Yeah, him.  He's been commissioned by Luke, Leia, Han, whoever to "look after" Rey from a distance, which explains his coincidental presence on Jakku.

Here's my problem with that theory: He's in a completely different village.  And other than that opening scene where the Storm Troopers raid the place and Ren kills that guy, he's, like, never mentioned again.  Ever.  His village is even too far away for Rey or any of the other scavengers to see the smoke from the attack.  Sometimes two important people being in the same vicinity means something, but other times it's just a coincidence.  

  

Conclusion

So, yeah.

That's my theory.

As stated way up at the beginning of this post, I'm not entirely sure if this is the case, but I want to believe it.  Perhaps viewing #4 will yield some insight.

What's super annoying is that we'll have to wait almost 2 more years to get some answer (or we could fly to London and use our secret ninja skills to spy on them as they film Episode 8 this year).

Anyway, if you've read this far in this post and haven't seen the movie yet, shame on you.  Now that you know all these spoilers that I cleared warned you about at the beginning of this post, you must go see the movie!

If you were not a Star Wars fan before, this may be the movie that makes you one!

May the Force be with you!