Rey in The Force Awakens (Possible Spoilers)

[Phily B]

For me, I just think she is too much of a Mary Sue. She just seemed able to do everything and I thought it culminated in the ridiculousness of her taking the lightsaber and going toe to toe with Ren, who when he was fighting Finn at least seemed to be toying with him.

 

[Maurice]

Everyone seems to keep forgetting the Ren is injured when he's fighting them. And whatever Ren is, he doesn't seem to be particularly well trained with that weapon.

 

[Phily B]

Everyone seems to keep forgetting the Ren is injured when he's fighting them. And whatever Ren is, he doesn't seem to be particularly well trained with that weapon.

I'm not forgetting he was injured, but while he seemed to be toying with Finn and when he took a hit, he immediately fucked up Finn. What happened to his ability to freeze Rey? He should've wiped the floor with her even while injured, it's said his training isn't complete but he still has years on her including working with Luke. I just thought Rey was the weakest of the main characters, she could do everything with no problem and was almost flawless. She was almost a self insert character in a fan fic, the rest of the characters were fine.

 

[Tosk]

I remember her piloting a ship, doing some general engineering work on the Falcon, and she was Force sensitive...what else was she so good at that I'm forgetting?

 

[The Doctor]

Kylo was very strong but he was also inexperienced, injured and arrogant to the extreme. He couldn't imagine this 'girl' beating him so when she called the light saber to her hand, overriding his own power, he was spooked. Then, when she focused for that critical second and drew the strength she needed from the Force, he was dumbfounded.

I really liked Rey's character. She was capable, knew Imperial hardware from a life of scavenging and smart as a whip. She also made mistakes, ran away from challenging situations and behaved impetuously. In short, she was human. Dailey Ridley was a great casting coup and I have no doubt she can carry the next few films on her shoulders.

 

[Greylock Crescent]

Ren certainly seems strong with the Force (him stopping the blaster bolt in the opening scene, his mind invasions, the abilities to freeze and manipulate people), but that doesn't necessarily equate to him being skilled with a light saber. Especially considering how his blind and clumsy his rage makes him.

In his saber fight with fight with Rey, he was constantly pounding his injured side, as if to make himself angrier so he could better channel the Dark Side. When Rey "let the Force in" (so-to-speak) she became focused, more in the moment. She conquered her fear. So I can definitely see that, at that moment at least, she was a more capable Force user than Ren. She's moving with purpose and deliberation. And the fact that it's enough to defeat the rage-filled, unfocused, conflicted, injured Ren is absolutely plausible, IMO.

 

[Venardhi]

Exactly how I saw that scene.

As Yoda tells us, The dark side is easier, faster, more seductive, but it isn't more powerful. Kylo has a lot of undisciplined, unfocused dark side power at his command but Rey gives herself over to the force and lets it flow through her rather than trying to wrangle it. Combined with Kylo's injuries and emotional turmoil, he simply can't stand against that.

 

[Phily B]

I remember her piloting a ship, doing some general engineering work on the Falcon, and she was Force sensitive...what else was she so good at that I'm forgetting?

She wasn't just force sensitive though, she was able to actually use force powers with no training including a mind trick. She seemed to turn into a dead shot with the blaster, she was amazing with physical combat using a stick and picked up lightsaber dueling like she was a pro.

She just did everything perfectly, it wasn't like Luke for example who was an excellent amateur pilot but a bit of a whiny kid who got told off by Han Solo all the time but we saw his growth as a character through out the series. All the original characters were flawed, I mean Luke/Han just kind of bumbled his way through the death star rescue plan and had to be saved by Leia.

Rey is already great at everything.

 

[Venardhi]

She learns the mind trick by instinctively fending off Kylo's prodding into her mind and prodding back.

Hard to argue that she isn't a little too perfect though.

 

[Phily B]

Ren certainly seems strong with the Force (him stopping the blaster bolt in the opening scene, his mind invasions, the abilities to freeze and manipulate people), but that doesn't necessarily equate to him being skilled with a light saber. Especially considering how his blind and clumsy his rage makes him.

In his saber fight with fight with Rey, he was constantly pounding his injured side, as if to make himself angrier so he could better channel the Dark Side. When Rey "let the Force in" (so-to-speak) she became focused, more in the moment. She conquered her fear. So I can definitely see that, at that moment at least, she was a more capable Force user than Ren. She's moving with purpose and deliberation. And the fact that it's enough to defeat the rage-filled, unfocused, conflicted, injured Ren is absolutely plausible, IMO.

He was injured too when he used the force to knock Rey up into the tree and KO her for a minute or two.

It's a stretch to believe that in all his years training, he never was adept with the lightsaber and it's hard to believe when we see how quickly he dispatches Finn after taking a graze. There is no way Rey should've been able to do what she did with no training, she hadn't even met a Jedi yet. I just don't like perfect and flawless mary sue characters who appear to do everything, Luke was barely able to use the force to move a lightsaber a foot away in the second movie but we have Rey doing mind tricks and going toe to toe with an experienced user of the force.

She gives me the Wesley Crushers.

 

[Greylock Crescent]

He was injured too when he used the force to knock Rey up into the tree and KO her for a minute or two.

As you noted, he was further injured by Finn. Which leads to ...

It's a stretch to believe that in all his years training, he never was adept with the lightsaber and it's hard to believe when we see how quickly he dispatches Finn after taking a graze. There is no way Rey should've been able to do what she did with no training, she hadn't even met a Jedi yet. I just don't like perfect and flawless mary sue characters who appear to do everything, Luke was barely able to use the force to move a lightsaber a foot away in the second movie but we have Rey doing mind tricks and going toe to toe with an experienced user of the force.

I think the biggest point to be made is that Ren didn't handily dispatch Finn. He was further injured by that confrontation. Meaning that he really isn't all that skilled with a saber to begin with.

And, still, he had Rey on the defensive - until she channeled the Force (and became more focused, purposeful, and in the moment than Ren).

So, given everything going on, the confrontation plays out in a very plausible way, IMO.

And yes, one could critique how quickly Rey grows in power and focus with the Force and manages to also be good at piloting and mechanics. But, there may be a valid rationale for it (being Anakin's granddaughter, for one). If it's never explained, I think the criticisms will ultimately be valid.

But until then, I find "Mary Sue" label to be a lazy form of critique because it oversimplifies the character in question and doesn't actually focus on details.

She gives me the Wesley Crushers.

Oh well.

 

[Venardhi]

Is there anything that clearly says she doesn't have any training though? Perhaps someone force-wiped/blocked her memories when she was left on Jakku. She may well have been the only survivor of Luke's academy after Ben went bad and still had some muscle memory left from that early training. She certainly seems to be unusually averse to accepting the force.

The fact is we just don't have enough info. Making her past this big mystery undercuts the character quite a bit.

 

[DimesDan]

She is the daughter of Luke Skywalker and no doubt another Jedi that the Knights of Ren slaughtered, thus the grand-daughter of one Anakin Skywalker. All her abilities can be attributed to this and the fact she knew a bit about the Jedi and realised after she resisted being mind raped by Ren that she had Force powers. Ren also told Snorge that she was more powerful than she realised!

 

[Phily B]

He was injured too when he used the force to knock Rey up into the tree and KO her for a minute or two.

As you noted, he was further injured by Finn. Which leads to ...

It's a stretch to believe that in all his years training, he never was adept with the lightsaber and it's hard to believe when we see how quickly he dispatches Finn after taking a graze. There is no way Rey should've been able to do what she did with no training, she hadn't even met a Jedi yet. I just don't like perfect and flawless mary sue characters who appear to do everything, Luke was barely able to use the force to move a lightsaber a foot away in the second movie but we have Rey doing mind tricks and going toe to toe with an experienced user of the force.

I think the biggest point to be made is that Ren didn't handily dispatch Finn. He was further injured by that confrontation. Meaning that he really isn't all that skilled with a saber to begin with.

And, still, he had Rey on the defensive - until she channeled the Force (and became more focused, purposeful, and in the moment than Ren).

So, given everything going on, the confrontation plays out in a very plausible way, IMO.

And yes, one could critique how quickly Rey grows in power and focus with the Force and manages to also be good at piloting and mechanics. But, there may be a valid rationale for it (being Anakin's granddaughter, for one). If it's never explained, I think the criticisms will ultimately be valid.

But until then, I find "Mary Sue" labels to be a lazy form of critique because they oversimplify the characters in question and don't actually focus on details.

She gives me the Wesley Crushers.

Oh well.

I get the impression he was toying with Finn, who only grazed him which led to him immediately defeating him in split seconds after it and potentially mortally wounding him very easily. He certainly should not have been dispatched easily by Rey as he was, how would the rest of the trilogy have played out if in the first movie Luke had dispatched with Vader with ease in the first movie?

The idea that she can channel the force like that, with absolutely no guidance, training or anything is stupid and add it to the rest of her amazing abilities and that she can do everything just makes me dislike the character's writing. She was even more of one than Anakin in the phantom menace who was already a pretty awful gary sue character, but he at least had the pod racing stuff.

Both Finn and Poe were better characters, I want to see more focus on Poe to be honest. Rey just isn't an interesting character, she feels like a fan fic insert.

 

[DWF]

Is there anything that clearly says she doesn't have any training though? Perhaps someone force-wiped/blocked her memories when she was left on Jakku. She may well have been the only survivor of Luke's academy after Ben went bad and still had some muscle memory left from that early training. She certainly seems to be unusually averse to accepting the force.

The fact is we just don't have enough info. Making her past this big mystery undercuts the character quite a bit.

In her vision you can clearly see she was a small child wehn she was left on Jakku, not old enough to to even lift a lightsaber let alone train with one.

 

[Venardhi]

She looked young, but not younger than a lot of the kids we saw training in the prequels. I'm not willing to say I think that hypothesis has any firm ground, but I do think Rey's mysterious origins only further build up her character well beyond the everyman that Luke was and the story (at least lacking the reveal to come) is worse off for it.

 

[DWF]

She looked young, but not younger than a lot of the kids we saw training in the prequels. I'm not willing to say I think that hypothesis has any firm ground, but I do think Rey's mysterious origins only further build up her character well beyond the everyman that Luke was and the story (at least lacking the reveal to come) is worse off for it.

The younglings in the Prequels were being trained at the Jedi academy by a Jedi Master, there was none of that on Jakku. Which was pretty much the point I think, whomever left her did it to try and hide her. She knew droid speak and she could understand Chewie. She's like a cross between MacGyver, Doctor Who and Xena, clearly she was meant to hidden for some reason.

 

[EnsignRicky]

I think Skill with a Lightsaber is much less about hours logged than it is with being in tune with the Force. Luke was only seriously wielding it for a few moments before he was already deflecting blaster bolts blindfolded. The Force guides your actions.

 

[DimesDan]

I don't usually do this, but I'm quoting myself as it seems it was missed:

She is the daughter of Luke Skywalker and no doubt another Jedi that the Knights of Ren slaughtered, thus the grand-daughter of one Anakin Skywalker. All her abilities can be attributed to this and the fact she knew a bit about the Jedi and realised after she resisted being mind raped by Ren that she had Force powers. Ren also told Snorge that she was more powerful than she realised!

 

[Phily B]

Maybe we'll find out in the future, but she was a less annoying version of Anakin from Episode I rather than Luke, who was supposed to be a bit of an annoying whelp and you can really see him mature through the movies.