Rey in The Force Awakens (Possible Spoilers)

[The Doctor]

I'd be surprised if she isn't Luke's child. The question is, did Luke know he had a child until she showed up? I'm thinking that perhaps her mother hid her away with the intent to come back for her, rather than have her be part of Luke's new Jedi. I think it would be a fascinating dynamic for Luke to discover his daughter, rather than him having hid her in the first place. Something like the Batman-Talia Ras Gul dynamic, where the mother isn't (or wasn't) really aligned with Luke's goals.

 

[stardream]

I kept asking myself as she was fighting Kylo "So is she fighting her brother...or her cousin?"

 

[DarKush]

I liked Rey and thought that Daisy Ridley put in a good performance. As for Rey's parentage, has anyone considered that (putting Prequel hatred aside), like Anakin, she was conceived through The Force itself?

That is something to consider. Though I thought that was a dumb thing in the prequels and hope it isn't repeated. I also think with the mystery surrounding Rey's parentage playing a big part for that character in TFA that her parent (s) will be revealed at some point. It adds more emotional resonance and is in fitting with the OT to have a battle between blood relatives.

 

[Trekker4747]

I'd rather not see another "virgin birth" thing either, it's probably best to mostly ignore the Prequels.

Your asking people to hold off from forming an opinion for years. They can only go by what's been released so far, which is this story.

The problem is they're making a grand opinion on the same little information. I'm making no solid opinion, I'm giving the story the benefit of the doubt and assuming there's more to tell. This movie's story is over but Rey's story is just beginning! So why all of the sudden leap to any conclusions about her character?

I could be wrong, she *could* turn out to be something of a flawless "Mary Sue" but there's no reason to assume that now based on what little we know, being a third of the way through her story.

So people are wrong to instantly leap to judgements and leaps and logic after this one movie because they have little to go on. It's like turning off "A New Hope" a third of the way through and declaring Luke nothing more than a whiny punk and everyone destined to fail.

Why see a third of the story, make conclusions, and go from there? There's a story being told here and we have a way t go.

To watch this and instantly call Rey a perfect Mary Sue not only, first of all, misunderstands what a Mary Sue is but makes large, radical, conclusions based on partial information.

Why no go neutral? Make no large conclusions and assume the story will play itself out. If at the end of the second movie she remains "perfect", without flaws, or doesn't have some fall from her height they we can make some conclusions.

But there's no reason now to assume she's perfect because she's bested an injured, green, punk with a lightsaber when it's made clear in the entire story there's more to her past than we, and even she, knows.

 

[{ Emilia }]

I suppose now that Kylo has killed his dad he's gone full dark side and Snoke will complete Kylo's training. So I guess he'll be way more dangerous in the next movie. Plus he'll most likely not be badly injured when facing Rey next.

So uhh... I'm pretty sure there will be enough exciting things to come. Rey will have to face her past, she'll have to face Jedi training, she'll have to probably face the Dark Side and she'll probably learn to fly a spaceship without crashing it into a ground all the time. I hope Chewie can fix those dents she made last time.

And of course she'll still be awesome. She's Rey!

It's going to be a fun ride so... hold on, BB-8!

 

[ConRefit79]

So does Rey use force pull to get the saber? Or does Ren and she intercepts it on it's way to Ren?

 

[{ Emilia }]

So does Rey use force pull to get the saber? Or does Ren and she intercepts it on it's way to Ren?

The latter I think since it moves to Ben-Ren first? I suppose he didn't expect her to intercept so he couldn't react fast enough.

 

[Tyberius]

That's what I was thinking. Going by ANH alone, Luke showed himself to be just as capable as Rey with no real flaws. Suits up in an X-Wing to go against the Death Star because it's just like shooting womprats in my T-16.

But it is established in a new hope that Luke was a phenomenal pilot before he meets Obi-Wan. Is it established that Rey has any skills as a pilot? I suppose she could and this is all just left out cause modern films don't like to waste time talking.

Most of her skills (especially the fighting) are explained and make sense considering her biography. She wasn't a farmer living in their uncle's basement like Luke was. Her "perfect" flying skills included scraping the ground with the Falcon quite a few times and it looked quite funny. It was a mix of skill and luck and I suppose the force helped her there.

How come nobody even addressed the stuff I wrote here and here?

It's kind of tedious to have people repeat the same claims over and over instead of addressing the explanations and different opinions. The way this has been going it is not going to lead anywhere.

And I call bullshit on the claim that this isn't also about sexism.

Good Posts here and here.

I had very limited specific issues with the film but in no way did it ever even occur to me to have a problem with the depiction of Rey. The internet never ceases to amaze.

A quick comparison with Luke from ANH
Home life:
Luke - Raised by farmers, to be sheltered from exploration and becoming his father
Rey - Raised by herself having to work for limited food to survive.

Fight training:
Luke - Bullseye womprats with a t-16 back home
Rey - knocks the heads of other scavenger's with a stick

Flight training:
Luke - Beggar's canyon
Rey - graveyard

That she was later able to not die in general and specifically not die in a light saber battle and also not die in flight from TIE fighters can at least be partially attributed to the above. Also, her opponents, at each conflict, had themselves certain deficiencies. She was simply not just overpowering them, but instead those conflicts were balanced so that Rey only ultimately won, she did not win outright with no effort. Even the fight with the other scavengers started with her not winning and only eventually being able to overcome her adversaries.

Was her ability with the force too much? I was reminded of the first Dragonriders of Pern book where Lessa has the ability to push people without really knowing she is doing it. Only after the Dragon rider tells her does she even realize begin to quantify it. Before that, she only new that she could sense things and manipulate people.

Similarly, I believe that Rey quite knew that she had a way with certain people and situations. Most scavengers she would just knock on the head. The main alien junker was obviously resistant. But when her life depended on it she could steel her nerves and coerce someone to let her live.

 

[Ithekro]

Wookieepedia has Rey born about 11 years after Endor (so roughly 15 ABY), while Kylo Ren is suppose to be born about a year after Endor (so likely 5 ABY...that was some after battle party for Han and Leia).

So Ren would have been around 15 when Rey was dumped on Jakku. That could have been the time he fell to the Dark Side and slaughtered the rest of the training Jedi with the Knights of Ren. It is hard to judge when that happened, only that Luke has been gone for "a long time".

 

[Tom]

Ben had some unprotected pre-teenage sex when he was 10... Hello Rey, I am your Father!

 

[Turtletrekker]

I liked Rey and thought that Daisy Ridley put in a good performance. As for Rey's parentage, has anyone considered that (putting Prequel hatred aside), like Anakin, she was conceived through The Force itself?

That is something to consider. Though I thought that was a dumb thing in the prequels and hope it isn't repeated. I also think with the mystery surrounding Rey's parentage playing a big part for that character in TFA that her parent (s) will be revealed at some point. It adds more emotional resonance and is in fitting with the OT to have a battle between blood relatives.

I'd rather not see another "virgin birth" thing either, it's probably best to mostly ignore the Prequels.

Oh, I'm right there with you guys. I'm just considering all of the options and possibilities.

 

[royalfan5]

My theory is that Apollo Creed is Rey's father. I think it shows in her skills and fighting spirit.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

I liked Rey and thought that Daisy Ridley put in a good performance. As for Rey's parentage, has anyone considered that (putting Prequel hatred aside), like Anakin, she was conceived through The Force itself?

Eh, the implication was that Anakin was created either by Palpatine or Darth Plagueis. I don't think I'd have Rey come into being through that same scenario.

Anyway, to go back down the rabbit hole, here's some food for thought: Please Stop Spreading This Nonsense that Rey is a Mary Sue.

 

[Kor]

While it would be nice if Luke was Rey's father, I think the implication is that Rey will never see her actual family again: "Whoever you are waiting for on Jakku, they are never coming back. But there's someone who still can: Luke".

Ergo, Luke was not the family that Rey was waiting for. But she can make a new family-like bond with him, especially through their shared affinity with "The Force."

Kor

 

[Ithekro]

It is tricky. There are clues for both and they center around that lightsaber.

 

[{ Emilia }]

Anyway, to go back down the rabbit hole, here's some food for thought: Please Stop Spreading This Nonsense that Rey is a Mary Sue.

I don't think it's something we will need to argue against for long. The majority of people here have explained why the idea is nonsense.
I guess those who claim her to be a Mary Sue can continue to repeat the same stuff over and over again ignoring everything that disproves their pet theory but there isn't really much we can do about that. I suppose at some point we can just stop giving it too much attention.

 

[Makarov]

Yeah from where I sit there's no point to a discussion on that article when we've already "disproven" a disagreeing point of view, declared one side factual and then appeal to popularity on top of that. Or when I did expand on the problem with these explanations it's hand waved as "unfortunate" or "oversimplified" and then the responses I've disagreed with are repeated over and over

I'm glad many people enjoyed the character and can agree to disagree about the topic. Onto another subject.. I wonder if she'll get her own lightsaber or use Luke's in the next movie

 

[Kor]

Maybe Luke will give her the green-bladed saber that he should still have from ROTJ, which he built after he lost this blue-bladed saber in ESB. Or he could decide that the blue one rightfully belongs to her now.

Kor

 

[Ithekro]

I would assume Luke has her keep it until such time as she needs to build her own.

Be interesting if hers is purple, white, or yellow instead of the traditional green or blue.

 

[{ Emilia }]

I quite liked the contrast of the very clean-looking, elegant blue blade and Kylo Ren's raw, fiery red blade. It wasn't just the color but even the shape of the light that created that contrast.

I just hope she won't get a double-bladed lightsaber. Those just seem like a silly gimmick to me and make for less elegant fighting.

As a sidenote I thought the fight in TFA was soooooo much better than the over-choreographed bullshit in the prequels. It felt like the OT fights that were both mental and physical struggles and seemed real and raw.