I have some thoughts about Rey being a Skywalker. Bear with me here.
It can be simultaneously true that Rey's parents are nobodies and be Han and Leia.
Rey Nobody and Ben Solo are both people trying to escape the legacy of their parents. Rey longs for a life of significance and cherished love. Ben Solo has that but is looking for something different.
In Star Wars, there's some power in a name and when a person might change it. Anakin ceases to be when he takes the mantle of Vader. Ben is desperately trying to kill his past in order to become Kylo Ren.
Rey is just... nobody.
But at the end of The Last Jedi, she's finally embracing her destiny. And who are the two adults in her life that have actually been positive, supporting, and nurturing to her in a way a parent is supposed to be? Han and Leia.
Rey doesn't need to be related to them by blood for us to see that she's been influenced by them in a way a parent would be. Both of them.
And was Leia any less of Bail Organa's daughter because they weren't related biologically?
And was Leia any less of Bail Organa's daughter because they weren't related biologically?
Rey's power is created by the Force, with the reawakening of the cosmic. And that relates her, symbolically and spiritually to the Skywalkers, who were also borne of the Force.
It doesn't matter that the vessel the Force chose was a pair of filthy junk traders any more than it mattered that it chose a poverty-stricken slave woman for Anakin.
As Rey moves into the next phase of her life, don't be surprised if she embraces this and takes a new name for herself, whether it's Skywalker or Solo, but something to signify her change. She's doing the light side version of what Vader and Kylo did.
But part of this train of thought is inspired by my rewatch of The Iron Giant with Valkyrie last weekend, too. The words "We are who we choose to be," ring with a deep resonance across stories.
Ben Solo CHOSE to be Kylo Ren. I think it's possible that Rey will CHOOSE to be a Skywalker the same way the Iron Giant chose to be Superman.
Would the Giant's sacrifice have meant half as much without the myth behind him uttering Superman's name?
Would the Giant's sacrifice have meant half as much without the myth behind him uttering Superman's name?
And in The Last Jedi we learn that myths hold weight and have meaning. What better way to spark hope and spread the story of the Jedi than by taking the mantle of Skywalker?
Being a Skywalker is an idea. Vader had to choose it at the end. So did Luke.
Being a Skywalker is an idea. Vader had to choose it at the end. So did Luke.
And I think that's much more interesting than her being blood-related to the Skywalkers or the Solos.
And it creates a fascinating contrast to Ben's choice.
And it creates a fascinating contrast to Ben's choice.
