There Was Nothing Revolutionary About the Idea That Rey's Parents Were Nobodies

Originally Posted 9/13/20

When the Star Wars Saga returned to theaters after a 10-year absence with The Force Awakens, the suggestion that new character Rey was a member of a bloodline strong in the Force was clear. After all, why would Anakin -- and later, Luke -- Skywalker's lightsaber "call" her if she wasn't a member of their family? Somehow, it turned out that she wasn't. In the follow-up movie, The Last Jedi, Kylo Ren tells Rey that her parents were nobodies who sold her for drinking money. For this and other reasons, TLJ quickly became regarded as the most divisive entry in the series.

Last Jedi fans rejoiced, citing this development as a breaking positive new ground for Star Wars. Rey's apparent status as , as well as the appearance of an unnamed character who displays Force skills with a broom were cited as refreshing breaks from the norm wherein Star Wars heroes were inevitably revealed as scions of some noteworthy Force-practicioner. However, the revelry would be short-lived.

In the most recent Star Wars film, The Rise of Skywalker, Ren learns that Rey is no mere desert rat; while she's not a descendant of Anakin Skywalker, she is the progeny of another powerful Force-user. The galaxy's newest Jedi is none other than Emperor Palpatine's granddaughter. Rey's parents abandoned her on Jakku so that her grandfather wouldn't find her and raise her as a Sith. This revelation made no sense in regard to the lightsaber but it did go a long way toward explaining her prodigious use of the Force, especially considering how little training she underwent and the fact that she was born two generations after "the Chosen One".

It's also true to Star Wars' source material. While the SW saga has many inspirations, one of the most obvious is the legend of King Arthur. The short version goes something like this: A lowly orphan (Arthur) learns that he has a connection to a legendary -- and magic -- sword and that his father was a famous warrior king; after being mentored by a wizard who knew his father, Arthur goes on to vanquish evil and restores peace to the land for years -- until his sister's kid leads an army against him. The parallels are pretty evident: Luke is Arthur; Anakin is Uther Pendragon; Anakin's lightsaber is Excalibur; Obi-Wan Kenobi is Merlin (Uncle Owen even describes him as a wizard in Star Wars/A New Hope); and Kylo Ren is Mordred. Like Star Wars, King Arthur's story even contains unwitting incest between a brother and sister. 

The Last Jedi's "Broom Boy" wasn't very novel either, by the way. A poor kid displaying minimal use of the Force. Where have I seen that before? Do the names Anakin and Luke Skywalker ring a bell? Since we never saw Broom Boy grow up, how do we know that he too didn't eventually become a major player on the galactic stage with (Luke) or without (Anakin) a heretofore unknown famous Jedi for a father?

Even if Broom Boy is a trust fund kid in disguise there's no shortage of Jedi who don't have prestigious last names. Who were Obi-Wan Kenobi's parents? Yoda's? Mace Windu's? Qui-Gon Jinn's? Plo Koon's? Kit Fisto's? Quinlan Vos'? Ki-Adi-Mundi's? Shaak Ti's? Aayla Secura's?Yaddle's? Luke's other students? The dozens of Jedi seen in Attack of the Clones? The younglings that Anakin killed in Revenge of the Sith? The countless Jedi taken out when Order 66 was executed? How about the Jedi who Obi-Wan described as the guardians of peace and justice in the Old Republic for over a thousand generations? And let's not forget

In fact, the list of Jedi with notable parentage is very short: Luke, Leia, Ben Solo, Count Dooku (he comes from a super-rich family), maybe Anakin (it's been suggested that Palpatine urged the Force to create Anakin), and Rey.

So everyone who's still disappointed by the revelation that Rey is descended from Force-wielding royalty (an evil senator-turned-emperor) should relax. Star Wars has a long history of heroes who came from "nobodies".