Ever since The Force Awakens, a subset of Star Wars fans have been complaining about just how powerful Rey is and also how quickly she’s able to master Force skills that previous Jedi had to learn how to do. You can’t have missed the accusations of ‘lazy writing’ or even ‘breaking the canon’ that have been leveled at Lucasfilm for the portrayal of the character. Well, to those folks, director J.J. Abrams has assured them he knows what he’s doing and everything will be explained come Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
In an interview with Rolling Stone, the filmmaker was asked about Rey’s innate Force abilities and extreme level of power. As ever, Abrams didn’t give anything away but he did offer a short tease that this isn’t a flaw and he’s got something up his sleeve. “Yeah, spooky, right? [Smiles] It’s a fair point,” he replied, before dropping the big bombshell: “It’s not an accident.”
Given Rey’s knack for the ways of the Jedi, fans have been theorizing for years how this could be explained. Many often speculate that she’s secretly related to an established character or family, perhaps the Skywalkers or Obi-Wan Kenobi. The Last Jedi seemed to confirm Rey’s heritage isn’t important, but star Daisy Ridley has promised that there’s “more to the story” here.
Whatever the real deal is, Abrams is clearly hinting at a major revelation to come in Episode IX. Will this appease those who’ve had problems with Rey’s characterization across the Sequel Trilogy? Well, probably not all of them, honestly, but it does raise our hopes that Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker will be able to tie these films together in a way that will satisfy most of the fanbase.
