Throughout the Star Wars Sequel Trilogy, Rey’s parentage was one of the most widely-discussed plot points. Following The Force Awakens, speculation was running rampant about how the supposed nobody would end up being connected to the wider mythology, because big budget blockbusters don’t drop hints like that without having some kind of major revelation in store.
However, by the time The Last Jedi arrived, Rian Johnson made it pretty clear that he had absolutely no interest whatsoever in continuing that particular story thread, and had Kylo Ren reveal in an off-handed manner that she wasn’t anyone important and had simply lucked her way into becoming a key part of the Resistance and fighting alongside some of the most famous faces in the galaxy.
Then J.J. Abrams returned for The Rise of Skywalker and attempted to retcon as much as humanly possible from the previous installment, and decided that not only would Palpatine be back as the main villain despite having never been mentioned at all in Episodes VII and VIII, but he would also turn out to be Rey’s grandfather.
This particular development didn’t go down well with a lot of fans because it came completely out of the blue and felt like a twist designed to shock the audience without having any real thought put into it. In fact, in a recent interview, Daisy Ridley admitted that the script went through so many revisions that at one point, Rey could have been revealed as the grandchild of Obi-Wan Kenobi, and that idea has now been endorsed by The Clone Wars star Anna Graves, who voiced Duchess Satine Kryze, as you can see below.
I’ll be honest, I was always hoping that Duchess Satine had Obi’s child in secret and then… well, more Star Wars Jedi lineage mysteries unfold. Would love to have had Rey as my grandchild #reykenobi https://t.co/rw4mcEjRC6
— Anna Graves (@gravyvoice) September 9, 2020
If the Sequel Trilogy was willing to embrace extended Star Wars canon, then Rey as Obi-Wan’s granddaughter would have made perfect sense given the Jedi’s relationship with Kryze in The Clone Wars, but instead it was haphazardly decided that everything needs to tie directly back to the Original Trilogy in some fashion.
