Though the Star Wars saga has typically revolved its action around the all-important Skywalker bloodline, the divisive Last Jedi suggested that even those from the humblest of origins could rise to be heroes. As part of this idea, Rian Johnson offered up the polarizing twist that Rey’s parents were not the figures of high importance that J.J. Abrams was seemingly building up in The Force Awakens, but a pair of filthy Jakku junk traders who sold her off for drinking money. But now that Abrams is back in the director’s chair for Star Wars: Episode IX, it remains to be seen whether the filmmaker will honor this twist or retcon the story back to something more in line with his original intentions.
Earlier this week, we caught word of a rumor going around that next year’s trilogy-closer will contain flashback scenes of a young Rey with a mysterious hooded figure, speculated by some to be the heroine’s Jedi father. Now, Express is relaying further reports of concept art showing another scene between Rey and this mystery man.
According to the new leak, the cloaked character holds Rey in his arms in a village seemingly located in the Jakku desert. If this sounds like a rather peaceful image, it’s also said that explosions can be seen in the distance, and two First Order Finalizer ships are visible in the sky. After kissing Rey on the forehead and placing her in an abandoned AT-AT, the hooded man then reportedly runs towards the danger. What’s more, the man’s robe and collar have been compared to Max von Sydow’s character Lor San Tekka from The Force Awakens, who may not be a Jedi, but clearly has some affinity for Force-users like Luke.
While none of this can be confirmed just yet, flashback sequences are becoming are definite theme of all these Star Wars: Episode IX rumors, whether they’re delving into Rey’s background or Supreme Leader Snoke’s. We’ll how much validity there is to these reports when the film hits theaters on December 20th, 2019.
