The Reason Why Rey Being A Palpatine Makes Sense

The biggest mystery that came out of The Force Awakens was the newly introduced plucky scavenger girl, Rey. Questions swirled ever since her first appearance. Who is she, and more importantly, where is she from, and who is her family? This led to a lot of theories and speculation, and fans were hoping to find the answer to this burning question in The Last Jedi. However, for better or for worse, it did not. Despite Rey's (and the audience's) fervent desires, all that The Last Jedi told us, via Kylo Ren, was that her parents were "nobodies." They had sold her for drinking money, and they are now dead and buried in a pauper's grave. We did not learn anything further about them, and I had my reasons to doubt that Kylo Ren was even being truthful. He was more likely manipulating Rey so that she would join him. The general message of the film seemed to be that nobody has to be a part of an important family to be powerful in the Force, which seemed to be accepted, if not celebrated by many fans of the movie. However, in Rise of Skywalker, director J. J. Abrams ultimately decided not only to bring back the ultimate Sith Lord, Emperor Palpatine, but also make Rey his granddaughter. The decision to make Rey a Palpatine generated mixed reactions among fans, to say the least.

There were conflicting stories out there about whether the sequel trilogy was planned out from the beginning or was developed on the fly. Everyone seemed to agree that they were not, especially since different directors were chosen for each movie in the trilogy. There was probably little to no coordination between J. J. Abrams and Rian Johnson regarding the overarching storyline for the sequel trilogy, resulting in the disconnection felt in the reveal of Rey’s parentage. Does Rey being a Palpatine even make sense? Can it make sense? I will make a case for why it does. Although Rise of Skywalker gave us a fuller story about Rey's family and how she wound up on Jakku, there were certainly hints and clues in The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi that point to some link between Rey and Palpatine.

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In what might be best described as wishful thinking accidentally becoming reality, the gang at the Nerd Soup Podcast put out a compelling video, literally on the eve of the release of The Last Jedi. With only the benefit of seeing The Force Awakens at the time, they were able to analyze the possible clues, and deduce how Rey could be a Palpatine. In addition, there were moments in The Last Jedi, and, of course, The Rise of Skywalker that foreshadowed Rey's lineage.

Names

Names typically have multiple meanings in Star Wars. "Rey" is Spanish for "king." This may imply a royal bloodline for her, perhaps relating to the Emperor. After all, “Vader” is Dutch for “father,” and we all know the reason behind the name choice.

Maestro Motifs

The Nerd Soup Podcast video pointed out how “Rey's theme”, introduced in The Force Awakens has a similar melody to Palpatine's theme “The Emperor,” first heard in Return of the Jedi. Suffice to say, there does seem to be similarities. It also may just be John Williams’ compositions sounding alike. On the other hand, the maestro is known for weaving in musical motifs associated with the character.

Rey's Fighting Form

The aforementioned video also noted how Rey's lightsaber fighting style in her first duel against Kylo Ren in The Force Awakens was very similar to Palpatine's as seen in Revenge of the Sith. Specifically, they both used a stabbing motion with their lightsaber. This horizontal stab is actually not part of any known fighting style. The fact that Rey and Palpatine were the only two in the Star Wars saga to use this technique pointed to their relation. In addition, she may have also inherited some of his mannerisms, resulting in similar form.

The Dark Side

In The Last Jedi, Rey sought out Luke Skywalker to train her as a Jedi, and to persuade him in joining her in fight against the First Order. During their first lesson, Luke took note of the fact that Rey seemed unusually drawn to the Dark Side energies present on the island. He also took note of just how powerful she is in the Force, which frightened him. When looking at it through the lens of just the first two movies, one might conclude that he was referring to Kylo Ren and how powerful he was. However, after The Rise of Skywalker, this could have been the moment he realized Rey’s lineage as a Palpatine. It was still unclear when Leia might have figured it out, but I am assuming that it was when Rey trained under her in the months between The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker.

Also, in The Rise of Skywalker, during her struggle over the transport with Kylo on Pasanna, Rey briefly succumbed to her anger and unleashed Force Lightning, accidentally destroying the transport and presumably killing Chewbacca (or so she thought). We all know how much Palpatine loved to use that particular Dark Side power against his foes. It was his signature move, per se. Rey’s affinity to Force Lightning foreshadowed to her relation to him.

The Dyadic Duo

Rey and Kylo learned that they are a "dyad" in the Force. They shared such a strong connection in the Force that they could sense each other, and be attuned to each other’s senses completely, even across space and time. This was a nice parallel as they were both grandchildren of the primary villains Emperor Palpatine, and Darth Vader, respectively.

The debate over Rey being a Palpatine will never end. After all, Star Wars fans love to pore over their favorite universe and discuss and analyze every little detail. While the original theme of how a nobody could become powerful Jedi did not pan out as expected, perhaps we will see a larger impact of Rey being a Palpatine in the future, especially now that she has chosen to be a Skywalker.

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Written By Mara Butler

Source(s): YouTube

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