I'm not 100% convinced "Who is Rey?" is a mystery.

She might just genuinely be no-one.

 

Well, it's a mystery because they present it as a mystery. She may turn out to be no-one, but personally I hate when they do that. Misdirecting your audience is fine, but not with a build-up of two years of secrecy and counting. J.J. Abrams learned this lesson a hard way.

 

There was an interview with JJ. He specifically said he didn't release her last name because she was related to someone famous or important. I can't remember which. So, she's someone. I gave it a lot of thought:

I'm going against the trend and saying she's not Luke's daughter and hoping they won't, yet again, pull another plot device from the past. She'll have to be... Wedge's daughter. I'm pulling that card because of the "Aftermath" series being the first prominent trilogy in the new canon.

So add that to the other three billion fan theories out there.

Found the quote:

“I will only say about that that it is completely intentional that their last names aren’t public record,” said Abrams.

So technically I guess it could go either way.

 

I mentioned this is my "initial thoughts" post earlier in the thread. My take on it: JJ Abrams lied.

 

Kathleen Kennedy said at some point that the Star Wars films are about the Skywalker family. Here's a link w the direct quote.

"The Saga films focus on the Skywalker family saga. The stories follow a linear narrative that connects to the previous six films," she said. "The Force Awakens follows Return of the Jedi and continues that generational story."

It could mean that Rey will probably be a Skywalker, but it could also just be in reference to Ben. Dunno.

 

But JJ Abrams has never lied. I for one enjoyed John Harrison as the main villain of Star Trek Into Darkness.

 

I sincerely hoped that Rey isn't related to any of the Skywalker family. Gods, I hate that bloodline is still considered so important - or rather, used so often as a power-up for main characters.

Now, for example, if Rey isn't powerful because of her relation to someone famous/important, but because she is a conduit for the Force itself (i.e., not a powerful user of the Force, but someone used by the Force); that would be interesting, methinks.

Love the humanization of Stormtroopers as well. Although if we had a few more moments of the Stormtroopers interacting with one another - particularly between Phasma and Finn, to set up something of a rivalry, would've been great - e.g. have Phasma call him by his call-sign while Finn insists on his new name, the Chrome Trooper vs the Renegade (especially if Finn can get through to some of the other forcibly conscripted child-soldier-troopers), and so forth.

 

Honestly, if Rey isn't a Skywalker or Solo I'll be disappointed. Just wouldn't feel right having her be the daughter of a minor character or a nobody. I agree with that quote above the Skywalker family.

 

Though I'm not usually a fan of everyone being related to someone big and important, this is one case where I think it'd be cool if Rey was a Skywalker/Solo--it'd add an interesting dimension to the antagonism between her and Kylo Ren/Ben. Like, intergalactic sibling rivalry.

Or maybe Ben already knows she's his cousin/sister and maybe that's why he was offering to train her?

 

This. Please, for the love of God.

I'm going with Occam's Razer here, banking on the 'mystery' being obvious only to those that haven't seen previous 6 (kids).

 

The first time he properly lost his shit was when he found out 'a girl' was one of those fleeing with BB-8. He was angry but composed during the mook's report, but as soon as the guy told him that Rey was present (not by name) the lightsaber came out and he went ape on that console.

 

Would be nice if she turned out to be "Rey Shan" or something. Give a nod to us KOTOR players, would you...

 

But he was trained a little bit. I remember some scenes with a flying thing shooting *whatever it was* - and Luke had to sense it. He succeeded, too, but only after a few tries.
And Luke summoned his lightsaber but had massive problems with lifting anything bigger. And he never tried to manipulate the mind of anyone in Ep. V or IV - which is why I suppose he couldn't.
Of course, Rey is allowed to be stronger in the force than Luke. But the sheer amount of ability seems overdone to me, too. Luke had minor training by Obi-Wan and did barely manage to get his own lightsaber. Rey does manage that on first try while Kylo Ren also reaches for it.

This might be an "Awakening", but, I ask again: What can she learn in the future? I see no further development possible when you already have "able to do anything on first or second try". That she even beats Ren just adds up to it, but is only the tip of the iceberg for me.

 

I think Rey's Sue-ish power levels won't ultimately end up bothering me if KR gets a complimentary power/skill boost and is a step or two ahead of her in the next movie.

 

Or Van, even...

I liked the movie, genuinely enjoyed it, but aside from a few minor issues I just had one problem - in a lot of the scenes, I got this strong feeling that Rey was actually a transmogrified, amnesiac Luke. I don't know why, but it kept happening. Might have something to do with the many similarities to ANH, but still...

I didn't have that much of a problem with Rey beating Kylo. He was injured, and apparently trying to recruit her for the first half of that fight, and he had just finished kicking the shit out of Finn using it, so it didn't feel like he was being Worfed. Plus it helps that we've had repeated scenes showing both how skilled Rey is with a staff and how powerful the bowcaster is. Makes an injured, emotionally fragile Kylo being beaten in a surprise blitz by a resurgent Rey somewhat reasonable.

 

I think that the problem that people are have with Rey vs. Kylo is that, for the first half of the movie, Kylo is portrayed as a Sith. When you are dealing with a Sith reasoning like; he was injured, or he had just fought someone else. These reasons just don't don't hold up. This is because in the first six movies the Sith were badass.

There was two ways to beat a Sith; be a better Sith, or be the best Jedi Master around. I think that people were a little let down by Kylo because he is not a real Sith (yet), and this is acknowledged by the film.

 

That is what I was saying. He just looks like one.