There’s been a lot of speculation about the character Rey in “The Force Awakens” (TFA), and, because there are never enough theories, I’ve decided to posit another one—SPOILERS.
First, let’s get a few things straight: (1) Rey has an uncanny knack for mechanics (she’s able to fix just about everything); (2) she can use the force (thanks Daniel Craig for setting her free and then dropping your blaster); (3) she speaks with an English accent (this is only significant because Daisy Ridley—the actress who plays Rey—speaks with her natural accent, but John Boyega (a.k.a. Finn) drops his English accent for an American one); (4) she thrives on a desert planet, and (5) she fights better than a highly trained Stormtrooper, Finn, or FN-2187—if you want to question the validity of calling 2187 “highly trained,” then please check out the book that was released in tandem with the movie.
Okay, now that that’s out of the way, who is Rey? Many people think that she could be Luke Skywalker’s daughter, but unless she’s illegitimate, then I doubt it. Why, you ask? Because Han Solo, Leia, and Kylo Ren (a.k.a. Ben Solo, Han and Leia’s son), who was Luke’s star Padawan before going to the dark side, have absolutely no idea who the hell she is. I mean, how could Luke’s sister, brother-in-law, and student not know who she is, and if Luke didn’t know, which is assumed because he didn't raise her, then does that mean that he’s been going out and getting random women pregnant, because that doesn’t sound like Luke. Similar to this theory, some have suggested that maybe Rey was the daughter and/or granddaughter of Obi Wan Kenobi, which seems plausible. Obi Wan was one of the only characters to have an English accent, besides nearly all of the Republic soldiers, officers, and officials, in the first trilogy, and Rey seemed to be able to access some of Obi Wan’s memories. Also, Kenobi was an awesome lightsaber duelist, having literally cut Siths to pieces. Yet, again, there is a problem: Obi Wan never showed any (and I mean ANY) interest in mechanics or women. In fact, he was the one who was always telling Anakin that he needed to “bury his feelings,” which, like Yoda, Obi Wan seemed able to do. Also, “The Force Awakens” takes place about 30 years after the Rebel Alliance won the war in “Return of the Jedi,” so Kenobi would have had to have sex with some chick he ran into on Tatooine (you know where he went to live and hide as a hermit for sixteen years while the rebels were trying to get their crap together and Luke was growing up), and if you remember the cantina scene in “A New Hope,” then you know that (1) Obi Wan doesn’t have a spaceship he can use to travel to other planets, so he’d have to find some strange on Tatooine, and (2) Tatooine isn’t exactly brimming with humans. This might not have mattered if Rey was blue or had tentacles instead of hair, but she wasn’t and didn’t. I haven’t really heard anyone mention Qui Gon Jinn or Palpatine as potential baby-daddies, but there are other details that might be incongruent with the other Star Wars storylines, not that everything needs to be congruent, but it would be nice.
So, what’s my theory? Well, I’m taking it back to “The Clone Wars.” Well, I’ll take it back and tie it in, but before I do that, I should state it’s mentioned in TFA that the First Order is considering using clones to fight the Rebel Alliance (sound familiar?). Yet, what if Supreme Leader Snoke, the ultimate baddy in TFA, had already commissioned a clone? My theory is that Snoke got ahold of some premium Jedi DNA and attempted to engineer himself an apprentice. You might ask: How did Snoke get Jedi genes? To that, I’d say that Kylo Ren somehow managed to find and keep Darth Vader’s head, which was left on the goddam Death Star 2.0 when it exploded in “Return of the Jedi,” and that we should probably try to keep things in perspective. Now, anyone who has a passing understanding of these movies—and if you’re reading this, which is about the seventh (SEVENTH) movie in this franchise, then you damn-well should—then it’s understood that cloning is a major business around the universes, and any character, new or old alike, could be subject to a clone legacy—just ask Jango Fett. It should also be noted that an alternative theory, one based on the idea that Rey is a female clone of Luke, has already been posited (sex can be altered in cloning, at least changing a clones sex from male to female—just read “The Principles of Clinical Cytogenetics,” (2013) edited by Steven Gersen and Martha B. Keagle, for more about that); however, in her visions in “The Force Awakens,” Rey sees Luke from outside of his body; she literally watches him from behind. She sees Skywalker place his robotic hand on R2-D2 right before he exiles himself, and seeing him from a third-person perspective would’ve been impossible unless she was viewing his actions through someone else’s eyes. Again, you could argue. You could say that the shot of Luke was done for aesthetic reasons. It just looked better that way. But then I would counter with the fact that anyone with a cursory understanding of these movies—We talked about this, remember?—should know that if the vision was only of a robotic hand touching R2 first-person-point-of-view-style, then that would’ve been enough. We all know that the Skywalkers get pretty handsy, or we should. Having mentioned clones and DNA, I should also make it clear that, in my theory, Rey is not a direct clone. I posit that Snoke found some DNA, but that it was incomplete. This would mean that additional genetic material would’ve been needed to complete the sequence, thus Rey would be a clone, but not a clone.
You with me so far? If not, then you might want to quit here, because shit’s about to get even crazier. I think that Anakin’s mother, Shmi, might’ve been lying to Qui Gon Jinn in Episode I when she said that Anakin didn’t have a father and was a baby of the force. I think that Shmi wanted to protect her boy more than anything, so she lied and offered him up as a Jesus spinoff, something Qui Gon would’ve picked up on, but been too tactful to press her about. So, who’s the father? Don’t know. She could’ve been artificially inseminated or raped (possibly by a Sith) or ashamed or whatever. Take your pick. The important thing here is that, like Obi Wan years later, Shmi was in hiding on Tatooine. Now, my idea is that Shmi’s DNA was part of the sequence acquired, and that Snoke used Shmi’s genes to finish the sequence for his clone. Contrary to this, it could (and I say could) also be that Anakin’s father’s DNA was used. You might be asking: Why does any of this have to be related to the Skywalker clan? Well, the mechanical aptitude makes Rey directly correlated to the Skywalkers. Anakin built C3PO, arguably the most complex robot in the universe, Luke built himself a new hand, and both were excellent pilots, just like Rey. And all of the Skywalkers were self-taught in engineering and flying, like Rey. Thus, it could be speculated that Rey is a Skywalker descendent.
The other part of Rey’s DNA? Obi Wan Kenobi. That’s right. I’m suggesting that Rey is a split-clone of Obi Wan and Shmi Skywalker or an unknown, absentee father. This would explain several things: (1) Rey would literally have Obi Wan’s DNA, which would produce the same midi-clorians he created, giving her the same force resonance, and thus potentially allowing her to access his memories, hear his voice, and see through his eyes (like when she’s watching over Luke in her vision)—remember, the Jedi don’t really die; they stick around, wait, watch, and offer guidance as force ghosts; (2) it would explain why Rey is so damned good with a lightsaber, she’s an Obi-clone, and Kenobi sliced Darth Maul in half and cut Anakin to pieces; (3) it could explain why Rey speaks with an English accent—she has memories passed to her from Obi Wan’s genes and the force flowing through her; (4) it would explain why Rey is an excellent mechanical engineer and a great pilot—again from gene memory—because of her Skywalker/familial lineage, which could also justify why Rey was on a desert planet and how she survived (Luke, Anakin, and Obi Wan all did, too); (5) it would tie into the series’ theme of family being torn apart by the dark and light sides of the force—Kylo Ren and Rey would be something like a distant cousins; (6) it would help explain why Luke’s lightsaber called to Rey—both from the familiarity with it and the force used to control it; and (7) it could shed light onto why Rey looks so much like Shmi—seriously, they look a lot alike, but Shmi’s DNA would definitely have to be used for this to be anything more than a passing resemblance.
Now, it might seem weird that I’m suggesting Rey is the product of splicing the DNA strands of dead people, but there are plenty of movies about dinosaur DNA being found in amber and mixed with frog genes in order to breed the most dangerous zoo in existence. Perspective, people.
So, how and/or why was Rey found and then subsequently stranded? And if Snoke was trying to make a clone for an apprentice, then what’s up with Kylo Ren? Good questions. The simplest answer would be that Ren, when he was still Ben Solo, was used by Snoke, much like Count Dooku or Darth Vader was by Emperor Palpatine. Snoke might’ve needed Kylo in order to advance his plans, while Luke could’ve gotten wind of Rey’s existence and gone to free her. While traveling and saving the girl, Ben could’ve been convinced to murder all of the Jedi trainees and choose the dark side of the force. Afterwards, and upon Luke’s return, a distraught Skywalker could’ve unwittingly followed in his grandmother’s footsteps and decided to hide Rey on a distant planet not frequented by outsiders.
This, of course, is all just a theory.
Thoughts?