Woah

In Greek Luke means “Light Giving”

Rey is a descendant of light... hmm...

Rey is wielding a reforged Skywalker lightsaber! What could it possibly mean???

The Case for Rey Skywalker: Another Interpretation

In the first Case for Rey Skywalker, we presented the idea Luke knew who Rey was at the end of The Force Awakens and kept it from her to protect her. Now we present an alternative possibility.

Rian Johnson referred to Luke and Rey as the “beating heart” of The Last Jedi.  Yet the film he made portrayed their relationship as contentious and emotionally distant.  Either Rian Johnson has a very unusual idea for what constitutes the beating heart of a film, or there is more going on between these two characters than meets the eye at first glance. In our first series of articles, we proposed that Luke knew from the moment he saw Rey that she was his daughter, whom he had long thought dead, and that he made the painful choice to reject her in order to spare her from the sort of tragic fate that Skywalkers are prone to.

Now, we present a second possible frame through which to view the film — that Luke does not know Rey is his daughter when she first arrives on Ahch-To, or at least does not believe it to be possible. In this interpretation, Luke’s motivation for rejecting Rey is not part of a concerted effort to drive her away, but is rather a response to how Rey reminds him of the loss of his own daughter (who, incidentally, would be right around Rey’s age and have a similar appearance and temperament). While this interpretation retains the overall shape of our initial Rey Skywalker interpretation of TLJ, it provides an intriguing new context for Luke’s behavior towards Rey, and towards the overall development of their relationship.

December 2018: The Teasing Begins!

Solicit from Star Wars #58:

Teasing Luke having a romantic relationship? Hmm...

Tula’s Wookiepedia page

The Last Jedi Novelization Update

When the novelization of The Last Jedi was released back in April, I noticed there was additional dialog in the scene where Luke confronts Kylo on Crait. In the movie Kylo just says:

However, this is what he says in the book:

I immediately took interest in the “Your chosen one. Chosen over me.” line as it doesn’t make sense in the context of the movie or book and speculated it refers to unrevealed backstory. This week I confirmed with Jason Fry that the line was indeed from an earlier script.

We at the Shadow Council have argued for some time that the story of TLJ is not what it seems and Rey is indeed Luke’s daughter. That line strongly supports that line of thinking and gives us a motive for why Ben would want to get rid of Rey: jealousy. Ben saw himself as the heir to the Jedi and the Force, but Luke either favored his own daughter or Ben simply didn’t like the thought of sharing the position (he also got rid of his father’s ship while he was at it).

What we have is the classic lost heir and usurper story. (Or the Lion King IN SPACE!)

-robotical712

Snoke called Kylo the Son of Darkness. As Luke means light or light giving, Rey would literally be the Daughter of Light.

How I Met Your Mother: Rey Skywalker Edition – Introduction

By robotical712, Sprinkles, HypersonicHarpist, Pale and JoseyFish

From the early days of Sequel Trilogy speculation, a fun – if frustrating – topic of speculation for fans who believe Rey is Luke Skywalker’s daughter has been that of Rey’s mother. In a new series, the Star Wars Shadow Council will put forward the argument we’ve already been given this mysterious woman’s origins and her tremendous impact on Luke.

A popular theory – and hope – has been that Lucasfilm will “port in” Mara Jade, Luke’s wife from Legends. However, many others have little attachment to any particular identity, as long as she isn’t relegated to anonymous insignificance, as Luke and Leia’s mother, Padme, was (and, arguably, for the most part, still is) for almost two decades. Many, if not most, fans have assumed for years that we would not be introduced to Rey’s mother in the new canon until she appears in a Saga film. However, a strong case can be made that we’ve already been introduced to the world and society Rey’s mother came from and, indeed, some prototypical version of her character. Moreover, Rey’s mother’s identity – if our theory is correct – is the key to understanding much of what transpired between Return of the Jedi and the Sequel Trilogy, and even the direction and themes of the Saga as a whole.

Legends of Luke Skywalker seems like a strange place to find our first indications of who Rey’s mother was. It’s a Young Adult book, with in-universe stories that may or may not be true, and was released as part of the runup to a movie that ‘revealed’ Rey’s parents to be no one. It would appear to be a fun diversion only important insofar as it shows what Luke means to those who live in that Galaxy Far Far Away. Yet, much like the film it supplements, the surface read misses the real story.

Legends of Luke Skywalker actually gives us a look at various stages of Luke’s life and the entire book is anchored by one story in particular – Fishing in the Deluge. Fishing in the Deluge is the third story in the book and, in many of our writers’ opinions, one of the best stories in all of Canon. The story is about a twelve year old Force sensitive girl by the name of Aya on a water and island world named Lew’el. The people of this world are the descendents of Force sensitive humans who once played a major role in wars in the distant past. Settling on Lew’el, they forsook any active use of the Force and passed their philosophy to the present day.

The story starts with Aya hunting fish (yes, hunting) atop a giant bird. She runs into trouble, her bird is killed and she gives herself up for dead. However, Luke arrives just in time to rescue her and convinces the elder of Aya’s village (her grandmother) to allow him to attempt several trials so that he might learn their philosophy of the Tide (their concept of the Force). Aya becomes Luke’s guide and the two circumnavigate the world. While Luke technically fails the final trial, he leaves the world having learned much. At the same time he leaves a strong impression on Aya and she vows to one day explore the galaxy.

In the book, the story is told by a woman who gives the pseudonym of Flux and leaves the impression it is about her personal experiences with Luke. It is for this reason we and many other fans overlooked the story when it was first released, but after revisiting it recently, we realized the story was far more important than we thought and seems to have had an impact on Luke far outside what even Flux’s telling suggests. The authors of this and the following articles in the series are convinced it’s our first look at where Rey’s mother is from, although there is some disagreement over how close a look the story gave us. In our first article we’ll look at the teller of the story and several clues that suggest the story isn’t about her and she’s hiding something.

See also: The Last Jedi Case for Rey Skywalker

Related:

Shadow Council Blog, January 2018:

The Last Jedi Novelization, March 2018:

Link to the round table.

The Definitive “The Last Jedi” Case for Rey Skywalker – Movie Analysis Round Table

Written by: robotical712, Josey, Needs_More_Sprinkles, HypersonicHarpist

While some of you have already read this on our main blog, we thought it would be a good idea to post this in full here. This is an explanation of why the real parentage reveal of The Last Jedi is not Rey Nobody, but Rey Skywalker. 

For a full explanation of the interpretation we’re using, go here.

Part of our analysis of The Last Jedi. Please share widely!