Is This Crazy "Star Wars" Theory Right About Who Rey Is?

***SPOILERS of Star Wars: The Force Awakens and previous episodes***

Down the rabbit hole we go...

LucasFilm

Who is Rey?

LucasFilm

Rey is NOT related to Luke or Leia.

LucasFilm

This theory assumes Rey has no genetic relation to Luke or Leia because if Rey were related, then why are we still in the dark about it when we clearly know Kylo Ren AKA Ben Solo is the son of Han and Leia? At the same time, we have no confirmation that Luke is Rey's father by the end of the film.

Also, would Luke really leave Rey alone with no suitable guardian on Jakku if he were her father (or even her master before Kylo destroyed Luke's Jedi Academy)?

LucasFilm

Luke didn't seem to recognize Rey at the end; just that he recognized his old lightsaber that he lost at Bespin in Empire Strikes Back (ESB). It's not apparent that Luke ever met Rey, so I don't think she's his former Padawan or that she's related to Luke or Leia. If Luke were indeed her father, that should have been made clear at the end, but it's not, so we're left with doubts for two years. I think the premise that she is Luke's daughter is a misdirection by the writers who want us to assume that. For my theory, I'm assuming and hoping that there's a fairly unexpected, but hinted or foreshadowed plot twist regarding her mystery for the sake of a good plot twist in Episode VIII or IX. I think the writers intend for the plot twist to be a shocking revelation about who Rey really is.

Rey is Anakin.

20th Century Fox

To be clear, my theory is that Anakin was reincarnated as Rey. Sounds farfetched? Let's go over what we know about Rey. We know nothing about her parents and we never see them on-screen in this film; maybe she had no father and was conceived within a mother via the Force just like Anakin was. Some propose that she's an escaped Padawan from Luke's Jedi Academy and had her memory blocked either due to trauma or by someone, but this Padawan possibility doesn't necessarily rule out that she was conceived via the Force. In any case, Rey was left alone on Jakku as a young girl with the junkyard owner, Unkar Plutt as mentioned in the closed captions. She grew up as an orphan on a desert planet, which is similar to Luke and Anakin's upbringing.

She's an excellent mechanic as well as an excellent pilot just like them.

LucasFilm

LucasFilm

She also received visions just like them. Now you might say her traits and background could merely be echoing Luke and Anakin's as a trope for the Star Wars hero protagonist, but I'm just getting started with my reincarnation theory.

One nagging question is how did she get powerful in such a short time despite no training or experience?

LucasFilm

Even if she did train as a Padawan when she was a youngling, she couldn't have become powerful so rapidly like she demonstrated in TFA just from long-forgotten Padawan training.

LucasFilm

In contrast to Poe, Rey showed relatively easy resistance to well-experienced Kylo Ren's mind-reading attempts while gaining the upper hand by peering into his own mind; she said that he'll never be as strong as Darth Vader. She also used a Jedi mind trick on the guard after a few attempts; how did she know of this technique anyway? She must have recalled it from her past life as Anakin.

The Skywalker blue lightsaber flew to Rey's hand instead of Kylo's hand, which suggests she has a stronger connection to the lightsaber than Kylo does and that's because she used to wield it as Anakin in her past life.

LucasFilm

She demonstrated rather skillful use with the lightsaber that she fired up for the first time in her fight with Kylo, even though he was injured, who had years of experience and was overpowered by Rey through internal meditation and attunement with the Force like Maz suggested earlier.

LucasFilm

I think Anakin's soul was reborn or reincarnated as Rey the Chosen One in order to continue bringing balance to the Force and she is so powerful because she's instinctively calling upon her past life's skills, training, and experience when she was Anakin as well as Vader. But there's more…

Why did Kylo Ren offer to teach her the ways of the Force during their fight rather than focus on killing her?

LucasFilm

Anakin being reborn as Rey would also explain why Kylo Ren seemed to have no desire to kill her, but instead to seduce her to the dark side because he sensed something familiar about her power and perhaps even recognized who she once was, Vader, after she summons the Skywalker blue lightsaber to her hand.

Kylo was obsessed with the legend of his grandfather and devoted himself to reach Vader’s level of power.

LucasFilm

Kylo even asked for Vader’s guidance when talking to the melted mask; there was no indication of Vader’s or Anakin’s presence and that’s because he was reborn as Rey. Otherwise, why drop allusions to Vader and Anakin throughout TFA if not just for fan service?

LucasFilm

Also, it seems that Rey’s strongly aligned with the light side, so she would able to easily resist the dark side if she were ever tempted and that’s because in her past life, Vader redeemed himself and that’s evidenced by his appearance as a Jedi Force ghost at the end of RotJ (he returned to being a Jedi). In other words, because of Anakin’s redemption, his soul reborn as Rey can resist the dark side more easily. Now for the most interesting clues that further support this crazy reborn theory of mine…

Remember Rey's visions at Maz Kanata's castle?

LucasFilm

Rey was called to the Skywalker blue lightsaber, that once belonged to Luke and Anakin, in Maz's basement because it was originally hers when she was Anakin in her past life. I think the fact that Luke owned the lightsaber is a red herring in order to make us focus on Luke's ownership as a more relevant fact (since Leia and the Resistance were searching for Luke) while the writers were making sure Anakin's ownership was vaguely mentioned, but still planting the clue. Rey received intense visions and flashbacks while hearing the voices of Yoda and Obi-Wan Kenobi… but Anakin's voice was absent… because he was reborn as Rey.

Anakin's not done with his task yet.

LucasFilm

I think Yoda and Obi-Wan as Force ghosts agreed with Anakin to guide him who decided to be reborn or they are helping him because he was forced to be reborn. Either way, it's because he didn't complete his task to bring balance to the Force yet. Overthrowing Darth Sidious may have been only the first step towards accomplishing his task as the Chosen One. Coming next is the most intriguing hint.

Maz knows who Rey is.

LucasFilm

Nobody seems to know who Rey is except for Maz, an approximately 1,000-year-old Force-sensitive person, whom Anakin could have easily met while as an apprentice of Obi-Wan during their travels. Otherwise, why write a character who lived for at least 1,000 years and who seems to intimately know who Rey is by looking at her eyes, which are often interpreted as the windows to the soul?

LucasFilm

Maz finally recognizes Rey as Anakin, "I have lived long enough to see the same eyes in different people. I see your eyes… I know your eyes!" Maz's line strongly supports the premise of reincarnation in the Star Wars universe. Maz also says, "You already know the truth… Whoever you were waiting for on Jakku, they're never coming back. But there's someone who still can: Luke." This could mean Luke can spiritually return to Rey who once was his father: Anakin. In other words, Luke can come back to Rey not because they have any genetic relation, but because they have a spiritual bond that transcends blood. Furthermore, their shared history with the lightsaber in ESB should be considered.

Why did the lightsaber call out to Rey?

LucasFilm

The Skywalker blue lightsaber carries the violent and emotional history of the confrontation between Luke and Vader that occurred at Bespin where Vader revealed that he is Luke's father promptly after slicing off Luke's hand; Luke got a green lightsaber replacement since then. Why is the long-lost lightsaber back in TFA? Because it's an artifact of that confrontation and that's why it calls out to Rey who used to be Vader. In any case, by touching the Skywalker blue lightsaber, Rey began reconnecting to her latent abilities, experiences, and memories of Anakin. By later summoning the lightsaber while nullifying Kylo's attempt in the snowy forest, she not only reclaimed it, but she also reclaimed her Jedi duty from her past life as Anakin even if she doesn't know it yet.

LucasFilm

What if Episode VIII will be similar to ESB in terms of a shocking revelation (plot twist) where Vader reveals he is Luke's father, but this time, Luke reveals that Rey used to be his father in her past life?

There's one more clue that may not mean anything, but why were Luke's words repeated in a teaser if not just for the sake of nostalgia?

LucasFilm

Listen to Luke's words in the second teaser, "The Force is strong in my family. My father has it. I have it. My sister has it. You have that power, too." If this is intended to be a line in the sequel, then why would Luke say his dead father has it as if he currently has it? Why not say "had it" unless Luke was treading carefully to the shocking reveal (plot twist) that Anakin was reborn as Rey with whom the Force is strong?

Is my reincarnation theory farfetched nonsense or is it actually plausible?

Warner Bros.

Search your feelings. You know it to be true.