It happened over the course of just a few seconds, but Rey’s Force vision in Star Wars: The Force Awakens holds keys to her past, and possibly the future. Beware, SPOILERS await below…
While in Maz Kanata’s castle, Rey hears the voice of a little girl crying out. Following the cries, Rey ventures into the basement of Maz’s castle, and ends up in a room with a mysterious chest. Rey opened the chest, and a lightsaber was revealed…Luke’s lightsaber. Upon touching the lightsaber that once belonged to Anakin Skywalker, before being given to his son Luke, who lost it on Bespin in a duel with Darth Vader (his father turned to the Dark side), Rey experiences what Lucasfilm Kathleen Kennedy calls a “Forceback” which is another name for a flashback. Only…this Force vision wasn’t just a flashback, as it showed Rey a moment from the future. Let’s break that vision down.
When Rey touches the hilt of the lightsaber, the Force vision takes hold, and she is taken to the hallway on Bespin, where Luke fought Vader. She is then taken to a scene where she observes Luke placing a hand on R2. The scene is backlit by a fire. We can infer that Luke is burning the bodies of his slain Padawans, after the Knights of Ren slaughtered them.
Next we see a figure, swinging a club-type weapon, before a red lightsaber blade blooms from his chest. Then, Rey in on the ground, in the rain, staring up at Kylo Ren and the other Knights of Ren. Many fans have theorized that this is the moments that Kylo saves a young Rey from the other Knights of Ren, because she is his cousin, and he was still being strongly pulled by the Light.
The next scene is a little girl (Rey) being dropped off on Jakku, as an alien hand pulls her saying “Quiet, girl.” This is Unkar Plutt played by Simon Pegg, and the alien that Rey turns in scrap to, for rations. The little girl is screaming and crying, as she watches a starship take flight and leave Jakku’s atmosphere.
Finally, Rey is taken to a scene from the future, where she is in a snowy forest, and as she turns, Kylo Ren is in front of her, his lightsaber ignited. This was a call to what would happen, as Rey and Kylo did indeed fight in the snowy forest. This is where Rey let the Force in, and used her newfound power to defeat Kylo.
So what does this all mean? Well, I believe that Rey is Luke Skywalker’s daughter. I believe she sees the Force vision because she is a Skywalker, and that lightsaber was calling to her…as Maz Kanata says. I believe that Rey was a little girl and student in her father’s newly formed Jedi Order, and was there and spared by her cousin Kylo, when the Knights of Ren slaughtered the other fledgling Jedi. I also believe it was Luke Skywalker himself who dropped her off on Jakku, and he wiped his memory from her mind, so that if she were ever found, she would be safe.
Next: Star Wars The Force Awakens: When did Luke show up?
What does Episode VIII hold for Rey and Luke?
I believe Luke will reveal that Rey is his daughter…if she doesn’t already know it. And, he will train her, and possibly others, to battle Snoke and Kylo, and the Knights of Ren. I believe Episode VIII will be Jedi-centric and Rey will become a full-fledged Jedi Knight, like her father before her, and his father before him. The Force is strong in her family. Her Grandfather had it, her father has it, her aunt has it…and she has that power too.