50 most shocking moments in Star Wars history

42. Rey’s lineage doesn’t matter (Star Wars: The Last Jedi)

When Star Wars: The Force Awakens first came out, many fans were curious about the new characters. With Rey, though, there was some extra curiosity as her backstory felt more uncertain as the movie went on. Speculation began as to who her parents were and why they’d leave her on her own.

While Star Wars has played this song before with Luke and Leia being the children of Darth Vader, it never felt quite as important to the story with Rey. That said, it’s still a little shocking that Kylo Ren is determined to tell her that she’s a nobody in Star Wars: The Last Jedi.

There have plenty of force-sensitive kids over the years that didn’t have any particular history. Not everyone who became a Jedi needed to be from some prestigious family. One could argue that her being a Skywalker or Kenobi would make things more interesting (and I’m not saying that it wouldn’t), but it isn’t totally necessary for people to love her character.

Rey represents strength and perseverance, especially as we learn more about her. Regardless of who her parents are, she had to do a lot of things on her own. While it’s surprising that they’d put so much emphasis on her being a nobody, it would have been more surprising I think if she had been a somebody. At least she’s certainly making a name for herself now.