50 most shocking moments in Star Wars history

36. Rey finding out about her Force abilities (Star Wars: The Force Awakens)

Given the title of the movie, there was obviously going to be at least one new character with a tie to the Force. We wind up getting two of them, though. With Kylo Ren, we learn about his connection to Han and Leia, so it makes sense that he’d wind up with a connection to the Force. His connection is already a strong one as we meet the other new characters.

For Rey, it wasn’t as simple of a reveal. When we see her, she’s savvy, but she gives off no indication of having any ties to the Force. This is something that takes time to build up throughout the movie. She’s not trained at all and everything she does know appears to be what she picked up along the way. She survived on her own for so long, but she ends up having a greater calling by the end of The Force Awakens.

As Rey starts finding out about her powers, the audience is finding out about them at the same time. As she feels these new things happening, we get to share that experience with her, which makes it more exciting. Her encounter with Kylo Ren appears to be what triggered her powers, too, which is interesting to dive into. We see their connection grow in The Last Jedi, and I feel like we still don’t know what her full potential is just yet. Maybe she’ll continue to shock the audience with that she can do in the next movie as well.