Star Warssequel trilogy actressDaisy Ridleyhas shared her thoughts on Rey’s family tree. Ridley recently spoke about the reveal of Rey being a Palpatine in 2019’sStar Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, in an interview withRolling Stone. Rey was first introduced in 2015’sStar Wars: The Force Awakens. She was living on the desert planet Jakku, trying to survive as a scavenger. Later in the film, she has multiple visions while holding Luke and Anakin Skywalker’s lightsaber, including one of her being abandoned on Jakku when she was younger.
After the film’s release, many fans expected to learn that Rey was related to an important character inStar Wars, similar to how Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) and Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher) were related to Darth Vader/Anakin Skywalker. The villain Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) was also the son of Leia and Han Solo (Harrison Ford). However, in 2017’sStar Wars: The Last Jedi, it was revealed that her parents were not characters thatStar Warsfans would already know.
Later,Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalkerrevealed that her grandfather was actually Emperor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid). It was also revealed that Palpatine was alive, and went up against Rey at the end of the film. In the interview, Ridley talked about her view on Rey being revealed to be a Palpatine. “What was interesting about the last one, for me, was that you can be a hero and not come from anywhere or you can be a hero and come from literally the worst person in the universe,” said Ridley. “You’re not your parents, you’re not your grandparents, you’re not your bloodline and you’re not the generations before you.”
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Ridley also talked about what the reveal of Rey’s family added to her story. “I do love the version of, you’re able to be anyone you want to be, but I also love the version where you can rectify wrongs and can’t help what you’re born into,” said Ridley. At the end ofStar Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Rey visited Luke’s childhood home on Tatooine. While on the planet, when someone asked her who she was, Rey responded by saying that she was “Rey Skywalker.” Although she wasn’t related to them, both Luke and Leia had been mentors to Rey throughout the sequel trilogy.
All three films of theStar Warssequel trilogy are currently available to stream on Disney+. In the meantime, check out this Collider interview with Ridley onStar Wars: The Rise of Skywalkerbelow:
