The Simple Change That Could Have Fixed The Worst Star Wars Movie

By Chris Snellgrove
| Published 12 seconds ago

While the franchise lingered on in the form of shows like Andor and The Mandalorian (and, unfortunately, The Acolyte), the Star Wars we know and love effectively ended with The Rise of Skywalker. After the critical and commercial failure of that film, the franchise seemed dead. That left just one question: what killed it? Certainly, all of the sequels were filled with some big missteps, but the final nail in the coffin was ROTS revealing Rey was secretly Palpatine’s granddaughter. It was weird enough that the Emperor came back with no real explanation as to how he even survived; now we had to deal with the newest Jedi being Space Hitler’s granddaughter.

Since The Rise of Skywalker came out, however, fans have proposed a singular theory about what would have saved that final sequel film and, by extension, saved Star Wars. If Rey simply had to be related to a famous character from the Original Trilogy, she should have been Obi-Wan Kenobi’s granddaughter. This would explain Obi-Wan’s voice in The Force Awakens, deepen connections to The Clone Wars, and even gently retcon the worst narrative mistake of the prequels. Just how would this narrative change do all that? Pour yourself a tall glass of blue milk, kid, because this is gonna be one heck of a tale!

Search Your Feelings, You Know It To Be True

The first reason Rey should have been the granddaughter of Obi-Wan Kenobi in The Rise of Skywalker is that it would have explained one of the biggest mysteries of The Force Awakens. In that first sequel, when Rey touches Luke Skywalker’s lightsaber, she receives a weird Force vision filled with sights and sounds from every era of Star Wars. In this vision, we hear the original voice of Obi-Wan (Sir Alec Guinness) distinctly say the name “Rey.” When TFA first came out, fans wondered how the Jedi Master would know the name of this new hero and if they might be connected by blood.

If The Rise of Skywalker had revealed Rey to be Obi-Wan’s granddaughter, it would explain why he was calling her name and perhaps watching her via the Force. It would also explain some of the confusion about who Rey’s parents are. Because of how the Jedi were hunted, it would make sense for Rey’s parents to keep their distance, lest their own connection to Obi-Wan get this young girl killed. Also, Obi-Wan’s child was presumably Force-sensitive; they might have used the Force to make it harder to detect the truth about her, explaining why Kylo Ren thought she was a nobody.

Jedi Hero, Secret Daddy

Additionally, Obi-Wan Kenobi hooking up with Satine (something hinted at in The Clone Wars) and having a kid would explain why he was so willing to look the other way about the secret marriage between Anakin Skywalker and Padme Amidala. Given what a stickler for the rules Obi-Wan is, it never made sense that he was cool with his former apprentice leading a secret double life. But if Obi-Wan secretly had a lovechild of his own, it would make sense that he wouldn’t admonish Anakin. For one thing, he’d feel shame; for another, Anakin might very well sense that shame via the Force if they had an open discussion about his relationship with Anakin, which would put Kenobi’s future granddaughter in danger.

Arguably, Rey being Obi-Wan Kenobi’s granddaughter could have given more meaning to her final fight with Emperor Palpatine. That fight always seemed a little hollow because there were no emotional stakes; it was a fight between someone we barely knew and someone we thought long dead. But if Rey carried Obi-Wan Kenobi’s bloodline, though, it would be like a very belated victory for the Jedi Master. Once, Palpatine killed all of his friends and forced him on the run; now, Obi-Wan’s granddaughter would make sure that the man behind Order 66 would never hurt anyone, ever again.

This isn’t a perfect solution to the failures of the Sequel Trilogy, of course. But giving Rey such a powerful connection to a beloved Star Wars character would fix some of the sequels’ narrative mistakes while deepening their connection to the prequels and adding some emotional heft to the big climax of The Rise of Skywalker. It would even give the Obi-Wan Kenobi show something else to explore in future seasons. Unfortunately, Lucasfilm making the character a secret Palpatine rendered Rey a much more confusing character, which may ultimately hurt the franchise once she becomes the anchor character for the next era of Star Wars films.