Movies

‘The Last Jedi’ director Rian Johnson: The identity of Rey’s parents is “still open”

The reveal in ‘The Last Jedi’ may be true…from a certain point of view.

January 1, 2018

SPOILERS ahead for Star Wars: The Last Jedi.

The Last Jedi, the eighth installment in the main Star Wars saga and Rian Johnson’s directorial debut on the series, elicited a mixed response from fans. While many enjoyed the movie, others were disappointed by the way the movie handled some of the mysteries introduced in The Force Awakens.

One of those big mysteries was that of Rey’s lineage. Who is she? Why is she so sensitive to the Force? What’s her role in all of this? It’s a question asked both by members of the audience and the character Rey herself, and in The Last Jedi we learn her parents are nobodies. As Kylo Ren put it, "they were filthy junk traders. Sold you off for drinking money. They’re dead in a pauper’s grave in the Jakku desert. You come from nothing. You’re nothing."

Not so fast, though. Just like Obi-Wan Kenobi telling Luke Skywalker in A New Hope that Darth Vader killed his father, the underwhelming reveal of Rey’s parents may only be true from a certain point of view. In a recent interview with Huffington Post, Rian Johnson said of the reveal:

"Anything’s still open, and I’m not writing the next film. [J.J. Abrams and Chris Terrio] are doing it."

'The Last Jedi' director Rian Johnson: The identity of Rey's parents is "still open"

He went on to add:

"With all of these movies, Obi-Wan’s whole speech about a certain point of view always applies, so I think that you have to always think about the context of how information is given. But for me, dramatically, that’s why that reveal at that moment made sense."

So we’ll have to wait until the upcoming Episode IX to see if what Kylo Ren said was true, even if it’s only true from a certain point of view. Besides, does it even really matter?