Star Wars: Rogue One's Jyn Erso Isn't Rey's Mother Says Daisy Ridley (But Then Who Is It?)
"Just because she’s white and got brown hair doesn’t mean she’s my mom."
Since the first trailer for Rogue One triumphantly emerged online last week (literally the only bad thing about it was that Lucasfilm still seem to be going with the "A Star Wars Story" branding), there's been an awful lot of speculation about the opening crawl prequel. But in amongst all the more logical questions (Why is Jyn in a TIE pilot outfit? Who is that cloaked guy? Is there anyone cooler than Donnie Yen?), onetheory has taken hold above all others: Felicity Jones' Jyn Erso is Rey's mother.
There's a definite physical resemblance and the timeline fits(just about) and it allows forthe father to be Luke, but isn't it all a bit too convenient for thethe first period spin-off to be so linked into the ongoing future story? Doesn't it kinda defeat the purpose of these offshoot stories and reduce Rogue One to a glorified flashback?
Well, Daisy Ridley certainly thinks so - speaking with MTV she had these pointed words to say, disproving the theory before it could get any bigger:
"Im not being funny you guys, but just because shes white and got brown hair, it doesnt mean shes my mom. I think the amazing thing about is that Finn and Rey dont come from anywhere, and they find a place. So to me, its funny that people think its so important, because I dont really think it is."
Now this is interesting. She's not wrong about thesuperficial similaritiesissue(it's like saying Finn has to be the son of either Lando or Forest Whitaker, or that Diego Luna's character is probably Poe's father), although it's the importance of origin that really matters. Given how Rey being a Skywalker (whether on the Luke or Leia branch of the tree) is a well-accepted possibility, thereal shock nowwould be for her to just be a regular person who's strong in the Force. It'd bea nicetwist on the structure of the previous movies that positionsher even more as the opposite ofKylo Ren,this trilogy's legacy character.
This may be the best way for Star Wars to go forward - we're three generations into the Skywalker lineage (four if you buy the Snoke-is-Plagueis theory)and the risk is that the entire future of the galaxy will rest entirely on ahighly-involved family drama. While that's definitely a part of Star Wars, it wasn't how it was always conceived; before Vader became Anakin, it was a more standardised serial. And with Rogue One going back to that original era of the story, maybeDisney are symbolically doing the same.
Rogue One: AStar Wars Story is in cinemas on 16th December 2016. Star Wars Episode VIII is in cinemas on 15th December 2017.