J.J. Abrams Is Struggling To Keep Rey's Parents A Secret
They're not in Star Wars Episode VII... Oh wait, they are.
One of the biggest reasons the Darth Vader reveal in The Empire Strikes Back worked in such a culturally redefining way is because a twist at all was so unexpected. Luke's father and the Dark Lord had been set up as two clearly distinct characters and there'd been no suggestion of the Clone Wars being any different to how Obi-Wan presented them in the original film. So when Vader corrects Luke, it's not just shocking because he now has some serious Daddy issues, but because you didn't expect to be surprised in the first place.
The same cannot be said of the Star Wars Sequel Trilogy. We don't know how it'll go down, but when we do find out who's Rey's parents are and why they abandoned her in Episode VIII (or IX), it'll be a mystery that's been dissected and reevaluated more times than C-3PO's harped on about that red arm.
That's not a criticism of The Force Awakens or Star Wars in general going forward (a random rug-pull would be one parallel too far), but it poses a big problem for those promoting the movies. All George Lucas had to do was hope nobody read too much into Dark Father naming of his villain. J.J. Abrams, Rian Johnson and Kathleen Kennedy have to keep the biggest mystery box in the galaxy locked.
Last week Daisy Ridley popped the quickly inflating balloon that Rogue One's Ryn Erso was her mother and now J.J. Abrams has got in the fray, to mixed success.
At the Tribeca Film Festival last week, he stated Reys parents are not in Episode VII. So I cant possibly say in this moment who they are. But I will say it is something that Rey thinks about, too.
That's massive, pretty much confirming she isn't in the Skywalker lineage at all (a theory I've come round too myself in recent weeks). For five minutes at least; after the panel, EW caught up with him and got some dampening clarification, "What I meant was that she doesnt discover them in Episode VII. Not that they may not already be in her world."
So what's all that mean? In terms of the mystery, nothing (although conspiracists could claim this means her parents definitely are in The Force Awakens), but it does suggest it's going to be a long twenty months of keeping this answer a secret. Get those spoiler tags ready.
Who do you think Rey's parents are? Does J.J. Abrams slip-up offer any clues? Let us know what you think down in the comments.