It's really too bad that daytime talk shows aren't a thing in the Star Wars universe. (Or maybe they are — watch Mornings With Maz Kanata be a thing in Episode VIII.) Anyway, one might come in handy to help solve the puzzle of Rey's parentage. I'm so desperate to know where (and who) The Force Awakens heroine comes from, I wouldn't even mind a Maury Povich "You are the father!" announcement. So far, Star Wars fans have tapped Han and Leia, Luke, and even Rogue One character Jyn Erso as possible relatives of the girl left on Jakku. But my frontrunner is a different old friend of the Rebellion. Obi-Wan Kenobi should be Rey's grandfather in Star Wars, and so far, that connection looks like a plausible outcome.
If you watched the Star Wars movies in the order of their release, Obi-Wan was already a grandfatherly type when you first met him. He didn't live with a family on Tatooine, but was regarded by most of the community as an addled, aging hermit. (No respect, I tell ya.) Obviously, there was much more going on with old Ben Kenobi than farm boy Luke assumed. And since the movies have officially cut ties with the Expanded Universe in other forms of media, the upcoming episodes are free to fill in Obi-Wan's activities between Revenge Of The Sith and A New Hope. I'm hopeful that these activities include fathering a child who became Rey's mother of father. Here are my top reasons why Obi-Wan would be the best possible ancestor for Rey.
It Explains The Accent
Rey actor Daisy Ridley is British and kept her accent for The Force Awakens. My fondest memories of the Obi-Wan are of how his speeches about duty, danger, and the Force sound in his posh dialect. Rey's speech sounds far more similar to Obi-Wan's than it does to Luke, Leia, or Han's. It's also worth noting that Finn and Poe both speak with an American accent. For John Boyega, that meant masking his own South London inflection, even though Ridley didn't have to alter her natural pattern of speaking. This has to have been a deliberate strategy.
It Explains Rey's Force Sensitivity
The Force is strong with the Skywalker family, so Rey could have inherited her pre-Jedi skills from either Luke or Leia. But the movies have been up and down that family tree; it would be nice to see another Force-sensitive bloodline in the mix.
It Ties All The Trilogies Together In A Very Personal Way
Obi-Wan is the rare character who is an adult during the original trilogy (well, a disembodied adult for part of it) and the prequels. He was there for Anakin Skywalker's moral downfall and rise to power. In Return Of The Jedi, he gets to see his former protege finally return to the light in the moments before his death. Now, Kylo Ren is using the memory of Darth Vader to feed his own delusions of grandeur. Wouldn't it be fitting if Obi-Wan's descendant would be the one to put an end to that nonsense for good?
It Gives Obi-Wan The Legacy He Deserves
Listen: who wouldn't be proud to have Rey as a relative? Yes, Obi-Wan corrects some of the mistakes he makes with Anakin in his brief mentorship of Luke. But Luke is not his son and he had his own father issues to deal with. Who says the Skywalkers get to have all the glory? It's time for Obi-Wan's family to rise. Rey Kenobi? That has a nice ring to it, no?
Rey and Obi-Wan might hail from the same family; in that case, I need to know if they're looking for any new members.
Images: Walt Disney Studios; Giphy (4)
