In the years after The Force Awakens, there was endless speculation from Star Wars fans about Rey’s bloodline. One popular theory was that she was descended from Obi-Wan Kenobi due to her instant mastery of the Jedi Mind Trick, something Kenobi also had a knack for. Infamously, though, The Rise of Skywalker ultimately revealed that she was the granddaughter of Palpatine. However, Daisy Ridley has now confirmed that Rey was indeed almost part of the Kenobi family.
While speaking virtually on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, the actress revealed that there was some talk early on that Rey could be connected to the Jedi Knight played by both Alec Guinness and Ewan McGregor. She also confirmed that plans changed over the movies and several different versions of the heroine’s backstory were considered.
“No, at the beginning they were toying with an Obi-Wan connection,” Ridley said. “There were different versions and at one point she was no one… it kept changing.”
Even when Abrams came back for TROS and conceived of the idea to make Rey Palpatine’s descendant, it still wasn’t set in stone. Ridley explained that the filmmaker kept changing his mind, saying:
“And then it came to Episode IX and J.J. pitched me the film and was like ‘oh yeah, Palpatine’s granddaddy’ and I was like ‘awesome’ and then two weeks later he was like ‘oh we’re not sure’, so it kept changing,” Ridley continued. “So then even when we were filming I wasn’t sure what the answer was going to be.”
Ridley’s admission fits with what we know about the ever-evolving plans for TROS. Screenwriter Chris Terrio previously revealed that the script for Episode IX was redrafted more times than any other movie he’s worked on. It’s believed that various different endings for the film were shot as well, including one where Kylo Ren lived and Rey died.
Back in the day, Star Wars fans were thinking they had to guess what the studio had planned. But, in actual fact, it seems like they might have let us do the work for them and then decided which fan theory was the most interesting to make canon. Should they have stuck with the Kenobi connection, though? Let us know in the comments.