Rey Kenobi Skywalker? The Generations of Kenobis interwoven with the Generations of Skywalkers

Rey Kenobi Skywalker?



It's possible that our new friend, Rey 
has a lineage completely new to our saga.
It's possible that we've never seen 
the family that she's waiting for.

We never saw Han Solo's family
before he was introduced in A New Hope.
So, it wouldn't be the first time a wild card 
without a pedigree was introduced 
to the Journal of the Whills

But, based on the type of stories
that have been at the heart of  Star Wars,
I, like most fans (I think) believe there is foreshadowing 
throughout Star Wars: Episode VII: The Force Awakens, 
that Rey's family tree will be filled 
with familiar faces and names.

But which faces and which names?

Rey Skywalker?

Daughter of Luke?
Cousin to Kylo Ren, the Son of Leia?

Probably.
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Or Rey Solo? 

Daughter of Leia?
Twin Sister of Ben Solo...Kylo Ren

Nope.  They were born about ten years apart.

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Or could she be related to Palpatine?

A secret Granddaughter?  A clone?



Perhaps.
That WOULD satisfy the trope of
Skywalker (Kylo Ren) versus Palaptine (Rey)
which ripples throughout the entire saga.
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But what about Rey Kenobi? 
Or perhaps...Rey Kenobi Skywalker?

Daughter of Luke Skywalker and the daughter of Obi-wan's...daughter?
Rey...Granddaughter of BOTH Darth Vader AND Obi-wan Kenobi?
Granddaughter of the man who was like a brother to Anakin?
Granddaughter of the man who is linked forever
to Anakin's fall to the Dark Side?

Now...this...just...got...interesting.

And...if Obi-wan had a child
...who was the mother?

How could Kenobi have had a family?

And how could a descendant have ended up alone on Jakku? 

A key to this mystery could (should) lie with the Tusken Raiders.  

The Sand People.  You heard me.

I know that this theory sounds crazy, at first.  
(Actually...it pretty much continues to sound crazy.)

But hear me out...it gets pretty cool and really fun!!  

And it does turn the character Obi-wan Kenobi on it's head.  If true, it would mean that much of what we thought we knew about Obi-wan Kenobi is wrong.  But it would be a stellar example that
many of the truths that we cling to depend greatly upon our point of view.  And also that Obi-wan doesn't always tell the whole story...in an effort to protect the innocent.

Here is the quick and dirty summary of my "Rey Kenobi Skywalker Theory":

• Between Episode 3 and 4, while living as a hermit on Tatooine, Obi-wan meets, falls in love with and marries the sole survivor of the Tuskan Raider village that Anakin had destroyed in Episode 2.  
• They have a daughter, but Obi-wan and the mom agree that the child should grow up with other Sand People.   Obi-wan can not go with them because he must still focus on watching over Luke.
• The mom is killed when the Imperials destroy her new Tusken Raider village.  The imperials need to leave false evidence to cover-up their involvement on their deceptive attack on the Jawas during their hunt for the stolen Death Star plans during Episode 4.  The mother's sacrifices allows her daughter to get away.
• She is now alone on Tatooine, just as her mother had been.  Having no where else to go, she travels to her father's home in Jundland Wastes for shelter.  She arrives to find it empty.  She would not know that the very same Imperial danger that disrupted her life also disrupted that of her father, Obi-wan.  She did not know that he would not return because he had traveled to Mos Eisley to find passage to leave Tatooine to travel to Alderaan...a journey he would never return from.  There she would remain.
• After the First Death Star is destroyed, Luke returns to looking for somewhere to meditate and seek knowledge, he travels to the home of Obi-wan Kenobi.   (See Marvel Comics)  Obi-wan's daughter stays hidden from this stranger, but Luke senses her presence.  He thinks he is feeling is a lingering feeling of his old Mentor even though it's slightly different.  Luke is tracked there by Boba Fett and the house is destroyed.  Obi-wan's daughter becomes a hermit nomad like her parents.  She travels the surface of Tatooine aimlessly scavenging and struggling to survive.
• After the Second Death Star is destroyed in Episode 6, Luke senses that the Darkness that he thwarted on the massive battle station still lingers in the Galaxy.  He begins a quest to vanquish the Darkness once and for all and he starts a new Jedi Academy.  Eventually, he decides to use the Force to reach out an feel others who are sensitive to the Force to begin a new Jedi Academy.  In his meditations, he realizes that the Force sensation he got back on Tatooine wasn't Obi-wan, but another.  The strength in Ben's daughter is strong, so when Luke returns to Tatooine, one last time, he finally finds her.  He invites her to be a member of his nascent Jedi Academy.  She is hesitant, but she senses the goodness in Luke and accepts.  
• While at the Academy, she and Luke fall in love.  Much like her father, Obi-wan, she finds comfort and understanding with another lonely survivor.  They marry and their daughter, Rey, is born at the Academy. 
• Luke continues to sense the ever growing Darkness in the Galaxy and he and his wife agree that she should take Rey away from the Academy for her own protection.  They return to her home on Jakku.
• After Snoke and Kylo Ren destroy the academy, Obi-wan's daughter, who has sensed the disaster, in a panic, rushes to do what she can to protect Luke.  She makes sure the Lor San Tekka can look after her.  But since his Church of the Force would be a target of Dark Forces, Rey can not stay with him.  She leaves Rey with Unkar Plutt out of desperation.  It is only meant to be a short time.  When Obi-wan's daughter leaves, Lor San Tekka records the Lightspeed Jump trajectory, which will later be a necessary starting reference point to later find Luke with the other information on Luke's location with Leia in Artoo.
• Obi-wan's daughter gets killed when she returns to the Academy.  Luke flees with her body and eventually buries her at the First Jedi Temple.  He knows that even though her life would be harsh, it would be too dangerous to return to Jakku for Rey.  He knows she is strong enough to survive.  He can feel it.
• Rey grows up.  She (the granddaughter of Obi-wan Kenobi, child of Luke Skywalker) and Kylo Ren (child of a princess and a scoundrel) who fight at first will eventually join forces and discover that balancing between the Light and the Dark is the only way to defeat Snoke and to bring balance to the Force.

Captain Phasma - Not a Disappointment...just Underutilized and Misunderstood (A Rosie Revision Essay)

Captain Phasma was not a disappointment...just underutilized and misunderstood with hints at more awesomeness to come!

In the weeks following the premiere of Star Wars: Episode VII: The Force Awakens, many have said Captain Phasma was a disappointment.  But I disagree. To some extent, I generally agree with some of this basic assessment.  I understand where these thoughts come from.  But, ultimately, I see more there.  Much more.

When the remarkable Gwendoline Christie was announced as being cast to play the armored bad-ass, many fellow geeks had very high expectations due to her fan-favorite portrayal of "Brienne of Tarth" on the wildly popular HBO series Game of Thrones.  "Brienne" is also an armored bad-ass, with enormous bravery, strength and pathos.  Ms. Christie's excitement and enthusiasm was apparent to the fans who saw her appearances at Star Wars Celebration and other publicity events.  She was clearly as much a fan of being in Star Wars as we were of seeing a brand new film.

But the minimal screentime and action of "Captain Phasma" in TFA was cause for concern and complaint from many fans of both Star Wars and Game of Thrones.

So, I am in the camp that thinks a more accurate description is that she was not a disappointment, but she was underutilized in TFA.   And more than that...I think the character has been misunderstood, as well.

In the scenes where she appeared in the film, Ms. Christie portrayed a very effective menacing villain.  Her steely determination when ordering the destruction of the sacred village on Jakku at the beginning of the story was vicious and cold.   Her methodical persistence in adherence to rules and protocol, especially in terms of her criticism and relentless obsession with the traitor, FN-2178, were emblematic of a faithful soldier dutifully following orders of a tyrannical regime.

One missed opportunity:

I did think that there was one scene that would have greatly improved if the action of the Riot Trooper had been played out by Captain Phasma.  It would have been understandable when she had a different weapon than the other troopers shown in the film.  The fight was dynamic and exciting.  The fight showed Finn being bested by a superior fighter, which, no doubt would be followed up with more plot developments in the remaining two Episodes.   This would have been another step on Finn's Hero's Journey.

As I said...the tweak I would have loved to have witnessed would have been the exact same sequence, but with Captain Phasma wielding the amazing baton of vibro-death.  As it was presented in the film, the Riot Patrol Trooper gets killed before finishing off his prey.  And just moments later, our Resistance heroes get captured regardless.  So, of course, in this revised version, it would have ended without Han Solo killing the trooper to save Finn.  And since moments after the fight, our heroes get captured regardless, why not have this fight end with Phasma knocking Finn to the ground and then having her troopers just collect her prize?  

It would have given Phasma that moment to shine as a warrior in addition to a cold, fearless leader.  That would have transitioned seamlessly to her shifting to the lake as the X-Wings arrived.  But...as I said...just a missed opportunity.  But the lack of physical action of the character was one of the prime complaints about the character.

One misunderstood scene:

This is apparent in all except her most pivotal scene.   My initial thought about how quickly she lowered the shields at Starkiller Base was that it would have seemed more plausible that she would simply refuse to comply and sacrifice herself, if necessary, for the cause.  A cynical view of this action is that this only happened to move the plot forward.  In other words, she acted out-of-character as a coward fearing for her life.

However, the reason she states in the movie (and expanded upon in the novel) does ring true to me.  She does not consider the act of lowering the shields as a risk, since she is so confident/arrogant to believe that her troopers will simply retake the control room as restart the shield.   In its own way, it is an continuation and extension of the arrogance of Tarkin and the other Imperials (including Palpatine in ROTJ) showed refusing to acknowledge the Rebellion, and likewise, The Resistance, as a credible threat. 

BUT...the First Order will, no doubt, find out that she was the one who lowered the shields. And it won't matter much that she thought that her troops would retake them shortly after to restore the shields without incident. The Empire wasn't very forgiving for failure of this magnitude.   I can't imagine The First Order would be any more forgiving.

She may find herself on the run from The First Order, just like Finn.   But, unlike Finn, she will still be a true believer.  So, her exile will be a very different struggle for her to cope with.  The bottom line...I can't WAIT to see what happens next for Captain Phasma along with all our new other heroes and villains in 2017 in Star Wars: Episode VIII!!!

Dead Parrot...I mean, dead smuggler

(A customer enters a pet shop.)

CUSTOMER: 'Ello, I wish to register a complaint about this smuggler what I purchased back in 1977 from this very boutique.

OWNER: Oh yes, the, uh, the Corellian Blue...What's, uh...What's wrong with it?

CUSTOMER: I'll tell you what's wrong with it, my lad. 'E'S DEAD, that's what's wrong with it!

OWNER: No, no, 'e's uh,...he's resting.