![New STAR WARS Rumor Claims [Spoiler] is Rey’s Father… And We Don’t Buy It](https://thathashtagshow.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Rey-rise-of-skywalker.jpg)
[WARNING: Article contains possible spoilers about Star Wars: Episode IX. Read on at your own risk.] Listen, I want to know who Rey’s parents are as much as anyone. Director J.J. Abrams has even basically admitted that we’ll find out their identities in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. But…. There’s a new rumor circulating about the identity of Rey’s father. (Hint: based on this rumor, Rey possesses her father’s weapon in the cover photo, above.) Frankly, this latest suggestion is making Star Wars fans none too happy, and with good reason. Just reading the rumor makes it clear that there are a myriad of reasons why it doesn’t (and shouldn’t) make sense.
First, let’s get right to the heart of the rumor. According to the Patreon Podcast from Making Star Wars, Rey’s father is actually Han Solo after all. The kicker is that Kylo Ren is not her true brother, as Rey is not Leia’s daughter. Supposedly, Han and Leia become estranged, and Han has an affair. There are just too many reasons why this cannot be true.
Han Solo cannot be Rey’s father: Here’s why
First, as Esquire tells us, the rumor states the following:
Leia and Han were estranged when she began training with Luke. When she did not complete that training she returned to Han, but Ben Solo knew of the affair (although not necessarily about Rey), and began acting out, and this was when he was sent to Luke.”
~Making Star Wars, via its Patreon Podcast
Now, we heard a recent rumor that The Rise of Skywalker will feature a flashback scene in which Leia abandons her Jedi training because of a dark Force vision. That event, however, takes place before Ben Solo is born. Now, Kylo Ren is said to have been 29 years old in The Force Awakens, ten years Rey’s senior. If the flashback scene takes place before Ben Solo is born, then there is no way Han can be Rey’s father. The supposed estrangement would have taken place a decade before her birth. And that’s just the first problem with the rumor.
Rumor doesn’t fit with canon timeline
Likewise, this rumor about Han being Rey’s father doesn’t really jive with the events of the canon timeline. Ben is a young child during the events of the novel Last Shot, which takes place about seven years after Return of the Jedi. Han and Leia are still very much together at this point. They don’t become estranged, or even separated, until many years later. We only learn of their separation in Claudia Gray’s novel Bloodline, which takes place ten years or so before the events of The Force Awakens.
Thus, unless Han had a straight-up affair while he and Leia were together, there’s no way Han is actually Rey’s father. Even Pablo Hidalgo acknowledges the timeline discrepancy:
(Pablo Hidalgo, by the way, is only one of the chief executives of the Lucasfilm Story Group. He might know a thing or two about Star Wars.)
Rey will grow as a character, and as a Jedi, in Episode IX, certainly. And there’s no denying that Rey and Han had a strong connection. I suppose there are some signs that could point to the old scoundrel being Rey’s father, and that being a big reveal, but….
Based on Rey’s age, this rumor would mean that Han ended up being a total scumbag. Scoundrel he may be, but he’s no scumbag. So let’s put this Jerry Springer, “Han Solo, you are Rey’s father” nonsense to bed, shall we?
Source: Esquire; Patreon Podcast
I hear ya, tell them how it is – we won’t get fooled again!