ARCHIVE: The Rey Kenobi Files - 1

The Rey Kenobi Files is a thread for the serious consideration and discussion Rey as a Kenobi descendant. A place where we can analyze, gush, and giggle about the Rey Kenobi opinions, fan theories, collect metas, analysis and the plethora of Rey Kenobi art, fan vids, from around the web. Please blog with joy, laughter and peace.

This thread is not for debate or for back and forth arguments, it is was created to  just be a place to enjoy the the possibility of Rey being a Kenobi. If you disagree, the Rey Lineage thread II is for debate please put forth any and all theories about Lineage there. We would love to read them.

I'll add some stuff later when I come back, currently on shoot for web series

I'll love this place!!!!

Kenobi Parallels

spacebaby45678 wrote:Kenobi Parallels

@spacebaby45678

"Master Obi-Wan lost a planet. How embarrassing, hooow embarrassing!" - Yoda, AoTC

Why Rey Is Obi Wan Kenobi’s Granddaughter

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ben-ostrower/rey-is-obi-wan-kenobis-granddaughter_b_8911656.html

Assuming that Rey isn’t just the hero of this new trilogy, but also the character that ultimately brings “balance to the force”, the reveal that Rey is a Kenobi would be the twist of the entire nine episode arc.
I left the theater after my first (and even second) viewing entirely convinced that Rey is Luke Skywalker’s daughter. Duh. All signs point to this (the inheritance of the lightsaber, Maz Kanata’s cryptic insights, the final scene with Luke, etc). After all, the whole story is about the sins and redemptions of the Skywalker family, right?

“This is not the plot twist you’re looking for.”
Not so fast. After days of marinating, I’m convinced: that was all misdirection — too narratively easy for what should be the biggest reveal in this new trilogy. In the following post, I’ll make a reasoned case that Rey is in fact Obi Wan Kenobi’s granddaughter — both because of clues planted in The Force Awakens and especially because it would bring the nine episode series to a much more satisfying emotional conclusion; lending more poignance to the earlier films, including the maligned Prequels.

First, the clues:

The accent

The only two “good guys” in the entire series who have British accents are Obi Wan and Rey (if you exclude C3PO). This likely isn’t an accident since other British actors (i.e. John Boyega, Liam Neeson) perform with American accents.

The Jedi mind trick scene

The scene in which Rey persuades her Stormtrooper (007) captor to open her cell door and drop his weapon strongly echoes Obi Wan’s successful uses of the Jedi mind trick in both the OT and Prequels — one of his signature abilities. This is not the plot twist you’re looking for.

Poking around Starkiller Base

The scenes of Rey scaling the walls and tip-toeing around the First Order’s Starkiller HQ echo Obi Wan in A New Hope sneaking around the Death Star and disabling the tractor beam. A superficial homage to Episode IV or a breadcrumb leading to answers about the Third Trilogy’s protagonist?

“Ben Solo”

The only reference to Obi Wan in The Force Awakens comes with the reveal of Kylo Ren’s real name: Ben. That climactic moment serves to highlight two key things: 1) a reminder of the overall importance of “Old Ben” Kenobi to the broader Star Wars story, and 2) the notable absence of any references to Obi Wan up until that moment — the only major A New Hope character not to get a prior visual cameo or major plot point (so we think). This omission looks like a filmmaker’s “sleight-of-hand,” guiding us away from a reveal about Obi Wan later in the new trilogy.

But the clues continue to pile up, addressed here.

Similar costumes between Rey and Obi Wan (in the Prequels).

Both Ewan McGregor’s and Alec Guinness’s voices appear in the key basement lightsaber flashback scene at Maz’s.
And, lastly, JJ Abrams has suggested that Rey’s loneliness is a key to her origin, likely a referencing Obi Wan’s status as a lonely hermit between Episodes 3 and 4. Unless Rey is Yoda’s granddaughter but probably not.
Sure, these are all basic clues that could easily be discounted, but there’s ample fodder with which to rack your brain...

“How satisfying would that be to learn that the nine episode arc is really, underneath it all, about the Kenobi family and not the Skywalkers?”
The deeper strain of this “Rey Kenobi theory,” however, is rooted in the concept that Star Wars has always had a certain narrative symmetry: good versus evil, light versus dark, small versus big, faith versus technology. Characters even refer to bringing “balance to the force.” These patterns abound in the Star Wars universe, appearing again and again in both minor and major ways. Many have even been critical of how closely The Force Awakens mirrors earlier narrative patterns and beats. That criticism is fair, but it’s being used for intentional effect to both guide and misguide and play with our assumptions and expectations.

With that said, here are the juicier reasons why Rey being Obi Wan’s granddaughter would ring true and be so satisfying to the completion of the story:



Symbolism of the lightsaber

While the movie seems to imply that Rey’s inheritance of Luke’s blue lightsaber is a “passing of the torch” from one Skywalker to another, we shouldn’t forget who gave Luke that lightsaber in the first place: Obi Wan. The lightsaber had been in Obi Wan’s possession for 20-30 years or so between Episodes 3 and 4, and is even presented to Luke from a wood chest similar to the chest later seen in Episode 7 in Maz Kanata’s castle-bar (yet another clue). It is Obi Wan’s passage of the lightsaber to Luke, along with encouragement to learn the force that propels the entire story forward. This key scene in Episode 4 (arguably the most important scene in all seven movies) even includes Obi Wan’s misdirection about Luke’s father, a narrative trick repeated in The Force Awakens.

All that being said, think about how much more poignant Episode 7’s final scene of Rey handing Luke his own lightsaber becomes if it’s again a Kenobi reuniting a Skywalker with their weapon, compelling them back to the fight. Of course we all know that the burden of the lightsaber is now Rey’s whether she wants it or not...

Reversal of the mentors

It wouldn’t be wild speculation to assume that Luke will now train Rey in the ways of the Jedi in Episode 8. If Rey is a Kenobi (admit it, you’re convinced), this would be a profound and emotional reversal of the role of mentor and teacher: a Kenobi training a Skywalker followed by a Skywalker training a Kenobi. Narrative symmetry.

Parallels to Kenobi vs. Skywalker duels

Both Episodes 3 and 4 end with fateful duels between Obi Wan and Anakin/Darth. While there are certainly duels between Skywalkers (5 and 6), I’d suggest that Rey and Kylo Ren’s duel at the end of 7 becomes much more dramatic if we eventually learn that they are refighting the battle of their grandfathers, not two battling cousins or siblings.

Depth of Obi Wan as a character

One obvious question that grows from the “Rey Kenobi theory” is: with whom would Obi Wan have had a child? When? Like monks, aren’t Jedi’s supposed to resist attachments? Despite Obi Wan’s significant role in the first six movies, we know surprisingly little about him and what makes him tick. A backstory (uncultivated in I, II & III) about a forbidden love, perhaps, can enrich and deepen his character in surprising ways. It might answer another question: what was Obi Wan doing while in hiding for those 20-30 years before finally connecting with Luke on Tatooine? Maybe he wasn’t the lonely hermit that we thought.

The twist of the series

Assuming that Rey isn’t just the hero of this new trilogy, but also the character that ultimately brings “balance to the force”, the reveal that Rey is a Kenobi and not a Skywalker, as we’re being led to believe, would be the twist of the entire nine episode arc.

We’re told at many points in the Prequels that Anakin Skywalker was “the chosen one” — the Jedi who would bring balance to the force. Not only was this obviously false, but in Episode 7 we’ve essentially learned that Luke has also failed miserably in his attempt to bring peace to the galaxy. Luke’s Jedi training of Ben Solo (a Skywalker descendant) was clearly such a disaster that it turned him to the dark side.

In all, the Skywalkers are a pretty mixed bag: powerful, but emotional, petulant and frequently tempted by the allure of evil. It’s Ben Kenobi in the earlier episodes that is truly virtuous, noble and pure of heart. He’s our true hero. He’s incorruptible. He sacrifices himself at the end of A New Hope to show Luke the power of faith in the force, saving him and the galaxy in the process.

Wouldn’t it then make complete narrative sense for a Kenobi (Rey) to be the true hero of the saga — perhaps even saving the soul of another conflicted Skywalker (Ben Solo/Kylo Ren) later in the new trilogy? How satisfying would that be to learn that the nine episode arc is really, underneath it all, about the Kenobi family and not the Skywalkers?

My favorite moment in the series comes in Episode 5 when Luke has abruptly and hastily cut short his training and Force Ghost Obi Wan laments, “That boy is our last hope.” Yoda replies, “No... there is another...”

Written originally to be a reference to Leia, how dramatic would it be for the “another” to ultimately mean a Kenobi? After all, we do learn pretty quickly in Episode 7 that Leia never becomes a Jedi. If Rey is a Kenobi and if by the close of Episode 9 she’s brought “balance to the force,” then all of the previous movies take on a new meaning. Even Obi Wan’s Force Ghost from Episodes 5 and 6 takes on a much more spiritual purpose than to just provide convenient story exposition. If Rey is revealed as a Kenobi, it changes the entire paradigm of the series.

While of course the “Rey Kenobi theory” is just a nerdy (very nerdy) theory and could easily be false, in my opinion it’s just too potentially satisfying to be ignored. If the narrative patterning (nostalgic borrowing from the OT) from Episode 7 is carried into the next movies, I’m guessing (hoping) this will be revealed in Episode 8 —  the big twist that people will be talking about for days, weeks and years into the future.

Ben Ostrower is the founder and creative director of Wide Eye Creative, an independent digital design agency based in Washington, D.C.

The Path of the Light Saber

spacebaby45678 wrote:

@spacebaby45678

AHAHAHAHAHA AHAHAHAHAHA AHAHAHAHAHA

Daisy Ridley saying her starting out solitary is a big clue as to what it's (her liniage) all about

So her starting point is a clue as to who she is

Obi wan started this saga solitary

I see it....Rey is a Kenobi for sure
Although I am fine with her being anything except Skywalker or Solo

Kylo Ren wrote:I see it....Rey is a Kenobi for sure
Although I am fine with her being anything except Skywalker or Solo

@Kylo Ren

Oooooohhh she will be... By marriage

Maria Antonietta wrote:

Kylo Ren wrote:I see it....Rey is a Kenobi for sure
Although I am fine with her being anything except Skywalker or Solo

@Kylo Ren

Oooooohhh she will be... By marriage

@Maria Antonietta

You know...I am kinda dirty minded (being a darksider and all) but I would like that they make love before they are married....

Rey: “But, Grandpa, we love each other!”

Obi-Wan: *looks directly into the camera like he’s on The Office*

credit: ageless-aislynn tumbler

Kylo Ren wrote:

Maria Antonietta wrote:

Kylo Ren wrote:I see it....Rey is a Kenobi for sure
Although I am fine with her being anything except Skywalker or Solo

@Kylo Ren

Oooooohhh she will be... By marriage

@Maria Antonietta

You know...I am kinda dirty minded (being a darksider and all) but I would like that they make love before they are married....

@Kylo Ren

They already did it, with lightsabers. Now it's time to get physical
And now let's get back on topic!

Gemini wrote:Daisy Ridley saying her starting out solitary is a big clue as to what it's (her liniage) all about

So her starting point is a clue as to who she is

Obi wan started this saga solitary

@Gemini

This is the video of Daisy's interview with that qoute.

http://www.tubechop.com/watch/7978457

My only objection to Rey Kenobi is that this theory is mostly based upon parallels between her and Obi Wan (clothes, mind trick, kick to Kylo during battle and so on), just like Reywalkers were spotting a lot of parallels between her and Luke (desert, speeder, helmet....). If the parallels are not valid for Rey Skywalker, they must be the same for Rey Kenobi, IMHO.
But this is the only objection. If she is a Kenobi for me is fine.

spacebaby45678 wrote:

Gemini wrote:Daisy Ridley saying her starting out solitary is a big clue as to what it's (her liniage) all about

So her starting point is a clue as to who she is

Obi wan started this saga solitary

@Gemini

This is the video of Daisy's interview with that qoute.

http://www.tubechop.com/watch/7978457

@spacebaby45678

"she's solitary"
All the geniuses: "Ooooohh she's a solo"
Daisy: *facepalm*

@zenbrainjam Obi-Wan was on the speeder with Luke and c3po (if I remember correctly), the desert is associated with Obi-Wan, too. Reywalkers have almost nothing in their hands

There's got to be something else from the Phantom menace, but I don't have the DVD

Maria Antonietta wrote:

There's got to be something else from the Phantom menace, but I don't have the DVD

@Maria Antonietta

One of my faves!!!!