Does Rise of Skywalker Mean Rey & Kylo Ren Are Related? It’s Complicated

It’s happening again in the Star Wars universe – Rey and Kylo Ren could be related to each other, as suggested by The Rise of Skywalker. Introduced by J.J. Abrams in The Force Awakens, Rey is a humble scavenger of mysterious origin, while on the other side of the Star Wars divide, Kylo Ren is a Sith in training, the son of Han Solo and Princess Leia. Although their paths initially seem incredible diverse, Rey and Kylo Ren encounter each other on Starkiller Base and the amateur Jedi managed to wound her opponent despite being inexperienced with a lightsaber.

As Rey becomes more powerful using the Force, her relationship with Kylo Ren takes a turn, allowing the pair to communicate over long distances in The Last Jedi. Kylo Ren believes he can tempt Rey to join him in conquering the galaxy, while Rey senses the lingering ghost of Ben Solo within the First Order’s angst-ridden warrior. Snoke claims to be the one creating this connection, but Rey and Kylo Ren are eventually revealed to be part of a naturally-occurring Force dyad in The Rise of Skywalker. The final episode in the Star Wars sequel trilogy sees Rey proved correct – Kylo is redeemed as Ben Solo, and sacrifices himself to revive her. The pair enjoy a passionate kiss before Ben collapses.

The Star Wars movies have a checkered history when it comes to romance, especially after Luke Skywalker made the fatal mistake of kissing his sister in The Empire Strikes Back. That awkward slice of history potentially repeats itself in The Rise of Skywalker. The 2019 film controversially reveals that Rey is the granddaughter of Sheev Palpatine. Attempting to clone himself, The Emperor inadvertently spawned a son, who would go on to start a family of his own. As Palpatine tried to track down his descendants, Rey was left abandoned on Jakku with no knowledge of her infamous heritage. Anakin Skywalker’s lineage is equally mysterious. His mother Shmi is introduced in The Phantom Menace and ominously reveals to Qui-Gon Jinn that the boy was miraculously conceived, with no father on the scene. Assuming Shmi wasn’t simply trying to cover up for a regretful one-night stand, this is a mystery that Star Wars never directly confronts, essentially leaving Anakin as a child of the force.

Complications arise when considering the conception of Anakin Skywalker. In the Disney canon Darth Vader #25 comic, Anakin sees a vision of the past, where a spiritual manifestation of Palpatine approaches a younger Shmi Skywalker and impregnates her with the Chosen One. This idea originated in the old Star Wars Expanded Universe, now known as Star Wars Legends, and was likely part of Palpatine’s scheme to achieve immortality. Naturally, this scene sparked considerable speculation among fans and in 2019, the Lucasfilm story group confirmed that the vision of Palpatine Force-impregnating Shmi Skywalker was merely in Anakin’s mind. On the other hand, Sam Witwer (who voices Anakin in The Clone Wars) and various others maintain that Palpatine must have created Anakin.

Whether or not Rey and Kylo Ren are related hinges on how this ambiguous scene is interpreted. If the vision was entirely in Anakin’s mind, then Kylo Ren and Rey can smooch freely without fear of repeating Luke and Leia’s mistake. But if Palpatine essentially fathered Anakin through the Force, the Emperor would be the great-grandfather of Kylo Ren and the grandfather of Rey, making the pair first cousins once removed. But even if the Darth Vader comic is taken at face value, instigating the Force to create Anakin doesn’t necessarily make Palpatine his father. The Rise of Skywalker muddies the waters further when Rey declares herself a Skywalker in the closing scene. This means she’s related to Kylo spiritually and through her name, if not biologically.

The Rey and Kylo situation is perhaps indicative of how fluid Star Wars canon can be. After The Rise of Skywalker‘s kissing scene made any potential familial connection between Rey and Kylo Ren problematic, Lucasfilm came out to debunk the speculation. But if the kiss hadn’t have happened, it would’ve been just as easy for the studio to reveal the Palpatine and Shmi vision was accurate. There’s an ongoing debate as to whether Rey and Kylo’s relationship was romantic in nature or more akin to a brother and sister, with J.J. Abrams hinting towards the latter. Such comments will continue fueling speculation that Rey and Kylo Ren are related through Anakin Skywalker.

About The Author

Craig Elvy
(3624 Articles Published)

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Craig first began contributing to Screen Rant in 2016, several years after graduating college, and has been ranting ever since, mostly to himself in a darkened room. Having previously written for various sports and music outlets, Craig’s interest soon turned to TV and film, where a steady upbringing of science fiction and comic books finally came into its own.
Craig has previously been published on sites such as Den of Geek, and after many coffee-drenched hours hunched over a laptop, part-time evening work eventually turned into a full-time career covering everything from the zombie apocalypse to the Starship Enterprise via the TARDIS.

Since joining the Screen Rant fold, Craig has been involved in breaking news stories and mildly controversial ranking lists, but now works predominantly as a features writer.
Jim Carrey is Craig’s top acting pick and favorite topics include superheroes, anime and the unrecognized genius of the High School Musical trilogy.

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