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Star Wars ABCs: R is for Rey Skywalker

Star Wars

Star Wars ABCs: R is for Rey Skywalker

The last Jedi Knight in the galaxy and the future of the Jedi Order.

Star Wars ABCs is a fun 26-part series that partners Star Wars with your ABCs to introduce you to characters, droids, places, and creatures from every era of the franchise, including the newest venture into a galaxy far, far away — The High Republic.

R is for Rey Skywalker

Rey Skywalker

Disney

Rey Skywalker, formerly known simply as Rey, was a human female Jedi Knight during the era of the New Republic and the rise and fall of the First Order. Born in 15 ABY, she was raised by her parents for the first few years of her life on the desert planet Jakku, until they sold her to a local junk dealer for drinking money. Rey’s parents had turned to the hard life of junkers after her father, a bioengineered clone of Darth Sidious, aka Emperor Palpatine, fled the Sith world of Exegol to escape Sidious’ evil ways. Rey’s parents sold her and fled in order to hide their daughter — who had inherited Sidious’ connection to the Force — not because they didn’t love her. Eventually, the Sith cultist and assassin Ochi of Bestoon hunted down Rey’s parents and murdered them both when they refused to give up her location.

After being orphaned on Jakku, Rey grew up isolated and alone, and was forced to become a scavenger and junker in order to survive on the harsh desert world. When war broke out across the galaxy in 34 ABY, Rey had a chance encounter outside of Niima outpost with the Resistance astromech droid BB-8, and rescued it from the scavenger Teedo. The next day at Niima Outpost, the young scavenger and her new droid friend were attacked by three bandits and then immediately ran into Finn, a stormtrooper of the First Order who had just gone renegade and crash-landed on Jakku in a TIE fighter. The First Order had tracked BB-8 to the desert planet and TIE fighters attacked the newly formed trio, forcing them to steal a ship to escape in, which turned out to be none other than the legendary Millennium Falcon.

Following a harrowing escape from Jakku and the First Order, Rey and her new friends gained more allies in the form of Rebel Alliance veterans Han Solo and Chewbacca, with whom she journeyed around the galaxy. During this time, Rey discovered that the Force and the Jedi were real, and not only that, but she possessed the same connection to the mystical energy field as the legendary Jedi Master Luke Skywalker. Following the destruction of Starkiller base and Han Solo’s death, Rey used a secret map to journey across the galaxy into the unknown regions to seek guidance from Master Skywalker in the ways of the Force.

Rey located Skywalker on a remote world that housed the first Jedi temple, but he initially refused to instruct her in the ways of the Force, telling her that the Jedi needed to end. It was here that Rey discovered her connection to Kylo Ren, formerly known as Ben Solo, a dark side user, fallen Jedi and First Order leader who had murdered his father Han Solo, helped end billions of innocents lives in the Hosnian system, and tortured Rey. Skywalker revealed his hand in Ben Solo’s fall to the dark side and reluctantly taught Rey in the ways of the Force despite his decision to end the Jedi legacy.

When the First Order hunted the Resistance to Crait, it would have been snuffed out if not for the sacrifice of Luke Skywalker and the timely arrival of Rey and Chewbacca in the Millennium Falcon. Alongside her friends, Rey helped the Resistance rebuild in anticipation for a final battle against the First Order and Emperor Palpatine, who had revealed himself to be alive, more than 20 years after his supposed death. Through her unique Force bond with Kylo Ren, a dyad in the Force, Rey was able to discover that she was the genetic granddaughter of Darth Sidious and therefore a Palpatine.

As the last Jedi remaining in the galaxy, Rey and a redeemed Ben Solo faced off against Darth Sidious on Exegol. Rey was aided in her battle against Sidious by the spirits of all the Jedi, which allowed her to defeat him at the cost of her own life. In his last act, Solo sacrificed his own life force to return Rey to life, sharing an embrace and a kiss with her before becoming one with the Force. While technically Solo was the last member of the Skywalker bloodline, Rey assumed the name “Skywalker” to honor Ben, Luke, and Leia’s memory, and to cast off her own heritage as a Palpatine.

Growing up on the harsh world of Jakku helped hone Rey into a person who held many strengths. She possessed an innate understanding of how machinery worked and as a scavenger and junker she developed top skills as a mechanic. Niima Outpost saw many traders visit from across the galaxy, which helped the scavenger learn a wide variety of languages, including Shyriiwook and binary (droid language). As a Force-sensitive being, Rey was incredibly strong. This was due in part to her connection with Ben Solo as one half of a dyad in the Force. As an untrained Force user, she was able to resist Kylo Ren’s mind probe, move a lightsaber with the Force, and fight off an injured Ren in a lightsaber duel. Under Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa Solo’s tutelage, Rey’s powers grew at a preternatural rate, allowing her to leap great distances, heal grave injuries with the Force, use telekinesis, the Jedi mind trick, and even Force lightning, which was unintentional and likely due to her Palpatine lineage.

At this time Rey is the last known remaining Jedi Knight in the entire galaxy and possesses the original Jedi texts. With Finn being confirmed as Force-sensitive, it’s the hope of many fans that she will take him as her first official Padawan apprentice.

You can join Rey Skywalker on her adventures in the Sequel Trilogy on Disney+.

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