Exclusive! Star Wars The Force Awakens – Rey’s Origin Revealed!
We have some confirmation on Rey’s backstory for The Force Awakens and it’s not what anyone expected. Hit the accelerator… I mean jump and beware the sand people… er… spoilers.
We received this bit of info from a little bird named Tweety. Tweety tells us that Rey is actually the granddaughter of Padmé’s brother! Guess who is portraying Padmé’s brother… Max von Sydow! That’s right folks, Rey is indeed Max’s granddaughter and a Naberrie, making her first cousins once removed to Luke and Leia. But FYI: Naberrie is not Rey’s last name in the film.
Now if you’re trying to remember if Padmé had a brother in any of the prequel films, I’ll make it easy for you. She didn’t. This brother is an entirely new character. Apparently he and Padmé didn’t have a great relationship and he joined the Republic Navy early in his adult life, explaining his absence from the films and other media.
To make a long story short, Max’s character went on to serve the Empire between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope. He was stationed on Lothal under the command of Agent Kallus. Naberrie met a woman on Lothal, married her, left the Empire’s military and moved to Tatooine under a new name, Gavin Darklighter.
After he moved to Tatooine, Gavin started a shop called Tosche Station. A year or so later, Gavin and his wife had a child who grew up to join the Rebelion. That’s right, Biggs Darklighter! Biggs was actually Luke’s cousin but they never knew it.
When word of Biggs’ death reached Gavin, he fell into a deep depression. He crashed his speeder while driving drunk and was critically injured, ultimately needing cyborg implants to survive. Later in life, Gavin and his wife had another child. When she grew up, she fell in love with a man, and had a baby named Rey.
Rey’s parents and Gavin’s wife were killed by the Empire during the Battle of Tatooine, leaving Rey to be raised by Gavin at an early age. Rey grows up with Gavin in his shop working side-by-side with him, never knowing the truth of her parents’ and grandmother’s death. She now longs for adventure and to leave the planet, mirroring Luke in A New Hope and Anakin in The Phantom Menace.
So there you have it folks! Rey’s last name is Darklighter but she is really a Naberrie!
