Warning: Major SPOILERS ahead of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker drops a huge reveal about Rey's parents and last name, with it confirmed during the new movie that she is actually the granddaughter of Emperor Palpatine. Star Wars 9, directed by J.J. Abrams, who co-wrote the script alongside Chris Terrio (Argo, Batman v Superman), is the ending to the Skywalker Saga, encompassing all nine movies across 42-years, but it's also the direct conclusion to the sequel trilogy Abrams himself kicked off.
That means he's finishing what he started, and so he returns to many of the plot and character threads he set up (or at least placed in mystery boxes) in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the continuation of which (or perceived lack thereof) was a foundation of the backlash to Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Chief among all of that, of course, was the question of who Rey's parents are. Prior to and after The Force Awakens, theories ran the full range of speculation: Skywalker? Solo? Kenobi? Or something else?
Star Wars: The Last Jedi seemingly answered the question, revealing Rey's parents as nobodies, but it's long been clear that The Rise of Skywalker would have more to say on the matter, and so it proves. During Star Wars 9, Rey is revealed as the granddaughter of one major character, but by the end adopts the name of another.
Rey Is The Granddaughter Of Emperor Palpatine
The question of who Rey is has been definitively answered by Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, which builds on the reveal of The Last Jedi (it technically doesn't retcon everything in there, but it's also hard to see it as anything but a rejection of that). Rey's parents were nobodies, but that's not the full truth, since her father was somebody: the son of Emperor Palpatine. That means Rey herself is Palpatine's granddaughter, a direct descendent of perhaps the most powerful Sith to have ever lived, and the overarching villain of the Skywalker Saga.
This is revealed to Rey through Kylo Ren, much like the identity of her parents was. Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker does drop some hints along the way that this twist is coming though. When we first meet Emperor Palpatine in The Rise of Skywalker, he commands Kylo Ren to bring him Rey, clearing possessing a keen interest in her. When the pair meet on Pasaana, each attempting to control the transport that ostensibly has Chewbacca inside of it, Rey omits a powerful blast of Force lightning, the power most commonly associated with Palpatine. Nonetheless, it's still a huge reveal.
The specifics, much like those of Palpatine's return, are largely left unclear by The Rise of Skywalker. But what we do discover through a mix of Kylo Ren and visions Rey herself has is that Palpatine, sensing and fearing her potential power, tried to have Rey killed as a child, trying to use Ochi (who is as much MacGuffin as he is character) to bring her to him. Obviously he was unsuccessful, but that's never stopped the Emperor from trying something again in the past, which is why he wants her now: either dead or to take his place as Empress. Much like Kylo Ren was seen as the heir apparent to Darth Vader by the dark forces controlling him (which also turn out to be Palpatine), Rey is the heir to the Empire. This is Abrams' explanation for her immense Force abilities, her mysterious backstory, and why she so strongly feels the pull of the dark side, turning Palpatine into a handy catch-all explainer for Rey. Although, that said, she'd already be dead if not for her parents.
Rey's Parents Were Nobodies Who Sacrificed Themselves To Save Rey
For all intents and purposes, Rey's parents were indeed nobodies, just as was revealed in Star Wars: The Last Jedi, but the truth of the matter is more complicated than that. Her parents may not have been Han and Leia, or Luke and a mystery woman, but her father was still the son of Palpatine, which is a big deal in and of itself, making it slightly more of a stretch to call him a nobody. That also means Palpatine either created a child through the Force, or else had sexual relations with an unknown someone (an image so disturbing it's perhaps best The Rise of Skywalker skims over it). Still, Rey's parents lived as "nobodies", and it was clear they did all they could to protect Rey from the Emperor. That is a more direct retcon of The Last Jedi, making Kylo Ren telling Rey that her parents were junk traders who sold her off for drinking money into what seems a total lie. he may not have known Rey was a Palpatine then, but it still suggests he was saying it simply to hurt her. Here too, however, Star Wars 9 doesn't go deep into specifics, such as the relationship between Palpatine and Rey's father, but it gives us a sense of who they were.
Fittingly, Rey's parents were seemingly brave, loyal survivors who sacrificed themselves to protect their daughter. They were killed on the command of Palpatine, with the Sith dagger Rey later discovers being the object to do it. However, they were able to ensure Rey was sent to safety on Jakku before their deaths, keeping her out of the clutches of the Emperor. Rey's parents only appear briefly, essentially just long enough to see them refusing to give Rey up and dying for it, but we do get to see the actors playing them. Killing Eve star Jodie Comer has a surprise cameo as Rey's mother, while Billy Howle (Outlaw King) plays her father.
Rey Becomes A Skywalker At The End Of Star Wars 9
Rey may be revealed as a Palpatine during Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, but by the end she has a different name, as Rey takes on the title of Skywalker. This comes after Rey, with the help of a redeemed Ben Solo and all of the Jedi who have come before, defeat Palpatine and all of the Sith in the movie's climactic showdown. After the celebrations, Star Wars 9 picks things up with Rey on Tatooine, where she leaves Luke and Leia's lightsabers, before igniting her own to reveal a yellow blade, and announcing herself as "Rey Skywalker".
This, more than Rey being a Palpatine, is crucial to her arc and the themes of Star Wars as a whole. The saga has always strongly been about family, but in choosing Skywalker over Palpatine, Rey ultimately doesn't let her lineage come to define her, which is one of the aspects carried over (in a sense, at least) from The Last Jedi. Instead of family, Rey is defined by her choices, and her decision to stick mostly to the light. By making Rey a Skywalker, it takes the eponymous Saga back to its roots. In 1977, Luke Skywalker wasn't part of some grand mythos or all-important family, but just a humble farm boy dreaming of bigger things. That shifted with the Darth Vader reveal, Anakin's backstory, Kylo and so on, as it became about this one all-important family. But Rey being a Skywalker in name but not blood moves it back, reinforcing that anyone can be a hero and choose to do good, no matter where they come from.
It's also a choice that cements the legacy of the Skywalker family, while allowing the franchise to grow beyond them. Rey is the new hero for a new generation, the savior of the galaxy who now represents that most fundamental aspect of Star Wars: hope. That's what Luke and Leia did before her, so it's only fitting that the new hope is able to carry on the Skywalker name, but make it something even bigger, with the Force Ghosts of those who came first looking down upon her approvingly. For Rey's journey, so much has been about finding her place in this world; her search for family was a search for acceptance and belonging, and a sense of identity. Now she has all of them as Rey Skywalker, not through bloodlines but instead actions, making it all the more powerful as she looks out at that Tatooine sunset.
Was Rey Always Meant To Be A Palpatine?
With J.J. Abrams back at the helm of the Star Wars sequel trilogy, there is obviously a question of just how much of his plan, if he had one, he has continued in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. Some of it seems pretty clear: Rey Skywalker feels like the kind of ending to this new series that could've been mapped out many years ago, but Rey Palpatine is less obvious. Abrams and Kathleen Kennedy have spoken about how there was long a plan to have Palpatine return, which might suggest she was always his granddaughter, but then Palpatine wasn't in Colin Trevorrow's script, so maybe not.
Looking at The Force Awakens, there's little to confirm either way if Rey is a Palpatine. There were some moments taken as evidence among the slew of fan theories about Rey's parents - a lightsaber move she used was similar to Palpatine, the casting of a Brit in the role, the darkness sensed within her (in the novelization at least), the Emperor's voice in Rey's Force vision - but most other theories had some evidence to be found as well. The Last Jedi more concretely goes against the notion; having Kylo tell Rey her parents sold her didn't feel like a lie in the moment, and that movie doubles-down on the idea of who are you defining you rather than your family name or where you come from.
The final piece in the puzzle is George Lucas' sequel trilogy plan. Disney's own trilogy has changed a lot, but the genesis of Rey can be found in Kira, the teenager who would've been the central hero of his own trilogy, trained under Luke Skywalker. On the surface, this twist feels more like the kind of things Lucas would do. However, Ian McDiarmid recently said that Lucas had confirmed to him Palpatine would stay dead in his sequel trilogy, although that doesn't rule out a last-minute surprise in Episode IX, like we get here. Based on where Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker comes in the saga, especially after the backlash to The Last Jedi, it certainly feels more like a twist thought up after the fact than something planned at the very start.
