One of the biggest mysteries of the Star Wars sequel trilogy was Rey’s backstory, which was finally addressed in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker after Star Wars: The Last Jedi stated that her parents were “nobodies”, but as it turns out, Last Jedi actually setup Rey as a Palpatine. Disney’s Star Wars sequel trilogy introduced a new generation of heroes (Rey, Finn, Poe Dameron) and villains (Kylo Ren, General Hux, Supreme Leader Snoke), but without forgetting about the main characters of the original trilogy, connecting their stories and bringing all the films together.

The final film in the Skywalker saga, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, tried to solve all the plot holes left by the previous sequels and give closure to the saga, while also revealing one major connection between the sequels and original films: Rey was Palpatine’s granddaughter, hence why her strong connection with both sides of the Force. Though fans were expecting Rey to be related to a character from the original trilogy, the reveal of her being a Palpatine wasn’t as big or shocking as the writers were probably expecting.

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Many fans blame it on The Last Jedi for saying her parents were “nobodies” who sold her for drinking money, prompting The Rise of Skywalker to do damage control and give her a more “interesting” backstory, but in reality, The Last Jedi setup the big reveal in a subtle way.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi Hinted At Rey’s Real Backstory

Star Wars the Last Jedi Rey Climbs Onto Cliff

In Star Wars: The Last Jedi, and after much hesitation from his part, Luke began training Rey, and he (along with viewers) witnessed how strong and potentially dangerous her connection with the Force really was. In The Rise of Skywalker, Luke revealed he and Leia knew Rey was a Palpatine, which some fans have pointed out doesn’t make sense as he didn’t know who she was in the previous film. When they met in Ahch-To, Luke had closed himself off from the Force for years, which is why he didn’t know about Han Solo’s death nor could he sense who Rey truly was.

However, there was a moment during Rey’s training where Luke realized what they were dealing with and where she came from. As pointed out by Jason Ward on Twitter, when Rey goes into the darkness during one of her lessons with Luke, he tells her that he has only seen that raw strength once before (in Ben Solo), and it didn’t scare him then but it did now. Luke had already seen what this level of power did to his nephew, and knew there had to be something bigger in Rey’s origins than just an abandoned scavenger from Jakku. It’s a subtle detail, yet it further proves that the “Rey Palpatine” twist isn’t a Star Wars: The Last Jedi plot hole, and was instead built from what Rian Johnson’s film established.

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