Everyone thought the Skywalkers and Solos had family issues. Rey’s shock revelation puts everything else in the shade. Episode 9 finally put the whole question of her parentage to rest. Admittedly, it did it with some rather clunky retconning of The Last Jedi. The moment when Kylo Ren declares that her parents had sold her but only to protect and hide her simultaneously provoked eye rolls and relief that at last theer would be a suitably epic lineage to explain Rey’s almost unbelievable powers.
WARNING MAJOR SPOILERS FROM HERE:
So, it turns out Rey’s father was Palpatine’s estranged son.
He was desperate to keep his daughter far away from her grandfather (if he even knew he was alive) or anyone who still followed his father or, in fact, hated him – since they would hardly look kindly on anyone with the Palpatine name.
So, who in the galaxy slept with the terrifying Emperor?
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In Legends, Sly was a Force-sensitive child kidnapped by Darth Maul on Palpatine’s orders, before the Jedi could find and train her.
She was subjected to Sith torture and experiments but survived and an impressed Palpatine pretended to rescue her and raised her. With her loyalty assured, Palpatine revealed his plans and Sith identity and elevated her by his side to his Senior Administrative Aide.
Obsessed with Darth Plagueis and his experiments to create life by perverting midichlorians, she used Palpatine’s DVA and Plagueis’ methods to become pregnant.
Unfortunately, what happened after that was predictably dark and grim.
Sly died in childbirth, after bearing a son.
In Legends, he was born with three eyes and soon manifested impressive powers. Palpatine banished the child, called Triclops, to Kessel as a slave where he lived a miserable life until he was discovered and rescued by Luke, after the fall of the Emperor.
The father of Rey shown in the Rise of Skywalker flashbacks looks disappointingly regular. A three-eyed dad might have been too much for audiences to digest on the heels of the major Palpatine revelation.
However, the idea Sly is her grandmother remains compelling. Two extremely Force powerful grandparents could start to explain how Rey is so preternaturally powerful and skilled.
STAR WARS THE RISE OF SKYWALKER IS OUT NOW