'The Rise Of Skywalker' Book Reveals A Connection Between Lando And Jannah

Despite their prominence in interviews and appearances pre-release, Billy Dee Williams and Naomi Ackie have relatively small parts to play in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. Williams, returning as Lando Calrissian, has little more than a cameo in the film, while Ackie's new character Jannah has a little bit more to do, but still not much. But apparently, there's more to these characters than meets the eye. According to a recently published Rise of Skywalker book, Lando and Jannah might share a pretty big connection. Spoilers follow.

At the end of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Jannah, who was stolen by the First Order as a child, forced into the life of a Stormtrooper, and then revolted and escaped to become a Resistance fighter, takes a seat next to a familiar face: Lando Calrissian. Lando asks Jannah where she's from, and Jannah replies that she doesn't actually know. Lando's answer: "Let's find out."

It's a curious moment – one that raises a few questions. My knee-jerk reaction to the scene was that it was inserted to set-up some sort of Disney+ show that keeps things going. But there might be a simpler answer. Before Rise of Skywalker opened, rumors surfaced that Jannah was somehow related to Lando. While this isn't confirmed, or even hinted at, in the movie itself, supplementary material strongly suggests that might be the case.

In the recently published The Rise of Skywalker Visual Dictionary (via EW), some details about Lando's personal life are filled in via a block of text:

When peace reigned, [Lando] attempted to start a family, but tragedy struck and his infant daughter vanished. It was only later that it became clear who the culprits behind the abduction were: the First Order, building their fighting forces but also specifically striking out at the old Alliance leadership.

You can see the page with this info here.

The fact that the book specifies daughter and not just child certainly implies that they're talking about Jannah here. Of course, this raises all sorts of new questions, specifically: what are the odds that Lando would just randomly sit down next to his long lost-daughter at the end of the movie? Does he know Jannah is his daughter, or is he just as clueless about it as she is? And why the heck isn't this info in the actual movie itself? Rumor has it that there was a much, much longer cut of Rise of Skywalker, as well as some heavy reshoots for the third act. Perhaps at one point this reveal was in the film itself but ended up on the digital cutting room floor.