Watch A New Video Which Tries To Prove Rey Is Emperor Palpatine's Granddaughter

Before we begin, let me warn you that if you are not interested or entertained by fan theories, this article and video is not for you. Shut the window and leave now. I've always been interested in well-presented arguments, especially for films like Star Wars: The Force Awakens that leave a mystery open for the audience to debate and theorize about. This new video by Vincent Vendetta presents the evidence that Rey might be Emperor Palpatine's great granddaughter. It's not a new theory, but the video presents all the "evidence" in a nice and digestible format. Hit the jump to watch the Rey Palatine theory video essay.

Now, I don't think any of the evidence presented in the above video is conclusive. It's interesting that Rey's fighting style is similar to that of Palpatine. I originally wrote about how the canon Force Awakens novel and screenplay revealed that Rey is having a struggle with the dark side in the infamous snow battle sequence. While these moments aren't played too strongly in the film itself, if you know about the intention behind the scene you can definitely see the anger and dark side in Daisy Ridley's performance.

The video suggests that the voice Rey hears inside her head telling her to finish Kylo is that of Palpatine, but the audio book's reading of the line is done in Supreme Leader Snoke's voice (or that seems to be the consensus). Since the release of The Force Awakens I have been pushing the theory that thematically it makes sense for Rey to be a descendant of someone from the dark side. It makes sense that while Kylo is a blood relative of the Skywalkers that Rey might be born from the dark side.

I understand that many people wish she were just a nobody, making this universe bigger rather than smaller. The fact that her heritage is presented as such a mystery in the film seems to suggest to me that the eventual reveal will have to be someone we knew of prior. That doesn't necessarily mean that she comes from the family of someone from the original or prequel trilogies, although thematically that might tie things together more dramatically. I had presented the theory that maybe she is related to Snoke previously on the site. I'm not convinced this is the case, but having her come from dark lineage could present an interesting "I'm your father"-style reveal later in their trilogy. But I do agree with the video's author that it would be very uninteresting to have Rey be another descendant of the Skywalkers.

Some of the evidence presented in this video essay ranges from coincidental to interesting, and not all of it can be taken seriously. For instance, I do believe that Ridley's accent in the film was something that was well considered by the filmmakers, but I'm not sure the fact that she has an accent proves or disproves any of the heritage theories. I'm sure the positioning of Rey on the "dark side" of the theatrical poster means nothing at all, but it's a fun observation that I've never seen presented (and I've stared at this poster far too many times over the past year). On the ridiculous side of things, I'm not sure that tweet from Lucasfilm Story Group's Pablo Hidalgo is evidence of anything at all — he's essentially saying that the conversation can start after more people have read the book. But again, some of the ridiculous circumstantial points are not enough to discount the most interesting bits in this video.