I don't believe Rey is Luke's daughter, for a number of reasons.

First of all, I don't see Luke Skywalker as the sort of person who'd just dump his only child on a harsh, impoverished desert world/battlefield to be "cared for" (and I use the term loosely) by a money-grubbing scavenger king who exploit and practically starves his workers. And as we know from Empire, it's not like he wouldn't be able to use the Force to check up on her from time to time. And that's not even considering that Mrs. Skywalker, whoever she might be, is just as callous and uncaring about her child's welfare.

Second, assuming that Luke's closest friends and family knew he had a daughter (which I'm assuming they would) I don't see them as those kinds of people either. Especially Leia, in my opinion, would not be pleased at the notion of her only niece wasting away in a s#$%hole like Jakku without doing something about it. Her brother's feelings on the matter be damned.

Third, judging by the flashback we saw when Rey was deposited on Jakku, she was clearly not an infant at the time. Sure, she wasn't very old, but she was walking and talking and understood that she was being left behind. Kids at that age are at the very least old enough to know their own surname, so unless we accept the premise that Mr. and Mrs. Skywalker raised their daughter to believe her last name was Antilles or something, she would have known her name was Skywalker. And there would be conversations like this one:

Rey: "Daddy, why are all the people you talk to calling you "Master Skywalker"? Isn't your name Antilles?"

Luke: "Uhh... they're just weird, sweetie. Don't mind them."

Also, the complete lack of recognition in Rey's face when she meets Luke at the end of the movie. Granted people change over time, but I had no problems recognizing Mark Hamill from RotJ all the way to TFA. At the very least there should have been a glimmer of, "Oh hey, you look an awful lot like my dad who abandonedTh me on Jakku all those years ago. What a coincidence."

Kylo Ren being Han and Leia's son if fine (spoiler alert, I guess...) but I really hope they stop at that. A character isn't only interesting because of who they're related to or descended from. Even Lucas had the sense in the prequels not to try and make Han Solo into the abandoned lovechild of Qui-Gon Jin via retcon. I'd much rather have a character who's awesome in her own right (as Rey definitely is) than because of her family name.

There are many ways that Luke could not have realized he had a child, the first one I can think of being that for some reason Rey was only raised by her mother. Which, however, then raises the question of why she would be left on Jakku. My guess is that it had something to do with Snoke, as he was awfully interested in Rey as well as Kylo Ren. (Unless, of course, she was kidnapped and sold to Unkar.)

To me there were too many pointers toward Luke in TFA for her not to be related to him.

You raise a good point with the last name question, though. I suspect that she does not know it, in fact, there's a possibility that Rey might not be her birth name. If she had known her last name wouldn't she have introduced herself with it like Poe does?

On the other hand, maybe she doesn't like to think about it as it brings back painful memories of her early childhood.

*snip*

Go back and read my post a couple pages back. It counters every one of your points.

I misunderstood your usage of "one-time".

Realizing the true nature of their relationship far too late, Luke and Leia resolve never to talk about that "one time" ever again....

I misunderstood your usage of "one-time".

Realizing the true nature of their relationship far too late, Luke and Leia resolve never to talk about that "one time" ever again....

Ewwwww................

The kiss I can live with, as it's customary in some cultures, but your implication is ruining your awesome signature quote for me now. I detract you one awesomeness point!

I misunderstood your usage of "one-time".

Realizing the true nature of their relationship far too late, Luke and Leia resolve never to talk about that "one time" ever again....

Ewwwww................

The kiss I can live with, as it's customary in some cultures, but your implication is ruining your awesome signature quote for me now. I detract you one awesomeness point!

My work here is done!

Much like destiny tokens, awesomeness ebbs and flows...

To be fair she wasn't his sister when they kissed; that fact was introduced out of nowhere in Episode 6! XD

That doesn't quite work, does it?

Especially since Leia states "somehow she's always known" about Luke in Return of the Jedi. She KNEW what she was doing in Empire with that kiss. Considering her willingly give a passionate kiss to her brother and just as soon kiss a wookie, Leia is into some freaky stuff.

Ewwwww................

The kiss I can live with, as it's customary in some cultures, but your implication is ruining your awesome signature quote for me now. I detract you one awesomeness point!

I take it you've never seen that episode of Robot Chicken?

Sooooo, after checking up on this topic about a week later I see that that last post has effectively ended all conversation.

It appears that this thread will check out at 7 pages:)

It's a game the whole family can play!

But shouldn't. XD

My working theory is that Rey is Luke's daughter (And thus Ben's cousin), but Ben was the one who abandoned her on Jakku after he destroyed the new Jedi. He couldn't quite bring himself to murder his kid cousin in cold blood, but he couldn't very well go back to Snoke and say "yeah I killed all those Jedi except for Luke Skywalker's daughter, that's not going to be a problem right?" So instead he dumps her on some nowhere planet on the edge of the galaxy where she'll never be seen again, and as far as Luke knows his daughter died with the Jedi--I can definitely see that breaking him to the point of self-imposed exile.

My working theory is that Rey is Luke's daughter (And thus Ben's cousin), but Ben was the one who abandoned her on Jakku after he destroyed the new Jedi. He couldn't quite bring himself to murder his kid cousin in cold blood, but he couldn't very well go back to Snoke and say "yeah I killed all those Jedi except for Luke Skywalker's daughter, that's not going to be a problem right?" So instead he dumps her on some nowhere planet on the edge of the galaxy where she'll never be seen again, and as far as Luke knows his daughter died with the Jedi--I can definitely see that breaking him to the point of self-imposed exile.

See this post a couple pages back for an expansion of this theory.

I think the one piece of the puzzle is Maz Kanata recognizing both Fynn and Rey's eyes. Since she has lived for over a thousand years this could be quite an extensive list of eyes she has seen. Since the Jedi Order did not allow relationships and/or children it stands to reason that her parents were likely not Jedi or they were Jedi that were not part of the Jedi Order (in relationship to episode I-III).

Rey's possible parents if they stick to the movies and tv shows:
Luke Skywalker (still think this is the most likely)

Palpatine

Obi Wan

Qui-Gon Jinn

Dooku

Kanan

Ezra

Fynn on the other hand only has two movie character choices that I am aware of:

Lando Calrissian

Mace Windu

I think the one piece of the puzzle is Maz Kanata recognizing both Fynn and Rey's eyes. Since she has lived for over a thousand years this could be quite an extensive list of eyes she has seen. Since the Jedi Order did not allow relationships and/or children it stands to reason that her parents were likely not Jedi or they were Jedi that were not part of the Jedi Order (in relationship to episode I-III).

Rey's possible parents if they stick to the movies and tv shows:

Luke Skywalker (still think this is the most likely)

Palpatine

Obi Wan

Qui-Gon Jinn

Dooku

Kanan

Ezra

Fynn on the other hand only has two movie character choices that I am aware of:

Lando Calrissian

Mace Windu

Wouldn't that be something! Mace Windu's son/grandson a former First Order trooper!

I think that it's unlikely, even though it's a good idea. It seems more to me as though Finn is 'just a guy', albeit one who has a pretty good skill set.

I hope Rey, and Finn, and so on, are their own people, without being anyone's children or grandchildren.

Having a big chunk of the cast be the kids of people from the OT or PT smells of bad fanfiction.

I think the one piece of the puzzle is Maz Kanata recognizing both Fynn and Rey's eyes. Since she has lived for over a thousand years this could be quite an extensive list of eyes she has seen. Since the Jedi Order did not allow relationships and/or children it stands to reason that her parents were likely not Jedi or they were Jedi that were not part of the Jedi Order (in relationship to episode I-III).

Rey's possible parents if they stick to the movies and tv shows:

Luke Skywalker (still think this is the most likely)

Palpatine

Obi Wan

Qui-Gon Jinn

Dooku

Kanan

Ezra

Fynn on the other hand only has two movie character choices that I am aware of:

Lando Calrissian

Mace Windu

I think Maz was speaking metaphorically about having seen eyes of a certain type before. Which makes sense, as she's been running that place for centuries, so she's seen all sorts of people pass through her cantina, and over the many years has learned to pick up on certain physical traits (along with using her own Force abilities) to be able to recognize certain personality traits within a person, both good and bad.

I think the one piece of the puzzle is Maz Kanata recognizing both Fynn and Rey's eyes. Since she has lived for over a thousand years this could be quite an extensive list of eyes she has seen. Since the Jedi Order did not allow relationships and/or children it stands to reason that her parents were likely not Jedi or they were Jedi that were not part of the Jedi Order (in relationship to episode I-III).

Rey's possible parents if they stick to the movies and tv shows:

Luke Skywalker (still think this is the most likely)

Palpatine

Obi Wan

Qui-Gon Jinn

Dooku

Kanan

Ezra

Fynn on the other hand only has two movie character choices that I am aware of:

Lando Calrissian

Mace Windu

I think Maz was speaking metaphorically about having seen eyes of a certain type before. Which makes sense, as she's been running that place for centuries, so she's seen all sorts of people pass through her cantina, and over the many years has learned to pick up on certain physical traits (along with using her own Force abilities) to be able to recognize certain personality traits within a person, both good and bad.

That's my guess, too. She tells Finn, that he has the eyes of someone, who wants to run away. It's basically a more mysterious way of syaing: "You have that look on your face!"

After a few months of digesting all this, I've been thinking about Rey's situation. From what we know for certain, Rey was given to Unkar Plutt and, when this happened, Rey's parents were present. So, not only does Rey know who her parents are, but Unkar Plutt knows as well. He was shown to be in direct contact with the First Order so there's no way that Rey's parents are Luke, Leia, or anyone else directly related to the Resistance or the Republic. Otherwise, Unkar would have just informed the First Order long ago.

There's also evidence that Kylo Ren knows that she's there and, possibly, knows who she is. If Rey was related to Luke, Kylo would have just swung by Jakku, picked her up and tortured her to lure Luke out of hiding (which is what he really wants). Earlier in this thread people talked about Rey being a survivor of the Jedi massacre. In Revenge of the Sith, Anakin's slaughter of the children is what marked him as truly evil. Kylo, because of his conflict, couldn't bring him to kill the girl and, instead, hid her away.

So, who is she hiding from? Snoke.

Rey being alive is a living reminder of Kylo's failure and he's desperate to keep her hidden away. It also matches the pattern of how Rey situation is similar to Luke but also opposite.

-Luke grew up on a desert planet and only thinks about leaving.

-Rey grew up on desert planet and wants to stay.

-Luke took the lightsaber willingly.

-Rey rejected it.

-Luke was being hidden from Darth Vader

-Rey was being hidden by Darth Vader (or the equivalent).

This makes Rey to living embodiment of Kylo's conflict which, thematically, makes her the ideal person to redeem Ben Solo.

Now, I'm assuming that Rey's parentage will be revealed on screen, so here's the criteria that her father/mother needs to satisfy:

1. Has to be known by the casual movie fan.

2. This character(s) will have a bigger role in the next movie.

3. Has to be neutral or aligned with the First Order

4. Has to be someone Kylo trusts or, at least, someone Kylo has power over so he can insure they keep his secret.

5. Has to speak with a British accent (as there's no one on Jakku that Rey could have picked it up from)

6. Will probably have demonstrated some competency with combat due to an affinity for the force.

7. Because there's already a good/evil father/son relationship, Rey's parents will be sympathetic. Which means that this character(s) will never have done anything on screen that would be seen as evil, vile, or cruel.

8. Since Rey knows what her parents look like, this character can never have been onscreen with Rey in TFA.

There's only one character that could possibly satisfy all these points. Rey's mother is Captain Phasma.

It totally fits how Phasma was heavily promoted yet doesn't seem to do anything. It explains why she was walking the halls alone close to where Rey was when Chewie snatched her. It explains why she lowered the shields so readily. It also explains why, in the Visual Dictionary, there's a long detailed description of Hux's childhood but not one mention of where Phasma came from. It even states that she's not really a "true believer" but more of a pragmatist.

One of the themes from ESB that could appear in Ep 8 is the idea of a deal gone bad. This fits perfectly with Phasma's deal with Kylo. Probably she's working for the First Order because it's the only way to insure Rey's safety.

There's only one character that could possibly satisfy all these points. Rey's mother is Captain Phasma.

After a few months of digesting all this, I've been thinking about Rey's situation. From what we know for certain, Rey was given to Unkar Plutt and, when this happened, Rey's parents were present. So, not only does Rey know who her parents are, but Unkar Plutt knows as well. He was shown to be in direct contact with the First Order so there's no way that Rey's parents are Luke, Leia, or anyone else directly related to the Resistance or the Republic. Otherwise, Unkar would have just informed the First Order long ago.

There's also evidence that Kylo Ren knows that she's there and, possibly, knows who she is. If Rey was related to Luke, Kylo would have just swung by Jakku, picked her up and tortured her to lure Luke out of hiding (which is what he really wants). Earlier in this thread people talked about Rey being a survivor of the Jedi massacre. In Revenge of the Sith, Anakin's slaughter of the children is what marked him as truly evil. Kylo, because of his conflict, couldn't bring him to kill the girl and, instead, hid her away.

So, who is she hiding from? Snoke.

Rey being alive is a living reminder of Kylo's failure and he's desperate to keep her hidden away. It also matches the pattern of how Rey situation is similar to Luke but also opposite.

-Luke grew up on a desert planet and only thinks about leaving.

-Rey grew up on desert planet and wants to stay.

-Luke took the lightsaber willingly.

-Rey rejected it.

-Luke was being hidden from Darth Vader

-Rey was being hidden by Darth Vader (or the equivalent).

This makes Rey to living embodiment of Kylo's conflict which, thematically, makes her the ideal person to redeem Ben Solo.

Now, I'm assuming that Rey's parentage will be revealed on screen, so here's the criteria that her father/mother needs to satisfy:

1. Has to be known by the casual movie fan.

2. This character(s) will have a bigger role in the next movie.

3. Has to be neutral or aligned with the First Order

4. Has to be someone Kylo trusts or, at least, someone Kylo has power over so he can insure they keep his secret.

5. Has to speak with a British accent (as there's no one on Jakku that Rey could have picked it up from)

6. Will probably have demonstrated some competency with combat due to an affinity for the force.

7. Because there's already a good/evil father/son relationship, Rey's parents will be sympathetic. Which means that this character(s) will never have done anything on screen that would be seen as evil, vile, or cruel.

8. Since Rey knows what her parents look like, this character can never have been onscreen with Rey in TFA.

There's only one character that could possibly satisfy all these points. Rey's mother is Captain Phasma.

It totally fits how Phasma was heavily promoted yet doesn't seem to do anything. It explains why she was walking the halls alone close to where Rey was when Chewie snatched her. It explains why she lowered the shields so readily. It also explains why, in the Visual Dictionary, there's a long detailed description of Hux's childhood but not one mention of where Phasma came from. It even states that she's not really a "true believer" but more of a pragmatist.

One of the themes from ESB that could appear in Ep 8 is the idea of a deal gone bad. This fits perfectly with Phasma's deal with Kylo. Probably she's working for the First Order because it's the only way to insure Rey's safety.

Whats the age difference between Rey and Kylo though?

There's only one character that could possibly satisfy all these points. Rey's mother is Captain Phasma.

Which begs the question: who is Captain Phasma? Is that a surname? A nickname?

She's portrayed as pretty ruthless in the Finn short story (part of the Journey to the Force Awakens stuff). So I'm not sure she's part of the First Order unwillingly.

There's only one character that could possibly satisfy all these points. Rey's mother is Captain Phasma.

Which begs the question: who is Captain Phasma? Is that a surname? A nickname?

She's portrayed as pretty ruthless in the Finn short story (part of the Journey to the Force Awakens stuff). So I'm not sure she's part of the First Order unwillingly.

I have to say, this is both the most plausible and most enticing of the Rey parent theories I've heard yet.

It would be a great twist in the story!

Double post.

There's only one character that could possibly satisfy all these points. Rey's mother is Captain Phasma.

I believe this is more appropriate.

Uhh, where was Unkar Plutt in direct contact with the first order?

Nowhere in the movie as far as I know.