Warning: this post contains potential spoilers for Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
The December 18th release date for Star Wars: The Force Awakens is fast approaching and with the recent release of an all-new trailer, the film’s hype is only going to intensify as we get closer to that date. While it’s easy to be cynical about the overwhelming expectations heaped on this film and Disney’s various marketing stunts, the company is actually doing a fantastic job at generating buzz without giving too much away. Thing about it: even after watching that trailer for 20th time, do you really know what the plot is beyond a rough outline? Director J.J. Abrams is going full mystery box with this thing, which means that fans have had to fill in the larger gaps with crackpot theories and wild speculation. We’ve collected some of the most popular theories floating around the internet to discuss whether any of them hold water or if they’re all bogus. Our conclusions? A little bit of each. Read on to find out which sound the most plausible.
7. Kylo Ren and Rey Are Siblings
While it’s been known pretty much from the outset that The Force Awakens doesn’t follow the post-Return of the Jedi plotlines of the Extended Universe (as those stories are no longer considered canon) it seems unlikely that the writing team wouldn’t at least be somewhat inspired by them. One of the main plot threads of the EU fiction is that Han and Leia give birth to three children, with one of them, Jacen, turning to the Dark Side. With The Force Awakens resetting the timeline, one of the prevailing theories is that new characters Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) and Rey (Daisy Ridley) are brother and sister, perhaps even Han and Leia’s children. This theory was given even more fuel last week when the film’s one sheet poster was revealed, as Kylo and Rey’s placement and the alignment of their weapons seem to suggest that they are closely linked somehow. As for whether they are Han and Leia’s children? Well, at least one of them probably is; after all, how could the writers pass up the opportunity for another “I am your father” bombshell?
Likelihood: Moderate