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'Star Wars: Battlefront II' Theory Could Explain Rey's Parentage

There's convincing evidence that we've finally met Rey's parents.

by Corey Plante
EA

There’s a possibility that we’ll learn the identity of Rey’s parents in Star Wars: The Last Jedi, but the latest theory swirling following the global release of Battlefront II wonders if we’ve already met them as part of the video game’s story campaign.

Full spoilers follow for the story of *Star Wars: Battlefront II.

Since it was revealed that Battlefront II would have a much-needed story campaign, we’ve known that it would follow Janina Gavankar’s Iden Versio, a commander in the Imperial fleet. She’s one of the bad guys, and the game follows her exploits trying to fulfill Operation: Cinder for the Emperor after his death during the Battle of Ender in Return of the Jedi.

What we didn’t know about the story?

Midway through the game, Iden refuses to commit the acts of terrorism deemed necessary by Operation: Cinder. By the end of the story, Versio defects and joins the Rebel Alliance. She helps defeat the remnants of the Empire. She fights during and survives the Battle of Jakku, and at its conclusion, begins a romantic relationship with one of her fellow soldiers, Del Meeko … on Jakku … where Rey was abandoned and lived all those years.

Iden Versio and Del Meeko in 'Battlefront II'.

EA

Decades later, Kylo Ren finds and interrogates Del Meeko for some information. (As it turns out, Kylo Ren rips some information out of Meeko’s mind and this is how he knows where to find Lor San Tekka in The Force Awakens.)

During the interrogation, Kylo Ren says, “You think [Iden] changed you, but she made you a traitor. She made you weak. You think your daughter changed you …” So we know that Iden Versio and Del Meeko married and had a daughter.

Kylo also tells Meeko not to “pursue” his family because “she” is dangerous. But could “she” mean his daughter and not Iden? If Rey is indeed their daughter, does Kylo Ren — or even Snoke — have some kind of foreknowledge about her emerging power that we just don’t understand yet?

Young Rey yells at what we assume is the departing ship carrying her parents.

Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

There are plenty of holes in this theory. Del Meeko dies by the very end of Battlefront II, but Iden Versio’s ultimate fate remains a mystery. She could have been the one to leave Rey on Jakku for safekeeping in much the same way Luke was once abandoned on a similar desert planet for the same reason. Even if they had no idea Rey would grow up to be Force-sensitive, her existence as the daughter of two Imperial defectors would essentially make her a wanted fugitive.

But this new theory might be the most convincing one to date. Aside from Poe Dameron, Iden Versio might be the most capable pilot we’ve seen in the Star Wars universe, which could explain why Rey has so much natural skill. Furthermore, Del Meeko was Inferno Squad’s engineer and technical expert, which would explain yet another subset of Rey’s talents.

It does seem unlikely that Disney would answer the biggest Star Wars mystery in the modern era through a video game, but it might explain why The Walt Disney Company chief executive Bob Iger himself would supposedly call the Electronic Arts chief executive officer Andrew Wilson about fixing the recent fiasco regarding the game’s microtransactions.

Be on the lookout for the story-based expansion for Battlefront II that drops on December 13, a mere two days before The Last Jedi is released on December 15. Could the DLC draw some necessary connections about Rey’s parentage? We hope so.

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