Colin Trevorrow’s unmade Star Wars 9 script, titled Duel of the Fates, would’ve created a massive Kylo Ren and Rey plot hole. Initially tapped to helm the sequel trilogy capper, Trevorrow left the project in September 2017, citing creative differences over the script, and was shortly replaced by J.J. Abrams, who began the new film series with 2015’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Sadly, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker wasn’t the satisfying culmination that everyone wanted it to be; instead, it has been divisive, with fans having varying opinions of it.
On the heels of the ongoing discourse with how Abrams and co-writer Chris Terrio ended the Skywalker Saga, Trevorrow’s reported treatment of the story emerged online and becoming a favorite topic of conversation among Star Wars fans. The version of the script was last updated not long after Carrie Fisher’s death in 2016, explaining the lack of General Leia Organa in it. Otherwise, the story is almost complete.
It’s noticeably very different to how Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker panned out, particularly with regard to the handling of Rey’s lineage, which some actually prefer over what ended up on the big screen. However, examining the bigger picture, Trevorrow’s story about the truth about the scavenger-turned-Jedi would have made a glaring plot hole for the sequel trilogy.
What Happened To Rey’s Parents In Star Wars Canon
When Rey was introduced in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the film intentionally created an air of mystery around the truth about her lineage. Fans had their theories about who she might be related to - from the Skywalkers to Obi-Wan Kenobi. Star Wars: The Last Jedi pulled off the unexpected when it revealed that Rey, in fact, was a nobody; a child of drunkards, she was sold for drinking money. Some found this bold character take on a Star Wars character refreshing, but a segment of the fan community held out hope that there’d be more to her story. Lo and behold, when Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker rolled out, it was revealed that Rey’s not merely a random person in the galaxy who happens to be strong with the Force, she’s the granddaughter of Emperor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid) - one of, if not the most, powerful Siths ever. This actively walked back on what its predecessors have established, drawing criticisms from those who preferred the idea of Rey being not linked to anyone prominent in the franchise.
Apparently, hunting down Rey was part of Palpatine’s grand plan to continue reigning in the universe. Surviving the events of Star Wars: Return of the Jedi thanks to the Sith Eternals - his most loyal devotees - Darth Sidious enacted a plan decades in the making. Knowing this, Rey’s parents (played by Jodie Comer and Billy Howle) hid her on Jakku, where she spent a considerable amount of time. By the time Star Wars: The Force Awakens rolled out, it was clear that she was still waiting for them to return, not knowing that Palpatine’s operatives were able to find and ultimately kill them.
Kylo Ren Killed Rey’s Parents In Trevorrow’s Star Wars 9
Things are significantly different in Trevorrow’s Star Wars 9 script with regard to the truth about Rey’s heritage (among other things). Not only is Rey not a Palpatine, the Emperor has very little to do in the story. While he has a presence, it only comes via a hologram that Kylo Ren found. The message would set his story for the rest of the movie. Instead, Trevorrow opted to follow through with what’s been established in Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Rey is nobody but the daughter of “filthy junk traders,” just as Kylo Ren told her in the aftermath of Supreme Leader Snoke’s (Andy Serkis) death. The reason why Leia (Carrie Fisher) and Han Solo’s (Harrison Ford) son know this is because he was supposedly sent to murder them himself.
Even with the help of Luke (Mark Hamill), Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Yoda’s Force ghosts to hopefully bring back Ben Solo, Kylo Ren remains rooted on the dark side of the Force, becoming the sequel trilogy’s primary villain. There was no redemption for him like in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, although both stories ended his arc with his death. During his and Rey’s climactic battle in Trevorrow’s Star Wars 9, he reveals that he personally killed her parents. There’s no additional information whether or not Kylo Ren gets into the specifics of how he did this. Perhaps Trevorrow was planning to flesh out the scene further, refusing to put all information into the script with the fear that it might be inadvertently spoiled. It only mentioned that he operated as per Snoke’s order.
Ben Solo Wasn’t Kylo Ren When Rey’s Parents Died
It’s an interesting alternate take on Rey’s parentage, and interlocking her story with Kylo Ren this way gives the film’s supposed title - Duel of the Fates - a deeper meaning. Two key characters born from significantly different backgrounds heads for a collision due to their conflicting beliefs. There’s just one problem, timeline-wise: this doesn’t add up. Based on Kylo Ren’s story, he personally executed Rey’s parents. Rey was left in Jakku when she was still a young girl. In Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, it doesn’t seem long after she was dropped off in the desert planet that her parents are found and killed by Palpatine’s operatives. It’s uncertain how long after she was left that her parents would’ve died in Trevorrow’s story, but during Rey’s conversation in Star Wars: The Force Awakens with Maz Kanata (Lupita Nyong’o), there’s an implication she knew for a while that her parents would never come.
Kylo Ren was around 24 years old when he officially embraced the dark side, becoming Snoke’s apprentice and leader of the Knights of Ren. At that time of his death, he was 30 years old, meaning he’d only been Kylo Ren for six years. Meanwhile, Rey was supposedly left in Jakku when she was around 5 years old, living on the planet for 14 more years before she met Finn (John Boyega) and joined the Resistance. Assuming that Trevorrow’s story would’ve also seen Rey’s parents die not long after she was sold on Jakku, it’s impossible for Kylo Ren to actually be the one to kill them since, at that point, he was still training to be a Jedi under Luke Skywalker’s (Mark Hamill) training.
More: Colin Trevorrow’s Star Wars 9 Sounds Better Than JJ Abrams’ Rise of Skywalker
