The longing gaze of Star Wars fans is transfixed upon Obi-Wan Kenobi, as the Disney+ series will seemingly usher in a new renaissance for the franchise. The project comes simultaneously with Star Wars Celebration in Anaheim, California, where there is the potential for new movies, shows, games, and books to be shown off. And while the journeys of characters like Rey, Poe, Finn, and Kylo may be done for now, that does not mean their legacies will not continue to shape the canon.
One of the projects focusing on the biggest legacy character from the franchise is Adam Christopher's Star Wars: Shadow of the Sith, due out in book stores on June 28. The latest literary Star Wars adventure will focus on Luke Skywalker and Lando Calrissian as they traverse the galaxy between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens.
But just because this novel is centered on a pair of original trilogy characters, does not mean the presence of others will not be felt. In fact, Shadow of the Sith is set to address one of the biggest questions from the Sequel Trilogy - who are Rey's parents?
Meeting Rey's Mom and Dad
USA Today revealed the names of Rey's parents in an exclusive excerpt from the upcoming Star War: Shadow of the Sith novel.
The Adam Christopher-written book will feature Rey Skywalker alongside her parents, listing their names as Dathan and Miramir.
The excerpt also hinted at how Rey became the person that she is, using words like "genius" and a "self-taught engineer" to describe her mother:
Despite himself, despite their situation, Dathan found himself smiling. He couldn’t help it. His wife was a genius and he loved her. He didn’t know where she got it from, but she was a natural, like it was genetic. She could fly anything, had been—and still was—a self-taught engineer and inventor. Tinkering, Miramir called it, as though it were nothing, as though she didn’t realize just how special her talents were. In the years that he had known her, Dathan had often asked where this gift had come from, but Miramir would just shrug and say her grandmother was a wonderful woman. Dathan knew that to be true—he had met her, several times, before Miramir gave up her life in the twilight forest of Hyperkarn to travel with Dathan. But then . . . where had her grandmother learned it all? Dathan wanted to know, but over time he’d learned not to ask any further. Miramir missed her grandmother. She missed her home."
The two will seemingly come into the story just after they have "escaped Jakku," and their voyage begins to go somewhat haywire:
Those options now seemed decidedly more limited as they floated adrift. They’d escaped Jakku, only to . . . what? Die in the cold reaches of space, the old freighter now nothing but a tomb for the three of them, lost forever on the outskirts of the galaxy, their passing unmourned, their names unremembered
One Happy Star Wars Family
It is noteworthy that Rey's parents are finally named in the canon, but what will turn some heads is the context of the excerpt that USA Today provided in the story. Not only are Rey's parents somehow a part of Shadow of the Sith, but so is Rey. A young Rey is present in the excerpt above, joining her parents as the two venture off Jakku.
This raises some questions, as when audiences meet Rey in The Force Awakens, she makes it well known that she has never been off-planet. Of course, her history is notably fuzzy during the course of Episodes VII-IX, but this could be the place where fans get some explanation as to how her childhood became so shrouded in mystery.
But how can all of this work in a story centered on Luke and Lando? These are two characters who have never met Rey before their paths cross in the sequels. So, this is likely a case of two parallel storylines taking place and affecting one another without the two streams ever crossing. Otherwise, this is going to open up more questions than it is going to provide answers.
Star Wars: Shadow of the Sith is due out in book stores on June 28.
