The mystery surrounding Rey's (Daisy Ridley) parentage was at the center of the entire STAR WARS Sequel Trilogy, but it would seem that they didn't arrive at a definite answer to that question until STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER. Following the release of STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS, fans immediately began theorizing about just what connection Rey had to the greater STAR WARS universe, but STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI seemingly laid that mystery to rest when Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) told Rey that her parents weren't important.
As we know, THE RISE OF SKYWALKER revealed that Rey was none other than the granddaughter of Emperor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid), but that wasn't always going to be the case. While speaking with Josh Gad, who was guest-hosting Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Daisy Ridley said that in the beginning, there was a chance that Rey would have been a Kenobi.
At the beginning, there was toying with an Obi-Wan connection. There were different versions, and then it really went to she was ‘no one.' Then it came to Episode IX and J.J. pitched me the film and was like, ‘Oh yeah, Palpatine’s granddaddy. And I was like, ‘Awesome.’ And then two weeks later he was like, ‘Oh, we’re not sure.’ So, it kept changing. So, then even when I was filming, I wasn’t sure what the answer was gonna be.
Daisy Ridley had previously said that she was told who Rey's parents were on the set of THE FORCE AWAKENS, but obviously that seems to have changed from film to film. While the Palpatine connection didn't exactly work for everyone, it's hard to say whether a connection to a different character (or no connection at all) would have provided a more satisfying conclusion to the Skywalker Saga.
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