After the exciting trailer for Rogue One dropped, we got a taste of Felicity Jones's badass new character, Jyn Erso. Immediately fans hopped on the idea that Jyn could possibly be Rey's mom, for a number of reasons. We've unpacked that theory in full here, but now that we've seen Rogue One we know it can't be true. Having said that, here are the reasons it could have happened (even though it didn't):
- Jyn does not appear in The Force Awakens, which would support Abrams's statement that Rey's parents are not in Episode VII.
- Jyn and Rey (a.k.a. actresses Daisy Ridley and Jones) have a strong resemblance. Admittedly, this hint was pretty weak. So much so that Ridley herself even shot it down. Still, it's not exactly crazy to think that their casting was done on purpose to help bolster the idea of Jyn being Rey's mom later on in the franchise.
- They both have a striking, fighting spirit. In the movie, Jyn declares, "This is a rebellion, isn't it? I rebel," before being tasked with stealing the Death Star plans to aid the rebellion. Rey also leaps at the chance to fight for the Rebel's cause, heading off in search of General Organa with BB-8, Han Solo, Chewie, and Finn.
- The timeline works out — Jyn would be about the same age as Luke and Leia in The Force Awakens, so she would totally be in the age-range to have had Rey at some point.
Likelihood that Jyn is Rey's mother: ⭐️