Star Wars: Episode VIII – Will There Be A New Female Lead?

What does this mean for Rey?

Even though The Force Awakens hasn’t debuted in theaters quite yet, we’re getting new information about Episode VIII slowly trickling down the grape vine (or is that the Holo net?). You may recall the rumor from a while ago that said there could be a female Sith in the next Star Wars installment, but if the new rumor from Geek Nation is to be believed then only part of that is true.

Which part?

The part about there being a new female character in Episode VIII.

Do we know if she’s a Jedi or a Sith?

Well, the report doesn’t specify her Force allegiance (if she’s even Force sensitive), but we do know one possible aspect of her back story.

What is that?

She may be Han Solo’s daughter.

Wait, really?

Yeah.

What does this mean for Rey in The Force Awakens?

Well, it’s been long theorized that Rey is Han and Leia’s daughter. To add to that theory, many also believe that Kylo Ren is their son as well. That would tie into a lot of the themes of Star Wars that have been present in the last two trilogies. However, just because Rey isn’t part of that wouldn’t necessarily mean they don’t exist at all.

What do you mean?

Our theory concerning Rey may still be true, if you replace Rey for someone else. We’ll have to wait and see how right we are.

Do we know who the mother might be?

Assuming the rumor is true? Well, there are at least two possible candidates: Leia Organa and Sana Solo, who was recently introduced in the new Star Wars comic.

If she’s Sana’s daughter, she would be pretty old wouldn’t she?

Without getting into the gritty details, it depends on when she was conceived. Han could have left Leia and reconnected with Sana after Return of the Jedi… or Sana could be pretty old.

How likely would you say this is?

Well, we’ve heard all sorts of crazy rumors. Remember when it was rumored that Lupita Nyong’o was playing the granddaughter of Obi-Wan Kenobi and was a Sith Inquisitor? We wouldn’t be surprised if Lucasfilm leaked that just to throw people off. Consequently, it’s very possible Lucasfilm leaked this rumor to throw people off as well, though it’s best not to go down that path in order to save ourselves from extreme paranoia.

We wouldn’t be surprised at all if there were a new female character sought for Episode VIII, in much the same way Lando joined out cohorts in The Empire Strikes Back. However, too many characters means less screentime for everyone, which means if they’re adding someone in Episode VIII then at some point someone is being subtracted. We’ll let you speculate on who that might be.