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Daisy Ridley: ‘Star Wars’ Rey Demonstrates Lightsaber Skills Learned From A Stormtrooper

By Cal Jeffrey
Published on: 07:35 PST, Apr 26, 2016

Daisy Ridley, who plays Rey in the new Star Wars films, posted to Facebook a short video of herself practicing on the set. In the post, Ridley tagged “@liangstunts (TRAITOR),” referring to actor, stuntman, and fellow cast member Liang Yang. The “TRAITOR” part referred to the fact that Yang portrayed the surprisingly agile, baton-wielding stormtrooper in Star Wars: The Force Awakens who yelled “traitor” at Finn.

https://www.facebook.com/DaisyRidleyOfficial/videos/550200568474222/

According to Wookieepedia, Yang helped choreograph the fight scenes in Star Wars: Episode VII. The blockbuster may be the biggest production he has been involved in, but he is a veteran in the field of stunt work. Yang won Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture for his work in Skyfall in 2013. He was also the stunt double for Oberyn Martell (Pedro Pascal) in Game of Thrones and won Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Comedy or Drama Series in 2015 for that portrayal.

On the set of Star Wars, Daisy Ridley refers to Yang as a “WUSHU FRICKING MASTER” even though he does not hold such a title. It is evident from her Facebook post that she is enjoying her time making Star Wars: Episode VIII despite the strenuous training. Daisy has posted several videos to her Facebook page showing what her daily training is like, and it is no walk in the park. Weight training, aerobics, and martial arts are all on her daily schedule.

Daisy Ridley’s character, a future Star Wars Jedi Knight, will be looking trim and tight as would be expected from one in the Order. It is unknown, at this point, if we will be seeing Rey training or realizing that she will become a Jedi, but it is entirely possible that we will.

It is time for a little speculation. You may want to stop at the point if you have not seen Star Wars: The Force Awakens. There may be a few spoilers.

Daisy Ridley’s final scene at the end of Star Wars: Episode VII has her returning Luke’s lightsaber to him. It is highly likely that Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) will train Rey in the ways of the Force. After all, every Knight of the Order starts out as an apprentice, and Skywalker is the last of the destroyed Jedi Order. Also, this would fall in line with the other trilogies. Anakin Skywalker was apprenticed to Obi-Wan Kenobi then to Darth Sidious after he turned to the dark side in the Star Wars prequels. Luke Skywalker was apprenticed to Obi-Wan Kenobi then to Yoda in the original films. It would make logical sense that Rey would become Skywalker’s apprentice. This is all assuming Rey becomes a Jedi.

Without a Jedi, it would not be Star Wars. At the MTV Movie Awards, Daisy Ridley told MTV News “that she didn’t think Rey was a Jedi.”

She was either mistaken or trying to hide the fact because it seems obvious that she is training in swordplay, which could only mean we will see more of her dueling in the next sequel. Remember, a staff was her weapon of choice in Episode VII.

All the clues lead to the conclusion that Star Wars writers have set out to make Daisy Ridley an Adept. The real question is will Rey be a Jedi like her father?

Force sensitivity to the level of Rey’s is hereditary; Anakin passed it to Luke and Leia. It goes to reason that since Rey is so adept at wielding the force without any training, either Luke or Leia is one of her parents.

There are some clues in the Star Wars films that point to Daisy Ridley’s character being Skywalker’s daughter. According to Quora, there are four circumstantial, but solid, pieces of evidence that point to Rey being Skywalker’s daughter.

“1. The name Luke generally means ‘light.’ Our central hero’s name is ‘Rey’ (ahem, ‘ray’.) No matter how much people might try to assign it, subtlety has never been a part of the Star Wars films.

2. Anakin and Luke’s lightsaber ‘called’ to her. And it was more ‘responsive’ to her as an untrained force user then it is to known Anakin descendent and trained Force user Ben Solo/Kylo Ren. Kylo Ren is Leia’s son, and the lightsaber in question never belonged to Leia.

3. R2-D2 slept the whole movie until Rey finally arrived at the Resistance base at the end. Then R2-D2 woke up and showed the way to Luke. R2 was waiting for her. (The connection in this moment wasn’t that well communicated, but it’s the only explanation for R2’s awakening that has even a shred of logic.)

4. Given how much these series of films look for homage and ‘rhymes,’ I am compelled to believe that they’re setting Luke up to say, ‘I am your father.'”

There is also speculation that Rey is a descendant of Kenobi, but this theory is very sketchy at best. There are no precursors to Ben Kenobi having any children, and it would be a far stretch for writers to try to make a connection somewhere in past movies. There were no moments in previous films that show Kenobi with a love interest. Writers would have to create a whole new mythology and explain it through flashbacks or some other device, which would take up too much time in the film. The theory that she is Han and Leia’s daughter holds more weight than her being a Kenobi.

The only thing we can count on is that it is very likely all our answers will appear in Star Wars: Episode VIII. It is the middle film of the final trilogy and, as such, is the one where all that is mysterious is revealed. Daisy Ridley and the rest of the Star Wars crew will be answering our questions when the film opens in theaters December 15, 2017.

[Image via Lucasfilm]

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