I found old ramblings in my notes app about my analysis and canon adhering headcanons for Rey and woah . I Was . Crazy abt her . Warning : incoherent !!!!!!!!!!
Her over decade long experience in collecting and working with scrap (identifying mechanical parts for value, exploring ship ruins, repairing her speeder) means she’s knowledgeable in all things technical. It’s her lifeline, after all, and she needs to be alive for when her parents come back.
She frequents a ship that most Jakkus cant access due to the treacherous territory, but between her expertise in parkour, diy climbing gear, and nimble build, she circumvents this issue.
She’s scraped that ship to shit. She’d be rolling in portions if she wasn’t so inclined to share most of her findings with the others. Desperate for human connection, she’ll give up herself to help others.
Bored out of her mind, the only way she passes the time is by reading manuals left behind on shipwrecks. “How to bypass the compressor”… and the like... It’s where most of her knowledge stems from
Constant raids on her home, belongings, and self means she’s got the intuition and capability to fend off an attacker. Her familiarity with stick fighting translates well into lightsaber combat, which is evident in her distinct jabs. Her combat style combines the grace of an experienced woman and the anger of an abandoned little girl, a display of fighting that is undeniably passionate.
She’s got this pipe dream that she’s going to steal the shopkeeper’s ship and fly far, far away from this deserted place. She would never actually do that, god no, but that doesn’t stop her from visualizing— down to every minute detail— just exactly how that escape plan would go. She says she wants to find her parents, but I think she gave that up a long time ago, whether she knows that or not. In the meantime, she’ll rot in this self made prophecy of stagnation. Maybe that hope needs to be directed elsewhere. She cant just wait for help to arrive anymore. But regardless, she waits. Obedient, conflicted, and lonely.
She helps repair vehicles as a side hustle. Sometimes for free. She doesn’t really know when to retract a helping hand. Is there ever a time?
Surrounded by all this high tech machinery, she can’t help but instinctively analyze its portion value. With this kind of rarity, she could steal the parts, head back to jakku, and live off the reward for the rest of her life. A fleeting thought. She wont do that.
What if rey stole a ship manual from the shopkeeper. She sees him looking at it sometimes, like on the rare occasion she’ll bring something valuable he references that text. Rey realizes that if she gets a hold of that manual , she can better identify scrap that will bring home more portions, as well as increase her mechanical knowledge to make it easier to repair her speeder . I think the act of her stealing sort of establishes Rey’s inclination towards blurring the lines between good and bad, which sets the foundations for the larger theme of dismantling old understandings of morality, those same understandings which once barred ben from being accepted by the skywalker family . I also want to explore ideas regarding “the means to an end” , as well as the thresholds of what is deserving of forgiveness and what is not .
I also think something Disney forgot to do in pursuit of being le epic woke is actually explore the implications of rey being a young woman. Idk what that would be yet. Maybe i can extract themes of girlhood from Rey’s self infantilization contradicting her survival instincts . Idk . It’s 2am. Goodnight
I think i want more scenes of her life on Jakku to establish her character before throwing her into the plot . I want to explore her relationship with its people . I want to explore more of her relationship with the land . I want to know how she passes the time . I alr know i want her to read manuals . want to know more about how she grew up . Did anybody take care of her ? Did she make any friends ? Enemies ? Some of these details can be revealed later on if needed.
Sometimes i wonder how the hell rey was able to upkeep her physical strength when she was so malnourished and dehydrated all the time. She was probably exhausted. Makes sense to me that once she gets scooped up by the rebel forces and she’s able to eat well that she unlocks her full power potential lol, not factoring in the fact that she’s so close to other force sensitive people too for the first time. Scarcity of food and the manufacturing of famine is always a tool of oppression. Weak bodies cant fight back. Unkar Putt probably knew this and that’s why he handed out barely livable portions. It upholds his power on jakku.
Rey’s determination to redeem Kylo and bring him to the light side is more than just empathy and a pursuit of righteousness, but a way to redeem herself. Since she she’s so much in him, and is dealing with a similar internal conflict, in healing him, she can prove to herself that she is also worthy and capable of becoming a good person. Kylo wants to give rey the power she never had and an escape from the pressures of their ancestors. They just want what’s best for each other, and that usually just looks like something they lack themselves. Kylo finds answers in atomization, rey finds answers in belonging