In my last post, I explored the idea of what a Mary Sue is, and how it really doesn’t seem to match up with what we see for Rey other than on the most basic, superficial levels. In the conclusion, I asked if she was simply overpowered. While I basically implied that it’s all a matter of taste what can be deemed plausible — and I very much believe it still is a matter of taste — I also believe that everything we see her do in the film is totally justified by things that have already been established within the universe. So, for people who have to have everything make sense, this post is for you.
DISCLAIMER: I will be using some material that is now considered non-canon as evidence, but it was canon for many years, including under Lucas’ reign. So I’m counting it.
#1. How does Rey fight so well on Jakku?
Simple. She’s lived there for at least a decade, and every single day of her life has had to fend off people who wish to do her harm. Thus, she would have gotten very good at fighting. Claiming this is implausible is like claiming that Kyle Reese from Terminator shouldn’t be able to do the things he does. He’s a soldier from a post-apocalyptic future where every day is spent fighting cyborgs — I think he’d know a thing or two. So it is with Rey.
#2. How does Rey pilot the Millennium Falcon so well?
First, she really isn’t that great at it. She does okay, but she ain’t no Poe Dameron.
Second, in the film, she says, “I’ve flown some ships, but never left the planet.”
Third, in the novel Before the Awakening, it says the Rey spent a lot of her time on the planet finding old ships and figuring out how to repair them. Thus, she has extensive knowledge of how ships work and, obviously, how to fly them. It’s also revealed that Rey came across a Y-Wing that allowed her to play various flight simulators — including Corellians (like the Falcon) — and study other languages, including that of Wookies. This would certainly be useful for dealing with many different kinds of aliens, and explains why she understands Chewie later on in the movie.
I know it seems a bit unfair to have to resort to extraneous material, but at the same time, a film can only do so much explaining. Even without this back story, we still get sense that Rey has a lot of experience even if we don’t know exactly what it is. The first twenty minutes we’re with her is her inside broken ships, so if you can’t figure out she knows a thing or two about them and how they work enough to fly one, you have very poor reasoning skills.
Let’s also keep in mind, Luke’s only qualification for flying an X-Wing was “bullseyeing wamp rats in his T16 back home.” That’s like saying, “I can use Excel, therefore I can hack the FBI.” No, that’s not how anything works.
#3. How does she do the mind trick? Only a trained Jedi can do that!
Actually, no. Here are a few examples of non-Jedi using a mind trick (source).
– Pilot BoShek [not a jedi] used a mind trick, along with residue from the same action by Obi-Wan to escape from four stormtroopers after “borrowing” a landspeeder.
– In 6 ABY, Corran Horn [not a jedi] unknowingly used the mind trick to hide from Stormtroopers during his escape from Lusankya.
– In 12 ABY, Kyle Katarn [was a Jedi, but was entirely self-taught] used the mind trick to get an Ugnaught worker to open a door for him and an Imperial officer to unlock a door.
Okay, so a guy who’s not a Jedi did it (with help from Obi-Wan admittedly), and another guy did it without even doing it on purpose, and another guy apparently taught himself how to do it.
But Rey, someone who clearly has a lot of Force potential, can’t?
I will say these appearances are now not canon, but they do establish precedent that a non-Jedi, or someone not trained by others, can do it. I was always under the impression anyone who has the force can do anything with the force. It’s just the degree to which you are in tune with it. Some are there from birth, like Rey and Anakin, and some take more time, like Luke and Leia. So the degree of difficulty varies from person to person. I don’t see why this is so implausible. Look at all the awesome musicians out there who never had one lesson. Besides, how did the first person to ever do it, do so without being taught? Logic dictates he figured it out on his own.
Thus, Rey doing the mind trick is not outside of what’s established in the universe.
#4. But how did she know what a mind trick even was?
Given that she’s aware of Luke Skywalker — though believing him to be myth — it makes sense that she would have heard various stories about what the Jedi were capable of, including mind tricks. Thus, once she is made aware of her own force potential, she figures it might be worth a shot. If they can do it, she can maybe do it.
Not to mention, the previous scene was Kylo Ren using the force to go inside her mind, which she resisted and went into his mind. It wouldn’t be that hard to put two and two together in that circumstance.
This answer also accounts for how she knew to use the force the call the lightsaber to her in the snow.
#5. How does she fight Kylo Ren so well?
First, she really didn’t do that well. Most of the fight is her just trying to get away, and she really only does anything bad ass at the end.
Second, in the previous scene, Kylo Ren was shot by Chewie, leaving him severely wounded and forcing him to focus most of his energy on staying conscious, and thus couldn’t use the force to predict her moves as well as he maybe could have if at full strength. Also, and this is only speculation and not fact, I wonder if he didn’t want to kill her. Either because of familial ties, or simply to bring her to Snoke, he may have pulled his punches.
Third, as I said before, she only does something bad ass at the end. And this is when she closes her eyes and lets the force take control of her. This is reminiscent of the scene in A New Hope when Luke is training with Ben and blocks three shots without being able to see. And later destroys the Death Star simply by “feelings.” Thus, we’ve seen previously that the force doesn’t really work like leveling up in a video game before you can do certain things. It’s more spiritual and mental. It controls your actions and obeys your commands. I’m sure the Jedi do train with lightsabers in formal combat like martial arts, but given Rey already has a handle on combat from her years on Jakku, all she really needed was that slight edge that the force could give her. And once she lands one critical blow, Kylo was so weakened from his injury he basically gives up.
Thus, I see no real problems with how this fight went down. For something like Star Wars, that requires a healthy dose of suspension of disbelief anyway, I don’t see this as asking too much — not any more than a farmboy flying a ship he has no experience with and making a shot that professional pilots couldn’t make, or an 8 year old taking part in a sport no other human can and winning. You can argue the plausibility if you want, but using the other movies as a higher standard is where your argument falls apart.
Conclusion
I’ve seen some ask the question, that if she can do all this now, where else does she have to go?
Well, the short answer is… I don’t know because I’m not Rian Johnson or an exec at Lucasfilm or someone in the cast of Episode VIII.
But I feel this is a bit of a silly complaint anyway. It’s like asking where does Batman have to go after Batman Begins? Or Michael Corleone after Godfather I? Or Ripley after Alien? Or Sarah Conner after Terminator? All of these movies were perfectly self-contained with complete arcs for their characters, yet they also spawned what most consider superior sequels. So I ain’t worried. I’m sure Rey will have tons of new and awesome challenges awaiting her.
Matters of Great Pith and Moment 