Could Rey Be Carrying Ben Solo's Legacy? A Wild Force Theory for the Next Star Wars Trilogy

I am just going to say it. I think Rey is going to have Ben Solo's children in the next Star Wars trilogy. I have been joking about this theory for years. But the more we talk about Star Wars continuing beyond The Rise of Skywalker, the more I keep coming back to one gigantic problem: they want to continue the Skywalker saga, and all the Skywalkers are dead.

So nobody clips this and pretends I am reporting news, let me be clear. This is a really outlandish, left field, funny theory. We are having fun. Daisy Ridley did not call me this morning to reveal the existence of Force babies. If she does, I will update this piece. It is not just my theory, either. It is a lot of people's theory, and I think they are bold enough, if you want to call it bold, to do it.

The Skywalker saga has run out of living Skywalkers

Look at the roll call. Luke is dead. Leia is dead. Ben is dead. Han is dead, and technically not a Skywalker anyway. Anakin is extremely dead. Padmé is super dead. Somehow Palpatine returned, but apparently the Skywalkers could not get the same deal.

Now we are potentially doing another trilogy set after The Rise of Skywalker, with Rey back at the centre of this universe. It has reportedly been said she may play a smaller role that could grow as the trilogy goes on. We will see. Either way, we are supposed to continue a story about the Skywalker legacy when the only person left standing is Rey Palpatine. Her telling the old lady in the desert that her name was Skywalker does not make it true. I decided she was a Skywalker roughly five minutes before the credits rolled. That is when I really started thinking about Exegol, because what if that kiss was not just a kiss? What if Ben Solo pulled off the greatest Force move in the history of Star Wars?

Anakin's birth already proves the Force can create life

My theory is that Ben Solo impregnated Rey through the Force on Exegol. I cannot believe I said it out loud, but it is off my chest, and it is not even the craziest reproductive situation we have had in Star Wars.

Remember who Ben's grandfather was. Anakin Skywalker. According to Anakin's mother, there was no father. She carried him, gave birth to him and raised him, but there was no biological father. Star Wars deliberately leaves the exact mechanics of Anakin's conception a mystery, with the Force sitting right in the middle of it. So this universe has already established something incredibly important. As I put it, "The Force can apparently skip sex education entirely."

What really passed between Ben Solo and Rey on Exegol

Jump forward three generations. Rey is lying dead on Exegol. Ben Solo crawls over to her and essentially transfers his own life energy into her. She wakes up, they look at each other, they kiss, Ben smiles, and then he drops dead. That is still one of the weirdest emotional roller coasters Star Wars has ever given us. Imagine being Rey: the guy you spent three movies fighting brings you back to life, you kiss him, and about three seconds later he is a Force ghost. There was not even time for the what are we conversation.

Here is where my theory becomes slightly less ridiculous. Ben did not simply heal a cut on Rey's arm. He transferred enough life force into her to bring a dead person back to life. That is a fact. Something moved from Ben into Rey, whether you call it his life or his Force energy.

And they were not normal Force users. They were the dyad in the Force. Palpatine specifically recognises their connection as something incredibly rare, essentially two beings connected as one through the Force, and he uses the power of that connection to restore himself. So apparently their bond can transfer enormous amounts of life energy between people. I also wonder whether the dyad is the same thing as whatever it was called in The Acolyte. Are those supposed to be connected?

If Lucasfilm wants an insane way of revealing that Rey eventually had Ben Solo's children without literally bringing Ben back, they have already accidentally written themselves a loophole. How did Rey become pregnant? The Force. How does that work? The Force. Why did nobody know this could happen? Some ancient Jedi text Rey found underneath Luke's recipe for green milk. Done. Welcome to episodes 10, 11 and 12.

A new trilogy needs a new generation, and Rey may become the new Luke

I am not saying I want this at all. I am just rolling with it, because after the announcement I do not know what to think. What are the next main characters supposed to do? If this really is another continuation of the Skywalker story, I do not believe for a second they will build an entire trilogy around Rey wandering around by herself rebuilding the Jedi Order.

She will be important and a focal point, but I actually think it will be flipped, and she will play basically the role Luke played for her. That is what Star Wars does. They regurgitate everything over and over. She could be the mentor and essentially become the new Luke.

Star Wars trilogies always need a younger generation to follow. The original trilogy had Luke, Leia and Han. The prequels had Anakin and Obi-Wan, I guess. The sequels had Rey, Finn, Poe and Ben. So if you jump another 15 or 20 years ahead, who is next? Some random Jedi kid, maybe. Is it a Skywalker? Does it tie into Starfighter? Could we actually get Cade Skywalker? I think that was Luke's son in Legends or something, but I honestly do not know. Either way, I think Lucasfilm would want something with considerably more marketing power.

Ben Solo and Rey's children would carry the entire Star Wars family tree

Imagine the announcement: the children of Ben Solo and Rey Skywalker. Now we have something, because those children would basically contain the entire Star Wars family tree. Ben Solo is Leia's son, and Leia is Anakin Skywalker's daughter, so Ben carries the Skywalker bloodline. Rey is descended from Palpatine. Put those together and you have created the most terrifying family reunion in galactic history: Skywalker, Solo and Palpatine all rolled into one kid. That child stubs a toe and accidentally shoots Force lightning through the kitchen.

And with two children, you basically have a new trilogy automatically. Maybe one follows Rey and embraces the Jedi, while the other becomes fascinated with Ben Solo, Kylo Ren, Vader and the whole dark side of their family history. Then Rey is not simply rebuilding the Jedi. She is trying to stop her own children from repeating the exact cycle that destroyed the Skywalker saga in the first place, and the second place, and the third place. That is a story.

Rey calling herself Skywalker is not enough connective tissue

Here is my bigger problem. At some point you have to justify continuing the Skywalker saga. The Rise of Skywalker was marketed as the end of the saga. If we go back into that timeline for a trilogy that effectively becomes 10, 11 and 12, even if Disney never puts those numbers on them, you need connective tissue to make it go.

Rey simply calling herself Skywalker is not enough for me or a lot of fans. I know that scene means a lot to a lot of people. It was cool, and I understand the idea: family is not only blood, and Rey chose the Skywalker legacy over the Palpatine legacy. I get it, and I like it. But if you ask audiences to return for another decade of movies about this family, eventually somebody will ask where the actual Skywalkers are. Right now, the answer is that they are all blue ghosts.

Lucasfilm's three options for continuing the saga

Option one is to move on, leave the Skywalker saga alone and build something new. Honestly, that is probably the cleanest answer.

Option two is to bring Ben Solo back. This is Star Wars. "Nobody stays dead unless their actor refuses to return." Palpatine exploded inside a reactor shaft, then the Death Star exploded, and 30 years later he was hanging from a crane in a laboratory. Ben returning would not even crack the top five craziest resurrections in the franchise.

Option three is Force babies. If Rey walks into the first movie with two teenagers and somebody asks who their father is, everyone in the theatre will know the answer before she says it: Ben Solo. Then comes the flashback to Exegol, the kiss and the life transfer, as Rey realises Ben did not just give her enough Force energy to resurrect her. He left part of himself behind. Somehow, Skywalker returned.

What I am actually predicting about Ben Solo's legacy

Am I predicting Lucasfilm will sit down and explain that Ben Solo Force impregnated Rey during their kiss? No, not in those words. I desperately hope nobody at Lucasfilm ever uses those words. But I do believe there is a possibility that future Star Wars stories eventually give Rey children who are somehow connected, biologically or spiritually, to Ben Solo, because Ben is too valuable to the story. Adam Driver may never physically return and Ben may stay dead, but the Skywalker bloodline may not die there.

Star Wars has already handed the writers the ultimate get out of jail free card. The Force has been tied to the creation of life before. It can heal people, resurrect people, communicate across the galaxy and pass physical objects through a connection. And the funniest part is that, if it happens, Rey taking the Skywalker name becomes far less important, because her kids would actually descend from Anakin. After three movies telling us the saga was done, killing Luke, Leia and Ben, Star Wars could turn around 20 years later and say Ben got Rey pregnant with the Force. Somehow, "that might be the most Star Wars solution imaginable."

Which of the three options should Lucasfilm take: move on, bring Ben Solo back, or give Rey children tied to his bloodline?