SPOILERS AHEAD! Stop reading if you have somehow not yet seen ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens”
For many fans, the death of [REDACTED] and the reaction from his family and friends back in the Resistance was a heartbreaking scene, especially for Leia and Chewie who knew this character for so many years. What was strange of course, was that when Rey and Chewie returned from the destruction of Starkiller base, instead of Leia hugging her old friend Chewie, who was sure to be feeling the impact of this death just as keenly (if not more so ) than her, she instead chooses to hug Rey, a young woman who she has never met before, but has heard about from Han. Chewie meanwhile is ignored as he runs past Leia, giving Finn’s ailing body to the medics. For many (myself included), this seemed to indicate that Leia knew exactly who Rey was, and hugged her because Rey was the only family she had at this time (i.e. the only blood relative). Apparently though, it was all simply a mistake by JJ Abrams and company. In a recent interview with /Film, Abrams had the following to say about Leia hugging Rey:
“That was probably one of the mistakes I made in that. My thinking at the time was that Chewbacca, despite the pain he was feeling, was focused on trying to save Finn and getting him taken care of. So I tried to have Chewbacca go off with him and focus on Rey, and then have Rey find Leia and Leia find Rey. The idea being that both of them being strong with the Force and never having met, would know about each other — that Leia would have been told about her beyond what we saw onscreen and Rey of course would have learned about Leia. And that reunion would be a meeting and a reunion all in one, and a sort of commiseration of their mutual loss.”
Of course, there is always a chance Abrams is just trying to throw us off here (he and his team have outright lied to the public before – *cough*KHAN*cough*) but if this is true, than perhaps Rey is not a member of the Skywalker clan after all. What do you think? Is Abrams lying and the whole thing was intentional? Or was it a genuine mistake? Share your opinion of the matter in the comments below!
