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Lucasfilm's Pablo Hidalgo nixes fan theory about Rey's dad in Rise of Skywalker

By Josh Grossberg May 30, 2019, 11:19 AM ET

Daisy Ridley as Rey in Star Wars The Rise of Skywalker

Credit: Lucasfilm

This Lucasfilm exec thinks a popular fan theory for Star Wars: Rise of the Skywalker is a bunch of mumbo jumbo. And he should know.

Pablo Hidalgo, one of the Disney-owned company's top creatives who has been a key member of the Star Wars franchise's vaunted Story Group, took to Twitter recently to shoot down rumors that that Rise of Skywalker will reveal that Rey is actually, that's right, Han Solo's daughter.

When asked by a fan his thoughts about everyone's favorite smuggler being a "deadbeat dad," Hidalgo didn't exactly need a good blaster to set the record straight – just some math skills and a basic post-Jedi history lesson about what happened between Han and Leia.

@pablohidalgo so Iâll be the sacrificial lamb to ask:

So what is this we hear Han is a deadbeat dad with a slice in the side and is secretly Reyâs dad. Please let me know Abrams is not this lame and go full Maury Povich-worthy in TROS.
— What Girl: get your covid vaccine (@Bk2Jakku) May 29, 2019

He subsequently noted in the thread that Rey is 19-years-old in The Force Awakens, the first installment in the final trilogy of the Skywalker saga.

The rumor, which according to CBR.com originally ran as a Patreon exclusive for MakingStarWars.net before being posted to Reddit, claimed that Han and Leia briefly split when Leia started training in the Force under Luke. It was then Han may have had a brief affair with a mystery gal (Qi-ra from Solo perhaps?) who, after he broke things off and returned to Leia, gave birth to Rey. Therefore, Han would not have recognized Rey in TFA and her heritage must mean she's a Solo, not a Skywalker.

Given Hidalgo however is the Jedi master who fact-checked the Star Wars Encyclopedia, helped build up StarWars.com and, outside of George Lucas, is the go-to guy inside Lucasfilm regarding Star Wars canon, we'd say the odds are pretty great fans are barking up the wrong Wookie with this one. And not everybody's into the idea of J.J. Abrams retconning Han into a real scoundrel either as evidenced by the heated debate online.

In any case, having Rey and Kylo Ren, aka Ben Solo, turn out to be brother and (half) sister just seems a tad icky given the dalliance they had via deep Force connection in The Last Jedi - though to be fair, Leia did kiss Luke so ya never know!

Star Wars: Episode IX -The Rise of Skywalker hits theaters on Dec. 20.