Star Wars: Rey's Family Tree Explained - Who Is She Really Related To?

If one family in Star Wars has more issues than the Skywalkers, it's the Palpatines. Of course, it wasn't until "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker" that fans knew where the Palpatine family tree roots ended up. In that film, Rey (Daisy Ridley) learns she is the granddaughter of the Galactic Empire's hooded head honcho, Emperor Sheev Palpatine, aka Darth Sidious (Ian McDiarmid).

Rey accepts the truth of her family legacy but chooses to break away from her dark side heritage. Instead, she takes on the name of Skywalker, which was met with a totally calm response from fans who didn't burst into a rage hotter than a Mustafarian volcano. Okay, maybe they were a little angry.

So what connects the biggest bad guy in the Star Wars universe to Jakku's best junker? Well, as seems to be the case with just about all of Palpatine's plans, it's that tried and true routine of cloning that led to Rey's birth.

Rey's family history is shown only in flickers of flashbacks. She is the daughter of Miramir (Jodie Comer) and an Emperor Palpatine clone named Dathan (Billy Howle). Unfortunately, the Force wasn't strong with the latter, and Dathan eventually fled his maker's grasp. Sometime after, he met and fell in love with Miramir, and the two married before having Rey. The young girl's Force sensitivity puts her in danger, resulting in her parents' decision to hide on Jakku. This plan doesn't last long, with Miaramir and Dathan abandoning Rey for her safety, only to be kidnapped and killed by an assassin Palpatine sends to search for his gifted granddaughter.

While there are similarities between Rey and Luke Skywalker's (Mark Hamill) pasts, the former arguably had a more challenging childhood before joining the fight against the dark side. At least young Skywalker has his Uncle Owen (Phil Brown) and Aunt Beru (Shelagh Fraser) to look after him (albeit before they are brutally killed). On the other hand, Rey is left in the giant, devious hands of junker boss Unkar Plutt (Simon Pegg) to avoid the clutches of her grand-pappy, who has plans for galactic domination again. You really can't choose your family, and that's especially true when clones are involved.