I dunno, when I was in the theater in 2015 and I heard him say “What girl?” I genuinely thought that was supposed to be a hint that he was familiar enough with some girl that could have done this. There are countless others on the internet that felt the same way. Clearly Colin Trevorrow thought the same thing. Remember, this reveal we’re crafting is meant to tie together the entire trilogy and make it feel like this was planned out all along. The fact that we already are emphasizing how linked they always were through the Force means it would be a shame not to take this opportunity. We don’t have the luxury of creating our own supplementary material here.
That was such a small nudge in TFA that I don’t feel it needs expanding this late in the story. Maz also asks Han “who’s the girl?” and Han gives her a troubled looked. People on the internet also hanged on to that for countless speculation, as well as countless other hints such as “the supreme leader is wise”. In the end a lot of these “hints” ended up as nothing more that what’s in the text, with no need to expand beyond that.
I also don’t like the idea that Kylo’s interest in Rey in previous films comes from some visions we never see. It makes their relationship far less personal, and it specially messes with TLJ, their whole interaction is the best part of that movie and it only works because their bond comes as something unexpected to both of them. It also messes with the big reveal, Kylo says Rey has no part in the story and she’s nothing, he can’t possibly believe that if she’s “the girl” she’s been having Force visions all this time. This doesn’t tie things together, it breaks them apart.
And besides, as I said, the information in these scenes is supposed to be specifically new information given by Palpatine to Kylo, so no, it doesn’t make sense for Kylo to go on a tangent and reveal he’s been dreaming of Rey all his life.
The line I added “Our paths have always been intertwined." is sort of a small nod that idea anyway if that’s your chosen head canon, but it leaves it open as a conclusion Kylo only took after Palpatine’s revelations. And the reason I replaced that other line is because it doesn’t make sense for Kylo to say “Palpatine wanted you alive before you chose to be a Jedi”, it contradicts everything else he’s said. The whole point is that it doesn’t matter that she chose to be a Jedi, that she’s destined for darkness either way, and he explains later that Palpatine only “wanted her dead” in so far as he was testing Kylo to be the superior heir.
Take a look at my last post. As hiventon pointed out, 9 times out of 10 Rey’s father would think her mother cheated on him in circumstances like this. There really isn’t any room for fear to be involved. Not unless her mother was barren, which isn’t worth stating to make the fear angle work because that would actually make Rey a positive thing and something to celebrate for 90% of couples. I think what I’ve got there is a short enough blurb to explain why a couple would sell their own child. And after that, they aren’t mentioned again, as they shouldn’t be.
Yeah it makes sense that the father might think she cheated, but this strange implication is something we need to avoid, not lean into. I don’t think the implication that Rey’s parents had marital problems because she was raped by the Force is something that fits a Star Wars movie. That’s why I think it’s best to keep it vague, saying neither of her parents expected a child leaves things ambiguous enough, and we already know they didn’t want a child either, since they sold her off for drinking money, so this is just expanding on that.
For you, a well-versed fan in the lore, the direct reference to Vader immediately spells that part of her birth out too much. For others who don’t know as much, I think it’s a sufficient and more relevant hint. Remember, the only thing that is confirmed to fans who understand the lore is that Rey is a birth just like Anakin. That just means she’s practically another chosen one, which should be a good thing! Palpatine’s part in all that hasn’t been revealed yet. Perhaps this is the reason the newest part about her birth coinciding with Palpatine’s return should be removed so we save that for the actual reveal.
I think if anything it’s the opposite, only someone familiar with the lore would understand the Vader reference at all, otherwise they’d be more confused, the reveal should work and be explainable all on it’s own. It makes more sense to leave the reference to Vader until the hangar scene, where we start using direct terms lifted from the prequels, and at which point the reveal has been spelled out in full.