First they were nobodies. Then they were the son of the most powerful, evil man and the galaxy and his wife. Now,we know Rey’s mysterious parents, glimpsed only briefly in The Rise of Skywalker, are Dathan and Miramir, thanks to Adam Christopher’s new Star Wars novel, Shadow of the Sith — a book that, surprisingly, is somehow about Luke Skywalker and Lando Calrissian.
The revelation comes from an excerpt of the novel revealed on USA Today. Miramir, Rey’s mother, is described in the excerpt as blond, brilliant, and beautiful (I mean, she is played by Killing Eve’s Jodie Comer in the film for a whole three minutes, so that’s not unfair to say), while Dathan, um, has a beard. Dathan’s biggest secret, and the whole reason they’re on the run at all, is because he’s Sheev Palpatine’s child and the living proof that the fascist emperor of the evil Empire has fucked at least once, apparently.
The excerpt is pretty sparse, showing Miramir and Dathan (Dathan is, in my opinion, a frankly excellent name for a Star Wars character) on the lam, having escaped by way of a very dilapidated and underserviced ship purchased from Unkar Plutt outside of Jakku’s Niima Outpost. How this figures into a Luke/Lando adventure is unknown, but here’s the cover to prove they’re the main characters:
Rey’s parents aside, Shadow of the Sith takes place 20 years after the battle of Endor and follows both the original trilogy characters after Skywalker has sensed a classic “disturbance in the force,” while Calrissian is looking for his daughter, which is presumably Jannah from The Rise of Skywalker, a character who appeared incredibly briefly but still manage to form an awkward emotional bond with Lando, as if she was supposed to be his long-lost daughter but an important scene (or scenes) were cut for time. Maybe the book will explain how Lando misplaced his child in the first place?
Star Wars: Shadow of the Sith, published by Del Rey, is available to preorder now and will be released on June 28.
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Editor’s Note: Release dates within this article are based in the U.S., but will be updated with local Australian dates as soon as we know more.