New ‘Star Wars’ Short Reminds Naysayers That Rey Has Always Been Using The Force

It’s Star Wars: Forces of Destiny week on Disney’s YouTube channel; the highly anticipated micro-series that hopes to jumpstart Lucasfilm Animation’s new initiative aimed at highlighting the women of Star Wars. Forces of Destiny brings back Lupita Nyong’o as the voice of Maz Kanata, who narrates these new canonical entries into the Star Wars universe.

To kick things off, the premiere episode, above, features Daisy Ridley voicing Rey and BB-8. The short takes place during The Force Awakens, situated between when Rey finds BB-8 and when she takes him to town with her. The creature — called a Nightwatcher worm — is briefly seen in the live-action film. Through the power of animation, fans finally get to see the worm’s true form.

For those wondering whether or not Lucasfilm made up the Nightwatcher’s biology on the fly, the answer is no. Back in 2015, the companion novel Star Wars: Rey’s Survival Guide talked about how the Nightwatcher worms had adapted in the aftermath of the Battle of Jakku to eat junk, since their digestive tract is full of acid that can melt anything. The final form of the Nightwatcher worms, however, is brand new information.

But the best part of this short is how it hammers home the Rey was using the Force long before she picked up Anakin Skywalker’s lightsaber. Star Wars has a long history of Force-sensitivity manifesting as “luck” in the untrained. The hostility of Jakku would clearly chew up and spit out any orphaned child who didn’t have preternatural good fortune.

Now if only Forces of Destiny would explain how Rey went from having a guardian on Jakku to subsistence living in the sand dunes…

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