Well if she isn't mindwiped, I have a much bigger problem with her being so capable with the Force in such a short amount of time. In the course of minutes or hours she's suddenly reversing invasive mind probes (which seemed to trigger something), performing mindtricks, and calling lightsabers to her from 20 feet away. Luke could barely summon a lightsaber to him that was nearly within grasp years after he was first made aware of the Force. Mindwipes are a cop out but her nearly immediate handling of the Force with no training whatsoever is worse in my book. I'd love to see how that is otherwise explained.
I think the Force guides her in some sense and is used in an involuntary way perhaps but I think intentional and directed manipulation is quite a bit different. The same applied to Luke (great pilot, dianoga mysteriously let's go, etc.) but it was a long time before he could use it at will with any aplomb.
That's just it, she doesn't know how she is doing what she is doing not because of a mind wipe but because it's never happened before. I am moving away from even the idea she was trained at Luke's academy. I don't think that's where she was in the rain facing the Knights of Ren. Colin Tervorrow recently said in a red carpet interview that Rey is important to the entire Galaxy. I think it's not her paternal relationship this hinges on but her relationship to the Force. She mind tricks the ST and tells Finn he wouldn't believe her if she told him how she escaped. The Force is changing her as we watch, we just don't know why.
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Yes, right, you posted that as I was typing. Let's also remember Luke wasn't the most powerful Force user ever, that was Anakin. I don't think Luke was ever meant to be a super Jedi, just an average one but one who let emotion and love guide him, something the PT Jedi were avoiding to their own peril.
The mind probe reversal may have been instinctual but she is certainly mind tricking JB-007 with full intent and doesn't accidentally summon the lightsaber to her. Her comment could easily just refer to Finn never having seen the Force in action. She knows what she's doing in those regards. If the son of the most powerful Jedi can't do this things with such ease without training, I am skeptical she could...unless she has been trained and doesn't remember it or there is something truly strange going on with her.
I really dislike that we're trying to interpret Rey's "powers" through EU and prequel filters.
How did the Force get so misunderstood by so many writers over the years? George Lucas himself didn't even get it.
When did people forget that the Force was about spirituality and mysticism?
When did people forget that the life-lesson we learned via Luke's journey was that if you believe in yourself, anything is possible?
My personal theory on Rey's "powers" is that she's simply a stronger person than Luke was when he began his journey.
Rey already believes in herself, because she's been fighting for survival all her life.
I'm not really seeing where that's happening. No EU/PT filters here. The OT very much emphasizes the value of training. Luke tells Obi-wan he wants to learn the ways of the Force. It isn't something that just happens. Yoda even says "Only a fully trained Jedi Knight with the Force as his ally will conquer Vader and his Emperor." I never got the impression that all one needed to do is simply believe in themselves, also I'm sure that's a part of it. Now if something weird is going on with Rey, so be it, but I don't think anything like this has been seen before. It's not typical.
You hit the nail on the head. It's not typical and I think that is very
intentional. Let's bring the mystery and magic back to the Force as opposed to an acquired skill set.
I really dislike that we're trying to interpret Rey's "powers" through
EU and prequel filters.
How did the Force get so misunderstood by so many writers over the years? George Lucas himself didn't even get it.
When did people forget that the Force was about spirituality and mysticism?
When did people forget that the life-lesson we learned via Luke's journey was that if you believe in yourself, anything is possible?
My personal theory on Rey's "powers" is that she's simply a stronger person than Luke was when he began his journey.
Rey already believes in herself, because she's been fighting for survival all her life.