About That Other Solo Reveal (SPOILERS)

LAST WARNING: MAJOR SPOILER TALK FOLLOWS

Darth Maul was the big reveal that everyone is talking about, including us. But there was another reveal of sorts: Enfys Nest. Nest and her Cloud-Riders attacked Beckett's crew and tussled over the coaxium shipment on the conveyex train on Vandor-1. Later, after tracking the crew to Savareen, Enfys removed her helmet to reveal herself as a young woman, and her marauders were a band of survivors from various events borne from Imperial brutality. Enfys turns out to have grand ideas about fomenting a rebellion to fight the Empire.

We noted in our Darth Maul piece that the unmasked Cloud-Riders included some familiar faces, which shrunk the universe a bit, probably in a good way for most fans. Amidst much complaining that Disney has ignored many of the familiar alien designs in favor of completely new ones, we were treated to a Rodian, a Tognath (possibly Edrio Two Tubes or his brother Benthic) and Warwick Davis. Turns out, Warwick Davis was reprising his role as Weazel from The Phantom Menace. While his more elaborate story was wiped out in Disney's EU purge, Weazel is canonically known as having worked for the Hutts on Tatooine around 32 BBY, but had later jointed Enfys Nest's Cloud-Riders. On another interesting note, the Cloud-Rider name was directly lifted from the (now Legends) 1977 Marvel Comics. Yet another example of an EU concept returning to canon from the great beyond.



Anyway, who is Enfys Nest? Does she grow up into someone we already know? The thought actually crossed my mind when watching Solo that it could be a young Jyn. I tried to fit that into the timeline, but it didn't work. According to Wookieepedia, Jyn was born in 21 BBY. Since this story takes place around 10 BBY, Jyn would only be about 11 years old, which doesn't make sense. Interesting thought, though, especially if one of her Cloud-Riders turns out to be Edrio or Benthic. She could have been interested in giving the valuable coaxium to Saw Gerrera. But I abandoned that theory pretty quickly. Even if the age worked out, it doesn't seem likely that a young Jyn took command of a dangerous swoop gang. She seemed more likely to be the type to work alone while trying to survive.

Another theory that I've seen (not mine) is that she's Rey's mother. The main basis for this appears to be that she has a similar accent. Sounds like nonsense to me, and I don't think Disney would be trying hard to link these pre-OT standalones to the sequel trilogy - although we did get that reference in Rogue One to the Empire's secret research project on hyperspace tracking which came to fruition on TLJ, so what do I know? Enfys's age could reconcile with being the Rey's mother. Let's assume Enfys is about 20 in Solo, which would make her 30 during the events of ANH. According to Wikipedia, Rey was born in 15 ABY, so Enfys would have been 45 at Rey's birth. Definitely possible. But I would suspect that if there still is a story behind Rey's parentage, despite what Kylo told her, that would be up to JJ Abrams to handle himself.

So maybe Enfys Nest is simply a brand new character, that has no link to any existing person in the SWU. If that is the case, I would doubt this is the last we see of her. There will undoubtedly be some comics or novels that expand upon her story, or perhaps, she is part of a larger film arc, especially if Solo is turned into a trilogy. Or if an Obi-Wan or Boba Fett films come to fruition, Nest could make appearances there as well. If Disney decided to bring a "Birth of the Rebellion" story to the big screen, it would give them an opportunity to perhaps tie in Enfys Nest, Saw Gerrera, Mon Mothma, Hera, Cassian, Bail Organa, and maybe even another EU character resurrection - Garm Bel Iblis.

The Maul reveal was the biggest jolt for Star Wars viewers in a long while, but perhaps lost in the commotion for the time being, it is possible that this Enfys Nest introduction may be another major moment for fans to look back on.

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