ST Wait...How did Rey know Leia?

I get your point, but I have a feeling there are certain people that are recognizable. A war hero and leader of a major political movement would probably be one of them.

 

Totally makes sense!

My 2 cents is that it is possible Han talked to Rey about Leia on their way to starkiller base.

 

I don't think the simple explanations of "Well, Han probably mentioned Leia to Rey" or "Rey and Leia must've communicated on the trip back" cut it. Leia is just not the type of woman you walk up to and hug. You might as well give a bear hug to the Queen of England. If Leia is hugging a girl she's never met before and treating her so warmly this is not an oversight. This is deliberate, a way the director is pointing our attention to their relationship without giving too much away. I'm sure we'll find out what's behind this in the next movie, if not the one after that.
...and I can't wait!!!

 

It was a daughter or niece hug.

 

As far as we know they don't.

I thought that scene was goofy.

Leia should have hugged Chewbacca as Rey just look on.

 

There must have been a Leia/Chewie bit prior to this that got cut. That would have clued Rey into who Leia is and then they could have had the same tender moment.

 

Chewie was helping a near dead Finn, I'd say helping him is a lot more logical than waiting in line to hug Leia as his comrade lays there bleeding out and nearly a vegetable.... But hey lets nitpick the scene instead because wow

 

Here I thought Finn was already in the hands of the Resistance doctors.

But sorry, you're right.

How silly of me to expect life long friends and de facto extended family to acknowledge each other after the death of a common relative. This was clearly a complete stranger's moment to console the widow. A stranger who's closer to Finn than Chewbacca is by the way.

That's a real nitpick I got on my hands. It's almost as bad as when people whine about Chewie not getting a MEDAL.

Whoa. Man, am I inconsiderate.

 

tbh she felt Han die with the force and then when they got back Finn was near dead, Chewie was busy and Rey was stood there looking pretty devastated. I'm pretty sure she could make an educated guess who she was and what she had witnessed. I would give her a hug too, she looks like she needed some cheering up

 

Now did Chewie carry Finn in or did they cart him? I can't remember.

 

I believe a mix of both. Chewie carries him to the cart

 

Then there you go. After he put's Finn on the cart, Rey can go off with him, and Chewie can stay behind.

 

She doesn't know Leia, according to the novel:

Following in the Wookiee’s wake, an exhausted Rey found herself greeted by a cheering crowd. Leia Organa was in the forefront, accompanied by a pair of droids. Rey recognized BB-8 immediately, and wondered at the identity of the gleaming golden protocol droid at his side.Instinctively, she headed toward Leia.
No general now, Leia took the young girl’s face in her hands. Though brokenhearted at the deaths of Han and so many brave pilots, Leia was grateful for the deliverance of the Resistance. In spite of the presence of the crowd that was looking on, the two women embraced without embarrassment or hesitation. Then, with tears falling, they moved inside.

 

And you know chewie didn't acknowledge this with Leia later? It had to happen RIGHT then right?

Rey was simply broken up at the time and so was Leia, they felt the need to console each other because that's just the type of person Rey is. Leia was consoling her because she could tell Rey was shaken up too. It was a touching scene. To nitpick about it because Chewie was doing other things and didn't acknowledge her immediately is beyond pety

 

Right then? Yes.

This may sound pretty harsh, but we barely know Rey. We don't know any of these new characters, at least not as well as we know Leia; as we know Chewie. As well as we know what Han means to BOTH of them

And to call a desire to see an acknowledgement of a real emotional moment that WROTE ITSELF as petty is pretty asinine.

Leia patting the cheek of a saddened Chewie over Han's passing would have hit me in the feels harder than anything.

It was bad writing. Call it nitpicking. I don't give a hoot.

 

And it could certainly happen in the next film at a low point for chewie during a quiet scene of him reflecting and missing Han, only to have Leia try to comfort him. It can work just as well if not better in the next movie as a reminder of the friends we have lost along the way.

 

The irons have cooled. If we see it in VIII we'll be like, "What the heck is Leia talking to Chewie for. . .ohhhhh."

If it happened off the falcon we would have been like, "Right in the feels."

That moment between Rey and Leia made little sense at face value, and wouldn't have even been as primal and instinctual as Chewie embracing Leia, or vice versa.

To put it another way; a thread about why Leia and Chewie hug after they leave the Falcon would probably get locked for being stupidly obvious. A thread about why Leia and Rey hug gets 5 pages in counting.

 

to be fair she was just having an ordinary day and then:

she finds a random droid
avoids a stormtrooper attack on Jakku
escapes the first order in the Falcon
survives a Rathtar attack on Han's ship
has a freaky force vision
gets kidnapped by Kylo Ren
Tortured but then discovers her force powers
escapes her imprisonment
witnesses Han get killed
gets force thrown into a tree
defeats Kylo Ren in a lightsaber battle
flies away from an exploding planet on the Falcon


... I think after all that she just needed a hug

Leia is just letting the maternal instincts kick in and hugging a person in need. I wouldn't need an excuse to give Rey a hug and Leia shouldn't need one either

 

Just hugging a long lost niece.