Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Novel Might Debunk Jannah Being Lando’s Daughter Theory

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker‘s novelization offered some new details about the story that didn’t make it onto the film. Now its raising questions about a scene from The Rise of Skywalker. In the film, Lando Calrissian returns to action. He meets Jannah, the leader of a group of warriors living on the Kef Bir, the Ocean Moon of Endor. Jannah is a First Order deserter after the First Order stole her as a child and forced into their Stormtrooper ranks. The Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker visual dictionary revealed that Lando’s daughter was also stolen by the First Order. Given the tender moment that Lando and Jannah share in the film, fans assumed that Jannah is Lando’s daughter.

The novelization of The Rise of Skywalker addresses the subplot but suggests that Jannah isn’t Lando’s daughter. Lando plans to continue searching for the First Order’s stolen children and to reunite them with their families. With the war over, he invites Jannah to join him on this mission. But despite having met Jannah, he’s still hoping to find his daughter. Based on this, Jannah may remind Lando of his daughter, but he doesn’t think that she is his daughter. Here’s the passage from the novel by Rae Carson:

“Lando and the Lady Luck would help these special kids. Find their families, if that’s what they wanted. Help them discover their new place in the galaxy. Heck, maybe he’d find his daughter. Probably not; he knew the odds. But that would be a pretty good way to spend his twilight years, right? If the kids were amenable, anyway.”

Could Jannah still be Lando’s daughter? It is possible that they’ve been apart for so long he no longer recognizes her, but that depends on how young she was when she when the First Order took her. It seems more likely that Jannah reminds Lando of his daughter, which is why he seems to bond with her. It may also be why he keeps searching even after the war is over. That may be a story for a future installment of the Star Wars comics and novels series. Then again, Jannah actress Naomi Ackie thinks Jannah could warrant a full spinoff of her own.

“Jannah was a completely new character and I like the idea that the Star Wars universe is expanding,” Ackie said in April. “I think Jannah could get a spinoff. She has a really rich backstory that [director] J.J. [Abrams] told me about, and a future that we still don’t know about.”

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is now streaming on Disney+.