Annlyel explores the story arc of Kylo Ren in Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker
Kylo Ren is my favorite character in this current Star Wars trilogy because he’s such an intriguingly complex character. In The Force Awakens, he was a confused assassin who struggled between the pull of the light and the darkness. After killing Han Solo he supposedly cemented his stance as a pupil of the darkness but the terrible sacrifice only weakened him instead.
In The Last Jedi, Rian Johnson humanized him as he revealed the backstory to how Ben Solo became Kylo Ren. He turned the First Order commander into a victim rather than a crazed psychopath who just wanted to kill everything he once knew and loved. Kylo Ren is then placed in a different light as he experiences this strange bond between him and Rey and we see him as a human being who just wanted some love and companionship for crying out loud. He killed Snoke for the opportunity to make a new galactic order with Rey but of course, she didn’t go along with his plan and Kylo Ren became his same old bitter, angry self again.
Long story short, he had a showdown with Luke, he lost the confrontation miserably, missed his chance to wipe out the last of the Resistance due to the mirage-Luke distraction, and vowed to destroy Rey. So when we see Kylo again what will he be up to? He’s now the Supreme Leader but can he prove to be a powerful leader or will his anger issues get in the way and ultimately become his downfall?
Kylo Ren Wanted Power, Now He Has It, So What Next?
Kylo Ren has had quite the journey in the last two films, which I have just spoken about, but as we approach the final third of his story what should his new mission be? Well, I think it’s kind of obvious that he’ll be searching for Rey just like Darth Vader used to search for Luke Skywalker. He’s obviously going to try to end the Jedi once and for all and that means he needs to find her to achieve that goal. Now when he does finally confront her once again I’m super interested in seeing how they react to each other. Both of these characters have been in the deep recesses of each other’s minds. They have about as intimate a relationship as you can have with someone and so I have a feeling that while Kylo will undoubtedly be angry with her I can’t exactly tell if they will be mortal enemies like they were in The Force Awakens ever again.
Now, his goal to find Rey could increase the rate of his detriment with the First Order because what if he wastes valuable resources and strategic moves just to achieve his own personal gains by finding Rey? That could lead to some serious dissension within the tyrannical organization and could lead to a mutiny that he might not be able to control (with General Hux at the head of this uprising of course.) Then what would happen to Kylo Ren? That’s a very interesting concept that I feel hasn’t happened in Star Wars before and it would undoubtedly cause some problems for Kylo Ren.
Another thing that could be really interesting is seeing the Knights of Ren as Force-sensitive individuals. I even think Luke Skywalker confirmed this as he told Rey about the burning of his Jedi temple. Think about it.
Luke: “When I came to, the temple was burning. Ben had left with a handful of my students and slaughtered the rest.”
Hmm, a handful of students? In the special The Rise of Skywalker issue for Vanity Fair, we got to see a first look at the Knights of Ren and guess what, there were five of them. Yes, a handful. So what if Kylo isn’t the only Knight with the Force? What if he has his own Sith cult to back him up? Wouldn’t that be amazing?
Snoke had the Praetorian Guards and Kylo Ren has the Knights of Ren. It makes so much sense. This theory that his knights would have the Force also validates my theory that Rey should create a new Jedi Order. Then she would be able to face him and his dark side buddies with her Jedi pupils to back her up. Doesn’t that sound awesome though? Kylo Ren and his Knights versus Rey and her Padawans. That sounds like something only achievable during the years of the Old Republic. Not only would that make for an awesome action scene that would probably be the greatest lightsaber duel in Star Wars history but it would also be something that we haven’t seen in a Star Wars movie before. I think having a climactic battle like that would be worthy of the final installment of this Skywalker era and I’m truly hoping J.J Abrams is thinking like me in this situation. 🙂
Now should Kylo Ren be redeemed by the end of Episode IX? I honestly hope he does find a way to finally go good…without dying like Darth Vader did. But if I had him turn back to the light I wouldn’t make it a very joyous situation. I mean of course it would be great to see him turn good again but I wouldn’t have the Resistance welcome him in like he hasn’t killed hundreds, maybe even thousands of their fighters. That would be super unrealistic and so I would have him go into exile just like Luke and Yoda did. And in that way, he doesn’t get killed off which would be a terribly tragic ending to his story but he also has to come to terms with all of the horrible things that he has done.
I could totally imagine him saying farewell to Rey (this would be quite an emotional scene by the way) and then walking off towards the horizon (kind of like Obi-Wan did at the end of Revenge of the Sith.) That’s how I would end his story but I’m pretty sure J.J Abrams has a different vision than mine. Or maybe he doesn’t. 🙂
Well, this is what I think should happen to Kylo Ren in Episode IX. I can’t wait to see if these theories come true in the slightest and I’m super excited to eventually see this undoubtedly anticipated finale to an already fantastic trilogy.
May the Force be with you, always.
The Future of the Force. The future of pop culture writing.
Want up-to-the-minute entertainment news and featured articles? Just hit “Like” on our Facebook page and “Follow” us on our Future of the Force Instagram and Twitter accounts.
Author
Hello everyone. My name is Annlyel James. I’m a young woman who loves movies of all genres (specifically ‘Star Wars’ and Marvel movies.) I am also a Senior Correspondent for The Future of the Force.
