The new Star Wars comic series centering around the origins of the villainous Kylo Ren has finally unveiled the moment that cemented Ben Solo’s turn to the dark side.
While The Force Awakens established Snoke as the one who turned Ben’s heart and destroyed Luke’s new generation of Jedi warriors, The Rise of Skywalker actually reduced the role of the Supreme Leader to merely a puppet who was used in Palpatine’s plan to return and dominate the galaxy with the Final Order. Granted, the last entry in the story of Skywalker doesn’t go out of its way to explore or justify these revelations, but the young Solo’s redemption arc was one of the few things that fans unanimously liked about the movie.
But for those who still think that Ben deserved more as a character, the new comic series called Star Wars: The Rise of Kylo Ren can prove to be a good read. In the first three issues, we learned how Ben escaped his uncle Luke and sought refugee with the Knights of Ren. Now, in the fourth and final chapter, fans will get to see what incident served as his turning point and gave way to the birth of Kylo Ren.
As it comes to pass, when the former Jedi padawan goes on his first mission with the Knights of Ren, his old friends from Luke’s Jedi academy, Voe and Tai, suddenly show up, compelling Ren, the leader of the Knights, to ask Ben to get rid of them.
When Ben hesitates to kill them, though, Ren steps forth and snaps Tai’s neck using the Force. This leads Ben to give in to his anger and lunge at Ren to deal him a mortal blow. As seen above, he hears the voice of Snoke who encourages him, and a panel actually shows Palpatine watching the incident take place from afar.
The fight ends with the Knights of Ren bowing to Ben, who then proceeds to kill off Voe as well, thinking that her life has no purpose anymore. After returning to his quarters, the son of Han Solo and General Leia Organa creates his unusual crossguard lightsaber, fully succumbing to the Kylo Ren persona in a moment of anguish and hatred.
So, there you have it. With the last part of the new 4-issue Star Wars comic series out of the way, the journey of Ben Solo has come full circle. But were you happy with how things turned out for the character in Episode IX? Sound off with your opinion in the usual place below.