At this point, it would simply be an understatement to say that the Star Wars Sequel Trilogy is full of plot holes and convenient developments. But fortunately for the House of Mouse, tie-in novels and other mediums have been desperately trying to fill in the gaps and present fans with a coherent narrative.
That being the case, the new reference publication titled The Star Wars Book has actually given us a lot of insight into what really went down in a number of scenarios from before The Force Awakens to the last moments of The Rise of Skywalker. For instance, we now have a definitive answer as to why the Emperor had to create Snoke in the first place, and whether Rey channeled the dark side in the last movie of the saga.
Upon further examination, though, fans have learned that the new title also reveals how Palpatine was able to influence Ben so quickly considering it took him almost 20 years to do the same to Anakin Skywalker. You see, aside from the fact that his uncle seemingly tried to kill him and betrayed his trust as a close family member, the young Solo was already feeling lonely and melancholic.
In that period, Han was constantly going from one side of the galaxy to another, while Leia was busy with her duties in the New Republic as a senator. “This loneliness becomes an easily exploitable weakness, making him vulnerable to the temptations of the dark side,” the publication reads.
As his student, one might think that Luke would pay enough attention to Ben, but the new Star Wars book also touches on this matter by revealing that Mark Hamill’s fan favorite character was too preoccupied with the notion of rebuilding the Jedi Order from scratch to realize that Palpatine was corrupting his nephew.
By the time he learned that someone had turned Ben’s heart, the legendary hero made the rash decision of confronting him, and the rest of the events, as seen in the Sequel Trilogy, are history.
