The first two installments in the Sequel Trilogy have mined a lot of drama from the question of Kylo Ren’s true loyalties. In both The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi, the First Order leader has seemingly swayed from his dark convictions to the side of the light before ending up a bad’un once again. But could this be building up to a shocking twist in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker that reveals Ren hasn’t been as evil as we thought all along?
This intriguing theory from UnknownBearing suggests that Rise will drop the bombshell of Kylo’s true mission: he’s actually been working for the Dark Side in order to kill Emperor Palpatine once and for all. Assuming that Darth Sidious has secretly been pulling the strings of the First Order, as many fans believe, Ren could have been pretending to be his loyal apprentice so he could get close enough to destroy him for good.
The Redditor points to two key moments for Ben Solo’s character that could back up this idea. His difficulty in killing his father Han could belie his true motives, as he knows he has to prove himself to Snoke (and Palpatine) and sacrifice his dad for the greater good. Then there’s his words to Vader’s helmet: “I will finish what you started.” What if Ben isn’t talking about his grandfather’s reign of terror but rather, his final act: throwing Palpatine to his supposed doom?
If Episode IX did pull off something like this twist, it would be comparable to the revelations about Severus Snape in the final Harry Potter story, in which it’s revealed that the dour professor has secretly been a double agent and has only been working with Voldemort to ultimately betray him. The similarities wouldn’t be a bad thing, though, as this twist is widely praised. By rights, Ren being revealed to have a noble agenda like this would go down just as well.
What do you think of this Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker theory, though? As always, let us know in the comments section down below.
