Who is Kylo Ren? This question has haunted Star Wars fans since his dramatic debut in The Force Awakens. He’s a character shrouded in mystery, torn between the light and dark sides of the Force, and burdened by the weight of his family’s legacy.
The sequel trilogy (The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi, and The Rise of Skywalker) positions Kylo Ren as one of the most compelling and problematic characters in the Star Wars universe. He’s a Skywalker by blood—a descendant of both Anakin and Leia—but his choices and actions make him one of the most divisive figures in the saga.
The Three Most Important Lines in The Last Jedi
To understand Kylo Ren, we need to start with three crucial lines from The Last Jedi:
Luke Skywalker: “I came to face him, Leia. And I can’t save him.”
Leia Organa: “I held out hope for so long, but I know my son is gone.”
Luke Skywalker: “No one’s ever really gone.”
These lines encapsulate the tension surrounding Kylo Ren’s character. Luke admits he can’t save him—perhaps because he helped create him, or maybe because he doesn’t sense any good in him, as he did with Vader.
Leia struggles with the hope that her son might still be saved, but ultimately believes he’s lost.
And yet, Luke’s final words offer a glimmer of hope: “No one’s ever really gone.” If Luke and Leia can’t save Ben Solo, perhaps someone else can. Someone they both believe in.
The Question of Redemption
But does Kylo Ren deserve redemption?
He’s committed atrocities: leading massacres, nearly killing his mother, and brutally murdering his father, Han Solo. His actions are unforgivable by most moral standards, painting him as a villain through and through.
And yet, his complexity makes him all the more captivating. Unlike Darth Vader, whose fall to the dark side was rooted in his desperation to save Padmé, Kylo’s motivations remain murky. Why did he turn to the dark side? What drew him away from the light?
Without understanding Kylo Ren’s reasons for falling, it’s hard to root for his redemption. Anakin’s choices, while deeply flawed, came from a misguided attempt to protect the woman he loved. But Kylo’s reasons remain unclear. Did Snoke or maybe another Phantom Menace manipulate him? Did he feel abandoned by his parents? Or did he choose the dark side out of free will?
The Force and Kylo Ren
Kylo Ren’s relationship with the Force adds another layer of complexity. How much of his fall was his own choice, and how much was the Force itself driving him toward the dark side?
The Skywalker line is deeply intertwined with the Force, with four powerful Force users across three generations. Two chose the light side (Leia and Luke), and two chose the dark side (Anakin and Kylo).
This raises the question: Is Kylo’s fall a matter of destiny, or does he have free will?
When we first meet Kylo Ren in The Force Awakens, he speaks with Lor San Tekka in a telling exchange:
Kylo Ren: “Look how old you’ve become.”
Lor San Tekka: “Something far worse has happened to you.”
Kylo Ren: “You know what I’ve come for.”
Lor San Tekka: “I know where you come from, before you called yourself Kylo Ren.”
Kylo Ren: “The map to Skywalker. We know you found it. And now you’re going to give it to the First Order.”
Lor San Tekka: “The First Order rose from the dark side. You did not.”
Kylo Ren: “I’ll show you the dark side.”
Lor San Tekka: “You may try. But you cannot deny the truth that is your family.”
Kylo Ren: “You’re so right.”
This exchange suggests that Ben Solo wasn’t always consumed by darkness. Lor San Tekka recognizes the light in him, even as Kylo embraces the dark side. This raises more questions: Was Kylo always destined for darkness? Or did his choices—and the influence of Snoke (or something else)—lead him down this path?
Choice Versus Destiny
The central question surrounding Kylo Ren is whether his fall to the dark side was a choice or a matter of destiny. Anakin’s fall was rooted in a combination of manipulation and desperation—he genuinely believed he could save Padmé by joining the dark side.
But Kylo Ren’s motivations are less clear. Was he always evil? Did he show signs of a psychopathic personality, amplified by his Force sensitivity? Or was he a good person who Snoke and the First Order manipulated?
If Kylo Ren chose the dark side, it makes him a more evil character than Anakin. But if the Force itself influenced his fall, it raises troubling questions about the nature of the Force as an imposing, interventionist entity.
Who is Kylo Ren?
Kylo Ren’s backstory is one of the most fascinating mysteries in the sequel trilogy. We know bits and pieces, but the full picture remains elusive. The information we do have is fragmented, told from different perspectives (Rashomon style), leaving us to piece together the truth.
Luke saw darkness in Ben and, in a moment of weakness, considered killing him. This act of betrayal pushed Ben further toward the dark side. But what about before that? What events led Ben to embrace darkness so fully?
Understanding why Ben fell is crucial to understanding Kylo Ren as a character. Without that context, his actions feel hollow, and any attempt at redemption risks feeling unearned.
(Editor’s note: This was written in 2018. There have been some tie-ins that provide explanations, as shown in this article on Screen Rant. I haven’t read any of these, so I can’t comment.
Rey and Redemption
If anyone can redeem Kylo Ren, it’s Rey. Rey’s unwavering belief in the Force and her ability to see the good in others make her the ideal candidate to bring Ben Solo back to the light. She’s the purest believer in the Force on screen since Yoda, and her compassion and hope are her greatest strengths.
But for Kylo Ren’s redemption to feel meaningful, we need answers. We need to know why he fell from the light and what drove him to the dark side. Without that understanding, his redemption risks feeling tacked on, rather than the culmination of his character arc.
The Most Fascinating Character in Star Wars
Kylo Ren is, without a doubt, one of the most fascinating characters in the Star Wars universe. He possesses the lineage, power, and mystery that make him endlessly compelling.
But his story is incomplete. For Kylo Ren to truly resonate as a character, we need to understand why he made the choices he did. Was he manipulated? Was he destined for darkness? Or did he choose the dark side of his own free will?
As fans, we can only hope that future Star Wars stories will delve deeper into the mystery of Ben Solo and Kylo Ren. Until then, he remains a captivating enigma—torn between the light and dark sides of the Force, and between destiny and choice.
Saving Ben’s soul is central to the sequel trilogy, and I hope they don’t blow it. (Editor’s Note: they did)
Note: Images sourced from StarWars.com. Used under fair use for commentary and criticism. All rights belong to Lucasfilm Ltd. and The Walt Disney Company.
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I definitely agree that he’s an interesting character, but I’m not sure I agree with your interpretation. I’ve only seen Last Jedi once, so my argument may be flimsy here, but hopefully it’ll add to the discussion!
What I take away from Kylo Ren, isn’t that his fall to the Dark Side is unstoppable, or that it’s fated to always be, it’s that it comes from a lot of deep rooted personal issues. For instance, he truly turned when Luke was about to kill him… to young Kylo Ren, unaware of the future his Master forsaw, that must feel the ultimate betrayal. His Master, who he put all his faith in, was about to kill him. Now throw in Lukes reasonings, that he was beyond help, that just adds salt to the wound. I feel Kylo Ren is a very troubled person, he feels abandoned, he’s unable to comprehend love, he’s been enabled by abusive guardians (Snoke), and he’s been given an inordinate amount of power that nobody really should have. I, personally, still see him still as a very immature character (purposely so though – not as in he’s written badly), and I feel as though he still has a large part of his journey to travel. He killed his Blood-Relative father, certainly, but he did so to appease another Father figure, one who, in his eyes, has been more prominent in his life, and to find true acceptance within this new family. He’s traumatised, really, and he’s finding acceptance where he can (though, I imagine he’d never admit to that himself). He’s always trying to be someone else, he’s trying to be his (idolised-version) of his Grandfather, he’s trying to be Snokes apprentice, and now that he’s reached the top of the First Order, I think Episode 9 will explore what he does when he’s reached this ‘Ceiling’, where there’s suddenly nobody else he’s trying to impress, and he has to impress only himself… I think we’ll see him turn around, because he will finally understand how he’s been mislead, how his emotions have been misplaced, how really he’s still that immature boy who’s been given too much power too quickly, how he’s lived in so many shadows (whether by choice, or by circumstance) that he’s never really just been himself.
Of course, all that waffle is just my opinion! I might be very, very wrong haha.
The fate/free will came from a tweet I saw that inspired the post partially. I agree with most of your points except: did Luke just act on potential darkness (the kill Hitler as a baby argument) or did Kylo act out (like killing sand people) and realized he wouldn’t stop? That’s what I want to know.