The Fate of Ben Solo

You all are giving me comfort! Yep, I don't mind (much) if I have to watch him get in deeper in Ep. VIII as long as he gets out safe in Ep. IX.

#BensLightWillKickOuttheDark

 

Look at that...That's not even subtle foreshadowing



That's was posted by an official Disneyland Twitter account...

 

Ha! I love the question in that quiz about what you do at parties--Kylo's answer is "awkwardly trying to strike up a conversation."

Funny, I can't imagine how a guy like this would have trouble making small talk with a new acquaintance.




But I am most happy that the galaxy is a place for redemption!

 

Just a little too spicy. Upsets the balance of the digestion Force.

 

Place for redemption, indeed! Not bad, not bad.
I was concerned for about 2 seconds with question 4 having the choice "loosing track of your sibling"...but then immediately remembered that Leia is looking for Luke so as soon as I realised it I was cool...

Also, I'm Chewbacca...Hm. Did not expect that.

OK. More seriously, Harrison Ford apparently was answering (not many) questions on EW Tumblr today and while I was taking a brief break I read through what he said. Here are two questions which are relevant to the thread of saving Ben Solo.

Q: How do you feel about the ending in The Force Awakens? (I myself am heartbroken)

Harrison Ford answered:
I think it’s a fitting use of the character. I’ve been arguing for Han Solo to die for about 30 years, not because I was tired of him or because he’s boring, but his sacrifice for the other characters would lend gravitas and emotional weight.
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And one question related to Adam Driver:

What do you think of Adam Driver, what is he like to work with?

Harrison Ford answered:
He’s an absolute pleasure. He works independently with real proper ambition. He brings a lot to the table. He’s a wonderful actor and a very kind, generous human being.

I want to point out the use of his words especially sacrifice! (By the way Ford's comment is almost identical to what he seems to say in the TFA documentary. I remember he said sacrifice there too) There was only one person for whom he sacrificed really, that was his son obviously. (Partly also for Leia, but even if for Leia's sake it is still about their son).

This immediately reminds me of the passage I posted from the Alex Bracken's novelization retelling of ANH that I posted somewhere in the first pages of this thread I think...
That passage was about Han seeing Ben Kenobi's sacrifice and thinking if he will one day be able to be in the position to make a sacrifice. In my mind there is no doubt that Ben Solo will be saved. The question is only how.

 

That is a fair statement based on my posts, I suppose. In all honesty I'm not 100% sure myself but I definitely don't think he should just get to walk away free and clear unless the next two movies show us he was somehow under cover or some other mediating factor that might warrant it but ordering the massacre on Jakku and killing his own father really goes against that possibility. Like you, I know the next two movies will give us a better understanding of his involvement and culpability so my opinion is probably a bit fluid at the moment. As far as the two decades being enough comment goes, that would be along the lines of Ben sort of turning states evidence and helping the resistance/new republic eliminate remaining pockets of First Order resistance or hunt down First Order war criminals like General Hux in exchange for a reduced sentence. I hope that clears it up.

 

I agree that he could be put to better use with his talents. The question is should he be allowed to? Going back to my WWII analogy for a moment. You're right that he's not Hitler, Snoke is. But his position in the First Order is just below Snoke and equal to General Hux Making Ben/Kylo at least Goebbels or Mengele (Hux, to me, is Himmler). Would you think Goebbels or Mengele deserved a commuted sentence because they may possess useful talents that could be put to good use? I don't think I could support that outcome.

 

How is he like Goebbels? How about when he killed Han? Goebbels is known to have killed his own children before committing suicide. They both also show a complete dedication to their cause regardless of what they have to do for it. The Jakku massacre is probably more like Himmler or Mengele but Goebbels probably would have done something like that too. I don't think any of them ever repented either but the question is what if they had? Would they have deserved the kind of treatment you suggest Ben should get if he repents? I get that it isn't a perfect correlation but it's close enough for a reasonable comparison in this discussion. Ben is responsible for the extermination of a Jakku village, the murder of his father, likely the murder of all of Luke's students and at least partially culpable for the destruction of an entire system. There could also be more that we don't know about yet but what we do know about more than puts him on the same level as Goebbels, Mengele and Himmler.

 

I posted this in the Does Kylo Have Kids? thread, but maybe it's relevant here:

I think when we watch Star Wars movies, we have to shed our first-world ideal of a 3-pronged justice system, furnished with judges, juries, courtrooms, and lovely checks and balances. There's no such thing in GFFA, or at least, nothing that functions that way. It's an alternate universe, with the same ideals of justice and redemption, but a different way of realizing them.

It's a fantasy world in which justice and redemption are accomplished by grand, sweeping actions, or steely-eyed, long-haul nitty-gritty adherence to doing the Right Thing. Han Solo is a skeptical, selfish rouge. Does he do community service after his probation officer arranges for him to enter a program at the direction of the local magistrate? No, he redeems himself by returning with the Falcon to help put the kibosh on the first Death Star. Obi-Wan cuts his former apprentice to bloody, burnt bits and leaves him to die. Does he call an ambulance and turn him over to the local law enforcement? No, he redeems himself by devoting himself to his children, namely, holing up as a hermit in the desert for almost two decades to protect and watch over his apprentice's son.

The judge and jury of GFFA are, in a sense, the storytellers, who mete out poetic justice as they see fit. We, the audience, get our cues about who is a good guy and who is a bad guy, not so much by the things the "good guys" or the "bad guys" do, but why they did them, and what they do to atone for them. It's not eye-for-an-eye system here in the GFFA, or Han Solo would have been "shot first" twenty or thirty years ago.

If you're familiar with the fantasy genre, you know law and order is not a big theme. Same goes for this fantasy in space. It's about big-picture issues like love, family, mercy, loyalty, choosing your destiny, becoming part of something bigger than you are--something better. Like saving the galaxy!​

Like love conquering evil, or forgiveness conquering hate.

 

Disney should not teach kids that it's OK to go to the Dark side cause you can just go get redeemed later. Ben need to die in a punishing, humiliating sad way, where he is seen to regret and realize his atrocities.

 

It's a story, it's not about teaching anything. It's entertainment.

 

I fully support this point of view but I don't think Disney want to make the Sequel trilogy for little kids. Proof is that it was rated PG-13 by MPAA (Parents Strongly Cautioned / Parents are urged to be cautious. Some material may be inappropriate for pre-teenagers). As a reminder, the only Star Wars movie with this rating is the III (you know when a character is electrocuted and an other is burnt alive...)