SPECULATION My theory about Kylo Ren and his motives

Hmm, I don't know... He definitely said to Han, for example, "The Supreme Leader is wise," and seemed to mean it as a compliment. Why say that if he didn't mean it and, presumably, didn't have to say it in order for his status in the Dark Side to be believable?

 

He would not be praying to his grandfathers Helmet if he where not implicitly seeking to be part of the Dark Side and Snoke.

 

It's something that has come to me on occasion. There is more to what motivates this kid than meets the eye. Just wait to see what happens. He seems very conflicted and messed up regardless, but I don't think he is 100% in favor of Snoke, or what the FO. That is obvious, he has his own agenda.

 

In the Novel, Kylo calls Snoke his teacher, and Snoke calls Kylo his student. Kylo has already been trained in the Force by Luke, Snoke's teachings are philosophical.
I think Snoke is knowledgeable about the Force, but can not use it, that's why he needs Kylo, for his powers. As for Snoke finishing his training, he may know Sith knowledge from what was the Emperor left behind.

Luke, The last of the Jedi, is still alive.

Kylo, with Snoke's teachings, thinks by eliminating the Jedi will bring Balance to the Force. Anakin started this, as Vader destroying the Jedi, and then as Anakin again destroyed the Sith.

Kylo must have been told about his darkside potential early in his life from Snoke, until Leia felt the dark in him and sent him of to Luke. Luke then tried to train him, but like Anakin, there was already to much fear in him. Fear of not seeing his mother or father instead being shipped off to Luke, fear of what he will have to do to bring balance to the Force, his destiny. Finding out his grandfather was Vader, along with everyone else in the galaxy, he was looked at differently by his peers, a lot like Leia was, and Luke, his Mother and Father knew about it his entire life and never told him.

Kylo had trouble abandoning the light inside him, killing his Father was his test. I believe Leia felt not just Han's death, but Kylo's light disappearing from him, losing both her Husband to death and her Son to darkness simultaneously, she had previously felt light in him prior.


It's hard to see the endgame of the sequel trilogy. Will Luke's fate mirror Obi-Wan's sacrifice? Will Kylo redeem himself, if so How? And how does Rey fit into this?

 

From Aftermath: Life Debt, you learn she has the Force link with her son, and I believe what she feels is the horrible deed her son has just done - killing her father.

 

i agree there's more to Kylo Ren than most people give him credit; he is a thinking person and he does have an agenda. and i also agree that he feels called to a higher purpose that very few people understand. where i diverge with your thoughts, @Devizz, is that i don't think he fully understands that Snoke has co-opted his power for something else.

i think he really believes Snoke is helping him to achieve something critically important for the good of the galaxy; something Luke did not understand or wouldn't/couldn't support. the problem is Snoke has sold him a bill of goods and Ren Ben only vaguely suspects that's the case. but as in all groomy-type situations, Ren Ben has been made complicit in his own "seduction" and so it becomes nearly impossible for him to extricate himself from it (even if he really really wants to). that's the struggle we see on the bridge.

there's no evidence (as yet that i can see) that Kylo Ren is plotting against Snoke. he is obedient (even if occasionally a little willful) and he seems to trust Snoke implicitly--Snoke has become his foster father/mentor/guiding hand. Snoke gives Ren just enough agency to feel like he's in control, but he is emphatically not. he's just on a long leash.

 

I see where you're coming from. It is a possibility that Luke set him up to do that, kind of like how Yoda and Obi Wan asked Anakin to spy on Chancellor Palpatine in RoTS. And I do believe he is struggling far more against the dark side than is shown in the movie. After all, almost his entire family are strong with the light side of the Force, spare one bad apple (Vader). And even Vader returned to the Light Side in the end. However possible it is, I do not believe he is plotting against Snoke. There is a slim possibility that it originally started out that way, but I'm almost certain that now, he wants to prove himself to be one with the Dark Side. And I'm positive that he has his own agenda. Think about how determined Ren is to find the map to Skywalker. He doesn't just want to stop the Resistance finding Luke, its a personal matter. Even though Hux and Snoke would settle with the map destroyed, Ren wants to find Luke. Hux even warns him that Ren's personal interests may interfere with Snoke's orders. Despite his desire to be an obedient servant to the Dark Side, Ren hasn't been brainwashed by Snoke.

As I was typing this I just had a sudden revelation! The possibility that Ren wants to betray Snoke actually seems more plausible now, in the five minutes it's taken me to write this up. I was just thinking about what Rey said to Ren on Starkiller Base after she had just used the Force to read his mind. She says 'You're afraid, that you will never be as strong as Darth Vader!' I realised that this line could have two meanings for Ren. Either that he is afraid he will never be as powerful with the Dark Side of the Force, OR that he isn't strong enough to betray his master and come back to the light. Yeah I know, it could be just another far fetched theory, but it isn't impossible. Think about it, if its true that he succumbed to the Dark Side of the Force trying to get close to Snoke, then maybe there is still that hope inside of him. Maybe he feels trapped, like there isn't a way out. Maybe Rey tapped into a thought hidden really deep inside Kylo Ren's mind, an idea buried so deep that he had almost forgotten it. It would explain his horrified expression. But then again, he does go and kill his father. Ugh it's all so hard to unriddle! It'll be interesting to see where his journey goes.