Official Episode VIII - Kylo Ren Discussion Thread

The underwater concept art was definitely a missed opportunity. I hope it's saved for Ep IX.

 

I’ve been wondering, might TLJ delve into the “how” and “why” Ben turned evil or will that be saved for the next chapter?

 

Yes. IMO this and the events with Luke will be the big "twist" of the ST. Not Rey, not Snoke but Ben's backstory.

 

Agreed.

If Ben is to somehow be redeemed by the end of this trilogy, then it’s important that we know his motives for turning dark in the first place. We have to empathise with his character and his past if his redemption is to be made believable, and his arc complete.

As for Rey and Snoke, I wouldn’t be surprised at all if they were tied into what happened between Kylo and Luke: we already know that Snoke was supposedly involved in seducing Ben, but could Rey yet have a role in all of this?

 

Spoiler

 

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The amount of brackets in the third quote is insane.

 

You're welcome?

Without them it's totally incoherent.

 

Kylo Ren is one of my favorite Star Wars characters of all time. He is an incredibly complex character with so many layers to unveil.

You can tell he comes from a place of passion and unwavering belief that what he is doing is correct for a larger purpose, yet is so undeniably lost in this faction that he can never completely internalize. I think he's a deeply misunderstood character who the audience will begin to sympathize with in the The Last Jedi.

I'm also captivated by Adam Driver's portrayal of a man who subverts the common tropes of masculinity -- he's very passionate, emotional, vulnerable, intellectual in a sense, etc. Rey subverts a lot of the feminine tropes as well, but that's a discussion for another time. Personally, I think it's great to have male characters in blockbuster franchises who don't necessarily illustrate the masculine tropes that we see so often in superhero films.

 

Kylo Ren seems to be the only one who got both logos: The First Order and The Resistance.

"There is still light in him."

 

I thought it was printed like this in the actual magazine, which would look like a desperate salvage of an interview gone wrong, lol. But now I see that's not the case, the original excerpts look different.

 

Something just struck me and I feel a little foolish for not realising it before...

When Ben Solo was sent to train with Luke, he wouldn't have know Luke was his uncle, as Leia, Luke and Han only knew the secret about Vader.
This could've made Ben feel even more abandoned by his family, despite actually being sent away to a member of his family.
Again, you guys have probably all thought about this in 2015, but it just struck me! Oops!

 

I can't guess as to why he wouldn't know.

 

But the fact that he didn't know that Vader was his grandpa doesn't mean that he didn't know that Luke was his uncle.

 

Uh...huh?

Ben can absolutely know that Luke is his uncle without knowing the identity of his grandfather.

 

How could it not?

Leia said her parents were the organa's. Luke's surname is Skywalker.

--- Double Post Merged, Nov 7, 2017, Original Post Date: Nov 7, 2017 ---

How?

 

When he was very young, Ben wouldn't question the connection, if his parents told him so. Later, if he would have started wondering why they have different surnames, they could have told him the story of their life without revealing the identity of the grandfather or simply not telling the whole truth. For example, I got to know the full extent of my familiar connection with godmother this year because I was curious just recently (her greatgrandparents are also my great-greatgrandparents.)

 

I haven't read Bloodline by the way, so am assuming that people didn't know Leia was adopted - am I wrong in thinking this?
Also, was it public knowledge that Anakin became Vader?

--- Double Post Merged, Nov 7, 2017, Original Post Date: Nov 7, 2017 ---

Yeah, but Ben learns about the Vader thing when he is 23. Surely he'd question the family links before then?

 

yes.
Ben knows Luke is his uncle.
the whole galaxy knows Luke and Leia are brother and sister.
it's the Vader part that comes out later.

 

There is already a believable story about Luke and Leia's father made by a man called Obi-wan Kenobi. Also, in Bloodline the relationship between Luke and Leia is a wide-known fact. One of the senator friends of Leia asked her why she hadn't become a Jedi like her brother.