The Fate of Ben Solo

There you go, it always gets back to Luke at the end, the one and only "old stable base rock" on the light side of the force. Therefore they found a really wonderful landscape-setting with skellig michael that mirrors our trust in Luke perfectly.. Unbreakable rock in the middle of a deep ocean.. the refuge for the last real Jedi ..(EPVIII, "Last stand of the Jedi").

 

I am ready to settle for pretty much any scenario in which Kylo is redeemed (even if it means his death), but I could fall so easily into the Magic Eraser trap:

What's that you say? It was all Leia's bad dream, and Han is snoring there beside her [Han totally snores in my headcanon]. Preteen Ben is going to Luke's Jedi dayschool and progressing nicely in his Lightside training and will finally get to cut off his stupid padawan braid soon [it all comes down to Kylo's hair in my headcanon too ]. Though Ben is disappointed he can't go to school with his best friend Poe anymore, they still spend most evenings together hanging out at the Solo house. Snoke died of the wounds Luke inflicted on him some years ago. Somewhere out there, toddlers Finn and Rey are still snoozing away in their cribs in their respective cozy family homes. Phasma is working on developing a new highly reflective but tremendously strong metal alloy for the Republic, and Hux has taken his first steps in achieving his lifelong dream of establishing a shelter for homeless cats.

Most boring story ever, but kind of nice to dream about.

 

I have wondered this too. I still haven't figured out whether Kylo's "I had no idea we had the best pilot in the Resistance on board" is sarcastic, sincere, or an unsuccessful attempt to disconcert Poe. Knowing whether they were once acquainted...and whether Poe knows Kylo's true identity (which aren't necessarily the same thing)...would probably help in puzzling that out.

 

If he turns back to the light, I can't see him joining forces with the Republic, given what he's done and what he's allowed as Kylo Ren.

I had an idea, though, that he may go into exile on an Outer Rim world that has some semblance of civilization, and start a new life and family. Then, Episode X could focus on one of Ben's children. Rey could serve the "mentor" role and take him/her as an apprentice, thus continuing the Skywalker saga. (if Rey isn't a Skywalker herself, that is)

 

If they had known each other only as children, before Kylo was "sent away," Kylo might have recognized him (without letting on) but might not have known he'd become the best pilot in the galaxy.

(There's also the question of whether Poe's "who talks first" thing is mocking a traitor or just bravado in the face of intimidation...)

But yes, how much does the Resistance know? I have wondered if LST's comments about his family set Kylo off, because he perceived them as a threat to his mom, should people find out...

We need Ep. VIII in a bad way!

 

Very plausible! It seems so ridiculous to me that we didn't find out whether Rey is a Skywalker in Ep. VII, but could it be so that we don't know Kylo's fate too soon? Because if he's pure baddie and/or toast and she's not a Skywalker...

--- Double Post Merged, Mar 4, 2016, Original Post Date: Mar 4, 2016 ---

True, that!

 

I think Kylo has read Poe's mind and is sarcastically mocking Poe, who apparently thinks of himself as the best pilot of the Resistance (not of the galaxy, mind you, that title is reserved for Grandpa Vader or dad Han ).
This so far seems to be Kylo's type of humor - snide and sarcastic. I like it. It has wit. I hope we get more of it in VII and IX.

I don't think Poe and Ben have met.

As an aside.
I think very few people in the New Republic and the Resistance (if any) know that Leia's (and Luke's) father was Vader or know that Kylo Ren is Leia's son.
One of the reasons I think Kylo executes Lor San (who is totally goading him) is to silence him talking about who he is (and who is his family). The Visual Dictionary says that Snoke has forbidden Kylo's real name to be spoken with a decree...It is very possible that very very few people in the FO know who he is as well.
Thus, re-integration after he has redeemed himself could actually work as soon as Kylo Ren is "destroyed" and Ben Solo returns...Simply not many will know who he was...
I'm pretty sure Luke and Leia did not advertise that Darth Vader was their dad and kept that info a secret. In fact I think Leia could have kept her and Luke's father's identity a secret even from Han as well and probably told Han only after Ben started acting in a way that demanded an explanation...(We already know that Leai did not tell Han everything and concealed information from him. For instance the information that Snoke was manipulating their son from his childhood was completely new to Han!) That's why Han blames the fall on their son on Vader (He has too much Vader in him). He sounded bitter when he said that...I even think that one reason for their separation could have been that Han did not know how to deal with the fact that his son was Vader's grandson...We'll see.

I'm hoping that Bloodlines will reveal a bit about how much people know about Leia being Vader's daughter and if they know Kylo Ren is her son...That at least it can do.

 

Yes! My read on the scene with LST is the same as yours! When he says "You are so right!" he does mean Vader! There is a sort of "double entendre" between the exchange between the two, Lor San Tekka implies Kylo's family as Leia (and thus the Light side as he sees it) and Kylo implies Vader as his family (i.e. the Dark side). I think it's actually brilliantly setting up things about Kylo - that his allegiance is indeed decided by his family, but in his mind he has decided (for some still unknown reason) that this means Vader. This piece of dialogue is deep!

 

Precisely my thoughts about it! I think that LST cannot possibly be deliberately goading him in this way if he knew? He knows that Kylo is Leia's son for sure, as the novel implies he has known him before he became Kylo Ren, but does he know about Vader as well?
Kylo warns him a couple of times to be careful with his goading.
You know, in the novel, Kylo is rather angry with LST for hiding in the village (as he is a wanted man for the FO), saying that he is endangering the locals by his presence there...Hm...

Spoiler: Quoted novelization excerpt too long, so put it as "Spoiler"

Also, now rereading this passage it is obvious that Poe doesn't even know about Kylo Ren and this is the first time he sees him...Hm.

I'm really curious about Lor San Tekka...My theory is that he is possibly going to be introduced as his younger self in Rogue One (perhaps the character played by Mads Mikkelsen? or someone else...) "Soldier of fortune" as in "bounty hunter"?

 

Hm, I don't know, grammatically that sentence doesn't necessarily mean he has known him as a man, but is from the perspective that he is a man now...i.e. as in, he had known the guy who is a man now.
But, yes. The timeline of when Ben Solo became Kylo Ren is very very crucial information that we still don't have! And we badly need!
I think Bloodlines will fill in some gaps about the political situation. We know that Leia is not entirely (or at all) believed and taken seriously by some in the New Republic and has been called "warmonger" for forming the armed Resistance. I'm reading Aftermath now (nearly at the end) which happens right after the Death Star was destroyed over Endor and the impression is that Mon Mothma is not a very smart new chancellor and that due to her very silly naivety (and of that of those around her) they may have made crucial mistakes about how to deal with the remnants of the Empire, which apparently has regrouped to form the FO...
It seems this ignorance and lack of insight has caused the FO to manage to grow out of the ashes of the Empire and that is why Poe is surprised when he is at the Finalizer...it seems they really don't know yet the scope of the FO power...Which leads me to think as you do, that it is very possible the FO came to be known to the New Republic only very recently...
So, perhaps the speculation that Ben Solo joined the FO could have been not so long time ago...
I don't think that his training with Luke, the destruction of the new jedi, joining the Knights of Ren and him joining the FO are actually necessarily at the same time.

My speculation for the moment is that:
- Ben Solo was sent to train with Luke in his early teens
- Ben Solo disappears (abducted?) (to hide Rey on Jakku?) (to join the Knights of Ren?)
- Soon afterwards the Knights of Ren (who are possibly the "Acolytes of the Beyond" (or an an offshoot of) briefly appearing in Aftermath?) with now already Ben Solo turned Kylo Ren go back to Luke's "academy" (the betrayal) and wipe it out...Ben/Kylo may not even been part of the killing itself (is my speculation) but he is called "jedi killer" becuase he has betrayed the location...?
- Luke is possibly not there at the time and he returns to see the results (the scene in Rey's vision with Luke's hand on R2) and concludes that Ben is to blame (I think there is an ambiguity about whether Kylo is the perpetrator of the killing...I think for the time being this could be the assumption people have, but that it is not entirely accurate...For some reason I think there will be a twist there...)
- Luke goes into exile/looking for the 1st Jedi Temple. He tells Leia he is going to look for the temple but doesn't tell her where that is (maybe he didn't know where that is and just went to search for it)
- Luke is missing
- Kylo Ren joins the FO
- Kylo desperately wants to find Luke (and not to kill him as the majority (I think wrongly) speculate...Snoke wants to have Luke either dead or remaining away... Kylo wants him found...I actually think that Kylo might be looking for the place rather than Luke himself...)
- Tekka knows that Leia is looking for Luke and that Luke is said to be possibly where the 1st Jedi Temple is. Tekka obtains or already has a peice of an imperial map that has the location of that temple. This map can help find the temple, and thus Luke. (I have seen people speculate that Luke has left the map with Tekka, so that he is found when the right time comes. This is stupid and inaccurate in my opinion. Luke has not left any maps with anybody. They simply know that he is looking for the 1st Jedi Temple. Tekka finds/has the map to that temple. Period. No conspiracy of Luke's. Also R2 doesn't "wake up" becuase the time is right and becuase Rey gets on the same planet. He is "woken up" by BB8 who asks him if by any chance he has the Imperial Maps stored in his database. It takes R2 a while to reboot and the "waking up" is purely coincidental and for movie pace reasons coincides with events in the film...)
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You know, I don't think that Tekka is necessarily linked to Luke. I know people have been speculating because he has that piece of the map, but they forget that that piece of (an imperial !) map is for the 1st Jedi Temple and really not specifically to Luke per se. The map is useful to find Luke because they know Luke is at the 1st Jedi Temple...It is really jumping to conclusion to say that links LST with Luke which I have seen many people do...
I think LST was associated with Leia.

 

Ben Solo is also a Skywalker.

Not any Skywalker, ever , should finish his life on a Dark side of the Force.


Rule.

Say it with me George.

George?