SPECULATION Why Did Ben Solo Turn to the Dark Side?

The same for me and I mainly look forward to see what really happened to Luke between ROTJ and TFA + what is happening to him in the ST. His whole life work was destroyed, so I hope he has the chance to restore it, as a big side plot next to the new character's arc.

 

I think as we find out more about Luke's ST journey and his new Jedi academy, that Kylo's story will start to make more sense.

Luke was a very unconventional Jedi from the start. Was he dabbling in the dark side? Was he on the tail of Snoke?

If Ben got even a glimpse of the dark side from Luke, or from Snoke.......that, combined with his very apparent bitterness towards his family could definitely explain his turning. Selfishness and bitterness can easily turn into true hate.

 

Luke doesn't really have the dark side. Only when his sister Leia was threatened, he was about to fall, but was able to pull himself back at the last moment.

 

One of the main themes of Star Wars is that because the Forces surrounds us, binds us, etc., we all must face that the Dark Side exists in us as much as the bad guys. However, the key is choosing to follow the path of the Light Side and not succumbing to the pull of the Dark Side.

So yes, Luke has a Dark Side. But I hope hope hope he has continued to reject it, as he always has. <3

 

I completely agree with you and the TFA artbook says something along the lines that Luke has accepted the dark side within himself. But the book doesn't tell us what conclusions he decided after it.

 

I know, that's why the suspense is killing me! It needs to be December 2017!!

 

Yes, I do understand. Luke would not have taken over from Vader for Palpatine. But clearly, there's something else apart from knowing Vader was his grandfather that led Ben to turn. I think the main twist in the movie isn't going to be so much about Rey's parentage. It's the connection between Kylo, Rey and Luke as well as what Snoke told him.

 

I think Snoke is the great manipulator who wants to destroy the Skywalker family (maybe as revenge). I hope he is not too similar to Palpatine and is portrayed slighly different.

 

Yes, this is what I meant in the last post. It's all how Snoke fed the information to Ben. WE know that Luke didn't take over. It's like the game "telephone"'; what originally happened and what the interpretation of the message is coming out down the line is usually quite distorted. The idea that Luke (Vader's son, IF Ben knew that) was responsible for Vader coming back to the light shows how powerful Luke is and why Snoke DOES NOT want Luke back out of hiding. He's a threat to Kylo that way and to Snoke himself. This is could have really sent Ben over the edge with his admiration for anything Sith/Imperial and what his interpretation was about the force and the Jedi. Also, he felt even more hurt and betrayed by his own blood uncle Luke being told this information.

 

i do believe that han and leia personally know who snoke is- everytime they reference him in TFA, it seems so casual like they were once friends with snoke. perhaps a political ally at one point? or a political enemy? perhaps he posed as a political leader and that's how he got close with their son. i personally believe snoke is umbaran and somehow the government from that planet plays into the dark side, etc. etc. i'm more interested in kylo ren than i am in any other character!!

 

totally agree. since Leia and Han (and Luke) blew their opportunity to explain to Ben what happened and give their side without all the hysteria of it blowing up to the public, i can see Snoke setting down that foundation: they were hiding it from him for a reason, he's the inheritor of Darth Vader's legacy, Vader was usurped by his Uncle--all of that.

and if Ben's family relationships were already strained, he would have eaten it up: this creepy old guy telling him he's got purpose and his family is holding him down. it's classic subversion through and through.

 

Good question OP!
I think that Ben was highly manipulated into the Darkside by someone who got close to the family.

One thing that stands out for me in TFA is when he tells Rey "You see Han Solo as the father you never had..you would have been disappointed'
What that tells me is that he was desperately in need of a father figure. Enter Gallius..euhh Snoke. In order to really have manipulated Ben as Leia says, he would have needed to spend quality time with him.
The only one I see close to gaining her trust is the 'operator' in the Aftermath books. With Han absent, I believe that the person will have infiltrated the alliance/Resistance in order to get their hands on Ben and thus bring him closer to darkness.

My question is why Luke didn't sense that?

 

i feel like Luke knew something was wrong, but maybe didn't understand the depth of it.
he had to know Ben was troubled.
and Ren Ben is pretty lousy at schooling his emotions.

so Luke either thought he had it under control for whatever reason or really did screw up big time.

 

I think what bothers me about this trilogy (so far) is that we won't see such a major event happen. I know that only hearing it alluded to is very reminiscent of the stories Luke heard about Anakin in the OT, but what, are we going to get Episodes VI.1, VI.2 and VI.3 in 20 years to explain it all?

 

Rey" You're afraid you'll never be as strong as Darth Vader"

I'm sure before he knew about grandad Vader his intentions were good but it's what Leia wanted. Thinking Luke could straighten thinhs out instead of Han and Leia helping him. She sent him to Luke to change him instead of being the light herself for him.

He just can't stack up to their expectations. That expectation is they expected him to be strong but he is weak. The dark side is a quick and easy path to power, so he thinks that is what will make him strong but instead he struggles.

 

Anakin Skywalker fell to the dark side because he wanted to protect Padme from death.
Luke Skywalker felt the pull of the dark side when Darth Vader threatened his sister.
Legends Jacen Solo fell to the dark side after the death of his younger brother.

 

The comment of KK is funny, I think 30 is old enough, at least to know what is right and what is wrong.

 

great thread and some awesome ideas!

i've been trying to think of some 'out there' ideas for this, and i've been trying to ignore the troubled teen stuff that we're all very aware of regarding Ben Solo. I'm ignoring any possible failure on the part of Han/Leia/Luke.. and also Ben himself.

so i've come up with a some what sketchy idea:-

• Snoke is ancient.. like thousands of years ancient (i'm having to exclude the Gallius=Snoke stuff here which i actually kinda like)
• Snoke is pure dark side. so dark and so powerful that simply coming into contact with him will corrupt you.
• so Snoke meets Ben, and ben is immediately turned to the dark side. Ben's perception of his useless unloving parents instantly quadruples with his dark side corruption.

This then started a whole chain of thought....

so a troubled kid, who had parent issues and most probably big problems with authority figures in general is turned to the dark side in an instant, and starts doing bad things for Snoke/First Order.

but... his behaviour is technically no different than before. Stroppy.. impulsive and he still has a problem with authority.

Think of Snoke as his new parent. The second Snoke tells him to do something that he disagrees with... may be the moment we see Ben Solo start his journey away from the dark side. Ben's temperamental side may mean that Snoke can never truly have his claws in him.

this idea got me thinking about Luke:-

why did he leave? his family needed him. the resistance needed him... the galaxy needed him.

If Snoke is pure dark side like i mentioned above, and Luke knew this.. would this explain why he needed to get away and search out some ancient way of fighting Snoke?


sorry to anyone who read all of that.. a flaky idea at best lol

 

I'm quite sure they mine a little in old legends stories, so maybe Snoke is something like Exar Kun in Jedi Academy novels and who corrupted/took over Kyp in these stories. Luke was also not able to fight him alone.

But on the other hand and when you hear Snoke fearing that Luke returns, so that the Jedi will rise, it sounds more as if Snoke is afraid of Luke.

 

it wouldn't matter how powerful Snoke was... he would still fear Luke. Fear is one of the emotions used to generate power.. so technically (and i'm going rogue on my actual knowledge here lol) the more powerful a dark user is.. the more fearful they are.