SPECULATION Why Did Ben Solo Turn to the Dark Side?

This could really be the case. Snoke could have used the same cloaking ability as Palpatine so no one would notice that he was in fact a lord of the darkside

 

yeah, but sounds way too similar to Palpatine. I really hope we get a slightly different dynamic or even a little twist.

 

True

 

given what appear to be pretty advanced mental abilities in Ben, i'm guessing Snoke targeted him from afar.
Leia didn't have to specifically know it was "Snoke" to know someone was messing with Ben's head.
in context of what she tells Han, she could have found out his name later after the rise of the FO.

as for Ben's family problems, yes he thinks Han and Leia were lousy parents.
he felt abandoned by them and betrayed by their lies about his grandfather.

 

And I would add that anyone who has been used and/or abused by someone as a child is going to feel that their parents should have saved them or prevented this somehow. Even if their parents really didn't have a clue or even if they had an inkling but couldn't have prevented it (e.g., didn't have the Force know-how to counteract it)--as a child you're going to feel that it's their job to protect you no matter what. And Ben/Ren really seems to be stalled in an adolescent frame of mind, where rationality or understanding of his parents' predicament doesn't seem to have gotten through yet.

 

yes to this 100%.

when he calls Han weak and foolish, what he's really saying is: you didn't know, understand, or do anything to save me when i needed you most.
and i suspect Ren Ben feels similarly (and even more so) toward his mother.

 

Standing ovation.

I know. *facepalm*

+1

Another round of the finest Alderaanian wine for you!

+1

A glass of wine for you too!

 

Snoke was an au pair the Solo-Organas found through Craigslist. They didn't thoroughly vet him and that's why Ben was pissed off. Snoke knew next to nothing about childcare and would only let Ben watch b-holodramas about ancient dark side cults. Also he constantly picked his nose without concealing it.

Dumb theory I know, but still better than Snoke is Leia.

 

it's hard to reconcile Kylo Ren and the Knights with the FO and Snoke ~ there seems to be such a weird disconnect there.
i'm guessing he became part of that group independent of Snoke and brought them to the FO.
i wonder if we'll find out Ben left Luke and went on his own walkabout to find his grandfather and the Knights before showing up at Snoke's door.
i still think it appears that Snoke thinks little of the Knights.

 

I think the KoR are connected to Snoke. Going over that line in the film "Even you, Master of the Knights of Ren..." originally I thought Snoke was deriding the KoR themselves. However, I think he is simply mocking Kylo Ren in the sense that he is pretending Ren has power when he in fact does not and is being used by the true master, Snoke.

It makes sense to me that the KoR have some connection to the Acolytes of the Beyond who were at one point non-violent. A remark is made in Aftermath I think that suggests one day they will become violent. My thoughts are that they might well have something to do with Snoke being "resurrected" or "revived" in some way. They found Snoke when seeking out the secrets of the Dark Side/Sith order. Then Snoke imparts his teachings onto them and then goes about his plans (FO etc). Then, later on he makes Kylo their master - a meaningless title to Snoke but to Ren it gives him a sense of power and purpose.

I'm certain the AotB/KoR and the Church of the Jedi will have a bigger role to play as the story goes on and that this has some connection to Luke being on Ahch-To.

 

i totally think Snoke is deriding them ~ hahaha

but i think your idea that they may have something to do with resurrecting Snoke is interesting! what if he was calling to Ben from wherever he has been trapped, weak, or imprisoned, and through Ben's AotB/Knights of Ren shenanigans, they raised him out, freeing the evil genie from the proverbial bottle. that would be an interesting turn.

i'd like to see the AotB and the CotF play a larger part here. i'm not convinced yet that the AotB and the KOR have a direct connection yet, but Life Debt does seem to support that there was an evolution there. in which case they literally are like a punk gang of fanaticists that Kylo Ren just happens to have been placed in charge of--whether it's merited or not.

and all the more reason for Snoke to think little of them.

 

It might be both. Let's be honest, Snoke probably thinks everyone is inferior to him and his power.

The only thing is that Adam Driver said that the KoR existed before Kylo joined them. That they were a satellite group. But maybe they did still find Snoke because of him calling to Ben from the shadows. Or maybe they did "release" him from X first. I just think it would be messy for the KoR to be about and be separate from Snoke. AotB - that name just strikes accord with Snoke for me...the cheating death appearance...Plagueis

Indeed. And who better to lead fanatic group of Dark Side worshippers than the unhinged grandson of Vader? Win win for Snoke.

 

I really wonder if the KoR are non force sensitives? They probably want to keep the number of force users small, but I prefer them to be force sensitive.

 

from Bloodline and Life Debt we know the FO were already forming from the Imperial remnants. was Snoke always in charge or did he take power from someone like Rax? and even if he was corporally dormant, was his brain out there talking to people like Rax and Ben and who knows who else? he could very well have been plotting since before the Empire fell, but it took a confluence of events to bring him back to power as he is now?

i still this this is a possibility.

 

On the Life Debt book they've already become violent.

True. If the Acolytes are the breeding ground for the Knights of Ren, one thing we do know is that these punks literally worship Vader. (Their motto seems to be "Vader Lives".)

 

sounds like just the kind of people Ben would hook up with on leaving Luke: either he finds them because of their already established infamy, or they find him because once it's out that Leia is Vader's daughter, his grandson also has a huge target on his head.

 

Eleven-thirtyeight just posted the following editorial about Ben Solo:

http://eleven-thirtyeight.com/2016/08/torn-apart-the-predictable-downfall-of-ben-solo/