A very long thread on why killing Ben Solo was not okay
-or-
LET ME TELL YOU HIS STORY SINCE THE MOVIES NEVER BOTHERED TO
#TheRiseOfSkywalker #BenSolo #BenSoloDeservedBetter
-or-
LET ME TELL YOU HIS STORY SINCE THE MOVIES NEVER BOTHERED TO
#TheRiseOfSkywalker #BenSolo #BenSoloDeservedBetter
Ben had Palpatine (as Snoke) in his head targeting him since before he was even born! He was still in Leia& #39;s womb. Excerpts from Empireâs End:
& #39;Who is out there, who is watching us? Hands reach for her, hands of shadow, lifting her up, reaching for her throat, her wrists, her stomachâ
Inside, the child kicks. She feels her baby turning inside, right-side, up and down, struggling to find his bearings& #39;...
Inside, the child kicks. She feels her baby turning inside, right-side, up and down, struggling to find his bearings& #39;...
...& #39;trying so hard to find his way free of her.& #39;
& #39;Right now, her son is upset, tumbling inside her as if he canât get comfortable. His light, flickering with dark.& #39;
& #39;The baby turns inside her again, troubled by something she cannot feel and cannot yet understand.& #39; #bensolo
& #39;Right now, her son is upset, tumbling inside her as if he canât get comfortable. His light, flickering with dark.& #39;
& #39;The baby turns inside her again, troubled by something she cannot feel and cannot yet understand.& #39; #bensolo
Ben in her womb, turning and tumbling in search of comfort, an ever-expanding radiance in the Force, but one shot through with veins of shadow. Luke had reassured her that was normalâthe brighter the light, the darker the shadow. Sheâd desperately hoped that was true. -TLJ novel
He had trouble believing what he was hearing. âSo Snoke was watching our son.â âAlways,â she told him. âFrom the shadows, in the beginning, even before I realized what was happening, he was manipulating everything, pulling our son toward the dark side. - Leia to Han, TFA novel
At 2 years old Ben suffered from terrible nightmares every night. Hereâs Han comforting baby Ben Solo:
& #39;The tiny foot was attached to the tiny body of Ben Solo, mercifully sleeping for what seemed like the first time in days.& #39; -Last Shot #BenSoloDeservedBetter
& #39;The tiny foot was attached to the tiny body of Ben Solo, mercifully sleeping for what seemed like the first time in days.& #39; -Last Shot #BenSoloDeservedBetter
Han and Leia were gone much of the time. Han was a pilot who would leave for long periods of time. And Leia was busy rebuilding the New Republic after the war ended. A noble cause, but it left Ben neglected much of the time to be raised by droids.
Ben missed his father whenever he left. Hereâs Ben at 2 years old: âCome back, Dada,â Ben said articulating each word carefully.â #BenSolo #BenSoloDeservedBetter
Also at 2 years old, Ben was almost murdered by a kitchen droid when he was left home alone. I& #39;m going to include this entire scene because it& #39;s so disturbing:
A NECK SLICE FIRST, BX figured. That would do the job quick. Or sever it at the top of the spine and keep it moving. There were so many organics to delete, and this one was just tiny. He sized up the little area of exposed flesh between Ben Soloâs black hair and his T-shirt...
...The boy was turned away, his little shoulders still heaving with sobs. Small mounds marked the ridged edges of cervical vertebrae. BX could slice between two of them, clean. It would be a smooth whisk through the air and then that gentle tug of resistance as the blade...
...carved through tendon, muscle, flesh, and bone. The satisfying plop to punctuate the cut. AhâŠthe satisfaction of a job well done, like a well-cooked meal!
But if BX aimed the cut wrong, heâd just wound the boy, and then heâd have to work out how to get the killing cut in...
But if BX aimed the cut wrong, heâd just wound the boy, and then heâd have to work out how to get the killing cut in...
...Tedious.
BX advanced, his serrated blade arm unfolding with a quiet whir. Ben spun around. And the world flashed into a pale emptiness, bright light pouring in from everywhere. Had they been bombed? BX wondered. Where was he?...
BX advanced, his serrated blade arm unfolding with a quiet whir. Ben spun around. And the world flashed into a pale emptiness, bright light pouring in from everywhere. Had they been bombed? BX wondered. Where was he?...
Ben was extremely powerful in the Force and had anger issues as he grew older (heâs got Palpatine is his head ffs) The only childhood moment we get from Benâs POV is when heâs thinking back on a memory in the TLJ novel:
& #39;For a moment Kylo let himself recall his parentsâ worried conversations behind closed doors, the ones theyâd deluded themselves into thinking he wouldnât know about. Conversations about the anger and resentment that had boiled over once again in their son...
...Conversations in which they talked about him like he wasnât their son, but some kind of monster. They were frightened of him, he realized. And so they got rid of him, sending him away to his uncle Lukeâwhose betrayal would prove far worse.& #39;
Leia had a lot of issues with Vader being her father, so trying to protect Ben, they never told him about Vader. So now this kid legitimately thought his parents saw him as a monster and were afraid of him with no idea why - that it was because of Vader being his grandfather.
Leia and Han, feeling afraid and inadequate to help him, then decided to send him away to train with Luke. Weâve never been given any indication that Ben wanted to be a Jedi. But we have been told that Ben wanted to be a pilot like his father. #BenSolo #BenSoloDeservedBetter
& #39;Ben as a toddler, forever following Han. Carrying the dice from the Millennium Falconâthe ones his father had used to win the beloved, battered freighterâand promising anyone whoâd listen that one day he would be a pilot, too, like his daddy.& #39; -TLJ novel
So now on top of everything else Ben has abandonment issues after being sent away.
& #39;He [Snoke] had seen his apprenticeâs enormous potential when he was still a childâthe latent power of the Skywalker bloodline was impossible to miss...
& #39;He [Snoke] had seen his apprenticeâs enormous potential when he was still a childâthe latent power of the Skywalker bloodline was impossible to miss...
...And he had also seen how to exploit the boyâs feelings of inadequacy and abandonment, and his motherâs guilt and desperation to contain the darkness within her child.& #39; -TLJ novel #BenSoloDeservedBetter
Six years before TFA, it& #39;s announced at a senate meeting that Leia is Vaderâs daughter. This then gets broadcast on the holonet. We now know that Ben found out about Vader being his grandfather and that his family lied to him his whole life by watching it on the news. [Bloodline]
The next thing we know about is when Luke stands over Ben in his sleep, sees darkness (PALPATINE IS IN HIS FUCKING HEAD), and draws his saber.
âAnd the last thing I saw were the eyes of a frightened boy whose master had failed him.â
âAnd the last thing I saw were the eyes of a frightened boy whose master had failed him.â
So Ben then slaughters the other students at the Jedi temple, right? NOPE. Guess again. That story is a complete lie, but Star Wars didnât think it was important enough to put the real story in the final movie.
From The Rise of Kylo Ren comic #1:
From The Rise of Kylo Ren comic #1:
Itâs not 100% clear but based on the Force lightning it looks like Palpatine blew up the Jedi temple
3 of the students had been off planet and came back during the destruction. When he told them what happened they didnât believe him.
After he escaped on a ship they still chased him (one of the students wanted to help him, one didnât) Ben was able to stop them while making sure not to hurt them.
Ben, feeling like he had nowhere else left to go, finally gave in and went to the voice that was in his head his whole life: Snoke
The next thing we know about is Snoke training him. And by training I mean heâs being groomed and abused - emotionally, mentally, and physically.
From the Snoke comic #1:
From the Snoke comic #1:
Snoke then takes him to the cave on Dagobah to face his fears. Ben is able to strike down a vision of Luke, but is unable to hurt either of his parents.
In fact he blows up the entire cave rather than attack the visions of them, so that Snoke wonât know that he couldnât do it.
So thereâs the story of the big bad evil villain we meet in TFA. Think you now know everything since youâve watched these movies? Nope. Youâre still missing all sorts of information...
In the opening scene of the movie Ben orders all the villagers to be killed. Is it just because he feels like it? Or some other reason?
From TFA novelization:
âDonât turn a simple transaction into a tragedy for these people.â A tincture of undiluted sadism stained the voice behind the mask. âHasnât your presence here done enough for them already?â -Ben to Lor San Tekka
âDonât turn a simple transaction into a tragedy for these people.â A tincture of undiluted sadism stained the voice behind the mask. âHasnât your presence here done enough for them already?â -Ben to Lor San Tekka
âIt wasnât a massacre. In the lexicon of the First Order it was nothing more than a prescribed chastisement. Appropriate retribution for harboring a fugitive of note.â
So the novel tells us it was the First Orderâs rules for them to be killed for harboring a fugitive, something which Ben almost seemed to want to avoid. He just wanted the map.
Then we see Ben stare down Finn after Finn doesnât fire on the villagers. He is in Finnâs head (we know this for sure because later Ben knows itâs FN-2187 who helped Poe escape) and sensed his conflict, but decides not to say anything. As we know, Ben is also full of conflict.
âHe [Finn] remained rooted in place, clutching his unfired weapon, staring despite himself. And in response, the figure of Kylo Ren turned and looked sideways, directly at the soldier. The trooper saw only light reflecting off a mask, and his own fear...
...He knows. He must know. And IâmâŠdead.
But he wasnât. The glance lasted barely a second. Then Ren resumed his pace, deep in thought as he strode toward the shuttle.â
But he wasnât. The glance lasted barely a second. Then Ren resumed his pace, deep in thought as he strode toward the shuttle.â
When Ben is speaking to the Vader mask, trying to talk to his grandfather, we now know that this was also Palpatine speaking to him.
When the Hosnian system is blown up Ben is against it. From the TFA script:
SNOKE Good. Then we will crush them once and for all. Prepare the weapon. Kylo Ren is stunned by the moment -- that isn& #39;t what he meant at all --.
SNOKE Good. Then we will crush them once and for all. Prepare the weapon. Kylo Ren is stunned by the moment -- that isn& #39;t what he meant at all --.
In the movie we see Ben turn his head slowly in judgement against Hux when heâs talking about using the weapon, and when Starkiller Base is fired Ben is not even on the planet. He wasnât a part of this.
In case you never noticed in the movies, Ben has never once attacked Rey. She has started their fights every single time...
âSo afraid,â he murmured. âYet I should be the one who should be scared. You shot first. You speak of the Order as if it were barbaric. And yet, it is I who was forced to defend myself against you.â
The interrogation scene between Ben and Rey:
âWhere am I?â âDoes the physical location really matter so much?â In Kylo Renâs voice there was unexpected gentleness.
âWhere am I?â âDoes the physical location really matter so much?â In Kylo Renâs voice there was unexpected gentleness.
âIs it true?â he finally asked. âYouâre just a scavenger?â She didnât respond, and, perhaps sensing her embarrassment, he changed the subject.
âI know youâve seen the map,â he repeated. âItâs what I need. At the moment, it is all that I need.â When she maintained her silence, he almost sighed. âI can take whatever I want.â...
...Her muscles tightened. âThen you donât need me to tell you anything.â âTrue.â He rose, resigned. âI would have preferred to avoid this. Despite what you may believe, it gives me no pleasure. I will go as easily as possibleâbut I will take what I need.â
Ben, after being in Reyâs head and sensing her loneliness and abandonment issues (the same things he feels), now has compassion for her:
The Supreme Leaderâs voice was flat. âYou have compassion for her.â âNoânever. Compassion? For an enemy of the Order?â âI perceive the problem,â Snoke intoned. âIt isnât her strength that is making you fail. Itâs your weakness.â
When Snoke wants to use Starkiller Base again on the Illenium System, Ben actually tries to stop it. This is why he now wants to get the map from Reyâs head so badly:
Daring to disagree, Ren took a step forward. âNoâSupreme Leader, I can get the map from the girl, and that will be the end of it. I just need your guidance.â
After Rey escapes the interrogation room they have the stormtrooper questioned about her escape:
âInitial assessment indicates he is telling the truth.â The officer hesitated. âIf you would wish to try stronger methods I canâŠâ
âInitial assessment indicates he is telling the truth.â The officer hesitated. âIf you would wish to try stronger methods I canâŠâ
âNoâno. Keep questioning him. Justâquestioning.â
Ben doesnât want any stronger methods used against him.
Ben doesnât want any stronger methods used against him.
âYet everything about him was narrow and stark, as if he had starved himself of nourishment. And his eyes were not the dark brown eyes Han remembered. They were dim and dark and terribly sad.â -Han seeing Ben in the TFA junior novelization
& #39;Stunned by his own action, Kylo Ren fell to his knees. Following through on the act ought to have made him stronger, a part of him believed. Instead, he found himself weakened.& #39;
Onto TLJ:
The fingertip traced Kyloâs eyelid, leaving a streak of moisture behind. âYes,â Snoke said. âThere it is. You have too much of your fatherâs heart in you. Young Solo.â
The fingertip traced Kyloâs eyelid, leaving a streak of moisture behind. âYes,â Snoke said. âThere it is. You have too much of your fatherâs heart in you. Young Solo.â
When Ben can& #39;t fire on Leia:
She was worried for him, he realized. And she wasnât angry. She ached for him to come back to her. Kylo depressed the trigger slightly, not quite enough to fire. And then he lifted his thumb. He couldnât do it. A moment later, Kyloâs wingmate fired.
She was worried for him, he realized. And she wasnât angry. She ached for him to come back to her. Kylo depressed the trigger slightly, not quite enough to fire. And then he lifted his thumb. He couldnât do it. A moment later, Kyloâs wingmate fired.
The explosion buffeted Kylo in his cockpit. If he had known, he could have stopped the torpedoâfreezing it in space with a thought. But he had been surprised...
...Now he couldnât sense his motherâthe shock had shattered his focus, leaving him breathing hard behind his fighterâs control yoke.& #39;
So he actually wanted to stop the torpedo that blew up the bridge.
So he actually wanted to stop the torpedo that blew up the bridge.
Rey thinking about when she was in Benâs head in TFA:
She felt his rage, like a ruinous storm that filled his head, and his hatred, and his lust to dominate and humiliate those who had wronged him...
She felt his rage, like a ruinous storm that filled his head, and his hatred, and his lust to dominate and humiliate those who had wronged him...
...But she also felt his hurt, and his loneliness. And his fearâthat he would never prove as strong as Darth Vader, the ghost who haunted his dreams.
Remember when Rey called Ben a monster in TFA? She was literally bringing up his childhood fear of what his parents thought of him. Which is why it bothered him enough to bring up to her again here:
âYou have that look in your eyes from the forest, when you called me a monster.â
âYou have that look in your eyes from the forest, when you called me a monster.â
âYou are a monster,â Rey said, remembering the terror of her paralysis on Takodana. She stared back at himâand found his eyes full of hurt. Hurtâand conflict. âYes, I am,â Kylo said, and there was no menace in his voiceâonly misery. #BenSoloDeservedBetter
& #39;When her tears finally ebbed, Rey lifted her head. She knew who she had to talk to about the cave, about what she had sought and what it had shown herâsomeone who would understand how solitude and loss could eat away at you until there was nothing left.& #39; #reydeservedbetter
âYouâre not alone,â he insisted, and she believed him.& #39;
He has so much compassion for Rey here that he has actual TEARS in his eyes listening to her speak about her loneliness.
He has so much compassion for Rey here that he has actual TEARS in his eyes listening to her speak about her loneliness.
âNo,â Rey said. âLook at me. Ben.â He turned at the sound of the name heâd been born with, the one heâd abandoned. He looked lost.
& #39;She watched the emotions chase themselves across his face, echoed by jitters and spikes in the Force. Anger. Confusion. Pain. Loneliness. Longing. Sorrow.& #39;
Snoke about Ben:
He called himself Kylo Ren, but as with so much else about him, that was more wish fulfillment than reality. He had never escaped being Ben Solo, or learned to resist the pull of the weak and pathetic light...
He called himself Kylo Ren, but as with so much else about him, that was more wish fulfillment than reality. He had never escaped being Ben Solo, or learned to resist the pull of the weak and pathetic light...
...or had the strength to excise the sentimental streak that had destroyed his legendary grandfather. And then there was his most glaring failure of all: his inability or unwillingness to use his power to redirect the course of his own destiny.
Hux when Luke shows up on Crait:
Somehow he knew that the man down there on the scarred landscape was looking straight at them, his gaze fixed unerringly not just on the shuttle but on one person inside. Hux looked at Renâs face and saw terrorânaked and undisguised.
Somehow he knew that the man down there on the scarred landscape was looking straight at them, his gaze fixed unerringly not just on the shuttle but on one person inside. Hux looked at Renâs face and saw terrorânaked and undisguised.
& #39;In the command shuttle, Kylo Ren had gotten to his feet and was staring down at the strange spectacle below. His fists were clenched and there were tears in his eyes.& #39;
Luke about Ben:
Even stronger than the anger were Kyloâs pain and fear. They filled him, threatening to devour him...
Even stronger than the anger were Kyloâs pain and fear. They filled him, threatening to devour him...
...Ben Solo had sought to abandon everything he had been, even casting aside his name. But Luke sensed that Kylo Ren was just a shell around the same broken boy he had tried so hard to reach. #BenSolo #BenSoloDeservedBetter
We even have some extra information already from TROS:
In the opening scene of the movie when Ben is fighting people, theyâre not innocent. According to the Visual Dictionary heâs on Mustafar and those people are âcult colonistsâ ie: people loyal to Darth Vader
In the opening scene of the movie when Ben is fighting people, theyâre not innocent. According to the Visual Dictionary heâs on Mustafar and those people are âcult colonistsâ ie: people loyal to Darth Vader
And thatâs Ben Soloâs story. He was portrayed as a victim suffering from mental health issues, who finally found his way back to the light, became a hero who ran off to save Rey, had a chance to live free of Palpatineâs influence for the first time in his life, and then died.
I wasn& #39;t going to continue this thread since everything is to this point nicely in chronological order, but we have new information and I can& #39;t resist...
First one thing I forgot earlier - The villagers on Jakku from the beginning of TFA, it& #39;s made clear in Rey& #39;s Survival Guide that they& #39;re not even peaceful people.
Now onto The Rise of Kylo Ren comic #2:
Ben is on a mission with Luke and Lor San Tekka. Here he is as a child with Snoke talking to him whenever he pleases, pretending to be his friend and gaining his trust.
Ben is on a mission with Luke and Lor San Tekka. Here he is as a child with Snoke talking to him whenever he pleases, pretending to be his friend and gaining his trust.
Honestly it was hard enough knowing that this was happening, but actually seeing it is so disturbing.
The Master of the Knights of Ren senses the shadow in Ben and offers him a different pathway if he wants.
Snoke is encouraging him to take a new name and to go to the Knights of Ren, who Ben had just expressed interest in finding.
He finds the helmet from the Knights of Ren and his classmates have caught up to him. Based on their drawn lightsabers they don& #39;t look too friendly.
Hennix then decided this was a good moment to throw his lightsaber at Ben, which Ben had to push away to save himself from being killed. Hennix is apparently useless and couldnât stop it or catch his own lightsaber.