Hello everyone out there in Star Wars land. We’re back to contemplate some theories about the sequel trilogy. In particular, how the arc of the sequel trilogy pertains to Kylo Ren/Ben Solo. Let’s get to it.
First off, let me remind you of my post almost a year ago speculating that the sequel trilogy will form a “second ring” with the original saga. The “second” part is because of the first ring theory that comes from Mike Klimo, and the “ring” part is of course borrowed from this theory. Ring composition means that the trilogies will be “mirrors” of each other. This means that The Force Awakens actually parallels Return of the Jedi, but with some thematic inversion going on. Try that one the next time you hear that TFA was a “rip off” of A New Hope. Here is a quick run-down of the parallels between TFA and RotJ (and because of the ring theory, this means more in common with The Phantom Menace):
- Confrontation between Father and son at the end of the film. In fact, both Luke and Kylo were told that to complete their training they needed to confront and kill their fathers.
- Blowing up the weapon didn’t require stolen plans, and involved going inside it the base after turning off a shield from the ground
- Maz’s castle bears more in common with Jabba’s palace (castle ≈ palace, Maz is a pirate, Jabba is a crime lord involved in smuggling)
- The movies end with our hero facing an old Jedi Master (in RotJ it was the Force-ghosts, in TFA it was Luke)
- The speeder bike chase might have had some similarities to a cut land speeder chase on the surface of StarKiller Base
- Luke believed that there was good in Vader, Leia thought there was still light in Kylo Ren.
- Han falls down a “bottomless” shaft much like the Emperor falls down a shaft.
There is likely more.
One thing we should make clear here is that because of the ring theory, the prequels mirror the original trilogy. So if the sequel trilogy mirrors the OT, then it might also parallel or mirror the prequel trilogy as well. Therefore, it raises the interesting possibility that Kylo Ren’s arc will be the reverse or mirror of Anakin.
There is actually a lot of theorizing going on in the web that Kylo Ren’s arc is that of a “reverse Anakin”, such as here in the context of Bloodline, and here in the context of Kylo’s look, or this one. The theory is basically that Kylo Ren starts off the saga evil, being tempted by the light, and by the end of the sequel trilogy will be brought back to the light.
This may seem hard to believe, but consider a few things.
First, as mentioned above, Leia still saw light in him. Leia is considered to have a pretty good sense in the saga, so this can’t just be a mistake. This is especially clear with the scene where Kylo talks to Vader’s mask wanting Vader to show him the darkness. Kylo was tempted by the light side of the Force. As pointed out in the reddit post above, Kylo’s look in TLJ bears some resemblance to that of Anakin at the beginning of RotS, but with a scar on the opposite side of the right eye.
The significance of the right eye might have something to do with this Bible verse, or some other type of mythology:
Woe to the worthless shepherd that deserteth the flock! the sword shall be upon his arm, and upon his right eye; his arm withering shall wither, and his right eye darkening shall be darkened (Zech. 11:17)
The scar on the opposite site might portend an opposite character arc.
In a recent interview, Adam Driver said that his performance in The Last Jedi will be….unexpected. Kylo showing some light side tendencies by the end of the film might be just that.
Kylo seems to be the one to have ignited the saber into Han, if there are any doubts, according to the novelization, but some speculate that it was Han that turned the saber on to sacrifice himself for his son. That said, it seems like Kylo Ren regretted what he did, or at least didn’t get the dark side power he expected, but was weakened. From the novelization:
“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.”
This is a strong indication that Kylo didn’t fully turn to the dark side. We’ll have to learn more information in TLJ to see if this theory makes any sense. We don’t know for sure whether Kylo Ren/Ben Solo was responsible for killing Luke’s Jedi order, but even if he did, it could be that he is being purely used and manipulated by Snoke, as Han said he was.
What do you think? Is it plausible that Kylo Ren will turn good, and that the sequel trilogy will be like the original trilogy or prequels, but thematically in reverse? Leave your comments below.
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