How Kylo Ren REALLY Felt About Darth Vader
“I will finish, what you started”
Those were the words that Kylo Ren muttered to the mask of Darth Vader as he knelt before it, hoping to hear the voice of his grandfather once again. However, while the movies themselves did not go into this too much, it does make one wonder what Ben Solo thinks of Darth Vader. Did he know the whole story? Was he told something else?
The mystery of what Kylo knew and didn't know has been explained in the expanded materials of Star Wars from books to comics and the likes. One really gets into the mind of Kylo Ren, what he knew what he didn’t know and what he might have known.
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Snoke Trained Him Well
Obviously, one big thing to keep in mind is that Kylo Ren, or Ben Solo as he was for most of his life, actually didn’t know much about the downfall of Anakin Skywalker. Such a story would be a bit too dangerous for a young Force-sensitive like himself.
Ben Solo already grew up under the shadow of Luke, Han, and Leia only to discover that his grandfather was BOTH one of the greatest heroes of the galaxy as well as its greatest threat and evil as well. So of course when that information was revealed in the midst of a political scandal involving his mother, it must have been a great shock to the young Solo child. It was something that the current forces of evil could take advantage of.
Snoke obviously took advantage of this, using it as well as the secrets to pry Ben Solo away from his family.
Hero Worshiping Darkness…To a Point
Obviously, Kylo Ren saw himself as the heir to Darth Vader and the legacy that it pertained to. However, he did not consider himself the heir to Anakin Skywalker. Kylo was told by Snoke of course that Vader was tempted by the light in the end. After a career of pure darkness, weaknesses like sentiment were his undoing and the undoing of the Empire itself.
Kylo Ren, while worshiping Vader, was afraid of replicating that weakness. As time went on he saw more and more of said weakness Kylo himself began to even find resentment in Vader, his hero. No longer did he want to be just as strong as Vader but perhaps even surpass him. This is what he would do when he became the Supreme Leader.
When he became Supreme Leader, Kylo went from wanting to embrace his grandfather to outdoing him. He killed his master. Something that Vader himself couldn’t do when he was still a Sith Lord. It made him realize that his grandfather was really weak in both his resolve and determination with the dark side.
It was very much a paradox.
On one hand, Kylo Ren saw himself as the heir apparent to Darth Vader, someone to look up to and emulate. On the other hand, he did see his weakness and was told that he was a warning. Something to look at and see as a problem. Very much a paradox of the dark side.
The Legacy Of Darkness And Light
Ben Solo/Kylo Ren had a complicated history with his grandfather, a hero of the darkness, but also someone who gave into weakness. It is ironic though that in many ways Ben Solo was able to become greater than not only Vader but also Anakin Skywalker. For Ben did what Anakin could not, which is bringing back those he cared about from dying. Thus, he managed to complete the Skywalker dream, preventing the ones they care about from dying.
Though in the most light side way possible.
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