While many fans of Star Wars claim that Kylo Ren will never be as great as his grandfather – Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker turned Sith Lord Darth Vader – a Marvel comic has shown that Kylo bested his legendary grandfather in one aspect, slaying a beast on his own that Anakin couldn't best without the help of the Grand Army of the Republic.

The Zillo beast was first introduced in the animated series The Clone Wars, in Season 2, Episode 18 entitled The Zillo Beast. It is a huge serpentine creature with a long whip-like tail. Native to the Dug homeworld of Malastare, the Zillo beast towered over everything around it at 97 meters (318 feet) in height. With eight spikes on its tail and a third arm protruding from its back, the Zillo beast was a formidable opponent. With claws and jaws that could tear through metal, the beast was on top of the food chain on Malastare.

The Zillo beast's defining trait wasn't their extra limb or terrible claws however, but their armored scales. These scales were immune to explosions, blaster fire, and strikes from lightsabers. Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker discovered that gaps in the creature’s armored plates could be used to damage or stun it. This helped clone troopers subdue the creature for transport to Coruscant, where Supreme Chancellor Sheev Palpatine wanted to research the creature. His long term goal, at least that he described to the Jedi Council, was to research and develop armor to help the Grand Army of the Republic, adapted from the Zillo beast's hide.

This went horribly wrong when Doctor Sionver Boll discovered the creature was sentient. The Zillo beast broke free of its containment, wreaking havoc on the ecumenopolis in its bid to find and kill its imprisoner, Chancellor Palpatine. The Zillo beast was finally killed by the clone army, using toxic gas from its homeworld, fired from Republic gunships while the beast was climbing the Senate building. This whole debacle ended with Palpatine ordering Doctor Boll to clone the beast, a sinister order that we have yet to see play out in the Star Wars universe. Perhaps in an upcoming season of The Bad Batch?

Kylo Ren's confrontation with the beast is detailed in the comic Star Wars: Age of Resistance - Kylo Ren #1, wherein Kylo travels to the planet of Benathy. We already know that Kylo is obsessed with continuing his grandfather’s legacy, finishing what Vader started, and claiming his place in the mythos of the galaxy as the descendant of the dreaded Sith Lord. The First Order seeks to bring the Benathy species under their control, so they send their best and most brutal enforcer to do just that.

In the shadow of his grandfather, who had also once adventured to Benathy, Kylo now understands why the Benathy had not yet been brought under the heel of the First Order. The Benathy worship a very formidable “god” – a Zillo beast.

Ignoring advice from an old stormtrooper who had fought under Darth Vader, Kylo jumps into the very mouth of the beast, slicing it open from the inside – thereby doing the one thing his grandfather couldn’t; killing a Zillo beast. While both men were fierce and wily warriors and extremely strong with the Force, Kylo showed ingenuity and motivation where his grandfather hadn’t, showing that he is superior to Darth Vader, at least in this aspect.

Source(s): ScreenRant, Wookieepedia

Written by Heathyr S.

Syndicated from Culture Slate

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