If The Force Awakens landed in 2015 with a splash that kickstarted a new wave of Star Wars obsession for the masses, 2019’s The Rise of Skywalker landed with a tremendous thud. Its failures and controversies are many, from a script that kept changing to the various unanswered questions that, even years later, still linger. I, too, have many holdups with The Rise of Skywalker, but the death of Adam Driver’s Kylo Ren (Ben Solo) is not one of them.
After three movies of flip-flopping between Light and Dark, at the end of the sequel trilogy, Kylo Ren finally chose to do the right thing. Turning on Emperor Palpatine, he fought off his own Knights of Ren and saved Daisy Ridley’s Rey. In his final moments, Kylo gives up his remaining life energy, kisses Rey, and then dies. His body then disappears, showing that, in his final moments, Kylo wasn’t a Sith after all, but a redeemed Jedi. It was a sad ending for Kylo Ren fans, particularly those who wanted to see something more between him and Rey. However, according to Driver, there were plans for a sequel to The Rise of Skywalker.
Driver recently revealed to The Associated Press that he had teamed up with filmmaker Steven Soderbergh (Ocean’s 11, Contagion) for a sequel. Lucasfilm apparently liked the idea, but Disney shot it down because the company couldn’t understand how Kylo comes back from the dead. Titled The Hunt for Ben Solo, no real details of what the film would contain were revealed, but the news has still sparked a frenzy of fan speculation and hand-wringing on social media.
I’ll be honest: Driver coming back as Kylo Ren has never interested me. It actually frustrates me. Because it fundamentally misunderstands what made his sacrifice so important in the first place.
Kylo Ren’s death is significant because of its connection to his grandfather, Anakin Skywalker, and his inability to save the people he loves. Anakin’s desperation to save the love of his life, Padme Amidala, is what drives him into the arms of a Sith Lord. Kylo’s journey is the complete opposite. He rejects the love of his father and mother (Han Solo and Leia Organa) because to embrace it would make his path on the Dark Side even harder. He craves that love, and grew up surrounded by it, but it becomes a hindrance in his journey. Ironically, Kylo’s choice to reject attachment is what leads him further into the Dark side’s clutches.
This is why Kylo’s sacrifice for Rey is such a huge moment. Kylo chooses his love for Rey over himself. He’s able to do what Anakin couldn’t: save the woman he cares about. It’s a perfect ending for Kylo. He redeems himself as a Force user of the Light and vanishes, becoming one with the Force alongside Luke, Leia, and Anakin. Any attempt to bring him back as anything but a Force ghost completely defeats the point of that scene.
Of course, that won’t stop Star Wars fans from leveling criticism at Disney for its inability to see how Kylo Ren could return from the dead. Ignoring the fact that Kylo Ren dies in a film that also brings Palpatine back to life (“Somehow Palpatine returned” still continues to be meme’d on to this very day), this is Star Wars, which means death is rarely permanent. Darth Maul got sliced in half and, like the most annoying cockroach in the world, keeps coming back again (although he did actually die in Rebels at the hands of Obi-Wan Kenobi, at least for now). Then there’s Asajj Ventress, who gets brought back by a ritual. The most damning return is Ahsoka Tano, who gets saved via time travel in Rebels after Ezra Bridger pulls her away into the World Between Worlds, a gateway to different times (and potentially different realities) throughout a galaxy far, far away. It is, in fact, exceedingly easy for characters to come back in Star Wars.
Yet, despite all these resurrections, some deaths in the franchise just feel right. Another that springs to mind is Kanan Jarrus from Rebels, whose sacrifice allowed the Ghost crew (including his lover, Hera Syndulla) to survive a deadly explosion. I can’t imagine walking back a sacrifice like that. The same can be said for Kylo Ren. His death is simply too impactful to undo for the sake of creating more Star Wars content — even if that content is a movie from one of our greatest living directors.
Of course we want more of our favorite characters (Disney, fire up the Vel Sartha and Cinta Kaz spin-off now), but sometimes things come to an end in a way that works. Kylo Ren’s death is one of them for me. There’s so little about The Rise of Skywalker that I genuinely enjoy, so please, let this one shred of integrity from the film remain.
