There's no telling where an end to the Skywalker Saga. Which may still include Kylo Ren, Luke Skywalker, and even Darth Vader. Because the more we examine The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi, the more it seems like Snoke was wrong to believe he had corrupted Ben Solo. That mission, and the birth of Kylo Ren... seems to be the work of Darth Vader instead.
This theory will sound like absolute nonsense to some, with Darth Vader long dead before Luke Skywalker even took Ben Solo on as a student. But now that we can look back at Episode 7 with the truth Luke finally itted in Last Jedi, a different picture begins to take shape. One that leaves the actual reason Ben Solo fell to the Dark Side to become Kylo Ren as a mystery. That is, until you focus in on Darth Vader's helmet, and the power Star Wars writers have confirmed it could hold even after Vader's death.
If Luke Skywalker is going to be working as a Force Ghost to save Rey, Ben, and the rest of Episode 9's heroes, he may first have to realize that it was the legacy of Darth Vader that pulled Ben Solo to the Dark Side - and may still be doing it in this final chapter.
- This Page: Darth Vader's Helmet 'Seduced' Ben Solo
- Next Page: How Last Jedi Confirms Vader's Link to Kylo Ren
Luke & Leia Claim Snoke Seduced Ben Solo
If it isn't clear already, our theory that is was Vader who corrupted Ben Solo dictates that Snoke had almost nothing to do with it. Despite never seeing him be a "teacher" in any way beyond manipulation, Snoke's first appearance suggested the classic apprentice/master relationship of the Sith. And when Ben Solo's fall was revealed, it made sense for Leia to blame her political rival, Supreme Leader Snoke for the entire tragedy: "It was Snoke. He seduced our son to the Dark Side. But we can still save him."
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It turns out that Leia may have been as off-the-mark on that first claim as the second. As we learn in Last Jedi, Luke never told his sister or Han the whole story. Not about his moment of fear upon witnessing what was taking over Ben Solo, and certainly not about having a far clearer role in the creation of 'Kylo Ren' than Snoke. Nobody knows the Force better than Luke, but as he recounts, "by the time I realized I was no match for the darkness rising in him, it was too late. Leia blamed Snoke, but... it was me. I failed."
If you look at what's actually used to define Kylo Ren's determination to defy the Light, another answer seems far more persuasive, as well. Ben Solo's parents stop short of pinning all the blame on Snoke, but Han Solo reassures Leia that "there's nothing more we could have done" to save Ben from his fall, since "there's too much Vader in him." Not Anakin, his grandfather, but Vader, the man his grandfather spent much of his life channeling the Dark Side into keeping alive. Han didn't know how right he was...
Vader Was 'The Darkness' Luke Felt in Ben Solo
For the casual Star Wars fans, the idea of a helmet luring somebody to the Dark Side doesn't make sense. Especially not since the Jedi bias in the Star Wars movies suggests people are naturally good-leaning, unless being "seduced" by the draw of the Dark Side. But the Force works in mysterious ways... and recent changes to the Star Wars mythology have greatly expanded the effects of a Dark Side 'aura' around relics, weapons, and armor once belonging to powerful Sith.
It's one of the most lasting changes brought by the new wave of Star Wars comics, expanding the universe an issue at a time. When Luke and Vader both wielded the Sith Lord Momin's helmet manipulating those in its presence to violence and hate, the link to The Force Awakens became perfectly clear.
Snoke may have been Kylo Ren's commander, but it would be an understatement to say Kylo seemed... less than enthralled by the Supreme Leader (certainly not when compared to the fiercely loyal iral Hux). But in private, it is emotion and family that wage war within Kylo Ren. So he fact that his grandfather Darth Vader's helmet is the subject of this unguarded meditation can't be ignored. Especially when you realize that as soon as Kylo Ren put distance between himself and the ghost of Darth Vader... he started to see things from a less evil perspective.
Page 2 of 2: Last Jedi Shows Darth Vader's Link to Kylo Ren
Last Jedi Reminds Fans About 'Force Locus Points'
In case there are still some who see Snoke, the bitter, spitting supervillain as more likely to have "seduced" Kylo Ren to the Dark Side, it's worth pointing out how the movies actually depict its pull. It's possible, even likely that some Star Wars fans either forgot or never saw the first mention of a place or object functioning as a locus point for Dark Side energy. In the original trilogy, that was the description of the forest near Yoda's home, where Luke was drawn and eventually witnessed the specter of Vader. And in The Last Jedi, Luke takes up the role of 'aging Jedi residing next to a Dark Side hotspot' himself.
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Just like Luke before her, Rey senses the black-hole-like grotto on the coast of Luke's Island, calling to her with clear malice that she is nevertheless helpless to resist. Only Luke snaps her out of it, scolding her for going "straight to the dark... It offered something you needed. And you didn't even try to stop yourself."
It's here that Luke likens Rey's power to that of Ben Solo... so doesn't it make the most sense for Ben to have been drawn to some Dark Side locus point of his own? If you're making up a list of places or objects that fit the bill, Kylo Ren's pleas to the charred remains of Darth Vader's helmet make it all seem downright obvious in hindsight:
Show me again... The power of the darkness... And I'll let nothing stand in our way... Show me... Grandfather... and I will finish... what you started.
At the time, fans only knew Kylo as an imitation of Vader, who according to his mother had been "seduced by Snoke." But once Luke set the record straight in the sequel, he described Kylo Ren as strong Force , whom Luke had ultimately failed by coming up short in comparison to a larger "darkness" rising to claim him. The idea that Snoke had seduced him at all is brushed aside altogether (perhaps the villain Luke drove Ben toward). If those comments from Luke - in Rian Johnson's Last Jedi - were shown side by side with Kylo Ren's devotion to Vader - in J.J. Abrams' Force Awakens - without the years in between, then the culprit would be easy to deduce.
But in case anyone is still unconvinced that Darth Vader's helmet pulled Kylo Ren to the Dark Side just as much as Dagobah's forest called to Luke, or Rey's mirror cave promised answers she wasn't ready to hear, there's one extra detail fans may want to consider. We don't think it's any coincidence that as soon as Kylo Ren left the helmet of Darth Vader behind ahead of Last Jedi, he came to see his First Order master as the villain he really was.
Without Vader's Helmet, Kylo Came to His Senses
That's right, if you sat through The Last Jedi wondering where Darth Vader's helmet wound up, you're certainly not alone. Especially given how much of a crisis of Dark and Light Kylo Ren endures over the course of the film. He chooses not to kill his mother as he had his father. He seems disillusioned with Snoke from the first scene. And when push comes to shove, chooses to slay Snoke unceremoniously, and seek an alliance with Rey. All major departures from the Kylo Ren introduced in The Force Awakens.
It could be a sign of his character's growth, and still may be that on its own. But if our theory surrounding Vader's helmet as the true pull into the Dark Side "seducing" Kylo Ren, then the film's Visual Dictionary explaining the absence of the helmet seems important:
"KYLO'S CHAMBERS: Rescued from the Starkiller disaster, Kylo returns to his quarters aboard the Supremacy, Supreme Leader Snoke's vast flagship. Here, Kylo's isolation allows him to mediate on the Force. He has left Darth Vader's charred helmet aboard the Finalizer, perhaps not ready to face that visage until he recovers from his failure."
Yes, Kylo Ren left behind his grandfather's helmet when moving from his own First Order ship to that of his master's. When he grew closer to Snoke, but farther from Vader's helmet, his faith in the Supreme Leader, his teacher and master, was completely shaken. He could no longer be manipulated or beaten down by Snoke - an art that his parents would have audiences believe qualified as seduction. The real reason for Kylo leaving behind his lust for the Dark Side - along with any feelings towards "the Empire, your parents, the Resistance, the Sith, the Jedi... let the past die." - is that his true master has never been farther from him. And the true seduction less effective.
We don't know if Star Wars 9 will call this distinction out explicitly, or the lingering Vader helmet will remain an oft-cited explanation. But with J.J. Abrams coming back to close out the trilogy, we're putting our money on him completing this story, and showing every Skywalker has a role to play in their family's last hurrah.
