They’ve been very hush hush about him in the new canon (if I’m not mistaken, his brief appearance in Battlefront II might be his only out of film appearance). But I don’t see the issue. He was clearly Snoke’s right hand guy like Vader was to the Emperor, and he could pretty much kill anyone who stands in his way (as is demonstrated with Hux).
Darth Vader eradicated an entire organization of trained force users. In his previous life, he was a war hero. Darth Vader had clout to lead the Galactic Empire should he chose to. What has Kyle Ren accomplished? I’m not saying he hasn’t proven himself worthy of the position he now holds in some off-screen way, but they’ve done nothing on screen to give him the position other than kill Snoke to impress a girl.
I liked the movie and will watch it over and over again, just like all other Star Wars films. I just think the progression of the story in the last two films has been actually worse than the prequel trilogy.
I think you need to watch both these films and the prequels again, and see how off base you are.
The prequels has bad dialog, dated CGI and was bogged down in irrelevant republic bureaucracy but the core arch of the main character was clear: gifted slave child falls in love with a royal, only to have his love be forbidden by those who raise him. Because of the secret nature of his love, he falls victim to dangerous promises to protect the life of the woman he loves. He reaches the pinnacle of his craft, only to fall from grace due to his insecurities. In the end, his mistakes and arrogance are what lead to her death. He is forced to live out his life a damages, shell of a man both physically and emotionally.
What is the story arch of Rey’s character thus far? Due to the condensed nature of these two films, she hasn’t been given any space to grow. The easiest way to accelerate character growth is to have them overcome a struggle or defeat. She hasn’t been defeated in any way. I don’t see what her character has left to do in this trilogy other than to kill Ben and as best I can tell, she could walk up to him and do that at any time should she chose.