Sorry, I haven’t kept up with the whole conversation, but to give my opinion on the main post, I think asking if someone deserves redemption or forgiveness is a rather philosophical question. Based off a religious perspective, forgiveness or redemption isn’t a question of whether they deserve it, but if they ask for it. If someone asks for forgiveness and seeks redemption, they receive it.

The original trilogy affirms that by Vader redeeming himself and seeking forgiveness from Luke. You can say, “but he killed all these people, and he did all these bad things”, but what the person has done is irrelevant from a religious or mythic standpoint once they start down the path of redemption. People can certainly apply a real-world perspective on crime and punishment to Star Wars, but Star Wars isn’t a real-world story. It is a fairy tale meant to teach people, especially children, lessons. And the lesson of Kylo Ren to me is like a retelling of the Parable of the Prodigal Son. In that story, did the foolish son deserve to be welcomed back with open arms by his father? If you think he didn’t, why do you think the father accepted him back? What do you think that story is trying to teach people?

In my opinion, this is what the redemption of Ben Solo is trying to teach others. Lucas wanted Star Wars to be myth for a modern audience, and while the Sequel Trilogy may have stumbled a bit on the execution, I certainly think the it succeeded on that front to some extent.

EDIT: Also wanted to add that Rey and Ben Solo always felt endgame to me. I think an enemies to lovers story was a great way to end the saga. Bringing the two sides back together.