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Post #1402154

Author
Acbagel
Parent topic
(The Last Jedi) Fate of the Jedi | A Star Wars Legends Re-edit [Workprint Released]
Link to post in topic
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/1402154/action/topic#1402154
Date created
11-Jan-2021, 11:44 PM

RogueLeader said:

I always imagined that some hypothetical edit could extend the scene where Kylo “prays” to Vader’s helmet. Kylo asks his grandfather to show him the power of the dark side again, to help solidify his resolve. So, maybe we could see it actually respond to Kylo’a request. I feel like this vision could sum up Kylo’s motivation with a few lines.

Palpatine: If the Jedi are not all destroyed, it will be civil war without end.

Vader: End this destructive conflict, and bring order to the galaxy. It is your destiny.

Maybe we could get glimpses of the Clone Wars and the Galactic Civil War over these lines. The implication would be that Kylo believes that the eternal conflict between the Jedi and the Sith, the dark side and the light, can only end by bringing order to the galaxy. Of course, it is a totalitarian kind of order he believes in.

So ironically, both Kylo and Luke would be aware of this question of balance, but they have two different answers to this problem. Perhaps it is this philosophical difference that leads to their falling out, which leads to Kylo destroying Luke’s Order, because he sees it as a necessary evil. Plus, it ties in well with some of the things he says to Rey in TLJ.

Rey: Why did you hate your father?

Kylo: I didn’t hate him.

So, Kylo feels like he has to kill his past and destroy his former identity in order to remove all of his weaknesses and be strong enough to bring order to the galaxy.

Kylo: It’s time to let old things die. Snoke, Skywalker, the Sith, the Jedi, the rebels, let it all die. Rey, I want you to join me. We can rule together and bring a new order to the galaxy.

Although Kylo is, in the end, motivated by his own quest for power, and falls into the same mistakes as the Sith before him, at least we could better understand what Kylo believes in, regardless of how misguided it is.

I would’ve really liked to see them go that direction with his character. It reminds me a lot of what Revan did, a sort of “embrace the dark to gain the power to destroy the dark” type of storyline. I don’t think there’s enough content to tell any alternative reason behind Kylo’s fall, and to me any sort of fan infused explanation would appear out of place or unclear. Maybe someone will prove me wrong one day on that (I hope they do!) but I don’t have any tangible ideas to make that happen at the moment.

In the Kylo Ren comics we see that he fell to the dark as a result of being tired of having to live up to his expectations. Being named after Obi-wan, having the Solo name with Skywalker blood, being expected to be Luke’s best student… Snoke promised him a future with no expectations, a future where he could be whoever he wanted to be. That enticed him and led him down a dark path. I think that story is fine for his background, but it’s a shame you really only find those motivations in comics… That is barely mentioned in the movies aside from a few of his lines.