Ten years ago, Star Wars: The Force Awakens introduced viewers to the sequel trilogy’s new villain. Played by Adam Driver, Kylo Ren cut an impressive figure, and his silhouette made it clear from the outset that he styled himself after Darth Vader. Lucasfilm initially kept Kylo Ren’s true identity a secret, leading to countless different theories about who he really was; one popular fan theory suggested he was actually a dark side Luke Skywalker. The Force Awakens eventually revealed he was really Ben Solo, Darth Vader’s grandson, and he was strangely obsessed with his grandfather.
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In one striking scene, Kylo Ren brooded over Darth Vader’s melted and warped mask. Struggling with the pull of the light side, he appealed to Darth Vader’s spirit to guide him. “Show me again, the power of the darkness, and I will let nothing stand in our way. Show me, grandfather, and I will finish what you started.” It was impossible to say what Kylo Ren imagined that mission to be, though, because the relationship between Kylo Ren and Darth Vader was never clarified. At least, until this week’s Star Wars: Legacy of Vader #11, by Charles Soule and Luke Ross.
Kylo Ren Is Literally Transformed Into a New Darth Vader
It’s important to understand that Ben Solo grew with a sense of a dark presence overshadowing him, but he never knew what it was; as The Rise of Skywalker revealed, he never sensed that it was actually the resurrected Palpatine. He only learned the truth of his family line when he was an adult, and he believed the presence he had sensed was actually Darth Vader. The nature of his relationship with his grandfather’s legacy is indefinable precisely because it was undefined, because he knew so little about Darth Vader.
Legacy of Vader corrects this. Set between The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker, it sees Kylo Ren stumble upon Darth Vader’s old manservant, Vanée, who tries to tutor him in the origins of Vader – until his true agenda is revealed at last. Vanée was obsessed with Darth Vader, and believed he could transform Kylo Ren into a literal Darth Vader replacement. Vanée’s plans come to a climax in Legacy of Vader #11, when he drugs Kylo Ren to bathe him in Mustafar’s lava, placing a Darth Vader helmet upon him.
Kylo Ren Finally Rejects His Grandfather’s Shadow
Vanée’s plans don’t exactly go well, with Kylo Ren refusing to simply become a Darth Vader replacement; he insists on becoming his own man at last. It’s a crucial moment, steeped with significance in character terms, because Kylo Ren is at last claiming an identity of his own. “I am already everything I need to be,” Kylo Ren tells Vanée at last, and it’s not clear whether he’s stating this to Darth Vader’s servant or to himself. He is not Vader reborn, he is not a Solo, he is himself – his own man at last.
This subtly reframes Kylo Ren’s redemption in The Rise of Skywalker. For one thing, it makes sense of his decision to have the mask of Kylo Ren restored; that was the identity he chose for himself, all those years ago, and the mask of Kylo Ren is not simply the mask of his grandfather. Ironically, the decision to become Kylo Ren himself, not simply a new Darth Vader, likely became a crucial step along the way to his redemption and his recognizing that he is still a Solo, despite it all.
Star Wars: Legacy of Vader #11 is on sale now from Marvel Comics.
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