- Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker revealed it’s final trailer.
- Could Adam Driver’s villain Kylo Ren turn to the light side?
- His best moments in the trilogy have come in sheer villainy—and turning would be taking a trip down a road traveled before.
Every Star Wars fan in the galaxy is starting to ready themselves for the release of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker—the conclusion to the trilogy that began in 2015 with The Force Awakens has been billed as the conclusion of the Skywalker saga—the final trailer for the new film was released last night during Monday Night Football, and tons of speculation has already been triggered. The music cues are strong, the heartstrings are tugged (C3PO!), there are some new characters, and, well, something is still going on with Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) and Rey (Daisy Ridley).
Within the trailer, the pair—believed by most to represent the dark side (Kylo) and the light (Rey)—are shown in parallel several times; lightsaber duels abound, and, like in The Last Jedi, they already appear linked. But, just as in the teaser, we’re once again teased with the return of Emperor Palpatine, the string-pulling villain of both the original and prequel trilogies, and his words seem to paint a different picture. “Long have I waited, and now you’re coming together is your undoing,” he says, as dark shots of his throne appear atop the screen.
This seems to play into something that almost happened in The Last Jedi, right around the time of the Throne room scene (which may just be the best scene in the last two movies). As you might recall, Kylo was at a crossroads between Rey and his master, Supreme Leader Snoke, when he made the decision to kill Snoke, and team up with Rey to fight off all the cronies in the room. Then, just when it seemed like Kylo was about to turn to join Rey and The Resistance—become one of our heroes—he expressed other wishes; he wanted to take Snoke’s place, and he wanted Rey to join him. He wasn’t turning, he wanted power.
This was a brilliant beat for the series, in part because as much as you might love whatever iteration of Star Wars, we’ve done the redemption story already. That’s what the entire original trilogy—and, by proxy, the prequels—are all about. We’ve seen Darth Vader realize his manipulation, and do what he can to sacrifice himself for the sake of his son, and make things right.
Ben Solo—Kylo’s real name, as he’s the son of Han and Princess Leia—has a similarly complex family connection to the story, but his leaning into the dark side in The Last Jedi, rather than searching for redemption, is what makes his character all the more unique. We already have a Darth Vader in Star Wars—why not create a Hannibal Lecter, or Dark Knight Joker-esque villain? Someone totally ruthless and terrifying, but still with ties to the story’s primary familial through line, would be totally new—even for a franchise in its fifth decade.
And as Last Jedi continues, that’s the road that Kylo seems to be going down. When he screams in the face of Domhall Gleeson’s General Hux, declaring himself Supreme Leader, that’s the kind of villainy that there shouldn’t really be a coming back from. Not only did he already kill Han in The Force Awakens, but now he’s maniacally trying to obliterate Luke as well. Attempted violent murder of iconic and beloved characters in two separate movies should place a character on the off-limits list for redemption!
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Kylo/Ben is at his best because of what we’ve seen him be—he’s not pure evil like Lecter, or the Joker; in fact, he’s probably the most human villain that Star Wars has ever produced. Throughout the first two films in this saga, it’s clearly presented that he’s a villain by his own design, rebelling against the upbringing that he didn’t choose but was born into. And his villainy is what he did choose. He chooses to wear a mask, and wants to follow in his grandfather’s footsteps.
Some of the very best Star Wars moments of the new trilogy have come when Kylo just loses it, breaking down into a full-on, maniacal rage. “Traitor!” he memorably shouts at John Boyega’s turned-stormtrooper Finn in 2015’s The Force Awakens, before angrily taking him and Daisy Ridley’s Rey on in a stunning, snow storm-at-night set lightsaber battle; it’s the movie’s best and perhaps most memorable scene. When he explodes on Hux in The Last Jedi, wanting “every gun we have to fire” on Luke, screaming “MORE! MORE!” as the guns fire, that’s the kind of off-the-rails villain that we love. This isn’t someone stuck in a bad situation or out of his hands—he’s doing this on purpose. This is his choice.
But… it doesn’t seem likely to last. The Kylo/Rey parallels have been going strong for the entire trilogy, and the Rise of Skywalker trailer didn’t make it seem like it would be ending any time soon. But the question is twofold: even if the narrative decides to make it work…does Kylo deserve redemption? He’s killed quite a few people, including his father who we all love, and tried to kill Luke (to no avail).
In all honesty, as much as Kylo turning good is something I don’t want to happen (at all!), it’s something that…I think will very much happen. These movies, as much as we all love to read into them, and want to push for dark and unique storylines, at the end of the day they’re focused on a mass appeal. Kylo Ren has been an iconic villain, and his villainy has produced many of the series’ most memorable moments. But with the way things have been foreshadowed, anything other than joining Rey, or committing a personal sacrifice, would be totally unexpected—and at the same time, totally appreciated. We’ll just have to wait until December 19 to find out for sure.