#Ben solo meta

[curlytheintrovert]

🔹Another Ben Solo Rant🔹

I think what hurts the most about Ben Solo is the missed potential.

Firstly, I really wanted to see he and Rey fight Palapatine. That one motion, turning to face him in unison with their matching sabers raised, was so powerful. I was so excited when I saw this the first time…its SUCH a shame that they didn’t follow through with it. I needed to hear: “We are all the Jedi.” And to see them fight as a non conflicted dyad in the future?! The thought makes me shiver.

But more than that I wanted Ben to have actually been able to revel in love and his relationship with Rey—to understand how healing someone else’s love and acceptance can be. It was obvious from that precious smile before he died (?) that he hadn’t received much of that. And giving him two seconds of happiness was cruel…Let our boi have some good things, damn it!

Like I wanted to see Ben make friends for the first time and have fun—to see him laugh. I would have loved to see that Han Solo sense of humor and sarcasm that I know he would have had. I would liked to see Ben be a skilled fighter for the Resistance, and show off those Anakin-Han pilot skills we briefly got to see. To see he and Rey’s relationship outside of war and turmoil, in quiet moments and peaceful conversations. It most likely would be complicated and difficult. They would had to fight for their future, I’m sure of it, but that’s what would have made it so special.

I also really really wanted to see Ben actually redeem himself. Honestly, killing him gave him the easy way out, just like Vader. Sure he redeemed himself to Rey, but to try and atone for everything he did and everyone he hurt as Kylo? It would have been so incredibly fascinating and complicated and raw and messy…I would have LOVED it. To see Rey defend him to the Resistance and let him be in their midst would have been so tense. The awkwardness of facing Finn and Poe—after hurting them both—and Ben having to win their trust would have been great. I want the awkward and I want the not so straight forward conclusions. That’s what Kylo represented: The morally gray.

To see a villain redeem himself, atone and accept that forgiveness might not be achievable for some in the galaxy would have been so powerful and unique. And with how so many of us connected with Ben/Kylo it would have been therapeutic all around. But I don’t think a movie would be mature and nuanced enough to pull it off. A show on the other hand, all about Ben’s redemption arc would make me the happiest nerd girl possible! I want something like this instead of the Force ghost scenes we’ll probably get in the new movies.😭

And now that my rant is over, I’ll get back to mourning Ben Solo on a weekly basis, thank you and good bye T_T

[curlytheintrovert]

THIS. EVERY WORD OF THIS…It’s like they rooted around in my head and put my thoughts into words. Adam’s performance was mind blowing, and this is perfectly explains why!

I wrote twitter meta about the one good thing about this film (Adam Driver’s acting, the PURE character work he did with zero dialogue) because I finally figured out what he was talking about when he said he was using “mask work” with Kylo Ren. He wasn’t playing through a mask only when he wore the helmet, he was acting as if his very FACE was a stoic blank mask he was looking through. That’s why Kylo Ren as a character has such a specific feeling to him, and why the audience instantly responded to Ben Solo, who could show his emotions.

This character was always 100% a young boy hiding behind a mask that hid and disallowed every emotion except for his anger, the only emotion that men are allowed to feel. This character is an exploration of how toxic masculinity harms men. And what miracles can happen for men internally when they embrace emotionality and forgive themselves and use their energy to do good. (I’m crying about him again.)

[artist-issues]

I just NEED everyone to agree with me that Rey's parents are nobody. We should all agree about that. We should collectively, as an audience, say, "clearly the best idea was to have Kylo Ren be a dynastic heir to the major legends of the Force who wants to throw off his family's shadow, while his rival is nobody from nowhere who wants to belong--so we're going to stick with that."

And then, what should have happened is, Rey can finish her story by being able to say, "My parents might have abandoned me, but that doesn't mean I'm worthless." And eventually Kylo Ren can say, "My family might have been powerful, but I don't have to be," and all those other things that they can bounce off of each other as great foils.

It can keep being a good story about accepting past failures and choosing to grow beyond them.

Let's just all collectively ignore Rey Skypatine because of how silly that was. I mean. If they can just ignore the setups in the previous movie, we can ignore their choices in the conclusion. Right?? Right? Tell me I'm right

[sad-stucky-shipper-107]

I apologize in advance for spamming the tags but I just had a cursed thought and I need you all to also think about this:

Ik some of us don't really like to acknowledge the sequels but Palpatine rlly said trans rights lmfao when he was tryna transfer his consciousness into Rey's body, like man simply did not give a fuck the body he was trying possess was female.

[phaslo]

Kylo Ren self-mutilating and demanding unachievable standards of perfection from himself and his peers, being defined in terms (“Ben”/“Kylo Ren”) that evoke the idea of him having a doppelgänger and getting creeped on by a mentor/paternal figure. He is literally doing a fuckboy rendition of Black Swan.

[snipsnipsnippy]

Can I just talk about Leia’s lightsaber? For probably a long time..

First, I want to say aesthetically she’s gorgeous. She’s so unique. She’s so sleek. She looks like a Jedi masterpiece.

But goddamn does she suck to use.

So to start from the top, we see this beautiful legacy through Leia’s saber. We have the thin neck and rings calling back to Obi-Wan/Luke’s second saber and the vertical grips calling back to Anakin/Luke/the “Skywalker saber”. And we’re told it’s made of silver and copper with mother of pearl?! which just screams Padmé and Breha to me. I love how certain details of a character’s lineage pass through their sabers. Just beautiful.

And obviously because I love Leia and her lightsaber is beautiful I bought one of these but specifically to use, not to display. And oh boy. The amount of blood I have spilled on this saber is terrible, and no I don’t mean hurting someone else. This is my own literal actual blood from getting sliced and diced by this hilt.

Because those vertical grips are the worst ever idea to put on a handheld weapon. The reason they worked on Anakin’s is because they’re straight and thick and chunky and, most importantly, blunt. The whole feminizing sleek-ifying thing they did with Leia’s - while stunning - renders it useless because the grip is curved and those edges and corners are all hard and sharp. One slip, and it will slice your hand. Not to mention just all over make it uncomfortable to use.

And this is one of those beautifully deep things Star Wars has just stumbled into creating because I don’t think it was ever intended or thought about much more than making a pretty prop.

But it is absolutely poetic that Leia’s lightsaber, representing her journey into the Force, is genuinely something that causes her pain despite bringing her closer to her family. Her entire history with the Force is written into this one tool, which she built with her own hands, and yet wielding this tool is only going to harm her and lead her down a painful and treacherous path that no amount of skill or care can save her from. And for her then to walk away from this because it is too difficult to bear or because her family was telling her that her role is elsewhere in a field that she loves that loves her back is just the most perfectly illustrated piece of Leia’s story.

In short, I absolutely hate this lightsaber, but because of that, I absolutely love the story it tells.

[darth-jess]

Acolyte is going to age well, I'm telling you.

It's more true to Star Wars than the Sequels, because it's about the things that Star Wars has always been known for:

FAMILY – and the forces (both light and dark) that try to pull it apart.

In the Prequels, Anakin is constantly trying to protect his family: his mother, Padmé, Obi-Wan, the Chancellor. And it's his intense love toward his family that allows him to be manipulated into darkness, which ultimately tears his family apart.

In the Original Trilogy, the Skywalker family has been torn apart by darkness. But the ties of family between Vader, Luke, and Leia are strong, and it's family that saves Vader in the end.

And in Acolyte, we see a family torn apart by the Jedi, and two sisters constantly reaching for each other across space and time, but forces of darkness and justice get in the way.

In the Sequels there's this found family vibe, which in general is great, but in the movies you never get this sense that Rey holds any important family connection with anyone.

CORRUPTION – in others, the people you love, and in the institutions you trust.

In the Prequels, we see the corruption in the Senate, the corruption in the Jedi Order, and Anakin's corruption from light into dark.

In the Original Trilogy, we see the corruption of the Empire, but we also see the seeds of corruption from the old Jedi Order, with Yoda and Obi-Wan constantly telling Luke that he must kill his own father. We see Vader's corruption, and we see Luke unravel it.

In Acolyte, we see Mae corrupted by the dark side, we see Osha corrupted by her own feelings, and we see the Jedi corrupted by their own belief that they are the saviors of the galaxy, that they did the right thing.

In the Sequels, we see Luke, a Jedi, almost killing his nephew– this is absolutely corruption within the Jedi, but this is unbelievably out of character for Luke, who forgave his father, a mass murderer. We also see Ben Solo, but we never see him being corrupted by the dark side. We just see he's pretty much already there.

REDEMPTION – for those who seek it, and those who defy it.

In the Prequels, we are shown the path that takes Anakin into darkness.

And in the Original Trilogy, we are shown a man who defies his own redemption because he believes he does not deserve it, and that it's far too late– and yet he finds redemption anyway.

In Acolyte, almost every Jedi we're introduced to seeks redemption because of the terrible thing they've done, because of the secret they keep. I wouldn't say any of them are actually redeemed, but seeking redemption is an important part of this story for the Jedi characters.

In the Sequels… Yeah Ben Solo is redeemed but redemption isn't exactly a "theme" of the movies.

LOVE – complete, unconditional love, beyond reason.

In the Prequels, Anakin and Padmé share a love like this. Anakin doesn't deny killing younglings, and Padmé (while deeply upset and disturbed) does not stop loving him for what he's done.

In the Original Trilogy, Luke has never known his father, he doesn't have memories of a man who was once kind an honorable and good. All he knows is Darth Vader. And yet, he is willing to forgive his father because he loves him.

In Acolyte, Mae and Osha have both betrayed each other, have both done unspeakable things in each other's eyes, and yet their love for each other never falters. It remains, strong and forgiving, always.

In the Sequels… Is love a main "theme" of the Sequels? Yeah, Leia and Han love their son, but they've kind of given up on him and their marriage, Kylo Ren and Rey do not know each other well enough at all to be in love, and Luke apparently gave up on that unconditional love he got from his mother which allowed him to forgive his father. IDK love isn't a huge part of the Sequels.

POLITICS – I just need to point it out, almost every Star Wars movie or TV series that's actually good includes a lot of politics that's clearly explained and makes a lot of sense.

In the Prequels, we are introduced to the politics of the Galactic Republic, as well as the politics of the Jedi Order.

In The Clone Wars, there are whole story arcs based on politics (that whole arc about deregulating the banks?).

In the Original Trilogy, we hear about the Emperor's political maneuvers and how he's disbanded the Senate. We also come to understand the the Empire rules through fear, military might, and destruction of their opposition.

In Acolyte, we see Jedi politics play out, and we hear about how there are a few senators who do not trust the Jedi and the power they have.

What politics are we given in the Sequels? First Order, bad. Rebels good. And also repeat of the Original Trilogy. Oh, the New Order rules with military might and fear, and they have a Death Star thing. Okay? We've seen all this before.

*Disclaimer: When I'm talking about the Sequels, I'm talking about the movies, not the books. I have not read the books.

[raleighrador]

Torturing myself with ways Disney changed Star Wars - Violence & Strength part 2

A further follow to this https://www.tumblr.com/raleighrador/774909537693171712/a-final-thought-to-add-here-my-belief-is-that?source=share

If you like the sequels and specifically like Rey, you may want to skip this post. As a character I think she - as might be expected from the face of the sequel trilogy - is the purist distillation of how Disney fundamentally changed the narrative role of strength and violence, and power more generally.

I also think this broadly makes for an uninteresting character that has limited efficacy as part of a story, and is almost purely a marketing/fan service vehicle.

On violence and strength: Rey basically wins every single meaningful fight she gets into. Almost every physical confrontation is an illustration of how badass and competent she is. This is true throughout the trilogy.

In TFA her first confrontation is with Finn, a trained storm trooper raised from childhood to be a soldier. Rey effortlessly disarms him and gets him on the ground. Sure, she has a weapon and he doesn't but still.

Compare this with Luke's first few conflicts - he is knocked out by the Tuskens, he needs Ben to save him in the cantina.

There is the climactic fight with Kylo Ren. First, she "overpowers" Kylo and is able to snatch the lightsaber out of his Force grip, and then she defeats him in a duel. I know Kylo had been shot by Chewie but when I watch that scene I don't see anything that is meant to indicate he is operating at far below his best.

Again, compare this to either Luke or Anakin's first duels (after significantly more training). They both lose, badly, and are dismembered. Sure, Vader and Dooku are perhaps meant to be understood as far more powerful and dangerous than Kylo but the point remains.

Rey actually has limited fights in TLJ - but the throne room is clearly the most meaningful one. Again, pertinent observations: Rey (and Kylo) are able to defeat 8 Praetorian guards (who have the visual and contextual signal of "baddies you should worry about, not regular mooks"). Her and Kylo then again play tug of war with the lightsaber, and are evenly matched to the point that the saber gets ripped in half.

Again - Rey doesn't lose. In fact, we get a long lingering fight scene to show how cool and bass and good at fighting she is. She is tempted by Kylo, tempted by the dark side, and rejects it.

Completely unscathed, it is worth adding.

Again, compare this with Luke (tempted and mutilated by his father), or Anakin who gives in to the dark (on Tattooine and arguably on Geonosis) and is mutilated physically and spiritually in doing so.

Finally we get to TROS.

Rey's first "fight" is with Kylo where she destroys his TIE with a saber, then uses force lightning to destroy a ship (and maybe but turns out not actually kill Chewie).

Her second is the vision/teleport duel with Kylo across the ship and the planet. Again, it is a draw, Rey certainly doesn't lose.

She and Kylo duel again on the wreckage of the DS. Maybe Kylo is distracted but he certainly isn't winning, and Rey then stabs him (which is commonly believed to indicate someone "winning" a sword fight). She then Force heals him and saves his life.

On Exegol her and Ben Solo then murder their way through the Praetorians and Knights of Ren, before directly confronting Palpatine. The jeopardy in the narrative is created by the fact that if Rey kills Palpatine out of anger, she becomes a Sith, but if she doesn't kill him she dies and so does the Resistance. Rey then hears the voices of all the past Jedi - including, just in case we didn't get it, Anakin Skywalker telling her to bring balance to the Force like he did (did he?) - and magically teleports Ben's lightsaber so she can dual wield and redirect the lightning Palpatine is blasting and kill shim with that.

She then dies from the effort (before immediately being brought back to life by Ben).

Again, contrast this with Anakin's fight with Obi-Wan on Mustafar or Luke's confrontation with Vader on DS2. Anakin and Obi-Wan both lose on Mustafar - the mere act of engaging in violence empowers the Dark and ultimately completes the creation of Darth Vader.

Luke only wins by throwing down his saber, by refusing to meet violence with violence.

Lucas had a clear metaphysical logic that is reflected in the use and role of violence.

Violence has a cost. There is no escaping that. Violence is almost always wrong - even if you believe it to be right and approach it dispassionately. There is no just killing, not such that your soul can survive.

Luke and Anakin are - narratively - consistently punished for choosing violence. Every time they try and solve a problem with violence they lose a loved one, a body part, a piece of their soul.

The same is true - to a lesser degree - for Obi-Wan. He defeats Maul but loses Qui-Gon. His decision to follow Dooku results in his and Anakin's injuries and achieves nothing. He is the one who swings a saber through whatever limited remains of Anakin might exist and heralds the final birth of Vader.

Contrast this with the fight on the DS. Obi-Wan knows there is no victory in fighting Vader, but in refusing to fight, in sheathing his sword, he can achieve a power far greater than the Sith can imagine.

TLJ's final scene where Mirage Luke confronts Kylo is actually also consistent with this, and it's why it is in isolation some of my absolute favourite Star Wars.

TLJ is also very confusing while it DOES apply the same logic as Lucas to Luke (try and kill your sleeping nephew = bad, using the Force to distract the First Order while you never actually harm anyone = good) it doesn't to Rey or Kylo.

Disney - by contrast - certainly do not treat violence in the same way. In fact, Disney takes a starkly different view which is almost readable as "might makes right" or maybe more accurately "being right makes you mighty".

Rey is good and pure and therefore she wins all her fights. She is on the side of the Light and so cannot lose. Kylo Ren, by contrast, is Evil and so despite more training and experience he consistently loses. It is only when he fights for the right reasons - killing Snoke and his guards to help Rey, or saving Rey from Palpatine - that he wins.

This is... distinctly weird. How, for example, are we meant to reinterpret the original 6 films or the wider Star Wars universe with this logic? I take it Palpatine was mostly right?

What you might say is actually that violence has no narrative weight. Maybe. That is as much of a change from Lucas as anything else but it also significantly limits the ability to tell a story in the context of the medium of sci fi action movies.

And that is actually the point, I think. There is no meaningful narrative interpretation of violence in the Disney films. The fight scenes serve no real purpose - they do not represent crucibles in which characters develop and transform, nor do they provide any level or moral insight.

They are purely vehicles for a) cool cinematography (and to be clear, the Sequels are consistently BEAUTIFUL and the fights scenes are some of the best) and b) emphasising how awesome the poster girl is and how neat it would be if you bought Lego and action figures and and and.

[intergalactic-cutie-pie]

All this right here

NOT MY EDIT. CREDITS TO THE AUTHOR!!!

[myfandomrambles]

The fact that the disaster lineage produces multiple sith lords multiple hermits and multiple people who left the faith is kind of terrible and funny.

I think maybe we should blame Yoda. Like it was just generational fuckery so like it's Yoda's doing for reals. I mean thinking down the line there were a lot of mistakes made.

Like I love these stupid little space wizards but I think we should blame Yoda tbh

[thewayofthetrashcompactor]

Showing young Ben as thinking "maybe the Empire was right" is just such a fundamental misunderstanding of his storyline and what happened to him. He had the literal star wars personification of evil inside his head from a young age (originally shown in the comics, confirmed on screen in tRoS), telling him that maybe he was evil too, that the people around him knew it. And unintentionally, they play into that, even when they're trying to do their best for him: Leia sends him to train with Luke, hoping her brother who's spent years studying the Force, one of the only people she can trust, will be able to help her son who is struggling with elements she has no experience with, and Palpatine is there to whisper in Ben's mind that this is rejection, they're sending him away because they know he's evil and hate him for it. Luke tries to treat him as equal, and Palpatine is there giving the same explanation of rejection. All this building up to Luke standing over him with his saber, because he's seen the people he loves dying because of this kid, and it's the final confirmation for Ben that everything Palpatine has ever told him is true, that the people who should love him want him dead.

And it's a tragedy, because Leia and Luke (and Han) had no idea what they were fighting against, had no way to understand what was really happening to Ben, and Palpatine has been haunting the Skywalkers since the beginning, taking everything that should've been good in them and twisting it for himself. Ben is an echo of Anakin, where Palpatine was able to speak into the ear of the chosen one and corrupt all his potential because he always has a plan far beyond what the heroes can see. And to heal the wound from Palpatine, Ben should've been able to live free of his influence, but Palpatine succeeded in killing every single one of his family in the end and that's the tragedy we're met with.

But yeah. Positioning Ben as this contrary kid who's taking an edgy political stance to be contrary has nothing to do with his actual character or arc. He never shows any interest in the politics of the First Order throughout the movies or additional material. Maybe you're thinking of Hux.

[a-manda-lorian]

I don’t know about y’all, but I have been perpetually disappointed in franchise/series endings for years now. Is fandom the problem??? Like, we all get on here and theorize and come up with bangin’ meta… and then the writers give us a steaming pile of 💩 for the actual film/show/book ending… How are the fans better at coming up with amazing story ideas while the people making the big bucks are making lousy stories??? All these things that end up in story for us to analyze can’t just be accidents, but then why do they never get fleshed out and come to a logical conclusion???

I’m just confused. Should we stop doing this, hyping ourselves up and setting unrealistic expectations on story writers…?

I feel like I’m being punked… where’s Ashton????

[curlytheintrovert]

Why I Love Reylo (Pt.2)

(My old post for reasons unknown got deleted😭)

One of my other favorite parts of this couple is that they are atypically gender reversed. It’s one of the many reasons this ship is so intriguing and unique compared to others. Let me explain. Typically in most hetero romances the man is the abrasive, closed off one at first and is generally a prickly little shit. While the girl is typically softer, a little more compassionate and open minded. This not the case with Rey and Kylo.

Rey’s first interaction with Kylo is shooting a blaster at him multiple times in succession. Granted she does have a Force vision of Kylo at Maz’s which makes her justifiably hostile and afraid of him. During the interrogation scene Kylo reads her mind and speaks her thoughts out loud: she wants to kill him. Rey calls him a creature in a mask and angrily tells him to get out of her head. And then proceeds to spit Kylo’s greatest fear back in his face with such venom. I love how she snarls: “You. You’re afraid.”

Kylo on the other hand only defends himself from her blasts and force stops her from shooting any further. He gently says: “The girl I’ve heard so much about.” Kylo easily could have dragged her away or thrown her into the hands of the troopers beside him—but instead he makes Rey sleep and scoops her up into his arms bridal style. In the interrogation room Kylo sees Rey’s fear and says she’s his guest. He takes off his mask. Then explains things calmly—never raising his voice above a murmur. The curiosity about her is strong as Kylo probes her mind and the responses to what he finds there are emotional. I love so much how he says “Don’t be afraid, I feel it too.” It just feels so incredibly kind considering the circumstances—like that was the first little glimpse of Ben we got.

The shift that happens when Rey uses the force back on Kylo is what really sets the tone for the rest of their relationship. Rey attacks and responds negatively—Kylo gently deflects and tries to connect. If you watch throughout the rest of the films this dynamic doesn’t really change. Almost all of their force bonds in TLJ are similar: Rey being barbarous and Kylo being benign. A majority of their saber fights are like this too—Kylo plays defense, is hesitant to pull out his saber multiple times or looks like he’s doesn’t want to fight her period.

See what I mean?! Rey is hostile and prickly—Kylo is open minded and gentle.

The other gender swapped aspect is that in a way Kylo is the damsel of this pairing. He’s trapped far away, lonely and miserable, in a figurative tower. Rey fights Luke for his cause and goes to rescue and save him if she can. But I also see Kylo as an emotional damsel too. He’s so lost, and hurt and twisted. Rey offers him a way back—she’s the only one who can—and in the long run is the very reason he is able to become Ben Solo again. But it’s when Rey lets her guard down and mellows her prejudice that their relationship flourishes. Kylo/Ben is already ready and waiting to love and be loved…

Man, this pairing is complex and fun to analyze!

[phaslo]

They accidentally wrote something interesting with the implication that Snoke was a creation of Palpatine. Because Snoke showed favor to Hux who murdered his father and Snoke had Kylo murder his father and got upset when he didn’t enjoy it. That last part stands out as particularly significant because it’s the only time Snoke ever seems like, genuinely emotionally invested in Kylo. And it’s just to express revulsion over his unenthusiastic response to going through with patricide. Did Snoke have Allied Mastercomputer syndrome or something? Was he doomed to an existence of deprivation by virtue of his unnatural design & overtaken by impotent rage over not being able to punish his creator, until it warped him into something even nastier than he was originally supposed to be? The world may never know.

[allgirlsareprincesses]

Do you think that Rey's story (excluding episode 9 'cause that was a shitshow) could be interpreted as a Cinderella/Ash girl story?

I hope you realize asking me this is like throwing chum to a shark 😈. But the short answer is yes, to a point.

The long answer is more complicated, so to begin with, let's consult the Cinderella bible:

According to the Aarne Thompson Uther Index, there are five primary motifs to a Cinderella tale:

Persecuted heroine, usually by family

Help or helper, usually magic

Meeting the prince, usually with true identity disguised

Identification or penetration of disguise, usually by means of an object

Marriage to the prince

Rey is abandoned by her family, which is a form of persecution, and harassed by the inhabitants of Jakku like Unkar Plutt. Thus she clearly fulfills the first item.

As for meeting a helper, there are several for her, including Han Solo, Maz, Luke, and Leia. Any or all of these may be considered fairy godparents in the way that they offer her wisdom and material help. Further, except for Maz, they all die in the course of the story, which is consistent with many Cinderella tales in which the helper dies and their bones continue to offer wisdom and comfort to the heroine.

Next, meeting the prince. I mean

To the extent that Rey is "in disguise' here, it would be the extent of her force powers, her destiny as Ben Solo's dyad mate, and her role as the heir apparent to the Jedi (chosen by the Force to wield the legacy saber), all of which are obscured from Kylo Ren when he discovers her in the forest. Further, she is grimy and covered in desert sand, similar to how Cinderella is smeared with ashes that hide her true beauty.

So now an object penetrates the disguise. This is obviously the Skywalker lightsaber, which reveals Rey to be everything listed above, especially when she calls it to her on Starkiller Base, and again when she wields it on Ahch-to.

And lastly, marriage to the prince. As many others have pointed out over the years, Rey and Ben have almost too many symbolic marriages to count in the course of the sequel trilogy. They're extremely married, the Force said so.

BUT WAIT! Go back and look at that list again. Who ELSE fits all those criteria?

It's our boy! Consider:

He is indeed persecuted by family, most notably when Luke momentarily considers killing him.

Ben's helpers are both dark and light, as Snoke/Palpatine guide him in the dark while Luke guides him in the light (poorly). But note again what I said above about the bones of the mentor continuing to offer guidance and comfort after their death. Who should appear at Ben's lowest hour but his departed father, Han Solo? With a message of love, acceptance, and encouragement, Han's memory (because in fairy tales, bones contain memory) encourages Ben to at last cast off his beastly skin and become who he always was.

Next, meeting the prince/ss in disguise. He's wearing a literal mask when he meets Rey, so yeah.

An object penetrates the disguise? Rey slashed his face with the legacy saber, thus symbolically peeling away his mask. And I've argued before that the stabbing in TROS (which I still HATE, btw) is another cutting or burning away of the beastly skin.

And lastly, marriage to the prince/ss. As previously stated, that happened. Many times.

So yes, the Sequel Trilogy can definitely be considered a Cinderella story, with but one glaring issue: Cinderella's husband usually doesn't die at the end. But that's another topic that's been done to death, so let's all just read some more fanfic and forget about it. 👑 Thank you for the ask, this was fun!

[kylosbreedingkink]

The big takeaway from Hyperspace Stories is that Kylo still feels the light so strongly that it completely blindsided him and beckoned him to go help someone he barely even likes.

He was so hyper fixated on this Force presence he felt that he was ready to kill for it, just for the Force to intervene and give him the sense that someone he was supposed to be working with was in danger.

This isn't the first time this has been shown to happen. It is also the only thing that Snoke can be referring to as the Light distracting him. If we go by the idea that the Light is inherently selfless and the Dark is selfish - him stopping what he was doing due to go help someone is a very Light sided thing to do.

Which is exactly what we know of Kylo. Someone struggling between the Light and the Dark, feeling it tear him in two ways. So much of his life had been given up for the Light, that selflessness in helping other, doing what others want for him, that his constant desire to do what he wants for himself (or believes he wants for himself, at least) is the only rebellion he has, and is his link to the Dark.

But despite being so entrenched in the Dark, despite being so strong in it, the Light still beckons him and he can't help but follow its call.

I also wonder a bit on this exact scenario - he used to teach at Luke's school. No doubt he went off on trips with students and no doubt he learned to keep a general feel of where the students were, making sure they were safe and not in trouble. Exactly the sort of skill that a teacher of the Force would use. This ability is probably so well honed that he can't turn it off, so Hux's ego-driven bullshit and that inherent Light sided selflessness dragged him from his desire in this moment.

The comic ends how this post begins, Snoke commenting on the Light in Kylo. Though interestingly, despite telling him he should have focused more on his own desire in the Dark and found out what the Force presence was instead of the Light sided need to help a comrade, Snoke is not aggressive about it. He seems accepting that this is a part of his student, almost resigned to it. Many times Snoke has used violence in his training of Kylo, but in this instance where Kylo has used the light, he simply tells him to try and snuff it out.

There is no anger here from Snoke at Kylo for not succeeding due to the Light, when Snoke has shown anger at Kylo for many other things.