‘Star Wars’: Leaving the First Order Wouldn’t Have Solved Kylo Ren’s Problems
Many Star Wars fans had a lot of different expectations from the sequel trilogy, but almost everyone expected Kylo Ren to get redeemed.
Many fans saw Kylo Ren, the alter-ego of Ben Solo, as the sequel trilogy’s main character or at the very least, co-main character. He had a very interesting backstory, as he’s the son of Han Solo and Leia Organa, and somehow, he became Snoke’s apprentice.
Of course, he kills Snoke in The Last Jedi and then he becomes the new Supreme Leader of the First Order, but Star Wars fans think that his redemption could’ve been handled differently. Some fans think that he could’ve just left the First Order, but that wouldn’t have changed anything.
Kylo Ren killed Snoke, but then what?
According to Star Wars fans on Reddit, Rian Johnson, the director of The Last Jedi, said that Kylo Ren’s choice to kill Snoke was simply a storytelling choice that made the most logical sense for where Kylo Ren, as a character, was going toward.
Johnson wanted to turn Kylo Ren into a “complicated but credible villain” by the end of the movie, and the best way he could’ve done that was by having him kill off Snoke.
Of course, that would make him the new Supreme Leader of the First Order, and that would be how he’d become the big villain of the next movie.
However, since Kylo Ren was always going to turn back to the light side and become Ben Solo again, some Star Wars fans have argued that it would’ve been better if he had just quit the First Order after killing Snoke. That said, this wouldn’t have solved anything for him.
Why quitting the First Order wouldn’t work
As a Star Wars fan on Reddit explained, leaving the First Order would’ve been a terrible idea. Firstly, since he’s the new Supreme Leader of the First Order, he has the power to turn the First Order into whatever organization he wants it to be. There’d be nothing stopping him from making the First Order into a nicer government than they were, and that could’ve been a decent reflection of how he’s redeeming himself for his past sins.
Furthermore, even if he quit the First Order, the First Order wouldn’t collapse by itself. Like that Star Wars fan on Reddit said, “There are still people like Hux in power who will just continue on Snoke’s work.”
As a result, by staying in the First Order, Kylo Ren or Ben Solo could’ve kept those people in line.
Kylo Ren is more interesting this way, too
Plus, like other Star Wars fans explained, by staying in the First Order, Kylo Ren’s dynamics with his subordinates changes, and that makes everything more complex and interesting. Like one Star Wars fans said, “The conflict wouldn’t just be Kylo vs Rey, there would be a good amount of Kylo vs Hux, and Kylo vs Kylo.”
That said, while many Star Wars fans agreed that The Rise of Skywalker explored those complicated relationships and dynamics somewhat, many Star Wars fans also think that it didn’t explore them enough. Many Star Wars fans didn’t like how Kylo Ren’s character sort of became the same person he was in The Force Awakens rather than growing and becoming something new.
Other Star Wars fans think that The Rise of Skywalker could’ve done more with the conflict that Kylo Ren had with other people in the First Order. Either way though, most Star Wars fans agree that keeping him in the First Order was the right call. If he had he just left the First Order, then that would make things more boring.
