TheStar Warssequel trilogy has replaced George Lucas’s prequels as the trio ofStar Warsfilms that have caused the most division and toxicity among fans of the franchise.Episode VII – The Force Awakensserved as the grand return ofStar Warsto the world of live-action films, whileEpisode VIII – The Last Jedi,andEpisode IX – The Rise of Skywalkerexist in a state of conflict with one another. The latter two films of the sequel trilogy play tug-of-war with the franchise, with each attempting to bring the trilogy in its own different direction. The result is a trilogy of films that, while it does offer moments of greatness throughout, is an absolute mess with its overall story, character arcs and expansion of the franchise.
Many fans like to direct their frustrations with the sequel trilogy at its final chapter,The Rise of Skywalker. Primarily, this is because the movie featured the sudden return of Emperor Palpatine, the villain of the first twoStar Warstrilogies, despite there being no set-up for this previously and it transparently being a bad attempt at course correction.
Although the franchise is retroactively trying toset up Palpatine’s returnthrough other stories likeThe Bad BatchandThe Mandalorian, the explanation of “somehow Palpatine returned” inThe Rise of Skywalkeris a massive sore spot of the sequels. However, it’s not the only one, nor is it the biggest mistake the films made. We would argue that needlessly killing off the best character of the sequel films at the end was the worst part about them. Here’s why:
Adam Driver as Kylo Ren
As the villainous Kylo Ren across all three films,Adam Drivermade for the biggest highlight of the entire sequel trilogy. In the lead-up to the release ofThe Force Awakens, the character’s identity was kept a secret, with many fans speculating wildly about who he could be. That film revealed the identity behind the mask to be Ben Solo, the son of Leia Organa and Han Solo, who had been training to be a Jedi with his uncle, Luke Skywalker, before he turned to the Dark Side and destroyed the budding new Jedi Academy in the process. Driver gives an excellent performance inThe Force Awakens, as he really sells the anger, arrogance, pain, and determination of his character throughout the film.
It is inThe Last Jedi, however, that Ren transforms from an interesting villain to one of the most compelling characters in the franchise. A large part of this is the result of Driver appearing mask-less throughout most of the film, as the character destroyshis Darth Vader-inspired helmetamid a crisis of personality. This decision allows Driver’s performance to truly shine through, as he imbues the character with a lot more personality, and he is able to convey the character’s emotions much more clearly.
ThroughoutThe Last Jedi, Ren is shown grappling with the weight of who everyone thinks or expects him to be. Rey views him as a monster; Snoke sees him as a pawn; Luke considers him a manifestation of his own failure; and Leia hopes he is redeemable. He exists as a factor in other people’s ideas and plans, until he creates his own path by killing Snoke, connecting with Rey and taking over the First Order.
Finally, inThe Rise of Skywalker, Ren’s story is completed as his relationship with Rey is further established, and he is eventually brought back from the brink. By the end of the film, he abandons the evils of Kylo Ren and returns to being Ben Solo. He defeats the Knights of Ren and helps Rey fight Palpatine, but in the end, he sacrifices his life in order for Rey to continue living on.
We by no means wish that it had been the other way around, as Daisy Ridley’s Rey was another massive highlight of the sequel films, but the killing of Ben Solo after he’d been redeemed felt overly contrived. Yes, it continues the idea ofStar Wars“rhyming,” as it echoes Anakin Skywalker’s death after being saved from Darth Vader at the end ofEpisode VI – Return of the Jedi, but it does so needlessly at the expense ofThe Rise of Skywalker’s own story.
Star Wars: 10 Characters from the Sequel Trilogy That Need a Return and Proper Development
Here is our list of sequel trilogy characters who need to return to the Star Wars universe and get the development they deserve.
The Lost Potential
While the character of Kylo Ren, especially throughoutThe Force AwakensandThe Last Jedi, delivered some of the bestStar Warsmaterial in the franchise’s history, the potential of Ben Solo as a character was largely wasted. While the films depicted him, as Ren, struggling with the weight of his heritage, audiences never really got to know him beyond the confines of his Dark Side era. We never really met Ben Solo as a character, which makes it more difficult to root for his return from the evils of the Sith.
While the reveal of Kylo Ren as the son of Leia and Han made for a great moment inThe Force Awakens, the story might’ve been better served if it had actually shown Ben’s fall from grace, outside a brief flashback inThe Last Jedi.
It’s clear that he is meant to be an echo of Vader’s story, and Anakin Skywalker’s character is never really established in the original trilogy, but there’s an entire prequel trilogy and various animated and live-action series that havedeepened Anakin’s storyand made his fall and rise much more compelling. Ben Solo has never had nearly that degree of character development. Audiences only got to briefly know him for a few minutes at the end ofThe Rise of Skywalkerbefore he was killed off. While it’s always possible his earlier story will be revisited down the line, in the same way that Anakin’s was, fans shouldn’t have to rely on supplementary materials like that in order to fully appreciate a character.
A clear solution to this issue might’ve been to explore the character in more detail after his return from the Dark Side. However, by killing Ben Solo off at the end ofThe Rise of Skywalker, the franchise has stopped itself from being able to adequately do that. If he had continued on living, fans could have actually gotten to know Ben as a character and seen what his family and the galaxy had been deprived of by the seductions of Snoke, Palpatine and the Dark Side.
Plus, it would’ve further differentiated Ben from Anakin and made him a more standout character in the franchise. While the non-canon LegendsStar Warsmaterial features plenty of characters who have continued on after their return from the Dark Side, the mainstreamStar Warsstories are noticeably light on characters with dark backstories like that. If Lucasfilm was committed to redeeming the character inThe Rise of Skywalker, they should’ve gone all the way with it and actually shown the character living with the consequences and repercussions of his actions.
Star Wars Actor Adam Driver is Open to Resurrecting Kylo Ren
Adam Driver is not against bringing back Kylo Ren in a future Star Wars project.
Could He Still Return?
As we all know, nobody is really dead in any of these major Hollywood franchises, especially if they’re a Jedi. Force-wielders inStar Warsare constantlyshowing up as Force ghostsyears after they died. The ghost of Obi-Wan Kenobi pops up throughout the original trilogy, Yoda appears inReturn of the JediandThe Last Jedi; Liam Neeson’s Qui-Gon Jinn appears in theObi-Wan Kenobiseries; Anakin has now appeared in bothThe Return of the Jediand theAhsokaseries; and Luke and Leia both appear inThe Rise of Skywalker,in addition to the other myriad of different ghostly Jedi voices that speak directly to Rey during the film’s climax.
Star Warsclearly has a history of bringing back fan-favorite characters in this manner, which makes it not only possible but likely that Adam Driver’s Ben Solo will appear as a Force Ghost in the upcoming film based around Rey’s new Jedi Order after the sequel trilogy.
This is even more likely considering two key aspects: firstly is the fact that Ben’s body disappears when he dies, implying he has become one with the Force in the same way that many other Jedi have; and secondly is the “Force dyad” connection that was established between Rey and Ben inThe Rise of Skywalker, which demonstrates a stronger connection between the two characters than any other Jedi seen before. Given Ben’s fate and this connection, it would be genuinely shocking if Driver doesn’t show up, even for a short scene, in the upcoming film.
