With the Force, nothing is impossible. ~Darth Vader
This is all speculation and if for some reason you have not seen the last trilogy of Star Wars films, then let me tell you up front…
SPOILER WARNING!!!!!
There are a whole lot of people out there who wanted Ben Solo to live, but as Cinema Therapy on Youtube pointed out, he could not live with himself after all the atrocious acts he committed as Kylo Ren. If you haven’t seen Cinema Therapy’s character break down of Kylo Ren, you should. You should also have a look at all the comments that Girls with Sabers (also on Youtube) have added to the monomyth discussion about this last trilogy of movies. I think the character is very popular so hopefully Disney will catch on, and carry on the story of Ben Solo, and not just in comics or books.
One of my friends who has only seen the movies was shocked to find out Kylo Ren wasn’t responsible for the deaths of his former classmates. But, you’d have to read the Rise of Kylo Ren comics to know that. This means that the casual Star Wars fans don’t read all the canon additional material and it also proves my point that it would be possible to bring back Ben Solo.
Two clues from the various media would make it possible. In one of the Darth Vader comics, Vader says , “Nothing is impossible with the Force.” and Luke says, “No one is ever really gone.” in The Last Jedi.
Let’s think about this then. Ben Solo was a powerful Force user, arguably more powerful than Luke, and in all likely hood more powerful than Anakin Skywalker. Snoke said in TLJ that, “Darkness rises and light rises to meet it.” If we consider that the dark he is referring to is himself/Palpatine, then yes, Ben Solo’s rise in the Light would make him a powerful adversary to Snoke/Palpatine. But, child predator Palpatine, manages to manipulate the situation so that Ben has no idea of his true potential. He’s hamstrung by Snoke/Palpatine starting in Leia’s womb. This is a guy, who never knew just how powerful he was, and he’s terrifyingly powerful enough for mom, dad, and uncle. Luke tried to curb his power, while at the same time, Snoke/Palpatine was also encouraged to grow stronger but at the same time indoctrinating him. This indoctrination by Snoke/Palpatine also curbed his power.
Solo is incredibly powerful, but he’s been conditioned to think he’s not strong enough. In all honesty, he’s probably stronger than Darth Vader, but because he’s been effectively brainwashed since birth, he would doubt himself. While his emo tantrums in the first movie look like a child with anger issues, this brainwashing has undermined his sense of self. Those tantrums, placed in context, are extreme cutting behaviors. Instead of finding peace through carving slashes into himself for not being perfect, he took it out on consoles and interrogation rooms. Those are the actions of someone in a great deal of psychic pain.
Snoke/Palpatine not only got revenge on the heroes who defeated him, he took a powerful lightsider that the Force probably intended to be the instrument to fight Palpatine, and twisted him. This is why Rey feels his fall to the Dark. She was already his dyad, but the Force activated their bond at that moment. Snoke is correct about powerful light and powerful dark.
Ben Solo has a lot to atone for, and while his absolution was giving his lifeforce to Rey, he’s still not 100%. A lot of chatter about resurrecting Ben falls to speculation and a fair number of fanfictions on the subject. So, lets think about some of those elements.
- Ben is about half insane because of the voices in his head. He would need to be seen working through his mental problems.
- The New New Republic is going to want his head on a platter. Like the majority of fans who don’t read the canon back story, they believe him to have given the order for Hosnia Prime and Kajimi, when he wasn’t responsible for those.
- He’s that kid that has heard he is bad so long, that he finally succumbs to the court of public opinion and starts doing the bad things that he’s already considered guilty of.
- He’s Ben Solo, he has to work at being the bad guy. He really does because it is against his inner nature.
- Lor San Tekka’s death is not because BB8 was not in the village. San Tekka reminds him of who he really is, and that’s not something he’s prepared to process. Plus, it is possible that characters in the story don’t know that Kylo Ren and Ben Solo are the same person. Those few that do, are best eliminated.
- I see a lot of people putting forth the theory of the World Between Worlds and that’s how Ben will come back. That is probably the most obvious way for it, and the most logical, provided the Asoka series touches on it. If he did come back via the WBW then the story would not begin in the same timeline as Rey. If Rey was in it at all, she’d probably be an old woman. Having him re-emerge in the future would be better because no one is looking for him by that time.
- A clone. This is also a good avenue for resurrecting him. It would stand to reason, if Snoke/Palpatine wanted, it would be very easy to obtain blood and tissue samples from Ben. So who is to say that out there somewhere is a cloning facility attempting to recreate his powerful Force abilities. (a) Hold that thought…why didn’t Palpatine clone Ben, and used the clone to park his psychic energy into? With the real Ben Solo and Rey, there is always the possibility that they would not be cooperative. So, whoops, plot hole.
- There really is an archive kept by LucasFilm about all the characters and back stories. Why JJ Abrams never thought to look there for inspiration is beyond me. Rian Johnson too. *shakes head*
- Ben’s Force Ghost. Remember, that when a Jedi dies, they become more powerful. Ben is already off the charts, so I think it is possible that once he learns how to Force Ghost (because you know Leia will tell him) he could visit Rey any time he wants to. He could even appear human with no blue glow. He could help Rey with her Jedi academy. He could still be her teacher since he was a Jedi. He needs to work through his issues and atone for his actions in life. He and Rey are interconnected in ways that only the Force knows how powerful they are together. Maybe he can’t move on and truly be one with the Force until he’s made a sincere effort to correct his mistakes. I think death won’t stop him at all. I also think that this scenario works because maybe there is an extragalactic threat from beyond Chiss territory that will threaten the galaxy. Several authors have already suggested extragalactic threats. (The Mother, Grysatx (I think, it started with a G but I don’t remember exactly) and the Yuzon-Vong)
I’d read that. I think an animated series would work just fine for it too. As much as I would like to see Adam Driver reprise the role, I am not sure Disney can talk him into it. Although, they did get Natalie Portman to return to the MCU so,,,
With the Force, nothing is impossible.
Peace, love, and guacamole, y’all.
siriusmoonlight 