SPOILERS for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
Kylo Ren uses Lando's old blaster (which was gifted to him as a young child) during a key sequence in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. The conclusion to the Skywalker saga is full of connections to not only the previous films, but also the canon Star Wars novels and TV shows that've come before it. It even ties into The Mandalorian by having Rey (Daisy Ridley) perform Force Healing, much like The Child (aka. Baby Yoda) does during the episode "The Reckoning". There are similar links to the cartoon series Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels sprinkled throughout the film, in addition to pre-The Force Awakens books like Chuck Wendig's Aftermath trilogy.
Wendig's novel Aftermath: Empire's End has proven to be particularly relevant to The Rise of Skywalker, offering the first real hints of Palpatine's return and the contingency plans he put in order prior to his "death" in Return of the Jedi. As it turns out, Empire's End also establishes an important connection between Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) and his "uncle" Lando Calrissian (Billy Dee Williams) that ultimately pays off during The Rise of Skywalker's climax.
Twitter user and Friends of the Force podcast host Brad Whipple has noted the blaster Kylo uses on Exegol - at which point he has "become" Ben Solo again - is the one Lando gave to him as a birthday gift in Empire's End, back when he was a child. Of course, Lando didn't actually give Ben the blaster at the time; as his associate Lobot (sternly) pointed out while Lando was deciding on a present for Ben in the book, "Children should not play with blasters". As Lando explained to Lobot, his plan was to leave the weapon in a safe place for Ben to access when he was older:
"No, not for now. For later. When the time is right. Tell you what. I'll write a note, kind of a...Hey, kid, it's me, Uncle Lando, you ever need help and don't wanna call your father, come find me, we'll sort it out. Put that in with the blaster, then secure it in a locker here on Cloud City, and give Han the key. Don't tell him what's in it - he'll pitch a fit if he sees it. It'll be for the boy when he's older."
This wasn't any old blaster Lando left behind for Ben, either. It was the same one - a BLasTech SE-14r - he uses as a younger man (played by Donald Glover) during Solo: A Star Wars Story. Whipple has further pointed out the weapon is composed of chromium mined from one of Naboo's moons, which means Ben ends up using a weapon from his maternal grandmother Padmé Amidala's homeworld during the final battle against Palpatine in The Rise of Skywalker. It goes without saying, but that detail was no accident, either, and was surely planted by the Lucasfilm Story Group and its writers (Wendig included) specifically to come back into play at some point during the sequel trilogy. Likewise, it adds some nice emotional subtext to the fight on Exegol and Ben's efforts to redeem himself. Well, for those willing to do some extra Star Wars reading, anyway.
Like a lot of the connections to deeper Star Wars mythology featured throughout The Rise of Skywalker, this detail will go entirely unnoticed by anyone who hasn't been keeping up with the non-movie parts of the franchise. For better or worse, that's going to be the way things are moving forward in the galaxy far, far away, as Disney and Lucasfilm continue to build out Star Wars as a multi-platform shared universe. There's been even more of that going around lately, with The Mandalorian season one concluding on a big reveal that won't have any meaning (for now) unless you've already watched Clone Wars and Rebels. But on the flip side, those who are keeping up with everything Star Wars should only get to enjoy a richer storytelling experience hereon out because of this.
Source: Brad Whipple/Twitter