Star Wars has finally revealed how Ben Solo learned he was Darth Vader's grandson. Although she was the daughter of Anakin Skywalker and Padmé Amidala, Leia always considered herself a member of the Organa family. After all, Bail and his wife Breha were the ones who had brought her up, and she had learned her deep belief in justice from her adopted parents. Bail, in particular, was a key figure in the early Rebel Alliance, and Leia proudly followed in his footsteps.

Leia only learned the truth about her heritage in Return of the Jedi. It was a moment of joy, as she finally came to understand her conflicted feelings over Luke, but as she reflected upon it she began to understand just how troubling it really was. After all, she was the daughter of Darth Vader, and she had inherited all his power in the Force. As she looked back upon her life, Leia recognized moments she had used the dark side. Claudia Gray's novel Bloodline reveals Leia struggled to deal with this dark legacy, and indeed for years she kept her true parentage a closely-guarded secret. Sadly, it was ultimately revealed to the galaxy by her political opponents, destroying her career. Bloodline only alludes to the impact of all this upon Leia's son Ben, but Kristin Baver's recently-published biography of the Skywalkers, Skywalker: A Family At War, reveals the full story.

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Leia had chosen to conceal the family history from Ben, concerned he too would feel the shadow of the darkness she sensed looming over her; even as he trained Ben as his apprentice, Luke had honored his sister's wishes and avoided giving his Padawan an honest account of Darth Vader's redemption. And then, when Ben was 23 years old, he was shocked to see the truth break across the Holonet and shatter his mother's career.

"The revelation felt like a betrayal. Ben, who took after Anakin Skywalker in his powerful Force abilities and hot-headed nature, was crushed by the realization that his parents and his uncle had known the truth for decades yet had not seen fit to share it with him. He was incredulous that he had been left to discover the damning fact along with what felt like everyone else in the known galaxy. And the fact that his family had kept such a dramatic piece of information hidden seemed to justify every dark impulse and feeling of paranoia he'd entertained in his young life."

Kylo Ren and Darth Vader Rise of Skywalker Deleted Scene

Leia sent a tearful, desperate message to her son after the news broke, but it was too late. A shaken Ben Solo began to question every facet of his identity, and he became increasingly obsessed with his grandfather. He was spurred on in this by Palpatine, who had been manipulating the boy through the Force ever since his birth. Rather than consider himself the heir of Jedi heroes and Rebel leaders, Ben began to believe his identity was shaped more by the vein of darkness he had inherited from his grandfather. There is a sense in which Ben Solo never really fell to the dark side, but was instead trapped by it, and this was a key moment in his story; the moment he began to believe he was destined for darkness because of his bloodline.

This was Leia's greatest mistake. Had she only told her son the truth long ago, she would have been able to help him deal with it. But the way Ben learned his dark heritage damaged his trust in those who loved him and who would have been able to help him understand what it meant to be the grandson of Darth Vader. Decades earlier, Palpatine had exploited Anakin's absence of a father-figure in order to groom Anakin for the dark side, and now he was able to use the damaged relationships at the heart of the Solo family to the same end. The tragedy of Star Wars was set to repeat, all due to one fateful error.

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