Warning: SPOILERS for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

The sequel trilogy of Star Wars has come to an end, completing the journey of Ben Solo from light to darkness and back again. But the films didn't answer every question fans were hoping to see. The most important of those nagging questions being: what is the name 'Kylo Ren' supposed to mean, anyway? Thankfully, the mystery has been solved in detail... you just won't find it explained in the movies.

Even before Marvel had told fans what to expect from Ben Solo's origin comic, Star Wars: The Rise of Kylo Ren, assumptions were made about how much of Ben's story could feasibly be explored in The Rise of Skywalker finale. The first official details confirmed suspicions, with writer Charles Soule describing the four-part origin comic as the character's transformation "from Ben to Ren." The first issue knocked fans over by answering every question about the Knights of Ren, while also introducing readers to the rest of Luke's young Jedi students. And in The Rise of Kylo Ren #2, the question of Ben Solo's future, dark side name is finally raised. Confirming, in as clear a fashion as fans may ever get, the true meaning of 'Kylo Ren.'

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In case Star Wars fans missed out on the first issue, the comic actually opens by introducing Ren, leader of the Knights of Ren -- so named because they serve both Ren himself, and the red lightsaber they worship as an embodiment of the dark side. Or as they call it, "the shadow." So while Ben Solo has yet to defeat Ren as his own trial, or more peacefully take his role as the Knights' commander (unlikely), that half of his name is clear enough. Especially with Snoke supporting Ben Solo's belief that his path away from Luke Skywalker may lead through the mysterious, dark side-serving warriors.

Star Wars Comic Ren Meaning Lightsaber

But that still leaves the 'Kylo' half of Ben Solo's adopted identity to explain. And the explanation is both simpler, and more complicated than fans are likely to expect. When Star Wars: The Force Awakens revealed the masked 'Kylo Ren' to be Ben Solo, son of Han Solo and Leia Skywalker, some fans deduced their own explanation for 'ky-lo,' typically with a rolling of the eyes or a laugh. As a Skywalker and Solo, did Ben just take "ky" from one, and "lo" from the other? But his origin comic stops short of stating it is truly that straightforward. But it also reveals that what fans should have been focusing on isn't what the name preserves, but what it removes.

With the story set just after the destruction of Luke Skywalker's Jedi temple, it also takes fans back to the early days of Ben Solo's seduction by Supreme Leader Snoke. At this point Snoke was still acting as a friend, confidant, and mentor to Ben Solo. And with an even gentler touch than Palpatine used to corrupt Anakin Skywalker, Snoke actually casts doubt on Ben's attraction to the Knights of Ren he faced with Luke Skywalker. And he uses Ben's name to do it, reminding him that the identity and legacy placed upon the boy limits his options.

Snoke and Kylo Ren Comic Name

The Star Wars films offer enough evidence for readers to understand why Ben Solo "hates that name," and the expectations that come with it. But when Snoke acts puzzled, considering it an honor that Ben Solo be "named after legends," Ben makes his own objections. To him, it is nothing but a burden to be named after "Obi-Wan Kenobi... big famous Jedi. Everyone thinks I'm supposed to be him. I never even met him. And Solo... did you know that's not even his real name? He's a lie. Everything is a lie."

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These seeds being planted will bloom in his climactic scenes in The Last Jedi, but the origins of the Kylo Ren name are revealed here -- when Snoke encourages Ben to embrace the name he dreamed for himself as boy:

What is the truth, my friend? What is your true name? The Knights will want you to take it if they let you join them. It is the way of the dark side. When we embrace it fully, we become our truest selves. I was not born Snoke. I became Snoke. Who will you become? Oh yes. I see it in your mind. That is good. Very good.

Children's thoughts are pure. They do not practice self-deception. They are who they are. And when you called yourself by that new name, you saw your truth. It represents what you want to do on a deep level. The part of yourself you want to cut away. The part you want to kill. Perhaps someday you will do it. The galaxy will hear that name and see you.

Ben Solo and Kylo Ren Comic Variant Art

There was always going to be some level of poetry, or philosophy behind 'Kylo Ren,' just as their is in all other 'Darth' villains. But it's the idea that 'Kylo' represents "the part of yourself you want to cut away. The part you want to kill" as opposed to a deeper meaning in itself is clever, if unexpected. Taking only the minimal parts of his heritage -- and casting away Obi-Wan, Luke, the Jedi, his father -- to create a new identity (that definitely fits in among the rest of Star Wars' naming conventions).

Embracing the idea that he is 'Kylo,' literally less than Skywalker or Solo, and eventually taking the 'Ren' suffix as part of commanding the Knights, Ben Solo's new identity take shape. All that is left is Kylo Ren, master of his own fate. And most importantly, a strange moniker mystery solved, at last. If fans are looking to bring his story full circle, then perhaps Ben's resistance to simply conjure up an identity completely devoid of his family names is a sign he's not quite willing to abandon it. Leaving the door open for him to return to that legacy, years later.

There is no telling what other secrets will be revealed next in Star Wars: The Rise of Kylo Ren, or what other nagging questions will be answered. So stay tuned.

Star Wars: The Rise of Kylo Ren #2 is available now at your local comic shop.

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