The latest Star Wars special on Disney+ has given Kylo Ren a better origin story than Star Wars: The Last Jedi - it's just a shame it isn't canon. Star Wars has always been a generational saga, and so there's a sense in which it's quite fitting that the son of Han Solo and Leia Organa became the villain of the sequel trilogy. But when Kylo Ren made his debut in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, viewers could only speculate why he had fallen to the dark side - fallen so far that he committed patricide.
In truth, it's now clear Lucasfilm didn't know themselves; they had some details planned out - such as Rey becoming a Skywalker by claiming the name for herself - but most of the broad story beats were up in the air. Still, Star Wars: The Force Awakens teased a complicated fall to the dark side courtesy of a Forceback experienced by Rey, in which she received visions of the past. She saw what seemed to be the destruction of Luke Skywalker's Jedi Temple at the hands of the Knights of Ren - with Kylo Ren taking charge of them.
Frustratingly, Star Wars: The Last Jedi pivoted on this idea, suggesting Ben Solo's fall to the dark side happened in very different circumstances. Making matters worse, tie-in comics fleshed out other aspects of his downfall, and only added further contradictions. Now, though, LEGO Star Wars Terrifying Tales has provided an alternative tale - one that, while distinctly non-canon, builds far more effectively on the setup.
Kylo Ren's Fall To The Dark Side Is Disappointing In Canon
When compared to the promise of that Forceback vision, Kylo Ren's canon backstory is frankly disappointing. According to Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Luke Skywalker had always sensed his nephew's power, but love had blinded him to the darkness that roiled inside him. One fateful night, though, Luke entered Ben's room at the Jedi Temple and looked at him in the Force - really looked at him, scrutinizing him, sensing the growing darkness. He was so shocked that he instinctively triggered his lightsaber, an act he regretted when Ben Solo woke up to see his uncle standing over him with lightsaber in hand. Ben defended himself, and then lashed out, destroying the entire Jedi Temple in a fit of rage. When Luke awoke, everything he had ever built had been burned to the ground, and Ben Solo was gone. Star Wars: The Last Jedi's portrayal of Luke Skywalker was controversial, but amidst all the heated debate few noted that it contradicted the setup in Rey's Forceback; after all, the Knights of Ren were apparently nothing to do with the destruction of the Jedi Temple, for it had all been done by Ben Solo before he claimed the identity of Kylo Ren.
Lucasfilm began pivoting on their portrayal of Kylo Ren yet again in preparation for the release of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, attempting to make him a bit more redeemable. This was particularly seen in Charles Soule's comic book miniseries The Rise of Kylo Ren, which actually went so far as to suggest Kylo Ren never fell to the dark side at all - rather, he was simply trapped by it, manipulated into a position where he believed he had no choice but to embrace the darkness. This comic revealed Palpatine had manipulated Ben Solo throughout his life, and hinted that it had been Palpatine's presence Luke sensed when he stood in his nephew's room. What's more, the Jedi Temple had not been destroyed by Ben Solo at all; with Luke Skywalker defeated by his own nephew, Palpatine launched a Force Storm upon the Temple and razed it to the ground. Ben Solo became a victim, a man who had been robbed of all agency. It was only afterwards that he sought out the Knights of Ren, and became Kylo Ren. Again, while this is disappointing, it's also contradictory in that it doesn't fit at all with the setup in Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
Kylo Ren's New Origin Story Works A Lot Better
Bizarrely, the new LEGO Star Wars Terrifying Tales tells a different version of Kylo Ren's origin through the teachings of Darth Vader's servant Vaneé. According to Vaneé, Ben Solo was a powerful Force-sensitive who felt restricted by the Jedi Temple, and whose vanity and pride meant he never felt he really fit in among the nascent Jedi Order. An encounter with the Knights of Ren led him to leave the Jedi and become one of them, adopting the famous armor and mask; he claimed the name "Kylo Ren" in response to their taunts that he was a "Kylo," a weakling, and he wore the name as a badge of honor because he would show them he was no weakling at all. Vaneé's tale is one in which the Knights of Ren attacked the Jedi Temple, with Kylo Ren initially conflicted but ultimately choosing to side with them - and killing their leader, Ren, in order to become Master of the Knights of Ren.
Vaneé is hardly a reliable narrator - his story of how Luke Skywalker shot down the Death Star is hilariously different to canon, complete with a reinvention of Leia Organa as an X-Wing pilot - and there's no sense in which this should be considered true. But the odd thing is, this version of Kylo Ren's origin is actually better than the canon one. For one thing, it fits more effectively with the setup in Star Wars: The Force Awakens' Forceback vision, with the Knights of Ren presented as a formidable group who raided the Jedi Temple - and Kylo Ren, already masked and in armor, becoming their leader. More importantly, though, it restores a sense of agency to Kylo Ren, making him a villain who has chosen the dark side rather than someone who has simply been trapped by it. It's easy to understand why Lucasfilm wanted to tone him down as a villain for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, but they had forgotten that the original Star Wars redemption story - of Darth Vader - redeemed a man who had slaughtered Younglings. Redemption is only necessary for someone who has fallen to the dark side, and the greater the darkness the more spectacular the redemption. In rewriting Kylo Ren's origin story, Lucasfilm showed their limited understanding of one of the core themes of Star Wars. It's just a shame this new version, the tale told in LEGO Star Wars Terrifying Tales, isn't the canon one instead.