The Rise of Skywalker Adam Driver as Kylo Ren (IX)

[MagnarTheGreat]

Returning cast members [for Episode IX] include Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Lupita Nyong’o, Domhnall Gleeson, Kelly Marie Tran, Joonas Suotamo, and Billie Lourd. Joining the cast of Episode IX are Naomi Ackie, Richard E. Grant, and Keri Russell, who will be joined by veteran Star Wars actors Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, and Billy Dee Williams, who will reprise his role as Lando Calrissian.

https://www.starwars.com/news/star-wars-episode-ix-cast-announced

 

[DaddlerTheDalek]

Supreme Leader Ren returns!

 

[scarlet-witch]

So what does everyone thing, does Kylo Ren survive the series?

 

[sueb1863]

Nope. I think he'll have a messy, painful, and ultimately fatal redemption. He'll somehow come to the understanding that Snoke tricked him the whole time and he made the wrong choices and he'll go down fighting whoever the big evil is in the last movie.

I think he's going to take Hux with him, too.

 

[Marvolo]

I think he'll essentially commit suicide. In a "If I can't have the First Order no one can!" type situation. He'll try to kill Hux, himself, destroy the First Order, the Jedi Order, and Rey.

Itd be the opposite of Vader. Vader killed Sidious, destroyed the Sith and weakened the Empire to save his son. Kylo will destroy the First Order and himself to spite his rivals and enemies.

 

[Tg11]

Yes I think so too I think Ben/Kylo will ultimately die in the end but not at Rey's hand but he will die by his own hand. I think either Ben/Kylo will either commit suicide somehow or if he somehow tries to find redemption sacrifices himself. Either way we all know Kylo is not gonna survive.

 

[sueb1863]

The big bummer is Kylo's death will spell the end of the Skywalker line. So it better be meaningful and done in a big way and not just "whoops, he got eaten by a walrus".

 

[scarlet-witch]

I'm not convinced he's dying, tbh. I could easily see him redeeming himself, then pulling a Luke and disappearing afterwards.

 

[Marvolo]

All family lines end eventually. And it's not about who comes last and their actions that defines the entire line. Or it shouldn't be. Nothing Ben did or does will ever erase or taint Luke's legacy and his sacrifices and his actions during the Imperial era. Luke will always be a hero, a legend, and the face of the Skywalker family. Besides, the average galactic citizen doesn't know that Kylo Ren is Ben Solo. So unless it becomes widespread knowledge in Episode 9 very few people will ever connect Kylo Ren to the Solos and Skywalkers.

 

[Aximili86]

Yeah. Vader's I.D. didn't become public knowledge for a while after ROTJ either.

 

[Bim]

What do you all think: Is Kylo redeemable after what he's done? I dont think he is; i think he's too far gone to just pull a Vader and return to the lightside.

 

[Marvolo]

Hes done no worse than Vader. So he probably could be redeemed under the right circumstances. But I think it shouldn't happen because itd be repetitive in more than one way. Itd repeat what happened with Vader. And in TFA and TLJ there were fake redemptions. On the starkiller bridge and in snoke's throne room. I'm tired of it. I want no redemption. Fake or real. Redeemed or not he should be executed or imprisoned.

 

[scarlet-witch]

I think he's probably redeemed, then chooses to disappear after helping the resistance. Kylo is interesting because as bad as he wants to be, I don't think he'll ever quite get there. Even has Supreme Leader Ren. He'll do some heinous things but ultimately he's probably going to be instrumental in taking them down as well.

 

[sueb1863]

I think Kylo is different than Vader in that Vader was fully committed to the Dark Side. Kylo has been shown wavering pretty severely. He's still a very confused kid.

 

[Closerframe]

Kylo being redeemed at this point would be frustrating for a few reasons. Vader in the ANH was seen as the embodiment of the dark side but parts of his tough exterior were penetrated in ESB with the revelation that Luke was his son, and this alludes to his redemption coming full circle in RotJ. On the other hand, Kylo was given every opportunity to be redeemed and each time, he's decided to push himself further to the dark side--unlike Vader. Killing his father and attempting to kill his uncle really showed how far he's willing to go to prove to himself that he's much more powerful than those that came before him--including being more selfish than his grandfather ever was. Finally, there's literally no one left besides Rey which after the throne room fight, he missed his chance once again. Plus, as others have stated, it would be too repetitive for Disney to follow RotJ. Then again, the last installment is being directed by JJ...

 

[sueb1863]

Well, the alternative is that Kylo falls to the Dark Side permanently and then dies and the Skywalker line ends in darkness and defeat. Anakin's redemption was meaningless because the Dark Side won after all, it just took a bit longer.

In that case, what was the purpose of the entire nine movie series? That you can try and win out against evil but you're going to lose anyway so why bother? I don't see how they could spin a positive outcome out of that.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

Well, the alternative is that Kylo falls to the Dark Side permanently and then dies and the Skywalker line ends in darkness and defeat. Anakin's redemption was meaningless because the Dark Side won after all, it just took a bit longer.

In that case, what was the purpose of the entire nine movie series? That you can try and win out against evil but you're going to lose anyway so why bother? I don't see how they could spin a positive outcome out of that.

Kylo hasn't try to win against evil. He has embraced it, even to the point of ignoring the call to the light. That is the opposite of Luke, Leia, Han, Rey, Finn, Poe, Obi-Wan, Yoda, Chewie, Lando, and all our other heroes. Vader embraced the dark side fully when he thought he lost everything. When Vader knew of Luke's existence, he no longer could ignore the call of the light, which is why he couldn't kill Luke. Kylo had loving family calling to him, and he ignored them, and even murdered his father.

Also Kylo isn't a kid. He's 30.

 

[sueb1863]

Oh, people can be kids well into their thirties! In any case he's obviously confused. The writers have made it clear several times that he's conflicted. Yeah, he killed Han, but it tore him apart. Snoke said as much.

So again, if Kylo ends up being evil and has to be killed or dies, destroying the Skywalker line in darkness and evil, what's the point of the entire saga? That evil wins anyway? That all of Luke's efforts in ESB were for nothing because the Skywalkers weren't saved after all? What would Luke's reaction to that be, seeing his nephew die in the clutches of the Dark Side and knowing it's his fault? They'd have to deal with that if they go that route.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

Oh, people can be kids well into their thirties! In any case he's obviously confused. The writers have made it clear several times that he's conflicted. Yeah, he killed Han, but it tore him apart. Snoke said as much.

So again, if Kylo ends up being evil and has to be killed or dies, destroying the Skywalker line in darkness and evil, what's the point of the entire saga? That evil wins anyway? That all of Luke's efforts in ESB were for nothing because the Skywalkers weren't saved after all? What would Luke's reaction to that be, seeing his nephew die in the clutches of the Dark Side and knowing it's his fault? They'd have to deal with that if they go that route.

He is conflicted, he is not confused. That is made clear in TFA and TLJ. He has a call from the light, he ignores it. That makes him even worse because he knows what he is doing is in service to the dark side, he just choices to ignore it.

The point of the entire saga is the light side of the Force is the path of the righteous. How would evil win if Kylo and the First Order is defeated? Kylo is on the dark side. Rey and the Resistance are the light side. I am confused by what you mean about Empire here. Luke's efforts in on the OT was about defeating the Empire, the dark side.. Kylo is not necessary for that. He never has been.

Kylo isn't Luke's fault. Kylo makes all his own choices. TFA and TLJ have made this very clear.

 

[sueb1863]

Evil would win because Kylo is the last of the Skywalker line and he's evil. If he's killed because he's evil, then the Skywalker line ultimately succumbed to darkness. I brought up Empire because so much was made of Luke redeeming Vader, but that now seems pointless because their family line ended up being consumed by the Dark Side anyway. Vader was saved for nothing and it ended up not mattering at all. The defeat of the Dark Side was only temporary.

Luke's going to blame himself for Kylo anyway, even if it's not entirely his fault. Kylo is the last Skywalker and if the speculation is correct, he's going to die evil and that's at least partially because of Luke's actions.

And the light side might be the path of the righteous but it wasn't enough to save the Skywalkers. If Kylo is killed, they'll be gone forever and the Dark Side won out over them. Han and Leia were failures as parents and Luke was a failure as a teacher. Love and the Light Side weren't enough to keep it from happening. That's going to be a bummer of an ending no matter how they spin it.

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

Deadline - ‘BlacKkKlansman’s Adam Driver Stands By Childhood Ku Klux Klan Recollection; How ‘Star Wars’ Is Like Theater Work

Deadline: This year, you’ll complete your Star Wars trilogy with Episode IX. Has it felt like a marathon journey after all these years?

Adam Driver: It’s been my second time doing something where it’s lasted six years. I think with Star Wars, it’s six years this year that I’ve known about it or been working on it. I had this experience once with Girls, where it was six or seven years from the moment we shot the pilot to the very last thing. Since I’ve been working, it’s what I’ve been used to, in a way, where you do your other things, and then you go back to see your friends. It’s always good to go back to those groups.

With Girls, there wasn’t really an end in sight, so it was fun to develop it as I went, and to think about where it was all going. With Star Wars, I had one piece of information of where it was all going, and that’s where it has been in my head for a long time, and things were building towards that. It feels very theatrical, if anything. Because in the plays that I’ve done, a six-month run, on the very last day, you finally feel like, “Oh, now I have a better understanding of what it is that I want to do. I wish we could do this all over again.” Working on a play, the questions you can ask yourself are infinite, and that’s what’s torturous about film sometimes – you only have one shot to get it right. And you can do a lot of takes, but we’re not all going to get back together again and do this. But for something you’re doing for six years, you still have a chance to go back and make something a little bit more articulated.

 

[Mr. Peanut]

All family lines end eventually.

Ummm.......what?!

You do realize that the only way for this to be the case is if humanity went extinct, right?

But anyway, the fact that Kylo is the last Skywalker isn't what matters so much to me. It's the fact he's Leia and Han's son. Can you imagine how horrifying it would be to have a son, a child you raised and loved and held in your arms, who ends up like Kylo and then dies unredeemed? It's depressing as hell.

 

[BatLobster]

I've been thinking about it lately, and honestly starting to think some sort of redemption is possible for Kylo. The Skywalkers are a messed up family, with a big ol' Vader-shaped elephant in the room. I see Kylo as damaged goods, someone struggling to cope with carrying this legacy of both greatness and tragedy.

The Star Wars story isn't a literal one about crime and punishment. If it were, Vader's redemption wouldn't really hold much water. It's more about communicating the notion of redemption to children, which is a powerful message and arguably the ultimate theme of the saga thus far.

I'm not saying it has to happen, but I'm open to Ben Solo having a change of heart in the end. All about the execution.

 

[scarlet-witch]

Redemption has never been off the table for Kylo for me, IMO.

 

[godisawesome]

Kylo’s eventual fate is a very tricky thing, especially because of the context the ST has set up.

I mean, if he dies, it’s boring. Die evil? Ooh, how original. I’ve never seen a bad guy die at the end of a movie before. Die redeemed? Oh... so he really is just Diet Darth Vader: less taste, half as filling.

At the same time, you can’t really give the character a happy ending, not because there’s some philosophical issue with it, but because the character is incapable of having that and it remaining dramatically satisfying. When the character killed Han Solo, maimed Finn, and violated Rey’s mind, he pretty much ensured that a bittersweet ending was the best he could manage for himself.

And if it was *just* Kylo’s own fate at stake, I’d be satisfied and even excited if they were going to give him and “Ulic Qel-Droma” after from the old Tales of the Jedi comics: go into exile/be marooned and take the long road back to redemptio, eventually succeeding in future media.

But...

If he’s the only Skywalker left, than we have some more issues.

Because that means that since Kylo can’t really have a happy ending, neither can the Skywalkers. I mean, right now? The Skywalkers are a Curse on the Galaxy. No ifs, ands or buts; Kylo undoes all the heroic actions taken by Leia, Han and Luke and even renders Vader’s redemption kind of a lost cause. It’s the natural consequence of a) making Kylo a lesser repeat of Vader, and b) making him the only generation 3 Skywalker. The OT ending in ROTJ ends up becoming just a pause between only nominally different evil-doers murdering millions left and right.

And if you try and make an exception for Kylo to try and help the Skywalkers... congratulations! You just rejected the very reasoning you had for making Rey and Random, and basically having the story give him special treatment and favoritism just because of his family, probably at the expense of Rey and Finn, and in a manner antithetical to the idea that his sense of entitlement is one of his biggest flaws.

Right now, Kylo’s too underwritten and lonesome to provide a rewarding ending for his family, implying he should be killed if they just want to move past the Skywalkers... but that gives you a depressing ending for the family and a boring ending for him.

I’m just saying, it feels like we’d have a lot more options if Rey were a Skywalker...