By now you have surely heard the news that Adam Driver was developing a Star Wars movie that would see the return of Ben Solo, only to have it shot down by Disney executives for one very simple reason: they didn’t see how Ben Solo could still be alive.
On the surface, that is quite understandable. After all, at the end of The Rise of Skywalker, Ben died. But it’s not quite as simple as that, for the Lucasfilm leadership was enthusiastic and bought-in on this story, which would all center around The Hunt for Ben Solo and, presumably, how it was that he had survived. This was not just an actor hoping beyond hope that his character could come back (like Samuel Jackson with Mace Windu, for example). This was the Lucasfilm leadership having fully developed a script, with a director attached, to tell a story they felt was good.
And remember, this is a franchise that brought back Darth Maul by explaining he was just so full of hatred, or Palpatine by explaining that he just returned somehow (later detailed as his transferring his life essence to a clone body). To devote a full movie to searching for his return means Lucasfilm surely had an explanation that they felt very good about.
So let’s just imagine a few of them. Now, to be clear, I’m not suggesting that all of these are as good as the others. But I’ve listed five possible explanations, building to what I think are the best ones, mainly just to show that with a little bit of imagination, it’s possible to see how Ben could return. That doesn’t mean it would be a good story. But it means that his ‘death’ shouldn’t be what stands in the way of a good story.
5. The hoax
This one is simple: Ben Solo didn’t really die. As his body disappeared, he simply transported somewhere else. Whether this was his life essence going somewhere else, or his body being sort-of teleported somewhere else (like how Ben and Rey could pass objects through the Force), it wasn’t that Ben died, but that he just disappeared. And then Rey has to go find him. This would be the least compelling explanation in my mind, but that’s just it: this is a franchise that has done pretty much this same explanation with others, like Maul and Palpatine. They both just appeared to die. So why would it be such a stretch to think that Ben could have just appeared to die too? This would, admittedly, make it even more problematic to have any kind of death carry emotional impact moving forward, but it’s nonetheless an explanation that could work.
4. The world between worlds
The World Between Worlds was introduced in Rebels, as a place that links all time and space through the Force. Translation: it is possible to bring a person back through this realm. Of course, doing so is dangerous, and that’s why I don’t think it’s the preferred way. The whole point of the World Between Worlds in Rebels was that Ezra couldn’t bring Kanan back without screwing everything up, and in the same way, Rey presumably couldn’t bring Ben back without dying herself (since he gave his life for hers). But then, in Ahsoka, something resembling the World Between Worlds shows up, an astral plane where Ahsoka Tano meets with Anakin Skywalker and is, essentially, sent back to the land of the living. Which means that while this is all pretty risky and dangerous, there could be a way in which this strange place of connection could bring Ben Solo back.
3. The Force ghost
This one is the easiest explanation of them all, because it doesn’t have to deal with other challenges: it could just be that Ben Solo really did die, and that his return is simply as a Force ghost. But here’s the thing: there is still a lot we don’t know about Force ghosts, and it all continues to grow as we go along. For example, we never knew that they could actually interact with the physical world until, in The Last Jedi, Yoda lit a tree on fire and bopped Luke in the head with his cane, and in The Rise of Skywalker, Luke caught the lightsaber as Rey threw it. That, at least, opens up this possibility: that the Force ghosts can actually get stronger, the more they learn. It began with Qui-Gon learning how to communicate. Which led to Obi-Wan, Yoda, and Anakin able to manifest in physical form as a ghost. Which led to Yoda and Luke being able to physically interact with their environment. We just don’t know how powerful Force ghosts could get, and it could be entirely plausible for Ben to show up as a companion for Rey in a very real, physical way that can actually interact and help. This wouldn’t be my preferred option either, but it could still work.
2. The “netherworld” of the Force
In Revenge of the Sith Yoda referred to the netherworld of the Force, a place that Qui-Gon returned from, having learned how to manifest as a Force ghost. But if Qui-Gon, in this netherworld, could learn how to return as a ghost, then it’s not too far of a stretch to suggest that a Jedi, building on this knowledge, could return physically too. On top of this, From a Certain Point of View: Return of the Jedi has a chapter about Anakin Skywalker’s death, and being greeted by Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Force. Anakin sought to return, but Obi-Wan convinced him that Luke and Leia were capable on their own. So, again, what if Ben was greeted by the Force ghosts of those Jedi who have gone before as he passed into this netherworld? And what if they joined together to teach him how to return, with renewed purpose to atone for his sins and restore peace to the galaxy? This would be a particularly wonderful way to have Luke and Leia appear to Ben, speaking with him and aiding him in this next step of his journey.
1. The dyad
The Force dyad was a concept first introduced in The Rise of Skywalker, so there’s not a whole lot that we know about it yet. But what we know is that the Force itself seemed to create this inextricably strong connection between Ben and Rey, and the implications of this can be far more extensive than the franchise has explored to date. Their connection is so strong, though, that it wouldn’t seem to be a big leap to suggest that as long as one lives, the other cannot fully die. In this, it could be that as Rey works to rebuild the Jedi Order and learns more about the ways of the Force, she comes to discover that there is more to the ‘dyad’ than she knew, and that it meant Ben was still out there somewhere, not fully alive but not fully dead either. This could spur on her quest to find a way to bring him back, learning more about the mysteries of the Force.
You might like one or more of these. You might hate them all. That’s fine! My point has not been to suggest that I have all the answers to what the best story would be (there’s a reason I’m not writing Star Wars movies), but simply to point out that if the main issue is that the Disney executives couldn’t see a way he survived, that just means they aren’t really thinking through the ways. There are plenty of ways – and some very valid ones – that could explain his return. The main thing is this: is the story good enough to warrant his return? Star Wars fans don’t complain about Maul’s return from the dead. Why? Because the stories that have been told about Maul after The Phantom Menace have been so good that even those uncomfortable with bringing someone back from the dead are ok with it here. So the real issue is this: is there a good enough story to tell with Ben Solo after he’s back from the dead?
If Lucasfilm is convinced there is, then explaining how Ben Solo returned from the dead isn’t that big of a dealbreaker.
Star Wars Thoughts 