At the end of The Last Jedi, master met apprentice one last time, as Luke Skywalker appeared to Kylo Ren (a.k.a. Ben Solo) on Crait, stalling to give the Resistance enough time to escape. Luke told his former apprentice, “I’ll always be with you. Just like your father.” This prompted an outburst of rage from Kylo, only for him to discover that his former master wasn’t really there. As Luke’s Force projection disappeared, he said, “see you around, kid.”
And then, in The Rise of Skywalker, they never talked. They never met. That thread was just dropped.
But a new Star Wars comic is currently telling Kylo Ren’s story in-between those two movies, with Charles Soule’s Legacy of Vader. And in issue #10, which was just released, we finally see Kylo talking with Luke.
The issue picks up with Kylo in Darth Vader’s Castle on Mustafar, lamenting to Vaneé (Vader’s former attendant) that Luke Skywalker still haunts him even from beyond the grave, feeling that he still is watching. Kylo wants to be free of this and to vanquish any bit of his former master’s presence, so he ventures into the vault at the castle, hoping to find secrets that only Vader knew. It doesn’t go as he expected, and he is haunted by creepy skeletal heads of his family and friends, tormenting him. He fights through this place of darkness to come to a place full of light, with glowing white figures standing around in harmony. It is a place where Force ghosts are gathered.
This is the first time that we’ve ever seen the ‘netherworld’ of the Force, which feels pretty significant. Though it’s hard to be too definitive in these Force visions, it looks like there’s actually a place where they gather. They’re not just all floating out there. And from this group, one of them approaches Kylo and tells him he can’t be there. At this, Luke Skywalker walks over, leaving a conversation with what looks like Yoda, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Qui-Gon Jinn to speak with Ben. “So, you missed me that much, eh?” Luke quips. Kylo tells Luke that he wishes he was the one to have killed the great Jedi, and asks to know who actually killed him, as Kylo can’t wait to hear how much Luke suffered. To this, Skywalker replies:
“No one killed me. I sacrificed my life for others, in service of something greater. I died for my friends and family and for people I don’t know all across the galaxy, so they could live in peace and light. That’s what my life was for. What is your life for?”
It’s a beautiful encapsulation of what Luke really stood for, and why he sacrificed himself at the end of The Last Jedi. It wasn’t pain or failure, as Rey told Leia, but peace and purpose. Luke had found himself, and his place in the galaxy, once more. Luke had embraced his destiny as a Jedi. Luke had done what the Jedi were always meant to do: protect the light, be keepers of the peace, defend others. That is what Kylo can’t understand in this moment. He can’t understand giving his life for something greater – for someone else. But that is, eventually, exactly what he would do, in giving his life for Rey’s. He revived her from the dead at the cost of his own life force. It’s a lesson he comes to learn, and perhaps Luke’s example will prove to be an aid along the way in that. But that’s for later. For now, it’s worth noting just how beautiful of a summation this is from Luke about his purpose, and his death – one that critics of his death in The Last Jedi would do well to consider. It wasn’t failure or defeat; it was victory and purpose.
As we would expect, however, Kylo isn’t ready to hear this lesson, and he shouts at Luke to stop trying to teach him. He calmly apologizes, nodding at the other Force ghosts standing nearby and acknowledging he comes from a line of teachers. Then Luke admits that Kylo is right, and that the time for Luke to teach him is over. But Kylo has a question: why Rey? Why isn’t he done teaching her? “She wanted to learn”, Luke shrugs. This elicits an, “I hate you” from Kylo, who demands Luke leave him alone. “Stop your lurking, stop your watching. I can sense it,” he says. “I am no longer your student. No longer anything to you. You failed to make me into you. You lost. Leave me alone, you dead old man, or I will find a way to destroy you.”
Luke refutes this, telling Kylo that the only way to destroy him now is to destroy the Force, which would also destroy Kylo himself. As Luke turns to leave, he tells Kylo that it means something that he was able to find his way there, to a place of Force ghosts that Kylo has no business being at, and that he should explore how he managed to do it. And then, as Luke fades into light, he says:
“Kylo Ren means nothing to me. But I’ll always be there for Ben.”
That’s a beautiful line. Remember, in The Force Awakens Kylo told Snoke that Han Solo “means nothing to me”. Here, Luke reverses that line on Kylo, telling him that Kylo Ren means nothing to him. And then, of course, in The Rise of Skywalker Han Solo tells Ben, “Kylo Ren is dead. My son is alive.” There are plenty of people who still care about Ben Solo, and Ben has run away from all of it. He’s trying to distance himself from the past, trying to let it all die, but he can’t seem to do it. And it’s because, for all his efforts, love is more powerful than hate. What he can’t escape is the love of his family, who despite all he’s done and all the pain he’s caused them, continue to be for him. Kylo Ren is their enemy, but Ben Solo? They love Ben. That hasn’t changed.
We see here that Luke still cares for him. If Ben Solo needs help, Luke will be there for him. I love this sentiment expressed by Luke, because it does two things. First, it helps to explain why Luke never appeared to Kylo in The Rise of Skywalker. They’d already spoken through the Force, and through the discussion it was decided that Luke would leave Kylo alone. But second, and more importantly, it expresses Luke’s continued care and concern for his nephew, and apprentice, Ben Solo. Luke hasn’t given up on him, and he’s not saying that because of all Ben has done he’s on his own.
But, as we know, Ben’s return to the light won’t happen quite yet. As he leaves this place of light he finds himself in a place of darkness, where a cloaked dark sider wielding a red lightsaber tells him that he tried to flee to the light and must be reminded of his pain. Kylo is badly wounded, leading Vaneé to place him in the same bacta tank that Darth Vader used decades earlier.
This issue was fantastic, and it’s exactly what is needed filling in the gaps in-between the movies. This helps to piece all of it together, but also helps Ben Solo’s journey. I think Luke’s comment to him about how he shouldn’t have been able to be there, and that means something, is important. There’s got to be something about Ben, and his power, that he doesn’t quite know yet, and I wonder too if this journey could help to explain why his body disappears at the end of The Rise of Skywalker when he dies?
Regardless, this issue was fantastic, and it’s exactly where Charles Soule excels, with a deeper exploration into the Force. The conversation between Luke and Ben was absolutely perfect, and really significant.
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