'What!’ I hear you cry. He is the ultimate Star Wars bad guy, he killed everybody’s favourite character in the entire series. He committed Hanicide, the worst crime possible. He may not look as mean as Darth Vader (debateable) he may not shoot lightning from his fingers (OK, so as far as we know he can’t) but he can torture you with the Dark Side and he killed Han. That makes him the ultimate bad guy. Or is he?
You see, I have a theory. What if Ben Solo is actually still with us? What if all this is smoke screen to get to Snoke? Stay with me, I have a cunning plan.
So I have now watched The Force Awakens 6 times (so far that is) and I have studied it every time I have watched it. I look for Easter Eggs and nods to everything Star Wars related I can find, from the Wilheim Scream (when Poe and Finn are shooting up the place when tethered in the Tie fighter) to the many Indiana Jones nods (that will inevitably get their own article one day) and this is how my theory has evolved.
Kylo Ben comes from the Light, we know this. His lineage is Skywalker. He is one of the good guys. Throughout the film we hear of him being pulled to the light. He talks to his Grandfather about the pull of the light side, and that Snoke can see it. He wants to finish what Vader started. Well Vader was the chosen one, the one to bring balance to the Force. What if Kylo Ben has seen the emergence of Supreme Leader Snoke, somebody incredibly powerful in the ways of the Dark Side and knows he needs to stop him, just as Anakin would have done.
Snoke will also know of Kylo Ben's family tree, and with this in mind would be wise not to entirely trust him. After all his grandfather, after serving the Emperor for years, went and chucked him down a shaft to his explosive demise. Skywalkers are not to be taken lightly. Don’t forget, no matter what George Lucas says, Han shot first! So Solos are also ones to keep your eye on. How could Kylo Ben get close enough to Snoke and be trusted by Snoke enough for him to let down his guard? By being the baddest man in the galaxy.
Where are the clues? What makes me think this? Have I just been drinking too much Blue Milk? So far it all sounds like guesswork, but let me present some evidence.
During Rey's Force vision we see who we assume to be The Knights of Ren slaughtering people was think must be Luke’s Jedi trainees. It’s a fair bet that Rey was one of these for her to have this as part of her vision. She is about to be struck down by one of the Knights, but is saved when the Knight is run through with a red, slightly crackly dodgy looking lightsabre. The one carried by Kylo Ben. Why did he save her? Because he is one of the good guys! Did he take her to Jakku to be watched over by Unkar Plutt? Does this explain his reaction when the First Order officer mentions Rey, resulting in the first Force Choke-Slide we have seen?
Right after Rey's Force vision, Maz talks to her about being left on Jakku, saying she knows whomever left her there is not coming back. But, she says, somebody could come back. We all think Luke, but Luke is not mentioned. Kylo Ben could come back though, from the Dark Side. Maz knows the Force and is even older than Stan Lee so is also very wise. Does she suspect that Ben is undercover?
Kylo Ben is Master of the Knights of Ren. There is good reason to believe he has been in his fair share of battles. How is it possible that Finn and Rey stood a chance against him? Well maybe he didn’t want to kill them? Now I know that he had been shot with the super dooper laser crossbow. That thing packs a wallop. So he is injured badly. (did Uncle Chewie really try and kill him or was it part of the plan? Was it a great shot to injure but not kill?) However, the argument people have is that he should have won easily. Watch it again, he doesn’t really have much trouble with Finn, and his glancing blow to beat him was never a killer one. He could easily have finished him off had be wanted to, but he doesn’t. Rey spends most of her battle running away and doing some tree surgery in the process. At the point in the battle where everything changes, where Rey is reminded to use the Force by Kylo Ben she starts to get the upper hand. But wait, what does he say to her? ‘You need a teacher, I can show you the Force’ Not the Dark Side, the Force. Since when did the bad guys talk like that? They are all ‘anger, hate revenge’, not ‘give me a Force cuddle’ Is he offering to turn her bad, no, to keep her good. You watch her next, then she is all anger, hate revenge, much more Dark in her than Light. Is Ben trying to save her? Has he seen the Dark in her?
Han.
So the scene where Han is seemingly brutally killed is supposed to be the point of no return. How can Kylo Ben come back from this? Because it was all part of the plan. I think in him we see a different kind of strength in the Force, very much in the mind, he can pull your very thoughts from your mind, like a more evil David Blaine. So it is not beyond the realms of possibility that he can also put thoughts in your mind. What if he was telling Han his plan? What if he was saying he had to sacrifice him? What if Han knew all along anyway? ‘I know what I have to do, but I don’t know if I have the strength, will you help me?’ says Ben, with tears in his eyes. This is the test that Snoke was referring to, that even Ben had never faced such a challenge. Do we see Ben thrust the sabre through his father? Did they both still have hold of it? Han lovingly touches the face of his son just as he falls away, with a sad look on his face. Is this the look of a murdered man?
Snoke knows that Ben is constantly being tested, being pulled to the Light. His ultimate test has been passed, he has killed his own father. What more of a test could a pupil receive? So now Snoke will finish his training. He will trust him. He will make him even more powerful. Powerful enough to over throw him? If he truly is Plagueis he has a bit of a history in training people who turn on him. Would he train Ben to be a challenge to him if he didn’t entirely trust him? I very much doubt it. Ben needed to gain his trust and to get close to him, not just a giant hologram. Even Leia could sense the Light in him, will this cloud Snokes vision enough now for Ben to make a killer move?
Obviously all this could be complete nonsense. We won’t know until episode nine I shouldn’t think. But what if Kylo Ben is the Professor Snape of the Star Wars universe. Snape stayed hidden for seven Harry Potter books, why not Ben?
Lastly, if I am right (and quite frankly I’d be amazed) will we forgive him?
Thank you for reading,