Did [Spoiler] [Spoiler] Die for Nothing? Read at Own Risk. Full of Star Wars Spoilers · 7:33am Dec 28th, 2017
So, last year in March, I wrote that I was okay with seeing characters that I don’t sympathize with get redeemed. I was mainly talking about Starlight Glimmer, but in the process of giving my reasons for supporting the redemption of unsympathetic characters, I ended up comparing her to Kylo Ren from the newer Star Wars trilogy movies. You see, I had written that if Kylo didn’t get redeemed, then his father would have died for nothing.
Well, this week, I saw The Last Jedi with my family, and boy, was it one crazy movie. Every time that I thought one thing was going to happen, something else entirely happened. For example, for a few good solid minutes, I actually believed that Kylo Ren would get redeemed. He was painfully obviously conflicted over his actions in the previous movie. Furthermore, even Rey believed he was redeemable, and she sympathizes with his actions even less than I do. However, that’s undoubtedly not what happened.
Now, I must confess, I have not seen the original trilogy. I mean, I did see A New Hope, but thanks to the poor condition of the DVD we were watching it on, a few scenes ended up missing, but I digress. However, I have heard enough about The Return of the Jedi to know that Darth Vader ends up single-handedly destroying the Sith, and I thought that was the route Kylo was going to end up going. I mean, he kills Supreme Leader Snoke and utterly decimates his personal guards, so I was expecting him to help Rey save the Resistance after the deed was done. Instead, he attempts to pull a “we can rule together” on Rey and takes over the entire First Order as Supreme Leader. No amount of yelling or facepalming can adequately express my shock and disappointment at this turn of events. That was the moment that I realized that this guy had made his choice, and his choice was to be irredeemable. It was tragic.
So, yeah, Kylo getting a redemption is horrifically improbable at this point, but does this mean that Han Solo’s death was for nothing? Well, no, not exactly. I mean, sure the poor guy’s son didn’t get redeemed, but right before the end, Luke says something that ended up assuring me that Han’s sacrifice wasn’t for nothing. I’m totally paraphrasing here, but Luke tells Kylo that the boy’s anger and hate will cause Luke and Han’s metaphoric ghosts to haunt him for the rest of his life. Despite Kylo ultimately choosing evil, Han’s death helps emphasize just how costly Kylo’s choices were, and what he got wasn’t worth what he had to pay to get it. Sure, he got the power that he had wanted, but his choices end up costing him his family, a potential friendship with a nice, attractive girl, and most importantly his own peace of mind.
The ironic part of Kylo’s character arc is that Kylo thinks he’s cutting off his ties to the past, but in reality, he’s making it easier for his past to affect him. I mean, just watch how he reacts to the Millennium Falcon joining the final battle. It’s not the reaction of a guy who has let go of the past. It’s the reaction of someone shooting at a ghost to get the ghost to stop haunting him, and it works about as well as you’d expect.
You should really consider watching "The Empire Strikes Back"
4761005
Just The Empire Strikes Back? I've been considering watching the entire original trilogy from start to finish but haven't had the opportunity. The only Star Wars movies that I've watched to completion are Attack of the Clones, The Revenge of the Sith, The Force Awakens, Rogue One, and The Last Jedi.
4761250
No, you should see all the Star Wars Films except the Holiday/Christmas Special. I was stating that you should watch The Empire Strikes Back because it's the film in the original triology that you look to understand what they were doing in The Last Jedi. Due note that while The Force Awakens does a lot to make you think of A New Hope and see how similar this trilogoly will be to the original, you should expect the opposite from coming and contrasting The Last Jedi to and with The Empire Strikes Back. Also do see Return of The Jedi being told it does not convey enough