Me(sighing as I gather my papers) : Yeah you’re right Karen, of course. I mean let’s look at the evidence…
Kylo has:
- A tragic backstory born of family misunderstanding and betrayal.
- Years of emotional and physical abuse at the hands of a sinister predator, yet still manages to hold a deep emotional center.
- Deep regret at killing his father, so much that it physically hinders him. Soulless monster that one.
- A mystical connection to our plucky heroine so deep that he proposes asks her to be his wife partner every time he is in the same place as her.
- An inability to blow up his mom.
- The aesthetic look and body of a Byronic sex god.
- Eyes more soulful than 50 puppies.
- Lips like a European male model after he’s eaten a strawberry Blow Pop.
- Always crying.
Stories or characters that mention Kylo:
- Continue to reference just how adorable he was as a baby, in a bid to humanize him.
- Talk about the dark shadow (Snoke) that loomed over him since he was in utero to let you know he’s been fighting evil for years.
- Keep letting you know how much pain he’s in.
- How angry he is…cause of the pain.
- Did I mention pain?
- His loneliness.
- No one is ever really gone.
- Drop anvil sized hints at his importance to the COSMIC WILL OF THE FORCE.
Oh and also he’s THE LAST FUCKING SKYWALKER.
But you are right Karen…he’s just gonna get stabbed or fall off a walkway or something. Rey wins and she’ll feel great about it. They’ll have a party with Crystal Foxes, Porgs, and Fish Nuns.
Fill in what I’ve missed people.
A little louder for those in back! The question is just how they plan on bringing our boy home
I hope he never dies but then we can’t dismiss the possibility cause this trilogy has been a roller coster. But if he does i think he will die saving everyone else…
I saw my mom and dad after so long on Takodana. They were in alot of pain. I could feel it.
I wish i could shout out “MOM DAD I LOVE YOU I AM SORRY HELP ME PLEASE..”.
Chewie was also there he is getting old. I remember how much he helped me maintain my hairstyle and the stories he told me when i wasn’t able to sleep.
I met a girl. Her name was Rey. I saw a little bit of myself in her. Lost, looking for love and happiness. She defeated me the scar she gave me isn’t half as painful as killing dad.
I feel like i am suffering. I told my dad his son was dead. But actually he is miserable. I feel so guilty. I wanted to prove my dad i was good enough but instead i proved otherwise.
Let’s talk about the last Reylo scene in TLJ, when Rey basically sends Kylo sleeping on the couch, making him clear that he is the one who f***** it up
I must admit that during my first viewing, I ended up kinda pissed toward Kylo in the last act of the movie. For the first time in his life, he had a true opportunity to come back home and he f***** it up. His own parents had so little faith in him that they sent him away because they feared he would become Darth Vader 2. His own uncle has so little faith in him that tried to kill him in his sleep - in his sleep! - instead of facing the roots of the problem: Snoke. Snoke had so little faith in him that he called him a child in a mask after years of abuse. For the first time, Ben Solo had found in Rey someone who had genuine faith in him and was ready to stand for him. The girl traveled the entire galaxy, putting herself in danger, to go after him…and had the guy proposing her to rule the galaxy with him as a result.
But the more I think about it, the more I think that it is actually Rey who made a big mistake with dramatic consequences although my point is not to say that Kylo is an angel. TLJ is a movie about failure and showed Rey’s flaws much more than in TFA. Her biggest flaw is revealed by Kylo himself - and we know that Kylo never lies to her: she gets too easily emotionally attached to people as a consequence of her abandonment searching a surrogate family in people she barely knows. But even more problematic IMO: her impulsiveness!
- Finn “stole” Poe’s jacket? Attacks him with her staff without waiting for any explanation
- Luke didn’t tell the truth? Attacks him with the staff without waiting for any explanation
- Kylo shows up unexpectedly in front of her? Shoots him without asking herself what is the deal with this in contrast to Kylo who tries calmly to figure out how it works
- Upset with his proposal? Grabs angrily the lightsaber and #whatwasyournextmove?#
And here comes the core of the problem. She is far too impulsive, leading to a stupid decision with big consequences, and not for her but for Kylo himself. She shares a confession moment with Kylo, has a vision of his bright future, gets angry with Luke and leaves the island in barely…5 minutes maybe? She doesn’t take the time to analyze the situation and the vision quietly in order to figure out what this all means. Sure, Luke did the same in ESB but he didn’t lose time in going after Han and Leia because he thought they were in grave danger. Rey doesn’t go after Kylo because he is in grave danger but because Her usual impulsiveness - coupled with her burgeoning “feelings” for Ben - leads her to elaborate a risky and stupid plan she didn’t think the consequences about. Sure, she got what she wanted: she got Kylo to turn from Snoke but in her impulsiveness she didn’t think about what Kylo wanted. Although I wouldn’t say that that it is all her fault, she hold some big responsibility in his escalation by the end of the movie.
In putting herself in danger, she forces him to make a choice he isn’t prepared for: choose her over Snoke. Sure, it looks very much like Luke putting himself in danger to force Vader to choose him over the Emperor. But she didn’t think of the consequences for him. Kylo was left with no other choice but killing the only person he ever had a close relationship with since childhood in order to protect her. And Rey immediately assumes that having killed his abuser, he will come back as the only hope of the Resistance because of the vision she had, not even thinking about the possible consequences of bringing Ben to the Resistance. Barely the fight is over, Kylo goes to see Snoke and Rey doesn’t ask him how he feels about that. Instead, she goes straight to the hologram and demands him to stop the firing against the Resistance fleet. Subtext: you’re on our side now that you’ve killed your master.
I think that the main problem lies there: she provoked the circumstances knowing that he wouldn’t let her killed, kinda forced him to kill Snoke given the way things turned in the Throne Room and considered that this actions had already sealed the deal. I wouldn’t dare to say she is manipulative like Palpatine but she similarly brought Kylo to betray his own master (and the FO) in order to save her, very much like Palpatine brought Anakin to betray Mace Windu (and the Jedi Order) to save Padme. And very much the same way Palpatine thinking rightfully he can turn Anakin because he’s gone too far, she thinks - wrongly this time - that betraying his master will make Kylo turn from the FO after years of manipulation. But contrary to Anakin, Kylo is like a solitary wolf with big trust issues who got misused and beaten by an abusive master for years. And the problem is that you don’t force a(n emotionally) wounded animal to follow you anywhere you want to by forcing his choice, no matter the circumstances you provoke to force him to go the path you want to.
I think that in her impulsiveness, Rey didn’t draw the right lessons from their trust moment during the hand touching. Beyond the romantic subtext, there is an even more important message. To succeed in “domesticating” a(n emotionally) wounded animal, you must behave calm, show patience and understanding and always leave the choice to accept your outstretched hand or not. If I had to make a comparison, I would say that Kylo reminds me a lot of White Fang. The first time, he goes to White Fang, gets bitten and apologize saying “I shouldn’t have forced you”. The second time, he draws the lesson of the previous experience…and ultimately it works:
Jack build a trust relationship with him by showing patience and understanding and letting him come to him on his own will.
Let’s see now how Rey behaves with Kylo all along the movie:
- Scene 1: Shoots him and yells at him barely he appears unexpectedly in front of her
- Scene 2: Yells at him, calling him a “murderous snake”
- Scene 3: Yells at him
- Scene 4: Offers her hand and waits until he finally takes it
- Scene 5: Calls him Ben, tells him “I’ll help you” in a soft calming voice, enters his private space BUT…already she looks kinda upset that his interpretation of the vision is different than hers (what did you expect, honey?)
- Scene 6: Considers he has already made his choice to leave the FO, gets disillusioned by his attitude, grabs the lightsaber to attack him and leaves him behind
- Scene 7: Makes him feel like he is the one who fucked it up, closing the door right under his nose
In other words, the hand touching is the only scene where Rey did it all right IMO. She shows him that she understands him (neither are you - alone), tends her hand slowly to him and waits patiently that he takes his decision, leaving him the choice to come to her or not.
And you can see that Ben is hesitant, that his hand trembles and that this is not something easy for him but he ultimately does it. He is the one who crosses the line, goes on the other side and have probably the first physical contact in years with another human being :
Notice that there is no single scene until the confrontation where Kylo pushes Rey to come to his side. And in two movies, this is the only scene where he raises his voice against her before quickly calming down. He is always the one projecting himself in her surroundings, not the other way around and he is there to help her genuinely when she needs him as she is at her lowest point after the mirror scene. The only demand he makes to her is at the very beginning of their interactions: “You will bring Luke Skywalker to me”. But notice that after that he completely loses focus on his original goal to find Luke. That goes completely out of picture during their Force bond dates. Even during the confrontation, he tells “I want you to join me” which indeed looks more like a demand than a request because of the choice of the verb but his tone is definitely more beseeching than demanding. his hand trembles, his face is anxious, he begs her. For the first time, he asks her to come to him and he ends up in panic mode: he sees that she is not willing to come to his side to take his hand the same way he came to her side to take her hand.
No wonder that Kylo freaks out in the last act of the movie. Snoke revealed that he is actually the one who put them in contact, which is of course a lie. But we can imagine that Kylo might have believed him given the way things turned between him and Rey:
1) When he realizes that Rey literally orders him to protect the Resistance, as if she considered he must be on the Resistance side now that he has killed Snoke. Like for his parents, his uncles, Snoke, she has expectations on him, expectation he can’t fulfill.
2) When she tries to fool him by making him believe she’ll take his hand only to take the lightsaber, and probably attack him once again just because she is - like always f****ing - impulsive. The result? Once again, he has to defend himself against her, feels betrayed like he was by Luke, and makes it clear that this time she won’t have the upper hand. Thus, the lightsaber doesn’t fly to her hands, represents their power struggle and ends up broken.
3) When he wakes up, Snoke is dead because he has killed him to save the girl…but the girl is gone (leaving him for dead for the second time)! He probably thinks that Snoke told the truth: that this connections was a lie, that everything was a lie. Of course, he gets mad. Of course, he takes over the FO because it’s the only thing he has left. Of course, he frames Rey because accusing himself would mean losing everything. Of course, he gets pissed because he thinks that Snoke told the trut that it wasn’t worth to choose her over his master. Since he has anything left and is terribly upset, he takes over the FO and goes all crazy mode. Only Luke’s projection avoids a big tragedy to happen in the end.And when Kylo realizes that the connection is actually still there, he looks at her with sad puppy eyes as she closes the door
Changing a person implies that the person on her own must decides she wants to change, which takes time. It also requires support, patience and understanding from the person helping you. So I would say that Rey’s impulsiveness played a big role in the way things turned, thinking that she could change Kylo in such a few lapse of time by sort of forcing the fate. In the end, she pushed Ben in a position that exposes him even more to danger (i.e. Hux possibly trying to murder him like he did in the Throne room), isolation and depression. What is unfair is that she is always the one back-lashing the others for f****ing up but she rarely - if not never - questions the consequences of her impulsive behavior. Never said Finn she was sorry for beating him with her staff before he could even give an explanation. Never said Luke she is sorry for beating him with her staff even before he could give an explanation. Never said Kylo she is sorry for scarring his face. Never said Kylo thank you for saving her life. And on top of that, the “you’re the one who f***** it up” look in the end as if she hold no responsibility in the big mess she actually provoked all by herself.
What is striking with her is that she may never turn to the DS but she kinda likes to make people feel that she puts them down on their feets, bringing the others to kneel/fall in front of her (Finn, Luke, Kylo) and IMO she got a little too used to it. It’s a good thing that Ben has this ability to stay calm when she gets mad and that the “pulling the lightsaber” duel makes it clear he is not willing to let himself dominate by her.
In other words, Kylo ain’t the only who needs to grow up to make Reylo evolve into a true love relationship. Rey is a young - twenty years old - woman who also needs to mature because her difficult living conditions made her impulsive, impatient and craving for belonging.
Remember what Leia said in the TFA novelization:
“You knew this from the beginning ? Why didn’t you tell me ?”
She sighed. “Many reasons. I was hoping that I was wrong, that it wasn’t true. I hoped I could sway him, turn him away from the dark side, without having to involve you.” A small smile appeared. “You had - you have - wonderful qualities, Han, but patience and understanding were never among them. I was afraid that your reactions would only drive him farther to the dark side.
Rey is very much like Han. She always shoots first and doesn’t think enough of the consequences of her actions. And she definitely lacks patience, precisely what Ben needs. But failure is the greatest master so if Rey is the smart girl I think she is, she will ask herself what went wrong and what she did wrong in TLJ. By the way, it is now official that the working title of Episode 9 is dark crystal
So I guess that part of Episode 9 will be about how to restore their broken relationship symbolized by the broken Skywalker lightsaber by the end of TLJ.
