multiple concurrent marriages. After Absalom’s half-brother Amnon raped Absalom’s sister Tamar, Absalom was unhappy with how their father David dealt with the tragic situation. In his disappointment and anger, Absalom took justice into his own hands and plotted the death of his half-brother Amnon. That death sparked the seeds of revolt in Absalom who then openly worked to overthrow David. Had he succeeded in this endeavour, David would have died at Absalom’s own hands. For his part David did not want to see his son die and did everything he could to bring Absalom home and provide forgiveness even after he had turned against his family. In the end David even ordered his commanders to “deal gently for my sake with the young man Absalom” (2 Samuel 18:5). T h e disappointment of a son with his father is part of The Force Awakens. While Kylo Ren interrogates the young scavenger, he provides some personal commentary on his family. “Han Solo … You feel like he’s the father you never had. He would’ve disappointed you.” Like Absalom, Kylo Ren is disappointed in his father, a man he later describes as “weak and foolish.”
The Son of Solo
Since Ben Solo/Kylo Ren’s childhood and early-adulthood falls within the 30-year gap between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens, the nature and cause of this disappointment is a mystery. Something happened in the past that resulted in Ben Solo becoming Kylo Ren. Without specifics Han
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Solo recounts to Rey how Luke Skywalker once had a young apprentice who turned on him and destroyed the Jedi school Luke was establishing. Lurking in the background of this betrayal is Supreme Leader Snoke who presumably tempted Ben Solo to the dark-side of the force and prompting his conversion to “Kylo Ren,” Master of the Knight of Ren. It is implied that this tragedy broke Han Solo’s and Leia Organa’s relationship. It also drove Luke Skywalker into self-imposed exile. As Kylo Ren, the young Ben Solo wears a mask not because he needs to but rather out of misplaced devotion to Darth Vader. He seems either unaware of, or disbelieving
of Vader’s ultimate fate and the redemption of the man behind the mask which occurred at the end of Return of the Jedi. In one scene he sits piously before Darth Vader’s burnt and deformed iconic mask praying, “Forgive me. I feel it again… the call from the light. Supreme Leader senses it. Show me again the power of the darkness, and I’ll let nothing stand in our way. Show me, grandfather, and I will finish what you started.” In part this establishes a nagging struggle within the character. Perversely, where a Christian struggles against evil and its
THE CANADIAN LUTHERAN January/February 2016
temptations, Kylo Ren struggles against goodness and the light-side of the force. He struggles against where he came from and “the truth that is [his] family.” Even though Kylo Ren/Ben Solo claims his father “means nothing to [him],” Supreme Leader Snoke warns that facing his father again will be a test unlike any Ben has faced. At the apex of the film, over an infinitely deep pit of light, he meets his father on a narrow bridge: Han Solo: Ben! Kylo Ren: Han Solo. I’ve been waiting for this day for a long time. Han Solo: Take off that mask. You don’t need it. Kylo Ren: What do you think you’ll see if I do? Han Solo: The face of my son. Kylo Ren: Yo u r s o n is gone. He wa s we a k and foolish like his father, so I destroyed him. Han Solo: T h a t ’ s what Snoke wants you to believe, but it’s not true. My son is alive. Kylo Ren: No. The Supreme Leader is wise. Han Solo: Snoke is using you for your power. When he gets what he wants, he’ll crush you. You know it’s true. Kylo Ren: It’s too late. Han Solo: No, it’s not. Leave here with me. Come home. We miss you. Kylo Ren: I’m being torn apart. I want to be free of this pain. I know what I have to do but I don’t know