Ben Jacen Solo

**Ben Jacen Solo** was a human male Force-sensitivewho fell to the dark side of the Force as **Kylo Ren**—the "**Jedi Killer**," master of the Knights of Ren, and eventual Supreme Leader of the First Order—but returned to the light side shortly before his death. He was born in 10 ABY to General Han Solo and Princess Leia Skywalker-Organa, who were considered great heroes of the Alliance to Restore the Republic, as was his maternal uncle, Jedi Master Luke Skywalker. As a member of the Skywalker bloodline, Ben Solo possessed raw strength in the Force and had the potential for limitless power. His grandfather, Anakin Skywalker, had become the Sith Lord Darth Vader through the machinations of Darth Sidious, the Dark Lord of the Sith. The phantom Sidious similarly targeted Solo.

During the New Republic Era, Solo, his sister Breha Solo and his cousin Sam Skywalker joined the New Jedi Order run by Luke Skywalker. In 25 ABY, Sidious's son had a daughter, Rey. Unknown to any at the time, Solo and Rey were counterparts as a dyad in the Force.

In 38 ABY, a confrontation initiated by Skywalker resulted in Solo turning against the Jedi and falling to the dark side. Solo destroyedhis master's training temple, killing his fellow students, then fled to join Snoke. He killed and replaced the leader of the Knights of Ren under a new persona, Kylo Ren. As a product of Jedi and Sith teachings, Ren embodied the conflict between the dark side and the light but was dangerously unstable. Inspired by the legacy of his grandfather, Ren sought to destroy the last remnants of the Jedi Order and conquer the galaxy. Determined to sever all ties to his past, Ren killed his father and assassinated his master. The Jedi apprentice Rey had briefly grown close to Ren through their unique Force-bondand believed she could turn him back to the light, but she rejected his offer to rule with him. Rey joined the Resistance led by Leia Skywalker-Organa and continued her Jedi training, while Ren conquered vast regions of the galaxy as the new Supreme Leader.

During the last days of the Second Galactic Civil War in 45 ABY, Darth Sidious offered the Final Order fleet to Ren in return for killing his sworn enemy, Rey. Ren attempted to betray Sidious, but Rey again rejected his offer. Despite Ren's aspiration to rule the galaxy as the new Galactic Emperor and Dark Lord of the Sith, he was pulled back to the light during a duel with Rey when his mother communicated with him as she died, reminding him of his family's love and forgiveness. Rey turned back from her own brush with the dark side to save his life by healing the wound she had given him. Reclaiming his identity as Ben Solo, the redeemed Jedi joined Rey on Exegol to save her from Sidious and defeathim once and for all, though the effort took Rey's life. When Solo sacrificed himself to revive Rey, he died and became one with the Force, joining his mother, uncle, and grandfather.

## Biography

### Pre-birth

In 0 BBY, during the Galactic Civil War and a decade before Solo's birth, his voice was heard by the Jedi Padawan Ezra Bridger during his brief visit to the World Between Worlds—a mystical plane that existed between time and space. Bridger heard the voice of Ren saying that he would "finish what his grandfather started."

### Early life

#### Birth

"*I am in command of my own body, thank you very much.*"
"*Tell that to the little bandit.*"
"*I think you mean the little* angel*.*"
―Leia Skywalker-Organa and Han Solo
In 4 ABY, Princess Leia Organa and General Han Solo were among those who led the Alliance to Restore the Republic in a decisive victory over the Galactic Empire at the Battle of Endor. Their victory resulted in the deaths of the Emperor, Darth Sidious, and Organa's biological father, Anakin Skywalker; Skywalker ceased to be Darth Vader when he saved his son, Luke Skywalker, and redeemed himself after decades of subjugating the galaxy.

Soon after the battle, Leia Skywalker-Organa and Han Solo married. Following the Thrawn campaign, they conceived their son, Ben Jacen Solo. During her pregnancy, the Force-sensitive Skywalker-Organa could sense her son through the Force, and felt both the light side and the dark within him. Ben was born in 10 ABY in Hanna City, Chandrila. Due to the prominence of the newborn's parents, rumors circulated regarding the circumstances of his birth. Solo was Force-sensitive and possessed prodigious strength by virtue of his Skywalker lineage, a trait that he shared with his mother,uncle, and grandfather.

Ben Solo's name was chosen by his father. In 13 BBY, the surname Solo was given to Han on Corellia by chief recruitment officer Drawd Munbrin, who required a full name when Han enlisted for the Carida Academy to become a pilot. The inspiration for the child's first name was "Ben Kenobi," the alias of the late and legendary Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi; Kenobi used that name while in exile on Tatooine after the fall of the Jedi Order at the end of the Clone Wars; under this alias, he rescued a young Leia Organa from a kidnapping at the hands of the Inquisitorius, and he later sacrificed his life while rescuing Organa from the first Death Star battle station in 0 BBY. Kenobi was also a close friend to both the Skywalker and Organa family, who Leia had heard stories about growing up from her adoptive father Bail Organa, and Kenobi had been the one to unite Luke, Han and Leia together in the first place. Han originally wanted to name their son Han Solo Jr. after himself, but the two eventually agreed on the name Ben.

As the son of an adopted Alderaanian princess, Ben Solo would have inherited the title of Prince of Alderaan if that planet and the House of Organa that ruled it had not been destroyed by the Empire before he was born. However, many people within the galaxy, particularly survivors of Alderaan, still considered Leia and her line to be royalty regardless.

#### Early years

"*I know where you come from. Before you called yourself Kylo Ren.*"
―Lor San Tekka
Ben Solo was prone to crying as an infant, particularly in the first months of his life, and had difficulty falling asleep. He would settle to sleep when he was held by his father or upon sensing the presence of his parents or their friend, Han's Wookiee First Mate Chewbacca. Organa was with Solo for multiple milestones: when he took his first steps, when he said his first word, and when he first instinctively harnessed the power of the Force to telekinetically throw a toy across the room in anger. As a toddler, Solo continued to demonstrate his ability to use the Force without either anger or training to bring objects to himself.

Though Han lacked the Force bond that Skywalker-Organa had with their son, he had a fatherly bond with Ben. One night, when Ben was two years old, Chancellor Mon Mothma contacted the Solo house in an attempt to speak with Skywalker-Organa while Han and Ben were asleep following multiple nights of insomnia. The household protocol droid, T-2LC, awakened the father and son by activating a holo-projection of the chancellor; Han then soothed Ben's crying until they both slept.

At that time, the Solo family utilized the class-3 culinary septic droid BX-778 to help them with the household chores. While supervising Ben at T-2LC's direction, a virus within BX-778 activated and caused the droid to consider cutting Ben's throat in order to stop the toddler's temper tantrum. The droid's programming was restored as a result of Han destroying the Phylanx Redux Transmitter, erasing the command to kill organics that BX-778 had been infected with. The child was not consciously aware that his life had been endangered and he may not have remembered it later; however, the incident may have been retained subconsciously as a near-death experience.

Solo grew close to his parents' friends in his childhood; in particular, he showed great affection toward Lando Calrissian, whom he referred to as "Unca Wanwo" and who told him stories of Han's days as a smuggler. Chewbacca, whom Solo referred to as "Uncle Chewie," mentored him as he learned how to fly a speeder and fire a blaster, and he sometimes provided childcare when the boy's parents were occupied with their respective careers.

In his youth, Solo's parents had active lives in their respective professions. Restless with settling in one place for long, Han began mentoring young pilots; he hoped to someday help Ben learn how to repair the hyperdrive of the *Millennium Falcon* and acquire a starship of his own. He also hoped that Ben would someday choose the same simple path of adventurer rather than the path of a Jedi like his uncle and grandfather. Ben enjoyed playing with the gold dice that belonged to his father and would often follow him around. The boy aspired to become a pilot like his father and inherited piloting skills from both his father and his biological maternal grandfather. Meanwhile, Skywalker-Organa was a respected senator of the New Republic, and as she worked to repair the galaxy and prepare for the future conflict she sensed, she became occupied with routine senatorial duties.

His parents' increasing reliance upon a droid caretaker and their busy lives contributed to Solo developing a sense of loneliness. Although he was told his parents were away doing important work, a benefit his mother hoped he would realize and appreciate in time, the child had difficulty accepting and believing it.

### Jedi training

#### Student of the Force

"*As I have told you many times, I don't believe the training of a true Jedi comes from listening to lectures. I want to teach you how to learn action, how to do things, not just think about them. 'There is no try,' as Yoda, one of my own Jedi Masters, taught me.*"
―Luke Skywalker, in lecture to Solo's class
S

#### A teacher in the making

"*He's going to make a fine Jedi one day, Luke. And the responsibilities of the temple while his Master is away will do him a world of good.*"
―Lor San Tekka, to Luke Skywalker, referring to Ben Solo
Solo was one of Skywalker's senior pupils by the time he became a young adult; as such, he was entrusted with some of his Master's responsibilities, such as the supervision of training sessions in which the younger students practiced with training lightsabers. In 31 ABY, Lor San Tekka visited the temple on Ossus to speak with Skywalker. Solo went to Skywalker's hut to inform him of San Tekka's arrival, inadvertently interrupting Skywalker's meditation. Embarrassed at his intrusion, Solo accidentally referred to Skywalker as uncle instead of Master. Having been lectured by Skywalker on the need to exercise discipline and control, Solo composed himself and addressed Skywalker by his formal title as he informed him about their visitor. After Skywalker welcomed his old friend to the temple, San Tekka addressed Solo directly to inquire on the progress of his training. Solo's efforts at formality amused his Master, who assured San Tekka that Solo was a better student than he could have hoped for.

Skywalker told Solo to return to his studies while he and San Tekka spoke in private. Returning to the temple grounds, Solo replaced the Twi'lek Enyo as an instructor for a class of younglings who were exercising with training lightsabers. He ended the training session after his Master signaled him to return to his hut. San Tekka had invited Skywalker to travel with him to an archeological site on Yoturba, and also noted that Solo could benefit from his Master's absence by taking on more responsibilities at the temple.

### Fall to the dark side

#### A fateful night

"*He would bring destruction, and pain, and death, and the end of everything I love because of what he will become. And for the briefest moment of pure instinct, I thought I could stop it. It passed like a fleeting shadow. And I was left with shame, and with consequence. And the last thing I saw were the eyes of a frightened boy whose master had failed him.*"
―Luke Skywalker, about Ben Solo

Skywalker eventually became aware of the darkness growing in his nephew as he observed glimpses during Solo's training. He went to his nephew's bedroom one evening to confront him, and found him asleep. Standing over his sleeping student, Skywalker reached out and sensed that Solo had already turned through Snoke's influence, and saw the death and destruction Solo would someday bring to everything Skywalker loved. The immediacy and severity of the threat caused the Jedi Master to instinctively draw his lightsaber, intending for a brief moment to kill his apprentice to prevent his vision from coming to pass, but the impulse vanished in an instant. Skywalker was immediately filled with shame and saw Solo had awakened to see his uncle standing over him with his lightsaber raised. Solo, unaware of the brevity of Skywalker's instinct, witnessed it long enough to fear for his life. He panicked and drew his own lightsaber to strike his uncle first, but Skywalker quickly blocked his nephew's killing blow. In an act of desperation, Solo used the Force to collapse the entire hut on his master.

### Cold War

#### Marooned with Hux

"*How did we…? Did you… Did you save me?*"
"*Not intentionally. I saved myself. You were just nearby. Communications are out.*"
"*Which means I have no choice but to talk to you instead of literally anyone else.*"
―Armitage Hux and Kylo Ren

At one point before the attack on Tuanul, an *Xi*-class light shuttle carrying Kylo Ren and General Hux crash-landed on a distant world. Their shuttle was consequently destroyed and the pilot died in the crash, although Ren survived the incident by protecting himself with the Force. By saving himself, however, he inadvertently saved Hux's life as well. The destruction of their vessel along with its communications system left them marooned and unable to contact the First Order. Realizing that a saboteur was responsible for their predicament, the two rivals began bickering over which of them was at fault. Ren chided Hux as he believed the general was targeted by a conspirator in his own army, to which Hux responded by mocking Ren for his temper and efforts emulate Darth Vader. Ren drew his lightsaber at the mention of his parents and contemplated ridding himself of Hux once and for all, aware that it would be some time before the First Order located their position. However, Hux reminded him of the one person who would learn the truth: Ren's master, Supreme Leader Snoke. Although he did not understand why Hux was important to Snoke's plans, Ren conceded the point that there would be a penalty for killing the Supreme Leader's favored general, and therefore deactivated his lightsaber, sparing Hux.

Following their argument, Ren and Hux were attacked by a norwood, a large creature native to the planet that they were stranded on. Drawing his lightsaber once more, Ren took a defensive stance and told Hux to stay behind him, only to see that the general had already fled in the opposite direction of the beast. Though abandoned by Hux, Ren stood his ground and managed to incapacitate the norwood by using the Force to smack its head against a tree. Believing himself victorious, Ren called Hux a coward and told him to come out from wherever he was hiding, but a second norwood ambushed him and ultimately rendered the dark warrior unconscious, at which point the Alderaanian exile Bylsma emerged and prevented the norwoods from killing Ren.

Hux, who had been hiding in the trees and watching as the event occurred, cautiously approached Bylsma from his hiding place. Recognising the old man's uniform, Hux came to the conclusion that Bylsma was an Alderaanian palace guard. Bylsma confirmed as much and revealed that he had fled into exile after the destruction of Alderaan. He stranded himself on a distant planet and severed his connections to the larger galaxy, fearing that his new home would suffer Alderaan's fate if he attempted to use his ship's communications, but as a result, Bylsma had no knowledge of the events that unfolded after the disaster. Hux used Bylsma's ignorance of recent galactic history in order to gain his trust. In addition, he used Ren's heritage to his advantage, informing Bylsma that the man whom the norwoods attacked was, in fact, a fellow son of Alderaan. More to the point, he was the son of Leia Organa, the princess of Alderaan. Bylsma, who had known both the princess and her adoptive father, saw the physical resemblance between Ren and his mother and wondered if Ren was anything like the princess he once served. Hux assured him that Ren was indeed like his mother, even if he would have denied it.

Bylsma built a stretcher and carried Ren to his home, where Hux convinced the retired soldier to give him access to the ship's communications so that they could be rescued. After regaining consciousness, Ren played along with Hux's deception until a shuttle arrived to retrieve them. The shuttle ramp lowered revealing Captain Phasma and a squad of stormtroopers, leading to the norwoods' immediate death by blaster fire. Ren boarded the shuttle in silence alongside Hux, who told the captain to spare the old man's life but to disable his communications array, leaving Bylsma truly stranded and alone. They reported directly to Snoke via hologram after their return to Starkiller Base; although Ren offered to punish the culprit responsible for sabotaging the shuttle, Hux insisted on handling the matter personally, given that the conspiracy was directed at him. Snoke approved the general's request, causing Ren to question the Supreme Leader's faith in Hux. Ren, who could sense Hux's ambition to kill and replace Snoke, and therefore, deemed him untrustworthy, was certain that his master knew it as well. Snoke dismissed Ren's concerns, however, and explained why Hux—a vicious and unforgiving man, consumed by ambition and driven by spite, molded as such through years of abuse—was ultimately a useful asset.

#### Confronting old enemies of Darth Vader

"*But still, we are walking in Darth Vader's shadow. This is the field where he fought. There is glory here.*"
"*Glory? Nah. There's none of that buried out there. There are only wasted lives…*"
―Kylo Ren and Ruthford
The First Order deployed an army, under the command of Kylo Ren, to the Benathy homeworld in Wild Space, intending to put an end to their expansionist campaign. Ren, who was aware that his grandfather once foughtagainst the Benathy decades earlier during the reign of the Galactic Empire, saw his mission as an opportunity to succeed where Darth Vader failed—by forcing the Benathy to submit to the First Order. Captain Ruthford, a veteran Imperial stormtrooper who joined the First Order, accompanied Ren as his military advisor. Having served with Ren's grandfather against the Benathy, Ruthford opined that Vader managed to subdue the aliens but at the cost of thousands on both sides, resulting in a pyrrhic victory. But where Ruthford was disillusioned by his past experience with the Benathy, believing their conflict with the Empire was pointless and a waste of lives, Ren saw only glory as he walked across the field of battle where Vader once stood, the shadow of his grandfather's legacy looming over him.

Despite the army behind him, the First Order's troops were ordered to stand by while Ren conducted negotiations with the Benathy's ruler, King Kristoff, attempting to secure their capitulation without bloodshed. Desiring to expand the Benathy's domain, Kristoff not only conquered four nearby planets but also had them purged of all life, leading Ren to demand that the Benathy cease their expansion immediately. Compared to Ren, the late Vader commanded the king's respect, but only to a degree because while Vader killed Kristoff's predecessor he failed to defeat their Zillo Beast, which the Benathy worshiped as a god. Nevertheless, Ren continued his efforts to resolve their situation through diplomacy and even attempted to dominate the king's will by way of the Force. The mind trick failed, however. Kristoff openly mocked Ren's negotiating skills, causing Ruthford to caution him against provoking the dark warrior. At that point, Ren stabbed the king through the head with his lightsaber, concluding negotiations in favor of open battle.

Leading by example like his grandfather before him, Ren fought alongside his stormtroopers as they engaged the Benathy and personally killed numerous enemy combatants until their deity arrived. Despite Ruthford's skepticism, Ren was undaunted and ordered his men to keep fighting. After their initial efforts to kill the beast failed, he improvised a plan to kill the creature to the dismay of Ruthford, who could no longer restrain himself from expressing his disapproval of Ren's desire to match Vader's achievements. In his view, there was no competition between Ren and Vader because the latter was long since dead.

Despite the captain's lack of faith in him, Ren commanded a shuttle to bring him to the jaws of the Zillo Beast, diving head-first into its mouth. Convinced that Ren was dead, Ruthford was in the middle of recommending the option of retreat to a nearby admiral when the Zillo Beast suddenly collapsed and died. Ren had killed the creature from within, where it was vulnerable, and managed to cut his way out, emerging from its corpse covered in the blood of the Benathy's deity. Declaring that their god was now dead, the dark warrior commanded the Benathy to submit to the First Order, and they did by kneeling in submission to him. In the end, he not only gained the allegiance of the Benathy, but also Captain Ruthford's respect.

#### Going undercover

"*Hi. I'm Matt. I'm a radar technician.*"
―"Matt" introduces himself
Approximately two weeks before the search for Skywalker, Ren went undercover while stationed aboard Starkiller Base in order to get a true understanding of what rank and file officers and soldiers thought of the First Order. Becoming an "undercover boss", Ren adopted the alias of Matt, a blond-haired radar technician. Ren entered an employee common area, and introduced himself as Matt the radar technician, before sitting at a table where he met a stormtrooper named Timothy Bradley, and a Lieutenant Colonel named Zack Daniels. Ren asked the pair if they liked serving the First Order, to which Daniels responded that "work is work." Ren then asked if they believed that Kylo Ren would finish what Darth Vader started. Bradley questioned what Vader had started. Daniels however, admired Ren's determination, believing that it was impossible for a single person to rule the galaxy.

Ren later helped Karen Cassidy rewire a calcinator. When Ren made a mistake, Cassidy raised her voice, insulting Ren and questioning why he struggled to understand how to perform the task. Due to this experience, Ren gained a newfound respect for what maintenance workers do, now understanding that it was not as easy as he had once presumed. Cassidy continued insulting Ren and tried rushing him, wanting to have her lunch. Whilst Ren was working, a stormtrooper who was walking past kicked Ren's wrench across the hallway.

Ren asked Bradley and Daniels if they had ever seen Kylo Ren's lightsaber. Bradley replied that it was "weird looking." Ren became offended, and pointed the weapon in Bradley's face. Bradley commented that it was poorly made as if it were created by a child, to which Ren threw the lightsaber in rage. At that point, Daniels became certain that Matt and Kylo Ren were one and the same. Later on, Daniels opened up to Ren about the struggles his family were facing, including the death of his son. After Daniels revealed that his son was in the Stormtrooper Corps, Ren realised that he was the one who had killed him. Feeling guilty, Ren wrote a card to Daniels, apologising for killing his son months earlier, which he later handed to him, still not revealing his real identity by claiming that Kylo Ren had asked him to give the card to Daniels.

Ren, still under the alias of Matt, claimed that a friend of his had seen Kylo Ren shirtless in the shower and noted that Ren was muscular. Bradley laughed at the idea, claiming that Matt's friend was a liar, before insulting Kylo Ren. Enraged by Bradley's comments, Ren used the Force to choke him, before throwing him into a vending machine. Eventually, "Matt" made an announcement to everyone in the common area, revealing his real identity as Kylo Ren. However, nobody was surprised, with Daniels revealing that he knew from the beginning. After receiving a promotion from Ren, Daniels grabbed his arm and thanked him. Outraged, by Daniels grabbing him, Ren ended up killing him, and leaving his body in the corridor.

Ren believed that the entire experience had shaped him into a better leader, due to his newfound understanding of the daily challenges and struggles that troopers, officers and other key workers face. The whole event was recorded, with a crew having set up hidden cameras around the base, and was played for entertainment to those in service to the First Order.

#### Hunting the last Jedi

##### Learning of the map

"*If Skywalker returns, the new Jedi will rise.*"
―Snoke
Both Ren and the Supreme Leader understood that if Skywalker and the Jedi were to ever return, they would be a grave threat to the future of the First Order. The people who were closest to Skywalker believed he had gone in search of the first Jedi temple, the location of which had been lost. A partial map was recovered from the archives of the Galactic Empire, but it was missing a key piece of the puzzle. The First Order soon discovered that the missing map fragment was in the possession of Lor San Tekka, a member of the Church of the Force.

##### Mission to Pillio

"*Tell me where Lor San Tekka took the map.*"
"*…Bayora. He took it to Bayora.*"
―Kylo Ren and Del Meeko

The hunt for Skywalker caused Ren to undertake a journey the planet Pillio. Although San Tekka was not found on the world, the First Order's allies captured and detained Del Meeko, a veteran of the Galactic Civil War who served the Empire and New Republic, in turn, as a member of Inferno Squad. Upon his arrival, the dark warrior was greeted by Protectorate Glebof Jinata Security. Dismissive of the formalities, he instructed the Aqualish officer to lead him to Meeko. He found the former soldier wounded and alone on the bridge of the *Raider II*-class corvette *Corvus*.

Ignoring the prisoner's sarcasm, Ren used the Force to probe through Meeko's mind, determined to learn where San Tekka took the map. For all of Meeko's efforts to resist the probe, invading his mind was a relatively simple task for Ren, who saw memories ranging across the former commando's life—from his service on Scarif as a coastal defender stormtrooper to his participation in the Battle of Endor and the skirmish on Vardos. He also learned that Meeko encountered Skywalker on Pillio and subsequently discovered his faith in the Force. Ultimately, Meeko was unable to resist Ren's powers and revealed that San Tekka took the map with him to Bayora.

Having gained the information he sought, Ren turned the prisoner over to First Order officer Gideon Hask, one of Meeko's former teammates in the Inferno Squad prior the Empire's fall, who executed Meeko shortly thereafter.

### Second Galactic Civil War

#### The search for Skywalker

##### Raid on Jakku

"*The map to Skywalker. We know you've found it, and now you're going to give it to the First Order.*"
"*The First Order rose from the dark side. You did not.*"
"*I'll show you the dark side.*"
"*You may try, but you cannot deny the truth that is your family.*"
"*You're so right.*"
―Kylo Ren and Lor San Tekka

Eventually, the First Order learned that San Tekka was on Jakku. Ren, who knew San Tekka from childhood as the explorer was once an old ally of Organa and Skywalker, brought the *Resurgent*-class Star Destroyer *Finalizer* in his search for the map. The First Order's military attacked the village of Tuanul, where San Tekka lived. Once the First Order stormtroopers, under the command of Phasma, rounded up the denizens of the village, Ren arrived on the battlefield and confronted San Tekka, lamenting how old the former explorer had become, to which San Tekka replied that Ren's fall to the dark side was far worse. Ren demanded that San Tekka give the map to the First Order, but San Tekka refused to submit to the will of the dark side and reminded the one-time Jedi that he could not deny the truth of his heritage, at which point Ren struck him down with his lightsaber while sarcastically agreeing with him.

Moments later, he was shot at from afar by Commander Poe Dameron, a starfighter pilot in the Resistance who was sent to Jakku by General Organa to find the map before the First Order. Ren used the Force to freeze the blaster bolt midair, as well as Dameron, and the pilot was soon brought before him. The dark warrior realized that Tekka gave the map to Dameron and ordered that the troopers bring the pilot onto Ren's command shuttle, before giving the order to kill the rest of the villagers. One stormtrooper, FN-2187, hesitated and ultimately chose not to fire on the civilians, an act that Ren noticed as he could sense his fear before boarding his shuttle.

##### Locating BB-8

"*The droid… stole a freighter?*"
―Kylo Ren, to Dopheld Mitaka

Dameron was brought aboard the *Finalizer* for interrogation, where he was placed into an interrogation chair. The device, used by Ren to extract information from his prisoners, was based on similar devices once used by the Inquisitors of the Galactic Empire. Ren soon heard of Dameron's reputation for being the best pilot in the Resistance, a feat that Ren noted once he began interrogating the pilot personally. Though the dark knight was impressed that Dameron had not yet been broken, Ren began to use the Force to mentally extract the information from Dameron's mind. The pilot, who resisted the Force attack, finally was forced to reveal that he had hidden the map inside his BB unit, BB-8, who was likely still on Jakku. Ren informed General Hux of the new development and left the recovery of the droid in the hands of the military.

Shortly after leaving Dameron under the guard of several stormtroopers, Ren arrived on the *Finalizer*'s bridge upon hearing that the Resistance pilot escaped aboard a TIE fighter. Hux confirmed this with the additional information of Dameron having had help from someone within the First Order's ranks. Ren realised that it could only have been FN-2187, after remembering how the conflicted soldier had hesitated in Tuanul, and he said as much to Hux. The TIE fighter was eventually shot down after a brief skirmish, and it crash-landed on Jakku.

The First Order recognized that Dameron and the deserter designated FN-2187 were looking for the droid, so Hux ordered a squadron to be sent to Jakku to recover it first. Hux soon spoke to the Supreme Leader, who ordered them to capture the droid if they could, but destroy it if they must. Ren questioned the capability of Hux's soldiers and training methods, wondering aloud whether the Supreme Leader would be better off using an army of clones as the Galactic Republic and the early Empire had once done. Hux told him that they were more than capable, and warned Ren not to let his personal mission to find Skywalker interfere with the Supreme Leader's orders.

Later that day, a nervous Lieutenant Dopheld Mitaka informed Ren that the astromech droid escaped aboard a YT-1300 light freighter. At first, Ren found it unlikely for a single droid to be capable of stealing a ship but allowed Mitaka to continue. Further intelligence suggested the probability of FN-2187, who had now branded himself with the name Finn, abetting the droid's evacuation from Jakku. Enraged that the traitor had robbed him of the means to find Skywalker, Ren ignited his lightsaber and destroyed the computer terminal in front of him. The dark warrior calmed down, asking if there was "anything else." Mitaka replied that the defector and the droid had help from a girl. Ren used the Force to drag Mitaka towards him, grabbed him by the neck, and demanded to know who the girl was.

##### The pull to the light

"*The droid we seek is aboard the* Millennium Falcon*. In the hands of your father, Han Solo.*"
"*He means nothing to me.*"
"*Even you, Master of the Knights of Ren, have never faced such a test.*"
"*By the grace of your training, I will not be seduced.*"
"*We shall see. We shall see.*"
―Kylo Ren and Snoke

With the droid gone, the *Finalizer* made its way to Starkiller Base. Once there, Ren and Hux spoke to Supreme Leader Snoke, who communicated to his subordinates via an enlarged hologram. Snoke remained concerned that Skywalker's return would be a threat to the First Order, so Hux proposed that they finally use the weapon as intended and destroy the New Republic once and for all. Without the Republic, Hux knew that the Resistance would be vulnerable and could be stopped before they found Skywalker. The Supreme Leader gave the general his permission and Hux left to oversee preparations, while Ren remained behind.

Both Snoke and Ren could sense that the Force was awakening from dormancy once again, and the Supreme Leader told his apprentice that the droid was in the hands of Han Solo; the old smuggler had the astromech aboard his ship, the *Millennium Falcon*. Ren claimed Solo meant nothing to him and that he would not be "seduced" by the light as his grandfather once was, not while he had Snoke's training. Even so, the Supreme Leader warned that this would be Ren's greatest test.

Though Ren believed he would not be seduced, he nonetheless felt the pull of the light side. In his personal quarters aboard the *Finalizer*, Ren spoke to the helmet of Darth Vader, searching for guidance and hoping that the legacy of the Dark Lord could remind him of the power of the dark side. He swore that if Vader could show him that dark power, then Ren would finish what the Sith started and destroy the last of the Jedi.

##### Capture of Rey

"*You. You're afraid. Afraid that you'll never be as strong as Darth Vader.*"
―Rey, to Kylo Ren

The First Order soon learned that Solo, Rey, Finn, and BB-8 had landed on Takodana and were in the castle of the ancient pirate Maz Kanata, who Solo hoped would help deliver the droid to the Resistance. Before the First Order departed, General Hux unleashed the Starkiller weapon against the Republic. After giving a speech to his forces about the end of a regime that he believed could not contain galactic chaos, Hux ordered that the weapon be fired. Ren watched from the bridge of the *Finalizer* as the weapon's phantom energy left the surface of Starkiller Base and made their way to the Republic's capital of Hosnian Prime, where they destroyed the entire Hosnian system.

With the Republic severely damaged, Ren led his forces to Takodana, where the stormtroopers attacked Kanata's castle. Solo, Finn, and BB-8 were briefly captured by the First Order before Dameron and the Resistance Starfighter Corps arrived to recover the droid. When Rey and the astromech tried to escape through the forest, they split up as she led the stormtroopers away from the droid. Ren soon arrived on the battlefield and found her in the woods. She fired at him with her blaster, but he followed her and deflected the shots with his lightsaber. Finally, Ren froze her in place with a telekinetic attack.

Using the Force to enter Rey's mind, Ren saw that she had seen the map he sought. Believing the First Order would not need the droid since he could view Rey's memories, he used the Force to render her unconscious and captured her. He ordered the First Order to retreat and their forces left Takodana. The droid ultimately made it out of the forests and into the hands of the Resistance.

Ren brought Rey to Starkiller Base via his command shuttle and restrained her in an interrogation chair. When she awoke, she asked where her friends were, and Ren told her he had no idea. He sensed she still wanted to kill him, and she said it was because she was being hunted by a creature in a mask. He removed his mask to show his young face and asked about the droid, to which the girl gave him BB-8's technical specifications. Ren told her that he knew about the map and that the First Order had recovered the rest of it from the archives of the Empire.

Ren warned Rey that he could take whatever he wanted from her before probing her mind with the Force while she resisted his mental attack. At the time, Ren was unaware that he and Rey formed a prophesized dyad in the Force, but he sensed they had an innate connection. In her mind, he discovered her name, felt her loneliness and fear, and saw an ocean and an island that she had dreamed about during her life as a scavenger in the junkyards. When he sensed Han Solo, Ren could tell that Rey looked at the smuggler as a father figure, but he said that Solo would have only disappointed her. Rey grew more resistant to his mental attack and turned it against him, using the same ability to see that Ren was afraid he would never be as strong as Darth Vader was.

##### Snoke's new strategy

"*Supreme Leader, I can get the map from the girl. I just need your guidance.*"
"*If what you say about this girl is true, bring her to me.*"
―Kylo Ren and Snoke

Stunned by the reversal, Ren left Rey behind in the interrogation chamber and spoke to the Supreme Leader, who reacted with incredulity that a mere scavenger resisted him. Ren told Snoke that Rey was even stronger with the Force than she realised. The Supreme Leader asked what happened to the droid, and General Hux, who had just entered the chamber, told Snoke that Ren believed he only needed Rey and allowed the droid to escape. Concerned that the Resistance might have the full map to Skywalker, Snoke ordered Hux to unleash the Starkiller weapon against the Resistance base on the planet D'Qar. Ren swore that he could still find the map in Rey's mind as long as he had his master's guidance, so the Supreme Leader ordered Rey to be brought to him.

When Ren returned to the cell, he saw the interrogation bench was deserted, every one of its restraints left open as if to mock Ren. Enraged, he ignited his lightsaber and destroyed the room, causing two passing stormtroopers to quickly back away.

##### Han Solo's last stand

"*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 if I have the strength to do it. Will you help me?*"
"*Yes. anything.*"
―Kylo Ren and Han Solo

Ren commanded the First Order troops to be on alert for Rey as she began making her way through the base, as he knew that the longer she was able to tap into her powers while escaping, the more dangerous she would become. A trooper reported sensor readings in Hangar 718, which meant Rey could be there. But investigations turned up nothing. Nonetheless, Ren wanted every hangar on lockdown to prevent Rey from commandeering a ship. Right in the middle of that order, he was interrupted by a familiar presence: Han Solo. His father was on Starkiller Base.

Ren ordered for a search of the *Millennium Falcon*, for the ship had shortly been sighted at the edge of a cliff. By the time he arrived on the scene, everything checked clear and not a single hidden trap could be found. He boarded the *Falcon* and sat on the pilot's seat, looking for anything that may lead him to Solo's whereabouts. Just then, he spotted Resistance X-wings flying past and assaulting the thermal oscillator, hoping to destroy it and set off a chain reaction that would cause the planet to implode before the weapon could destroy D'Qar. Ren rushed to the oscillator, commanding his troops to find the intruders. He knew Solo had to be nearby, as well as the fact that he did not come alone.

As Ren advanced on the walkway, he stopped upon hearing the voice of his father, calling out to him from behind, using his birth name. He turned about face and said he had been waiting for this eventuality. Solo told him to remove the mask so he could see the face of his son once more. Ren removed the mask but told Solo that he had destroyed Ben, who Ren thought was weak and foolish, much like his father before him. Solo refused to acknowledge Ren's pessimistic stance on the matter, retorting that his son was very much alive and Snoke was simply using Ren for his power, and that once Snoke had exhausted Ren's usefulness, he would be disposed of. Ren, while neither denying nor confirming what Solo said about Snoke to be true, stated that it was too late for him. Solo pleaded with Ren to come home to his true family, claiming that he and Skywalker-Organa desperately missed the presence of their son. Ren broke down in tears and told his father that he was being torn apart by the constant struggle between the dark and the light inside him and wanted to be free of the pain that he was feeling. He knew what he had to do to put a permanent end to his inner turmoil, although Ren was uncertain whether or not he could perform the necessary act to do so. Asking for his father's assistance in ceasing the struggle, Solo agreed.

Ren, who was being watched from afar by Chewbacca, Rey, and Finn, took out his lightsaber and Solo grabbed hold of it. As the Starkiller finished draining the star it orbited to power the weapon, and the light on the planet died out, Ren ignited his lightsaber and impaled his father through the torso. A mortally wounded Han Solo touched his son's face one last time before falling to his death in the bowels of the oscillator. Despite Ren's role in his death, Han died refusing to believe that his son was lost to the dark side forever.

The act of patricide had an unsettling effect on Ren, as did Solo's gesture of compassion. Rather than make him stronger in the dark side, as he had thought, it had weakened his spirit. He became unbalanced, and was more miserable and weak than before. The shock had been so profound, he did not register Chewbacca's roar of anguish nor Rey's scream of horror.

Enraged by the loss of his best friend, Chewbacca fired a powerful shot from his Wookiee bowcaster and hit Ren in the left side, seriously injuring the dark knight. Quickly, Ren used the Force to reduce the effects of the wound, lest it may result in his premature death. Chewbacca killed several other stormtroopers in the area as Rey and Finn, who were high above in the oscillator, began firing into the area as well. The Wookiee then ignited charges that he and Solo set throughout the oscillator, causing a massive explosion that breached the oscillator and gave Dameron and the remaining Resistance pilots an opportunity to destroy it. As Ren composed himself from his injury, he made eyecontact with Finn and Rey. Anger swelling within him, he was resolved to find them before they could escape.

##### Duel in the forest

"*We're not done yet.*"
"*You're a monster!*"
"*It's just us now. Han Solo can't save you.*"
―Kylo Ren and Rey

Ren followed Rey and Finn into the forest outside of the oscillator, as they made their way back to the nearby *Millennium Falcon*. He confronted them, lightsaber drawn, and said that they still had unfinished business from which Han Solo could not save them. Outraged by Ren's patricidal actions, Rey denounced the dark warrior as a monster and tried to attack him with her blaster, but he used the Force to throw her into a tree and knock her unconscious. Now it was just Ren and the traitor who had earned his ire.

Finn ignited the Skywalker lightsaber that had been given to him for safekeeping by Maz Kanata—a lightsaber that once belonged to Luke Skywalker, and to Anakin before him. Ren demanded that Finn give him the lightsaber, claiming it belonged to him, but instead the former stormtrooper engaged him in a lightsaber duel. It was a short but brutal contest, in which Ren kept striking his bowcaster injury. In the end, Finn, who nonetheless landed one blow on Ren's right shoulder, was no match for Ren's power. Ren overwhelmed and disarmed his opponent, ending the fight with a punch and a lightsaber blow across Finn's back that left the one-time stormtrooper comatose.

With the duel seemingly over, Ren turned his attention towards his grandfather's lightsaber and attempted to use the Force to draw it into his hand. Instead, it flew past him and landed in the hands of Rey, who used the Force to call it to her—as it was her destiny to wield the lightsaber of Anakin Skywalker. Rey ignited the weapon and engaged Ren in a tense duel. At first, Ren had the upper hand, remaining on the offensive as he pressed his attack against the retreating scavenger. Their blades became locked, and Ren told the emerging Force-sensitive that she needed a teacher. It was he, Ren said, who could show her the ways of the Force. At that moment, Rey realised she could call upon the powers of the Force and began using that to her advantage. She turned the tide of the fight and pushed her own offensive against the dark warrior, who she was finally able to disarm. In doing so, she slashed her blade across his face, knocking him down and disfiguring him in the process.

With Rey having defeated Ren, the young woman and Ren were separated for long enough that, before they could engage any further, the surface of the planet began to break apart—the Resistance was victorious, and the destruction of the oscillator triggered the Starkiller's implosion. Ren and Rey were separated by a deep chasm, so Rey left the dark warrior behind, recovered Finn, and fled the planet with Chewbacca aboard the *Millennium Falcon*.

As the planet continued to collapse, Snoke ordered General Hux to find Ren and bring the young knight before the Supreme Leader so the young warrior's training could be completed. Hux and several troopers tracked Ren's signal and took him aboard a shuttle, leaving before the planet exploded. Immediately following Starkiller Base's destruction, Ren received treatment for the long scars on his body, though it was too late to erase them completely.

#### Next stages

##### A child in a mask

"*Yes. There it is. You have too much of your father's heart in you, young Solo.*"
"*I killed Han Solo. When the moment came I didn't hesitate.*"
"*And look at you. The deed split your spirit to the bone.*"
―Snoke and Kylo Ren

Following the Resistance's evacuation of the base on D'Qar, Ren was summoned to Supreme Leader Snoke's throne room, located in the *Mega*-class Star Dreadnought *Supremacy*.The blows inflicted on him, by Rey and Chewbacca, though stitched up some by microsutures, were still as fresh as ever, causing him some discomfort, though he tried to hide this. Kneeling before his master, he listened as Snoke loudly recalled the raw, untamed power that Ren possessed, abilities which had originally brought him to the dark sider's attention. Knowing the potential of the powerful Skywalker bloodline, the Supreme Leader revealed his belief that Ren could fulfill his grandfather's dark legacy.

But in light of his apprentice's most recent setback, Snoke retracted his faith in Ren's power. He chastised the dark warrior, calling him weak and sentimental, just like his late father. The struggle within Ren as he prepared to strike down Han Solo had been sensed by Snoke from afar. It was the trauma from this action that caused him to be outmatched by an untrained scavenger, who had never before wielded a lightsaber. Snoke had never seen such a pathetic display.

Fury building within him, Ren rose to attack his master, but Snoke quickly suppressed the attack with a surge of lightning, throwing the dark side apprentice back. As long as Luke Skywalker lived, Snoke seethed—as long as the Jedi remained—so did hope across the galaxy. Snoke believed that Ren would never be able to destroy it because he was a mere child hiding in a mask—nothing like the feared Darth Vader. Leaving the throne room, Ren erupted in a rage of self-pity and smashed his helmet against the surrounding metal. He then ordered his ship to be readied, resuming his quest to eradicate the Resistance.

##### Chasing the Resistance

"*Follow my lead.*"
―Kylo Ren, to his wingmen

As Hux had anticipated through new tracking technology, the First Order armada emerged from hyperspace to find the Resistance fleet unprepared and defenseless. The warship *Supremacy* led the charge, its powerful turbolasers showering the fleet with unyielding blasts. To complement the barrage, the *Supremacy* scrambled its short-distance fighters, with Ren spearheading the assault in his personal TIE silencer. Covered by three wingmen, until the third pilot was quickly destroyed, the dark apprentice intercepted the Resistance's MC85 Star Cruiser *Raddus*, capital ship of the fleet. Before the rebel pilots could launch a counterattack, he destroyed the *Raddus* hangar, leaving them unable to resist the fighter wing.

With the Resistance flagship crippled, Ren turned his fighter to face the bridge of the craft, readying his rockets. At this moment he sensed his mother's presence aboard the *Raddus* (with his mother likewise sensing him too) and Ren, hesitating, held his thumb over the trigger in a moment of intense doubt. After a moment, he surrendered to his second thoughts and abandoned the trigger control. His wingmen, however, had no such qualms—ever loyal to the First Order, they launched their rockets in Ren's place upon the bridge.

Ren watched the detonation with astonishment. He reached out again, but could not feel Organa anywhere. He believed that if he had had enough time, if he had not been taken by surprise, he would have protected his mother with the Force. Now, however, he had to conclude that she had died, along with all those present on the *Raddus*' bridge.

Following this last offensive, Hux ordered the fighters back to the *Supremacy*, as the Resistance fleet had pulled out of the *Supremacy*'s protective radius in the intervening time. Ren, with his wingmen being blown up around him, had no other recourse but to comply.

##### A growing connection

"*I'd never felt so alone.*"
"*You're not alone.*"
"*Neither are you. It isn't too late*"
―Rey and Kylo Ren
As the First Order pursued the Resistance fleet, Ren was being treated for the injury he had taken to his face, a medical droid removing the microsutures that had been attached to it, when he sensed a disturbance. Before he knew it, Rey appeared before him. Taken aback, Ren could only watch as Rey reached for her blaster and shot him. However, no shot injured him. The still-shocked Ren pursued Rey when she ran away and found her soon after and tried to use the mind trick to force Rey to bring Luke to him, only to realise that they weren't actually in the same location and that Rey had not projected her appearance to him as the effort would kill her. He even discovered that Rey had found Luke Skywalker and was now studying under him, although he could not discern where as he was unable to see Rey's surroundings. Whereas the aspiring Jedi regarded their connection as an inconvenience, Ren was intrigued by his bond with the former scavenger and sought to better understand it.

The bond between Ren and Rey was unprecedented in its strength and raw power. It also had an effect on Ren's churning emotions, and as it grew stronger in the Force, Rey started gaining new insights into Ren, who, to Rey's surprise, no longer tried to hide his feelings of pain and misery from her. It was because of the bond and her new understanding of Ren's pain that Rey came to suspect that their destinies were intertwined. Ren eventually revealed his recollection of the night he forsook Skywalker's teachings—how he awoke to the sound of a lightsaber, held by his uncle who intended to murder Ben Solo in his sleep—shaking Rey's faith in her Jedi Master. Although Rey called him a liar, she sensed no deception from Ren. He genuinely believed that his former mentor had betrayed him and intended to kill him while he was defenseless.

After failing to discover the fate of her parents, Rey sought out Ren through their bond because he understood what it was like to feel alone and lost. They comforted each other, insisting that neither was alone and in that moment they touched hands. Rey then beheld a vision of the future, leading her to believe that Ren was fated to renounce the dark side and return to the light, like his grandfather before him.

As a result of what she saw, Rey became convinced that her adversary could be turned from the dark side of the Force. However, in that moment, Skywalker walked in, witnessing Ren and Rey touching hands. After a brief battle between Rey and Skywalker, the latter revealed the truth of Ren's fall to the dark side, having lied about it earlier. Rey left Skywalker on his sanctuary and traveled to the Supremacy to see Ren, her actions guided by the belief that Ben Solo could be redeemed with her help. By touching hands, however, Ren experienced a vision of his own and thereby discerned the truth of Rey's father and mother: they were no one, merely a pair of junk traders who sold their daughter for drinking money before ultimately dying and being buried in a pauper's grave in the Jakku desert. This discovery convinced Ren that Rey would turn to the dark side and stand with him as they moved to confront his master together.

##### Destiny fulfilled

"*My worthy apprentice, son of darkness, heir apparent to Lord Vader. Where there was conflict, I now sense resolve; where there was weakness, strength. Complete your training and fulfill your destiny.*"
―Snoke's final words to Kylo Ren
Ren's emotions were fully open to Rey, who could feel that his conflict had grown worse since he killed his father. Clinging to the good she sensed within Ren, she reached out to the former Ben Solo and revealed her conviction in the vision she had when they touched hands through the Force. Solo was not fated to continue bowing before Snoke. Redemption was his destiny; of that Rey was certain. Ren, however, revealed that he also beheld a vision that convinced him it would be Rey who turned, because he now knew the truth behind Rey's parentage. Just before they entered the throne room where the Supreme Leader awaited their arrival, Rey sensed that much of Ren's churning emotions were about her.

Snoke, who proclaimed that his faith in Ren had been restored, began appraising Rey, who remained defiant in spite of her inability to resist the dark master's Force powers. Although Rey remained certain that Ren would turn, her mental defenses began to crumble when Snoke revealed that he had been responsible for the intermittent connections she experienced with the Supreme Leader's apprentice, a revelation which came as a shock to Ren as well. It had all been a plot to draw Rey, the means to find Luke Skywalker, right into Snoke's hands. Nevertheless, Ren remained silent as Rey screamed.

Upon discovering Skywalker's location, Snoke planned to wipe him out from above as soon as the more immediate enemy had been dealt with. Rey summoned Skywalker's lightsaber to her hand, only for Snoke to redirect the hilt onto her head; Ren, eyes shut, merely tilted his head to the right to avoid being struck by the flying object. The Supreme Leader revealed through his oculus the Resistance being picked off one by one as they tried to flee aboard transports for safety. All that Ren's mother had fought for would be destroyed by the Supremacy's guns. In response, an enraged Rey pulled Ren's lightsaber into her hands and charged at Snoke, who effortlessly overpowered her. Ren watched the lightsaber fall out of Rey's grip and shut off, sliding on the floor back to its owner's feet.

Snoke, who had grown weary of his oft-conflicted apprentice, exulted at the newfound resolve that he suddenly felt emanating from Ren. Having promised to kill Rey with the cruelest stroke, he immobilized Rey and gave Ren the chance to execute the girl who defeated him on Starkiller Base. Ren retrieved his lightsaber, stood up and stepped towards Rey. Knowing that Snoke could sense his every intent, he turned his lightsaber to Rey while simultaneously his uncle's weapon rotated to face in Snoke's direction. Snoke, who became distracted by the desire to appreciate Rey's impending doom with the Force rather than the approximation afforded by mundane senses, believed that Ren was about to kill his true enemy—a status he wrongly attributed to Rey.

With a hidden gesture from Ren's free hand, the blue energy blade of Skywalker's lightsaber sprang forth, spearing Snoke through his waist. Almost instantly, Snoke's control on Rey was lost. The blade, which was still under Ren's control, carved through Snoke, cutting him in half before returning to Rey's grasp. After a moment of locking eyes with each other, Ren and Rey stood back-to-back to receive the retaliation of the fallen Supreme Leader's Elite Praetorian Guards, who charged towards the Force-sensitive duo from all sides with the intent of avenging his death. Although the two were eventually separated and forced to contend with multiple guards on their own, they both held their own and continued to strike down one Praetorian after another. Ren personally killed half the Guards on his own but was disarmed by his fifth opponent, causing Rey to throw the Skywalker lightsaber to him. He swiftly thumbed it on and off, letting the blade pierce through the last Praetorian's head.

##### Convictions and rejections

"*It's time to let old things die. Snoke, Skywalker. The Sith, the Jedi, the Rebels… Let it all die. Rey, I want you to join me. We can rule together and bring a new order to the galaxy.*"
―Kylo Ren

Rey, who stared at Ren through eyes filled with joy, beseeched him to help her save the Resistance fleet. To her disbelief and horror, Ren proposed that he and Rey join together and "let old things die," including the Resistance, and bring a new order to the galaxy. Rey begged Ren to not give into the dark side, but the latter stood behind his convictions. To his frustration, he could see that Rey was still clinging to that futile hope of hers. He urged her to "let go," to admit the truth about her parents—a truth she had always known but hidden away for years. Rey struggled to control her emotions as she admitted that she knew this, that her parents were simply "nobody," but the revelation that she came from nothing threatened to overwhelm her. At that moment, Ren told Rey that she was "nothing," and said she was not that to him. Ren wanted the former scavenger to join him. Motioning her to take his hand, he pleaded with her to stay with him so that they could rule the galaxy together.

However, Rey used the Force to summon the Skywalker lightsaber to her grasp, just as she had when fighting Ren on Starkiller Base. Ren, his entreaty rejected, raised his own hand to harness the Force around the lightsaber, causing it to stop midflight. Neither Ren or Rey relented as both continued to call upon the Jedi weapon with equal determination. In the midst of their standoff, the lightsaber's kyber crystal wailed through the Force, seeking resonance and harmony where there was nothing but dissonance. The crystal ultimately sheared apart, unleashing a wave of energy that tore the lightsaber in half before consuming the throne room in a flash of brilliant, blinding light. In addition to rendering both Force users unconscious, the shock wave of Force energy coincided with the sacrifice of Vice Admiral Amilyn Holdo, who crashed the *Raddus* into the *Supremacy* at lightspeed, splitting the First Order flagship in half before it could destroy all of the Resistance transports.

##### The new Supreme Leader

"*Get all our forces down to that Resistance base. Let's finish this.*"
"*Finish this? Who do you think you're talking to? You presume to command my army? Our Supreme Leader is dead! We have no ruler—*"
"*The Supreme Leader is dead.*"
"*Long live the Supreme Leader.*"
―Kylo Ren and Armitage Hux

Ren regained consciousness shortly after Hux reached the throne room. Having killed the Supreme Leader and his guards, Ren falsely accused Rey of murder, claiming that she was the one responsible for Snoke's death. Hux, who had contemplated shooting the fallen knight before he awoke, informed Ren that the girl escaped from the Supremacy using Snoke's private shuttle.

Ren ordered Hux to send their forces to Crait, where they would end the war and his mother's movement for good. Hux scoffed at the notion of taking orders from his longtime rival and reminded Ren that the army answered to their general. In addition, he pointed out that, without a Supreme Leader, the First Order was cast into a state of disarray. Before he could go on, the General's protests were suddenly silenced by Ren, who aggressively Force choked Hux into submission. Overtaken by fear, Hux grudgingly pledged his allegiance to Ren, whom he hailed as Snoke's successor.

##### Battle of Crait

"*General Hux, advance. No quarter, no prisoners.*"
―Kylo Ren, to Armitage Hux

As far as the new Supreme Leader was concerned, the Battle of Crait would prove to be the final battle in the war between the First Order and the Resistance. He would give no quarter to his enemies, nor take a single prisoner. Looming overhead in his command shuttle, Ren oversaw the deployment of AT-ATs, AT-M6s, and AT-STsto the salt-covered surface of Crait, gathered from what remained of the Supremacy. It would be a relatively straightforward operation, with Ren's forces marching on an abandoned rebel base which the Resistance had appropriated for its defense.

When the First Order discovered a massive shield door impeding their advance into the enclosure, Ren further deployed a superlaser siege cannon—a device likened to a battering ram that was equipped with miniaturized Death Star technology—to his advantage. In response, the Resistance launched a number of old ski speeders, an ultimately futile attempt to stop the cannon. While the Resistance attempted to halt the First Order's progress, Chewbacca and Rey joined the fray in the Millennium Falcon, and Ren furiously sent every TIE fighter present to destroy his father's old ship.

##### Showdown with Luke Skywalker

"*I'll destroy her, and you, and all of it.*"
"*No. Strike me down in anger and I'll always be with you. Just like your father.*"
―Kylo Ren and Luke Skywalker
Shortly after the First Order breached the base, Ren's uncle Luke Skywalker marched out of the Resistance base to confront his nephew. In a futile attempt to eliminate his uncle, Ren ordered all of his forces to fire at him. After Skywalker shrugged off the attack completely unharmed, Ren ordered his command shuttle to be set down. Hux tried to advise him against what he considered a waste of time, but Ren thrashed the General against the wall with the Force, knocking him unconscious. The nearby pilot needed no further prodding and complied with the command.

The time had come for Ren to face Skywalker personally. He slowly advanced until he was but a few meters from the old Jedi. He tauntingly asked if Skywalker had come to be his salvation. Skywalker answered in the negative. Then lightsabers were drawn. Skywalker made no effort to harm his nephew and only moved to avoid Ren's attacks. He apologised for failing in his duty as Ben Solo's mentor, but Ren took it with sarcasm and declared that the war had ended with the death of the Resistance. In addition, he stated that Skywalker would die as well, marking the end of the Jedi Order itself. He was wrong on all counts. According to Skywalker: the war had just begun, the Rebellion was reborn, and he would not die as the last of the Jedi.

Ren vowed that he would see Rey annihilated, along with Skywalker and the remnants of the Resistance. In response, Skywalker deactivated his lightsaber. He warned his nephew against striking him down in anger; otherwise, Skywalker would always be with Ren, just like Han Solo. It was thus that he opened himself up for the final blow.

Ren charged at Skywalker once more until he slashed through him with no effect. Confused, he pointed his lightsaber in the Jedi Master's direction and moved forward until the blade harmlessly passed through his uncle again, revealing that Skywalker was not actually present for the battle; he had been projecting himself through the Force from Ahch-To. With one final taunting goodbye, the image vanished.

At that moment, Ren realized what had his uncle had done: by distracting him, the old Jedi had bought time for the remaining members of the Resistance to escape. Hux had been right all along. Angered by the deception, Ren, Hux and their forces marched the now-empty base, but finding only a projection of his father's golden hanging dice, all Ren could do was kneel in defeat as they vanished from his hand. As the Resistance evacuated, Ren saw Rey once more as she boarded the *Millennium Falcon*; no words were said as she closed the door on him.

#### The reign of Kylo Ren

##### Early days

During the early days, some troopers wore Imperial armour for a month or two

luke stuff

other stuff form wiki

##### Ghost of Skywalker

"*No more tricks, Skywalker… just the reckoning I deserve!*"
―Kylo Ren, to Luke Skywalker

Still sensing the presence of his Jedi Master Luke Skywalker, Kylo Ren attempted to have Skywalker show himself by visiting locations of their past, starting with Crait, the site of their final encounter. As the Steadfast neared the planet, Enric Pryde informed the Supreme Leader that they arrived at Crait, only for Ren to wrathfully order the preparation of his shuttle. Upon arriving on Crait, Ren began to violently swing his lightsaber near the location of his fateful duel with his former Jedi Master. The Supreme Leader and the Knights of Ren later traveled to the former Jedi outpost on Elphrona, where he and his master had their first encounter with the Knights.

Ren commanded the Knights to remain vigilant for sightings of Skywalker's ghost, to which the Knight Vicrul replied that no such apparition was felt. Ren mocked him by saying that they were defeated in that outpost before claiming that he had one final place to look. Kylo Ren arrived on Ossus, where the Jedi Temple of his past lay in ruin. Ren desperately shouted for his Jedi Master to show himself, but received no answer. After making peace with his fruitless travels, Ren boarded his ship, ordering General Armitage Hux to bombard the location from orbit, as there was nothing left.

##### Going back undercover

Roughly a month following the Battle of Crait, Ren decided to go back undercover

clear his mind from TFA and TLJ and Skywalker ghost events.

extra Luke stuff

Ren entered the intern quarters, and introduced himself as Randy. Under this alias, Ren repeated the phrase "okay boomer", a phrase which had become increasingly popular by young people in the galaxy. Ren then proceeded to ask his new colleagues if they think Rey would accept Ren's hand the next time he offered it to her, to which one lady asked who cared. Angered at this, Ren walked up to her face and said that he cared.

Ren then continued to perform basic tasks, including cleaning, taking food and drink orders, and droid wrangling.

On one food and drink order, Ren asked a nearby stormtrooper who was in charge of fuel invoices, to which the trooper...

imperial armour

On one job, Ren visited a training session for officers. He gave the tutor his drink, before being yelled at for forgetting sarlaac cream and straws. Ren became angry and used the force to slam the officer against the board. Word of this got around, causing some to suspect Randy's identity as Kylo Ren.

he broke a printer with man

aggressed guy.

That night, Ren was invited to a party held in the intern office. Ren saw a girl crying. He approached her where she explained that she had applied to be a pilot, but was told that due to her gender she would need a direct order from Ren.

Ren believed that culture needed to change, and that everybody deserves a shot.

The next morning, the girl found a pilot helmet at her desk, with a note welcoming her to the team.

The girl expressed how happy she was to Ren. When Ren suggested that she could even end up becoming as great a pilot as Kylo Ren, she revealed that she wanted to be like Luke Skywalker.

Ren killed her and took the helmet and note back.

#### Return of Darth Sidious

##### Search for the wayfinder

"*He's gone mad. Flames of rebellion burn across the galaxy and Ren chases a ghost.*"
"*No. Someone was behind that transmission. And Leader Ren will answer to no one.*"
―Armitage Hux and Enric Pryde

Within a year of Kylo Ren's ascension to supreme power, a mysterious transmissionbroadcasting the voice of Darth Sidious—the long-dead Galactic Emperor and Dark Lord of the Sith—reached the far corners of the galaxy. Ren diverted his attention and the First Order's resources away from the Resistance to investigate the Emperor's return—unwilling to tolerate any threat to his reign.

To accomplish this, Ren sought a Sith wayfinder and undertook a journey to Mustafar, a volcanic world once ruled by his grandfather, Darth Vader. Accompanied by Pryde, Hux and a stormtrooper escort, the Supreme Leader arrived near the castle grounds of Fortress Vader. His aim was to take possession of Vader's wayfinder, one of two wayfinders made by the Sith. The Alazmec of Winsit, a group of colonists devoted to protecting the land, obstructed his path to the crumbling ruins of Vader's castle. Pryde and Hux watched from a safe distance as Ren slaughtered the cultists, outpacing his stormtrooper escort. While Pryde supported Ren's decision to investigate the mysterious message, Hux became convinced that the Supreme Leader had spiraled into insanity for committing the First Order's military towards what Hux considered as a hunt for a ghost while they faced rebellions across the galaxy. Ren cut a swathe of destruction through the Alazmec before entering the castle grounds, where he found the artifact he had been searching for. After taking possession of the wayfinder, Ren returned to the *Steadfast* and proceeded into the Unknown Regions on his own with his ship, the *TIE Whisper*.

##### Meeting the phantom Emperor

"*Kill the girl. End the Jedi. And become what your grandfather Vader could not. You will rule all the galaxy as the new Emperor.*"
―Darth Sidious, to Kylo Ren

Ren used the onboard navigation computer of his modified TIE whisper to assimilate the data within Vader's wayfinder, which provided him with coordinates to navigate the anomalies of the Unknown Regions. After passing through the Red Honeycomb Zone, he arrived directly at Exegol. There, he found an ancient Sith Citadel.

Ren descended into the depths of the citadel with the intention of destroying the dark presence. When a voice spoke telepathically to him, Ren instantly recognised it as the voice of Darth Sidious. Sidious told Ren that Snoke had trained him well. Ren, who exulted in the killing of his master, told Sidious that he would share Snoke's fate by dying at Ren's hand. Ren's growing suspicions of the Emperor's influence over his life were confirmed to him when Sidious revealed that he had created Snoke. Sidious morphed his voice into that of Snoke and Vader as he told Ren he'd been every voice Ren had heard inside his mind. While searching for the Emperor, Ren saw a vatcontaining multiple versions of Snoke's body. Ren had been unaware that Sidious was his true master in the ways of the dark side, whereas Snoke served as the Dark Lord's proxy.

Sidious told Ren that the First Order was only the beginning, and that he could offer Ren so much more. Ren once again threatened to kill Sidious. Having already died once, Sidious dismissed Ren's threats. Ren found Sidious' physical form supported by a device that Ren recognised from his studies of the Clone Wars as an Ommin harness. The body within was a clone of the late Emperor and served as a host for his spirit, with the harness sustaining the cloned body as the dark side attached to the Emperor's soul caused rapid decay. Despite the frailty of the body, Ren could feel the undiminished strength of the dark side within.

As Ren noticed Sidious, he swiftly turned his lightsaber to Sidious' direction and held it up to his face. Ren asked what Sidious could offer him, to which Sidious presented him with the Sith Eternal fleet. Ren witnessed tens of thousands of *Xyston*-class Star Destroyers, modeled after Imperial Star Destroyers, each outfitted with axial superlasercannons that were capable of destroying entire planets, being raised out of the ice by Sidious. Once deployed, it would be the largest armada the galaxy had ever known.

Sidious' only stipulation before giving Ren control of the fleet, otherwise known as the Final Order, was to prevent Rey from becoming a true Jedi by killing her. Furthermore, Sidious warned Ren to be cautious, for Rey was not who she appeared to be. When Ren asked who she really was, Sidious smiled and revealed her true heritage as his granddaughter. Ren realised he had incorrectly dismissed Rey's parents as being worthless nobodies, when in truth they chose to live anonymously in order to protect their daughter from her grandfather.

Despite Sidious' ultimatum, Ren did not want to kill Rey; the full truth of her origins had renewed Ren's interest in turning her to the dark side to reign over the galaxy with him,as he had tried without success during their last encounter, believing they would be invincible together. After returning to his quarters on the *Steadfast*, Ren meditated using his grandfather's mask and sought Rey through their connection in the Force. At the time, she was running an obstacle course outside the Resistance's new base on Ajan Kloss. Their minds connected and began to flood with visions, as well as memories of past events. Rey struggled against the dark side within herself, but she eventually lashed out after losing control.

##### Reforging the mask

"*I sense unease about my appearance, General Hux.*"
"*About the mask? No, sir. Well done.*"
"*I like it.*"
―Kylo Ren, Armitage Hux, and Bellava Parnadee

Following his return from Exegol, Ren summoned his followers, the Knights to Ren, in order to utilise their tracking skills to locate Rey. Ren decided to reforge his mask as a symbol of his position as Supreme Leader. The work of rebuilding what Ren destroyed fell to Albrekh, a Sith alchemist trained in classic metallurgy, capable of smithing feats that were unfamiliar to the modern galaxy.

Ren gave the shards of his mask—all painstakingly scavenged from the wreckage of the *Supremacy*—to Albrekh, who used Sarrassian iron to fuse the pieces back together. Applying the iron into the cracks of the reformed helmet created a red adhesive stronger than steel. When the Symeong's work was finished, the mask was restored to its original shape, albeit with red fractures that Ren likened to lava. It was symbolic of his own personal growth and evolution.

##### Meeting with the Supreme Council

"*We have a spy in our ranks, who just sent the message to the Resistance. Whoever this traitor is, won't stop us. With what I've seen on Exegol, the First Order is about to become a true Empire.*"
―Kylo Ren

Ren learned that a spy had been captured on the Sinta Glacier Colony by the time he returned to the *Steadfast*. Enforcing a zero-tolerance policy on treason, Ren had the prisoner, the Ovissian miner Boolio executed. After the execution, Ren joined the members of the Supreme Council in the High Command chamber where he slammed the spy's severed head on the conference table. While he acknowledged that there was a spy within their ranks, Ren was confident that the spy couldn’t stop the First Order. With what he had discovered on Exegol, Ren was confident that the First Order would become a true Empire.

Ren listened as the Council discussed their new strategy. Quinn was skeptical of their alliance with the Sith Eternal, disdaining the cultists and their beliefs. Pryde, however, supported integration between the two forces, arguing that the Sith fleet would increase the First Order's range in power by ten-thousand fold, replacing the losses they suffered with the destruction of Starkiller Base, which he held Hux responsible for. Parnadee and Engell then proposed increasing their recruitment quotas by conscripting more children into the military.

Ren moved to silence Quinn when the general began inquiring about the specific terms of his agreement with Sidious. Using his anger and impatience to fuel his connection to the dark side, he threw Quinn up to the ceiling, causing his body to fracture upon impact. The Council watched silently as their colleague remained suspended above them, slowly choking to death while Ren informed the remaining members of his intention to personally oversee the hunt for Rey with the support of his Knights.

##### Hunting Rey on Pasaana

"*I offered you my hand once. You wanted to take it. Why didn't you?*"
"*You could have killed me. Why didn't you?*"
"*You can't hide, Rey. Not from me.*"
―Kylo Ren and Rey

In his private quarters on the *Steadfast*, Ren used his bond with Rey to initiate a connection. Unbeknownst to Ren, she was in the Forbidden Valley of Pasaana during the Festival of the Ancestors, seeking the way to Exegol. It was their most powerful connection yet. Ren told Rey that the Emperor desired her death, but that he had no intention of serving another master and followed his own plan instead. Ren asked her why she had rejected his offer on the *Supremacy*, knowing that she wanted to accept it. Rey avoided the question and asked why he had not taken the opportunity to kill her when he had the chance. He responded that she could not hide from him.

Rey could sense that Ren was still affected by killing his father. When she reminded him of it, Ren reminded her of her own pain of counting the days since her parents left her. Ren said that he did not want to have to kill her, but he would find her and turn her to the dark side. Before their connection ended, he ripped the husk necklace from her neck which physically transported it from Rey's location to Ren's hand. Ren informed Pryde that he had found Rey through the Force, and intelligence officerTishra Kandia returned with her analysis of the necklace; it was made in the Middian system, specifically the Forbidden Valley. Ren ordered Pryde to immediately deploy a division of local troops and to prepare his ship for departure.

Shortly after Ren's arrival on Pasaana, the *Millennium Falcon* was found by the Knights of Ren and their stormtrooper escorts. The Supreme Leader ordered them to confiscate and scan the ship. Meanwhile, Rey sensed Ren's presence in the Force as his ship drew closer to her location.

Ren increased the speed of the *TIE whisper*, flying it directly towards Rey with the intention of killing her. Rey used her training under Skywalker-Organa and the Force augmenting her abilities to flip backwards over his ship, cutting the support pylon of his left wing with her lightsaber. Ren attempted to compensate, but lost control of the starfighter as it tumbled and ripped apart.

Despite the violent crash, Ren emerged from the burning wreckage unharmed. By then, Rey was straining with the Force to stop a First Order transport from leaving the planet, believing that Chewbacca had been taken aboard as a prisoner of the First Order. Ren reached out towards the vessel using his own powers trying to pull the transport out of Rey's grip. A tug of war ensued over the shuttle, causing Rey to give into her feelings and unwittingly channel the power of the dark side until Force lightning emanated from her fingertips. The transport to exploded to Rey's horror and Ren's astonishment. He watched from a distance as a derelict freighter took off, leaving Pasaana with Rey and her companions aboard it.

##### Reunion with Chewbacca

"*My loss to the girl, back on Starkiller Base… I still haven't forgiven you.*"
―Kylo Ren, to Chewbacca

When Ren returned to the *Steadfast*, Pryde and Hux presented him with the First Order's newest prisoner, Chewbacca; he had been on a second transport, not the one that Rey destroyed. Ren ordered to have Chewbacca taken to interrogation room 6. After being left alone with the Wookiee, Ren sarcastically greeted his former friend. Ren blamed Chewbacca for his loss to Rey during their duel on Starkiller Base, and told him that he hadn't forgiven him. He put his helmet on and approached the Wookiee, questioning him on the location of Rey and her crew. Chewbacca gave no response, leaving Ren unable to tell whether the Wookiee was focused or defeated. Frustrated, Ren began to probe the Wookiee's mind. However, as Ren came close to finding out the information he desired, he was thrown back to memories of his early life, growing up with his family, including "Uncle Chewie." Ren began breathing heavily under his helmet, and Chewbacca became visibly angrier.

Ren then saw flashes of the Wookiee laughing with a much younger Han Solo than he himself remembered, felt Chewbacca's joy when his best friend married the woman he'd come to love like a sister, saw the Wookiee cuddling a human toddler, teaching an older boy to fly a speeder, target practice with a young man, their blasters set on stun against a haphazard dummy made of rocks. However, at that point, Ren and Chewbacca relived the painful memory of Han Solo's death on Starkiller Base. Chewbacca let out a mighty roar, as Ren was thrown back towards the door. With his extra burst of strength, Chewbacca ripped both of his hands free from his chains, and approached Ren. As Ren scrambled on the floor, Chewbacca ripped off his mask, and threw it to the other side of the room, desiring to see Ren's face before his death. Distraught by the sight of a former mentor attempting to kill him, Ren desperately pushed the Wookiee back to the other side of the room. As Ren stood up, a tear formed in his eye, before he turned his back and left the room. As the doors closed, Chewbacca let out one huge heartbroken roar.

Ren was unsuccessful in discovering the information he sought, and struggled to centre his thoughts after the interrogation was complete. He ordered his officers to have Chewbacca re-imprisoned, and to have his belongings brought to his quarters.

##### Confronting Rey with the truth

"*My mother was the daughter of Vader. Your father was the son of the Emperor. What Palpatine doesn't know is that we're a dyad in the Force, Rey. Two that are one.*"
―Kylo Ren, to Rey

Pryde and Griss informed Ren that his Knights had tracked Rey to a settlement on the occupied world of Kijimi. Ren rejected Hux's proposal to destroy the city as Ren wanted Rey captured alive. The local First Order garrison unsuccessfully searched for Rey's team. Unknown to Ren, the arrival of the *Steadfast* at Kijimi allowed Rey to sense Ren's conflicted mind and realize that Chewbacca was still alive. Her team infiltrated the *Steadfast* to rescue him. Ren arrived in Kijimi City afterward, and ordered a lockdown on the city.

After Rey entered Ren's quarters, she touched the Blade of Ochi of Bestoon which triggered memories of her parents. Her vision changed into a Force connection with Ren. They were in each other's minds and spaces, and were physically together, yet still separate at the same time. Ren told Rey that he had gained knowledge about her past and disputed her accusation that he was a liar. Rey repeatedly told him to stop and that she did not want this, Ren forced her to remember what she had suppressed and listen to what he had learned; her father and mother chose to be "no one" in order to keep their daughter safe as Sidious' assassin Ochi hunted her family. Rey saw a vision of Ochi killing her parents.

During this confrontation, they engaged in a lightsaber duel and caused damage to each other's surroundings. Red berries from Kijimi spilled across the floor of Ren's quarters on the *Steadfast*, and their blades slashed through the obsidian pedestal supporting Vader's mask. The mask was transported to Ren, which revealed Rey's location to him before the connection ended. He ordered his troops to lock down the Star Destroyer to prevent Rey's escape so he could reveal her origins to her in person.

Rey sensed Ren's presence upon his return to the *Steadfast* and decided to confront him while her friends escaped from the warship, not wanting them to risk their lives against the dark side warrior. A contingent of stormtroopers also arrived as Ren disembarked from his TIE whisper and cornered Rey at the hangar entrance. When Rey asked Ren why Sidious had tried to kill her when she was a child, the Supreme Leader revealed that Rey had inherited her powers from her paternal grandfather, the Emperor. In addition to the revelation of Rey's secret connection to the Palpatine bloodline, Ren disclosed his discovery of their shared nature as a dyad, making them one presence in the Force. The true extent of their connection was a secret that Ren kept from Sidious.

Ren removed his mask, allowing Rey to see his face along with the scar that she had given him in their first battle. Ren held out his hand, asking Rey to join forces with him. Following a moment of indecision, Rey chose to reject Ren once more when the *Millennium Falcon* arrived at the hangar entrance. The starship's engines forced the stormtroopers back, though Ren braced himself with the Force, watching Rey as she boarded his late father's ship.

Ren knew from the analysis of Ochi's dagger that Rey would next travel to Kef Bir, an ocean moon located in the Endor system. While en route to the system, Sidious contacted Ren through the Force. Sidious threatened to turn his fleet against Ren if he did not kill Rey. While mentally shielding his true intentions, Ren assured Sidious that he knew where Rey had gone and declared that he would not allow her to become a Jedi.

Despite the escape of the *Millennium Falcon*'s crew, the incident aboard the *Steadfast*revealed Hux's efforts to undermine Ren. Hux failed to convince Pryde that the Resistance used coersion to enlist his aid; consequently, the general was executed for committing espionage against the First Order. Pryde then instructed his subordinates to inform the Supreme Leader that they had found the Resistace's spy.

##### The last duel

"*I did want to take your hand. Ben's hand.*"
―Rey, to Kylo Ren

Ren confronted Rey within the wreckage of the Emperor's Throne Room in the ruins of the second Death Star. After Rey found the Emperor's wayfinder, she retreated from the dark side vision of her mirror-self and dropped the wayfinder. To her horror, Ren picked it up. As she demanded the wayfinder, Ren claimed she had proven she was not a Jedi, and like him, could never return to Leia. He urged her to surrender to the dark side, and declared that she would never find her way to Exegol without his help, before crushing the wayfinder in his hand.

Rey immediately attacked Ren, drawing on her anger to amplify her power as she sought to kill him. He initially evaded her lightsaber before defending himself with his own. They dueled through the Death Star wreckage and outside onto a bridge-like hunk of metal while the ocean raged around them. During the fight, Finn approached them and Rey instinctively pushed him away with the Force to protect him. She leapt to another section of the ruins to avoid the massive waves and Ren followed her across. Ren's guard remained unbroken.

The duel continued. Ren's anger and hatred fueled his attacks as he drove the exhausted Rey back and knocked her off her feet, which caused her to lose her grip on her lightsaber. He raised his lightsaber above her, about to strike her down.

Then Ren stopped; from across the galaxy, he sensed his mother use her remaining reserves of strength to send him her love, forgiveness, and hope as she called him to the light. He dropped his lightsaber as he felt her death. Rey caught his lightsaber, running his abdomen through with his own blade.

Ren collapsed to the ground in physical and emotional agony as Rey sensed Skywalker-Organa's death through the Force. Sharing Ren's grief for Skywalker-Organa and no longer wishing to see him die, Rey reached out to the wound that would have meant his certain death. She transferred much of her life force to his body to repair his wound, even mending the scar that she had inflicted on his face in their first duel and making whole again his burned flesh and damaged organs. Ren was astonished by her actions. Before leaving him on Kef Bir, Rey admitted that he had been correct about her wanting to take his hand, but not Kylo Ren's; she had wanted to take Ben Solo's hand.

#### The return of Ben Solo

##### Redemption

"*I miss you, son.*"
"*Your son is dead.*"
"*No. Kylo Ren is dead. My son is alive.*"
―Han Solo and Ben Solo
Ren stood on the wreckage of the battle station. Through the Force, Ren could feel the grief of his sister Breha Solo, and could audibly hear Chewbacca mourning the loss of Leia Skywalker-Organa. Eventually, Ren heard the voice of his late father Han Solo from behind him. The Force had allowed Han to speak to his son one last time. Han told him that he missed his son, and that it was not too late to fight for his mother's legacy. Ren was uncertain if he was strong enough to do what he believed needed to be done, however, his father reassured him that he was. Ren ultimately made his choice by throwing his lightsaber into the sea. In that moment, he ceased to be Kylo Ren and became Ben Solo once again.

##### Battle of Exegol

"*As once I fell, so falls the last Skywalker.*"
―Darth Sidious, to Ben Solo

Stranded on Kef Bir, Solo climbed through the ruins of the Death Star in search of a hangar bay. He eventually found and repaired an old TIE scout. After leaving the ocean moon, Solo followed Rey's transmitted tracking markers towards Exegol, but the scout's navicomputers malfunctioned and threw its pilot off course. Solo, however, used all of his concentration to correct his course, thereby preventing his starfighter from becoming lost in unknown space.

The Battle of Exegol was under way by the time of Solo's arrival. The Final Order fleet was in the process of launching its warships when the Resistance attacked Exegol, attempting to stop the fleet's deployment across the galaxy. Solo landed his TIE scout next to Rey's starfighter, an old Rebellion T-65B X-wing starfighter that had once belonged to Luke Skywalker. Sensing Rey's presence emanating from the Sith Citadel, he sprinted for the monolith and descended to the lower levels to find her. Armed only with the blaster Lando Calrissian gave him during his childhood, as well as his own conviction, Solo charged through the cavernous cathedral beneath the citadel, shooting his way through the Sith cultists and elite guards who obstructed his path. As he drew closer to the throne room, the Knights of Ren appeared before him. Their hatred pulsated like waves through the Force, and Solo realised that they had traveled to Exegol to fight for Sidious, their true master.

The six Force-sensitive warriors initially held the upper hand, as their numbers, weapons and training worked to their advantage against their former leader. Solo was hit several times by his opponents' melee weapons. The Knights circled for another attack, but to their surprise, Solo revealed a blue-bladed lightsaber in his palm. It was the lightsaber that once belonged to his grandfather and uncle, in turn, and had been carried by Rey until she passed it to Solo through their bond as a dyad. He instantly recognised it as his lightsaber, as it had become an extension of his own self.

Thinking of what his father would say in this moment, Solo simply shrugged his shoulders at the Knights, knowing now that the odds were in his favor. Armed with the blade of the Chosen One himself, Solo immediately pressed the attack with all the focus of a Jedi, killing Cardo and Kuruk with a single swing of the saber to their chests. Though he destroyed the Knights of Ren, Solo did so without feelings of hatred or anger towards them.

Arriving in the throne room, Solo used the Force to incapacitate the last guardsman and approached Rey. They turned towards the Emperor, standing side-by-side with their lightsabers raised, to which Sidious exclaimed that they would die together. Despite their combined strength, the two Force users were overpowered by Sidious' attack through the Force. As a side effect, however, part of their life force transferred to the Emperor and began healing his cloned body. Sidious was astonished, realising that his granddaughter and Vader's grandson were a dyad in the Force, and therefore, possessed a power equivalent to life itself.

Neither Solo nor Rey were able to prevent the Emperor from draining them of more Force energy. They became weaker as Sidious completely restored the vessel that carried his spirit. Their near lifeless bodies lay on the floor while the Emperor reveled in his restoration. In retaliation for his own death at Vader's hand, Sidious scornfully proclaimed to Solo that he would fall as the last Skywalker, hurling the young Jedi into a nearby chasm.

##### Sacrifice

"*Ben…*"
―Rey, to Ben Solo
Solo survived due to his body being caught on a jagged outcropping. Despite breaking his ribs and twisting his ankle in the fall, he began climbing his way out of the chasm through perseverance. At the same time, Rey succeeded in destroying her grandfather with the help of the spirits of the Jedi, although the monumental effort killed her.

After returning to the surface, Solo took Rey's body in his arms and, realising that she was dead, began to despair. However, he knew what he had to do. Recalling the way she used the Force to heal him on Kef Bir, Solo applied the same technique on Rey, willing her to return to life. He devoted all of his effort to revive Rey.

Solo ultimately succeeded in bringing Rey back to life, though the effort would cost him his own life. During his final moments, Solo was happy to see that Rey was glad to be with him. He believed that he did not deserve acknowledgement or gratitude from her, but to his astonishment Rey kissed him, acknowledging their bond as a dyad for the first time. His final awareness was of Rey holding his hand as the Force beckoned him, reaching for Solo in welcome. He died peacefully, having felt no hesitation about sacrificing his life for Rey.

### Afterlife

"*I will always be with you.*"
"*No one's ever really gone.*"
―Ben Solo's final words and Rey's response
Death reunited Ben Solo with his mother, Skywalker-Organa, who did not pass into the Force until she was joined by her son. Their corporeal forms vanished simultaneously, allowing mother and son to rest in peace together, becoming one with the Cosmic Force.

Rey felt despair as she watched Solo's body disappear until he called out to her from beyond death, promising that he would always be with her. She took comfort in hearing his voice as it reassured her that no one who died was truly gone.

### Legacy

"*Rey Skywalker.*"
―Rey, adopting the Skywalker name
Following the deaths of Kylo Ren, Enric Pryde, and Darth Sidious, a popular uprising against the remaining forces of the First Order commenced as a consequence of the Sith fleet's destruction on Exegol. The First Order subsequently lost its control over the empire that it fought to create through conquest during Ren's reign as Supreme Leader, losing worlds such as Corellia, Coruscant, Lothal, Naboo, and Thyferra. Other revolts against the First Order occurred on Endor, Bespin, and Jakku, where *Resurgent*-class Star Destroyers sustained significant damage as a result of the uprisings, causing the warships to fall out of orbit. News of the uprisings reached the generals Poe Dameron and Finn by the time the Resistance returned to Ajan Kloss to celebrate their victory against the Emperor and his followers. Rey, having been revived through Ben Solo's sacrifice, had also returned to the Resistance's secret base where she embraced her friends.

Despite Kylo Ren's efforts to live up to the memory of Darth Vader, in the end Ben Solo emulated Anakin Skywalker by sacrificing his life "for the love of another." He achieved redemption with his final act, returning to the light side and passing into the Force as a Jedi. Rey mourned the death of Ben Solo while rejecting his dark-side persona as Kylo Ren. The amount of death and destruction caused by Ren rivaled the legacy of his grandfather, Darth Vader. Nevertheless, Rey chose to remember him as Ben Solo rather than Kylo Ren.

The other individuals who remembered Solo were his father's friends, Chewbacca and Lando Calrissian, both of whom Solo had considered his "uncles" during his childhood. Ren had become the focus of Chewbacca's fury for the killing of Han Solo; however, the Wookiee retained joyful memories of his relationship with the Solo family, which included the time he spent helping to raise Ben. Among Chewbacca's possessions was a hologram disc that contained a picture of the Wookiee holding Ben Solo as an infant. The disc was hidden in a secret compartment beside Chewbacca's bunk on the Millennium Falcon; Calrissian discovered the disc prior to the Battle of Exegol and could not bear to look at an image of Han's son, his own child having been abducted by the First Order.

In the aftermath of Solo's death, Rey visited Tatooine where she buried the Skywalker lightsabers in the childhood home of her first master, Luke Skywalker. When a local asked what her name was, Rey adopted the Skywalker name to honour the family that accepted her, renouncing her birth heritage as a Palpatine, and becoming a member of the Skywalker family.