For Millennials. By Millennials.
Our favorite space soap opera has finally ended, at least for the time being. But now that it’s done, it gives us a chance to think about the characters and their development in totality. And after a bit of research, it’s safe to say that Kylo Ren was by far the best character of the trilogy! Here are the reasons why.
What makes Kylo Ren so special?
To understand why Ben Solo, who changed his name into Kylo Ren, is the best character of the Disney Star Wars sequel, we have to look at him from three different perspectives. First is the dialogue, second the acting, and last but most importantly, his character development.
1. Dialogue
The first thing that many geeks look at is dialogue. And I have to say that Kylo Ren had one of the finest dialogues in the trilogy. Now, George Lucas is often known for his bad dialogues in his Star Wars films. But, thankfully, Lucas did not commit the same sin with Kylo Ren. His dialogue was among the finest in the trilogy, with some amazing words like:
Let The Past Die. Kill It If You Have To. It’s The Only Way To Become What You Were Meant To Be.
2. Acting
The other aspect of Kylo Ren that made him stand out among others was Adam Driver. His acting was simply marvelous, and he faced a unique challenge, unlike anyone else in the entire Star Wars Universe. He portrayed the pull of the light side of the force perfectly, be it his body language or his facial expressions.
3. Character Development
Now, this is where Kylo Ren takes strides ahead of every other character in the Disney Star Wars Sequel Trilogy. This is because he is firstly the most unique character in the entire Star Wars Universe. For the first time, we were getting to see a Sith Lord struggling with the Light Side of the Force. How cool was that? We were honestly too used to seeing the good guys experience the pull of the Dark Side. But, Disney pulled off a masterclass with this one.
Secondly, Kylo Ren’s character development throughout the trilogy is amazing. In the first film, we saw the conflict and the struggle within himself as Ben Solo and Kylo Ren. This was because we were still seeing him struggle with the boy inside of himself who still loved Leia Organa and Han Solo. He had to struggle a lot to overcome that boy, and he did that by killing Han Solo with his bare hands. Or at least he thought he did.
In the second film, we see Kylo Ren take the command of the First Order by ridding of Supreme Leader Snoke. No one saw that coming, as he finally showed the strength to take the charge. All the time, he was trying to recruit Ren towards the Dark Side too.
The perfect redemption
And then, in The Rise of Skywalker, Kylo Ren could not resist the pull of the Light Side of the Force. Despite killing his own father Han Solo, he still had the good person that Ben Solo was throughout all these years. But it came after a very hard struggle. And what pulled him towards the Light Side was the pureness of Rey, which ironically he was trying to turn towards himself.
In the end, his redemption arc was perfect, as he sacrificed his life for Rey and saved the Universe from pending doom at the hands of the Emperor. That is the perfect way for his character to become a part of the Force for eternity as Ben Solo. However, that does not mean Kylo Ren did not have stiff competition.
Rey and Finn just fell short
Now, saying Kylo Ren was the best by far doesn’t mean the other two main characters, Rey and Finn, were bad. Daisy Ridley’s Rey was on her path to be the best character of the Disney Star Wars Prequel, but the finale did her no justice. Her secretly being the granddaughter of the Emperor took away the most precious thing about her, which was the fact that she was an ordinary person. She had no connection to the Skywalkers or any other family with a history with the Force. She embodied how the Force did not discriminate based on family blood. And her being the Emperor’s granddaughter is just bad writing.
On the other hand, John Boyega’s Finn was an amazing character just like Kylo Ren. In fact, in The Force Awakens, he was the best! The idea of a Storm Trooper realizing the horrors that the First Order did was insane to look at. And then his struggle from being selfish for himself, to become selfless for the Resistance was amazing. But, the writer copied that exact arc to the second film, and in the third film, he was just silly, with a lot of love interests. It was just weird how the writers lost so much potential in him.
And so, this is the reason why I believe Kylo Ren was the best character in the trilogy. And I’m not alone in believing this. Famous Comic Book nerd and reviewer Cosmonaut Variety Hour says the same. Would you agree? Let us know in the comments below!