#and its obviously not a new discovery lol just a re-confirmation

[dungeons-and-dragon-age]

"fenris hates on mages relentlessly" dunno man i think he's (usually) being pretty reasonable about it all things considered

[alixofagnia]

Kylo Ren/Ben Solo Episode IX Speculation

Ascension of power does not equate to maintenance of power.

I think Kylo is going to be overthrown in the first half of the film. By necessity, there will have to be a time skip, maybe anywhere from 6 months to a year, but not longer than that because I don’t think Kylo will be able to hang on to his position. I would be highly surprised if he made it past a handful of months and here’s why:

General Hux

Hux was played up for comedic effect in TLJ, but it’s somewhat undermined by examples of real leadership, engagement with fellow, high-ranking FO officers, and the distinct feeling that this man is more cunning than you think. That’s not to say that Hux will hit epic levels of villainy; but he will most assuredly continue to be an antagonist to Kylo and, with Snoke’s murder, he will now have a justified reason for being so.

How could Hux go about it? 

Aside from the fact that he’s basically in charge of the FO military, Hux could go after Kylo with a smear campaign by revealing his true identity. Of course, this hinges on whether the galaxy at large knows that Kylo Ren of the First Order is Ben Solo, son of rebel Generals Leia Organa and Han Solo. Evidence points to the negative:

-Poe seems unaware of Kylo’s relation to his revered general, both in TFA and TLJ

-Han and Leia speak about Ben in a hushed, private conversation in TFA; they never speak his name aloud (though mostly, of course, to withhold information for dramatic effect)

-barely anyone in the FO is shown wanting to make eye contact with Kylo Ren; I doubt they know anything personal about him

-Finn clearly has no idea

-it’s unclear how Rey found out; in TLJ, she not only knew Ben’s family history but she knew that Luke redeemed Darth Vader, which I didn’t think was common knowledge based off of Bloodline. Alternately, I suppose Chewie could’ve filled her in on the way back from Starkiller Base, during a shared grieving moment for Han (which also explains why she knows but not Finn).

So, I would posit that the basic story put about, the one the galaxy knows, is that Kylo Ren hailed from Luke’s small academy, turned on Luke, killed his fellow students, one of them being Ben Solo, and joined Snoke as his apprentice.

At the least, then, Hux knows Kylo Ren has a personal link to Luke Skywalker, which is memorably reinforced by his TFA warning and TLJ reminder to Kylo about personal interests. But with their relationship being what it is - competitive, hostile - I wouldn’t put it past him to have some extra dirt on Kylo, gathered prior to TFA, that he’s been holding on to; certainly, he will have it now that Kylo’s taken hold of the power vacuum left by Snoke, a role Hux surely felt he was better qualified for.

This wouldn’t be a difficult smear campaign to pull off. Only consider how badly a secret identity, one with close ties to the enemy, would threaten Kylo’s position within the FO:

“Kylo Ren is a New Republic and Resistance sympathizer, a double agent and traitor! He is the son of rebel scum, but not just any dirty rebel: he’s the son of Leia Organa, the most dogged enemy of the Empire and First Order! At her behest, he aided and abetted a Jedi in the assassination of Supreme Leader Snoke, and then allowed her to escape! He has seized power in order to restore the Republic!”

Can’t you just see Hux spitting that out over a loudspeaker?

It’s made painfully clear that Kylo has no real allies in the FO. He never really engages with any FO officer other than Hux, though he has a smattering of brief interactions with Phasma, poor Mitaka, and a few Stormtroopers. But that smattering few are not equals; they take orders, not question them. They are not in positions to keep him in power.

We briefly saw the Knights of Ren in TFA and they will likely have a role in IX, but we also don’t know the nature of their relationship to their leader. If some or all are Kylo’s former Jedi mates (as alluded to in TLJ), then do you suppose they share Kylo’s view about a new order, a new balance? Or did that view only come to Kylo as he was ForceSkyping with Rey? Is Kylo’s view and aspiration for power motivated by lineage? Politics? Ideology? A mix? Is it even truly his aspiration? 

I’m getting slightly off topic. 

Suffice it to say, I don’t think the Knights of Ren will be particularly helpful in Kylo’s ability to maintain his position. At least, not in an area where it really counts: bureaucracy. And say what you will about it, but years of bureaucracy and the re-centralization of power was how the Emperor actually conquered the galaxy, not massive-scale battles or “new tech” WMDs alone.

Back to the point: Kylo’s visible instability on Crait could only have made a poor impression on the FO military, hitherto shown to be highly ordered and rigidly structured, if nothing else. And I’m not just talking about his gross waste of FO resources for, what, 40 rebels in a crumbling base, but also on a single man who turned out to be, well, a freaking wizard! Imagine following someone like that, putting your trust and loyalty into someone so obviously unhinged and undone? (Nobody bring up real-world comparisons lol!) 

Essentially, Kylo will struggle with leadership. He will not turn out to be politically and diplomatically gifted, like his mother (because that would be a bit out of character at this point), and it will be to his detriment. Of the two men, Hux is repeatedly shown to be the carefully calculating and cunning one, not Kylo, who is a loaded gun waiting to go off. He will bide his time, discreetly sowing the seeds of discord and gathering support even as he secretly (or not secretly) launches an investigation into Snoke’s death. The results of this investigation may play out in the opening of IX wherein Kylo’s position is shown or implied to have been tenuous from the minute we left him in TLJ.

In light of Carrie Fisher’s death and confirmed omission from IX, I wonder if the film might open on Leia’s funeral. After her prominence in TLJ, I don’t see how it will be believable that Leia is alive and well in some OTHER part of the galaxy. It would be along the lines of “she’s lost the will to live” and it just falls flat, particularly since Luke (and Rey, to an extent) renewed her hope in TLJ. For speculation purposes, let’s say her death occurs off-screen and that it comes very early on. The information could reach Kylo, he has a strong reaction to it (especially if he didn’t know that Leia survived the Raddus explosion), which triggers the Force connection with Rey.

[Speaking of which, I don’t think that part of their relationship is over with; I think it will continue to be explored in IX, but not so much as it was in TLJ. In TLJ it was used to establish intimacy; in IX, it will by nature have to take on a different role, probably less occurring but more dramatic, in order to prevent overuse/overdependence, which will deteriorate its effectiveness.]

Anyway, this connection with Rey, particularly if he expresses regret at their last parting or grief over Leia and Luke, may be observed by Hux, who uses it as his opportunity to overthrow Kylo. Presumably, Hux will not be able to see Rey, but he will be able to hear Kylo and use whatever he says against him. Alternately, Hux may initiate an arrest or even an assassination, which Kylo escapes. After his escape, Hux puts out the smear campaign as well as a bounty, making Kylo a wanted fugitive of the FO. He won’t find recourse with the Resistance, not after Crait, so he can’t join Rey, and anyway, he won’t yet have become the balanced equal she deserves.

As a fugitive, I think the second half of the movie will find Kylo on his journey to self-discovery and self-reconciliation. It would also be an opportunity to visit different worlds within the Star Wars galaxy, some so far removed from the political feuding that Kylo will be able to find that inner peace and resolve he needs. Maybe he will begin atoning by helping those suffering under the effects of both the FO and the Resistance in some way; not that he’ll “get all mushy” about it, he’s still got the heart of Han “Scoundrel” Solo, after all.

Something like that.

What I will say is that I can’t see IX featuring the big space battles we got in TLJ. 1) it’s not an even fight right now; hell, it’s not even an underdog fight, with the Resistance so crippled and 2) since the question TLJ mulled over is about balance (grayness), then the message of IX will have to be along the lines of coexistence. Right? 

We’re talking small scale conflict, with large scale effects. 

And then Rey and Ben will be free to fly off in the Falcon, retire somewhere green where Ben can take up calligraphy again and Rey will design/build space crafts, and every once in a while they’ll answer the call to bring balance to the galaxy, like some kind of married vigilante Force users.

Or something like that.

[furederiko]

It took three episodes to build up my interest, and another three to tear it down apart... *sigh*

As usual, my internet has been acting up all day. To the point that I've already postponed this to go up tomorrow (October 21st). But since the internet gets better, and the post is pretty much done, I've decided to just publish it today despite being a few hours late. Just in case my internet goes bad again during the weekend. Here goes...

05 - "My Secret Identity"

- Remember how the preview in episode 4 teased that Souichi could be working for Faust, and became its traitor? Well... that was undoubtedly misleading. - This episode confirmed that Souichi was the astronaut who discovered Pandora's Box, and indeed triggered the Skywall Disaster (but not on his free will? Hmmm) to steal two of its panels. But he wasn't working for Faust! He delivered one of the panel in exchange for Misora, who was held captive. It explained why and how Misora was able to 'purify' the Smash Essence, because she was part of Faust's experiment. Unfortunately, this also blatantly pointed out the writing's flaw. If being a shut-in was because Misora is still being hunted by Faust, then wouldn't apearing as net idol to search for underground information... recklessly gave herself away? I mean, it's not like she's wearing a mask or significant costume that would disguised her in any way. - At the same time, plot-driver Sawa also had an important discovery. Sentou's past! Ooookay, turns out it was NOT that important. Sentou Kiryuu's real name was Tarou Satou, and he was an eccentric band member alongside his equally goofy and sloppy schoolmate Tatsuya Kishida (played by Tarou Pinboke). Their band was called "Lynks", a name as plain as his real one. I know, right? What an underwhelming reveal. Perhaps the show attempted this reveal to be a comedy, but as I've repeatedly said, humour is definitely its weakest link. Meh... - The more important bit of information was the day he disappeared: September 5th. 'Tarou' was going to test out for a new drug, or something, which might explained how he got abducted by Faust. But of course, before Tatsuya was able to tell more, our baddie Blood Stalk (yes, it's 'Stalk' and not 'Stark') showed up and... ended up snatching him away. Looks like Tatsuya's annoyingly bad dental arrangement was a sign of doom all along. Naturally, he ended up as the episode's MotW/Smash. Predictable much? - Oh well, at least the fight between Build and Stalk was neat. Stalk blocked the former's "VORTEX FINISH" (yes, 'Vortex' and not 'Voltech') very easily, and expressed his desire to see Build... grow stronger. Wait, what? I wonder what truly is Faust's goal here? Hmmm. By the way, Gentoku and Utsumi were at it again. Since Stalk was in the same scene, obviously neither of them was its true identity. There's that. - New Full Bottle debuted. Comic Full Bottle? For a supposed science-based Rider, this show really goes beyond science. Comic didn't fit the biological/tech angle, unless... that's never the case from the start? Could it be, it's our fault for expecting or assuming too much too soon? - Once again, Ryuuga (who indeed is sleeping on the SAME bed. Does the show have so little of a budget, it can't afford separate rooms?) pulled off Comic's Best Match... with Ninja. HUH? "Naruto"-inspired? Thankfully, NinninComic form was impressive both in design and action. I loved the color scheme, and the 'Ninjitsu'-style attacks (like duplication and some others) were cool. This is definitely the most useful form so far. The show was about to end in a good note, until... - Sentou was carelessly caught off guard by Ryuuga once again (no kidding! TWICE already), who knocked him down and turned Tatsuya back into a Smash. Yep, I didn't know that's actually possible. Misora was to be blamed, as she's the one who planted this wrong idea to Ryuuga's simpleton's head. Would Sentou react in a hostile way because of this? The answer is in the next episode...

Overall: This was an underwhelming episode. I was kind of hoping for a powerful reveal about Sentou's past, but it wasn't even that important. Instead, the good part came for Souichi and Misora, who unfortunately were brushed off fairly quickly to pave way for Tatsuya's arrival. The butt-head argument between Tatsuya and Ryuuga was nice and all, as they seemed to by vying for Sentou's attention. But overall, this episode wasn't as strong as the previous three that have managed to grab my attention. So to be honest... I'm disappointed.

06 - "In the Belly of the Beast!"

- Let's continue. Unnecessary long 'previous episode' review aside, how would you expect Sentou to react for Ryuuga's action? Well... not as 'fun' nor 'tense' as I had imagined. Perhaps because Sentou had less memory with Tatsuya, and had spent more time with Ryuuga instead? Hmmm. - Ryuuga's plan actually worked. Re-Smash-ed Tatsuya wandered back to Faust secret base! But sadly Build had to come and save his ass again, which led to their bickering scene (with a touch of fist-fight). This was however, an important scene. We got to see that the Build Driver somehow only worked with Sentou, as Ryuuga got electrocuted when he tried to use it. It led Sentou to tinker a sentient gadget called Cross-Z Dragon for Ryuuga, so he could utilize the power of his Dragon Full Bottle. Yep, it's definitely the second step for him to become Kamen Rider Cross-Z (that's the official romanization). For now however, it worked as some sort of pet/babysitter... that has the ability to suck poison from Ryuuga's body. CONVENIENT! - Hazard Level? Night Rogue felt Blood Stalk has been trying to raise Build's level, and didn't seem pleased about it. These Faust duo are definitely toying with Build... and also Ryuuga (Stalk openly used plural for Build) in their own way. But what for? I still couldn't get it. - Hey, Sentou's working at the Institute! Now that's a rare sight. LOL. Seeing his employee hard at work, Gentoku openly shared more information about Takumi Katsuragi, and about the gas emitting from Sky Wall that they branded as Nebula Gas. Utsumi seemed unsure to hand out Katsuragi's research to Sentou, but Gentoku didn't mind. And responded with a... suspicious smile? He's totally up for something here. Could he be secretly leading Sentou to pinpoint the... Faust Lab? That seemed to be the case. Cunning Gentoku totally knew more than he should've. Was he in cahoots with Stalk? - Sentou and Ryuuga discovered the base. It's the lab where they were experimented on! Home sweet home, huh? It's interesting that only halfway through episode 6, and we've already in the enemy's headquarters. This was FAST, so Sentou's identity arc might be wrapped pretty soon. But this show have got to be kidding me! The lab was on the verge of exploding (following Build's berserk against Stalk), and the Faust soldiers were trying to transport the other victims of human experiment... yet Sentou and Ryuuga went into a long emotional private talk instead? YIKES. This show tends to choose bad timing for this kind of scene, and this might be the most ridiculous example. It's like audience was expected to assume that time froze or something like that, until they've done their heart to heart talk... *sigh*. - The episode ended in a more baffling manner. After being rescued, Tatsuya opened up that Sentou could have been the real culprit in Katsuragi's supposed-murder. How so? Because Tatsuya dropped him off at Katsuragi's apartment, precisely an hour before Ryuuga arrived there. It could be an attempt for a cliffhanger, but it felt forced instead. And it got more irritating, as Blood Stalk walked into a brand new Faust lab facility while talking in the phone with... *drumrolls* Gentoku. Nope, that's not where it annoyed me. It's what was shown afterwards in the preview! Because... wait for it, following a commerical break that somehow included the Faust "Trans-Steam Gun" and "Steam Blade" in it (Over-Time's fansub didn't include this, but it was in broadcast), we got to see Gentoku using a Full Bottle, revealing that he is... *sigh*

Overall: Way to go, TOEI! You always ruin the fun of discovery by showing too much on the next episode's preview, and you've done it again with this one. To put it worse, the startlingly problematic second half was just part of other major issues I had with this episode. It felt messy and well, missed out plenty of potentials to actually surprise audience in a positive way. That exaggerated chit-chat scene between Sawa and Misora about boyfriends, extras (those other victims) who ridiculously acted very poorly, and Sentou's supposed emotional explosion that never felt believable? And then that spoilerish preview? What a bummer... *sigh*.

07 - "The True Face of Night Rogue"

- Let's address the biggest, gigantic elephant in the room right away. Gentoku Himuro. The charming Gentoku who sleazily tried to harrass Sawa while spreading suspicious smirks and grunts every now and then, is indeed, totally, undeniably Night Rogue. So basically, this series does the complete obvious, by rehashing the exact same trope of last year (remember Kamen Rider Genm?). This is well... such a let-down, because I admittedly expected it to be different, if not better. Unlike Build's brother show Kyuranger that continues to prove its forte of being enjoyable and unexpectedly surprising over and over again, Build is sequing through the predictable path instead. - Not sure how I feel about it, but this reveal officially made Gentoku's entire movements more and more confusing to follow. Is Night Rogue really the leader of Faust? Then why would he follow Stalk's every order, as if he's the second in command? Before this, we saw him being fascinated with Stalk's action, and then in this episode, they butted heads and got into a disagreement. He claimed to Sentou that he fired Katsuragi for doing illegal human experiments, but he obviously has been doing it himself. What's that about? Does he have dual personality? - I understood that he's aiming to build Kamen Rider for military purposes. But if he has known Sentou is Build from the beginning, why have he and Utsumi been pretending in the Institute that they didn't have a clue? Spilling out details one after another, leaking information to the 'enemy', while in various occasions looked so desperate to capture them (Gentoku's weird reaction in episode 5 in particular, just felt all wrong). Inconsistent much? Hmmm... could he be intentionally toying with Build? Didn't seem so, and that's... pointless anyway. Not to mention, WHY OH WHY? Build kept using new Full Bottles (doesn't take a genius to figure out that he has Misora who can purify them, as well as the Pandora's Panel that Faust is looking for), then why didn't Gentoku just follow him to Cafe Nascita, and scored multiple jackpots? He DID easily follow Sentou and Ryuuga to stop them from going to the dry-soiled Hokuto region, right? Confusing! *sigh* - I guess Gentoku's first transformation sequence and the "MIST MATCH" tagline was meant to look cool, but it sure didn't feel that way and came off as unnecessarily flashy. Interestingly, he outpaced Ryuuga to become the official 2nd rider of the show. A fact that made me speechless. - Also, I'm calling it now. Blood Stalk is none other than Katsuragi. Who else, right? Why on Earth would his actor be promoted into a recurring cast recently. It signaled that he's way more important than just mere cameo (remember Kamen Rider Para-DX?). The way Stalk boldly proclaimed Takumi to be the founder of Faust, was way too suspicious anyway. Just like Gaim and Ex-Aid, looks like everyone who's not comic reliefs might end up becoming a Rider. - Thankfully, Takumi's mother Kyoka Katsuragi (played by Komura Hiro) became a highlight to this episode. Ignoring the odd facts that led Sentou to Hokuto (how would Takumi even bothered to give out obvious hints via his logs, one that would shockingly be deduced as anagram? How is that even scientific? Also, another cosplay joke for Ryuuga... *sigh*), the drama bit between the middle-aged local teacher and Ryuuga was moving. This was the woman who thought of Ryuuga as her son's killer, but had to swallow the bitter pill when she learned who was truly the evil one. - There were other good points. Cross-Z Dragon was the episode's MVP, by aiding in the battle against that child-based Smash. I also digged the fact that the Rocket Full Bottle actually belonged to Stalk, and was not Sentou's to begin with. The switched ownership was neat, and shook things up a little. Ryuuga and his knack for Best Matches was another delight to see. - RocketPanda form however? Not a good looking form that resembled "Kamen Rider Fourze" too much, but in an ugly way. And the show once again broke its own rule, this time through the reversed naming order. Another inconsistency?

Overall: On one hand, the show 'succeeded' in trying to make audience continue guessing whether Gentoku is Rogue or not. On the other hand, the road towards that was shaky, flawed, and the outcome was merely another underwhelming 'Meh' at best. It didn't feel like a surprising twist, simply because the show didn't even try to smartfully plotted it as one. Heck, it was already openly revealed on the preview *sigh*. I developed good faith after seeing how the show evolved from episode 2 to 4, yet it took episode 5 to 7 to burn them all down and left me bitter in disappointment. With poorly handled characters, shift of tones that doesn't flow well, and writings that feel surprisingly sloppy, this show just does not feel enjoyable and promising to me anymore. Many have pointed out that it might be too early to drop a Tokusatsu show around this number of episodes, because things usually gets better and only truly shapes up in the second arc. But I'm not sure I have the patience to go much farther... *sigh. For now, I'll stick around for just another 2 episodes. If my interest isn't picking up by then, I'm definitely shelving this series for good. That's not a threat, by the way. Just an acknowledgement that this show is just... NOT my BEST MATCH. Next Episode: That hedgehog is on FIREEEEE... PS: Eiji & Ankh! Dark-haired Takeru!! Human-Kouta!!! And Gentarou!!!! At least that "Kamen Rider Heisei Generations FINAL" movie looks like an interesting mash-ups...

Episode 05 Score: 7,3 out of 10 Episode 06 Score: 7,1 out of 10 Episode 07 Score: 6,9 out of 10

All images are screencaptured from the series, provided by the FanSubber Over-Time. "Kamen Rider Build" is produced by TOEI, and airs every Sunday on TV-Asahi. Credits and copyrights belong to their respective owners.