#i need to add that i do not hold any hatred against kylo ren's fans

[piratekenway]

Anakin literally murdered Padme. And he still died a hero, forgiven by his son.

[iabsolutelyresentthiswebsite]

The Redemption vs. The Excusal of Kylo Ren

Hi everybody, it's everyone's least favorite Star Wars fan back with more discourse!

Seeing as Star Wars: The Last Jedi is just over a month away now, it's time to talk yet again about Reylo.

Warning: This will be Anti-Reylo so please, be aware of what you’re getting into by reading any further. 

I’ve seen an uptake in shipping Reylo because it would be “totally epic” and “just make sense”, using similar language that most Rey Skywalker believers use, which is disturbing to me considering I am definitely one, but not the other, for obvious reasons. By the way, in the last few weeks, I have learned shipping Reylo and believing in Rey Skywalker are not mutually exclusive concepts, which is disgusting because some of y’all are openly shipping incest. That ain’t cool.

I digress, however, to the main point of this post, which is what a canon Reylo would do to the arc of Kylo Ren. 

Most fans are in agreement that Kylo Ren, rather Ben Solo, must and should be redeemed. There are, however, still hold-outs to that...people who, unfortunately, let their half-way justified hatred of a character blind them to what his redemption could do for the trilogy, cinematically and practically. There are also people who honestly believe that a fully!dark Kylo Ren would do the series a service, which is an interesting viewpoint.  I hope they do come around to redemption eventually or, at least, understand why it happened once it does, which it likely will. 

The intention of this post is not to debate the legitimacy of a Kylo Rendemption, although I will, based solely on the input of my brother, who has an interest in what I’m going to talk about this part.

Pros of a Redemption: It will make Leia happy, which is something we all desperately want to have happen. It would add quite a few possibilities for the development of various relationships between him and other characters. It also has a lot of potential in the numerous ways he could be redeemed, which adds a lot more storytelling to the saga, thus adding intrigue. It also gives Kylo the same opportunity that Anakin had, the opportunity to betray the person who really screwed up his entire life. Most of us are under the impression that Kylo Ren was abused, at least to some extent, so seeing an abuse victim- although he is not helpless- fight back would be empowering to some.

Cons of Redemption: It perpetuates the parallelism between Kylo/Ben and Vader/Anakin, which is not necessarily a bad thing (in my eyes). It may be predictable for that very reason, which may not be a good thing, but is not a bad thing considering redemption of a very prevalent theme in Star Wars. 

Pros of No Redemption: It would be something that Star Wars has never done, making a pretty relatable antagonist completely unrelatable by making him shirk the opportunity to redeem himself by his own volition. It would be completely unexpected, which is also something that doesn’t happen every day. It would also give a different message that Star Wars has never given before, that some people cannot be redeemed. It very much differentiates the characters of Kylo Ren and Darth Vader, which is something people do have trouble understanding.  

Cons of No Redemption: It would be a grave departure from the message set forth by the rest of the franchise that redemption is possible no matter what and good is stronger than evil, giving the feeling of further Star Wars sequels, of which there will likely be more, a very different vibe, one that fans may or may not lay in bed with. It eliminates any storytelling that would be possible for a Kylo Rendemption, which really is a shame because of all the possibilities that would be ousted from that choice.

The reason I am in favor of the Kylo Rendemption is because I see it as having more pros than cons and more pros than the possibility of having no redemption. I am also in favor of it because, to me, it makes sense to redeem him because Anakin was redeemed and he was just as far gone as Kylo is now and I find the parallelism not just “familiar and comforting”, but logical and emotional.  I know, for a fact, that is just me, though. I will openly admit that I am also a big fan of Ren, mainly because of the potential his character has, and I feel like his potential is only truly revealed if he is redeemed...so, in a sense, I guess you could say, I wish to be “validated”. I also want to see Luke and Leia happy and SNOKE GET HIS ASS KICKED, which really can only come about, as I see it, by Ren’s betrayal. Also, I want there to be an understanding between Kylo and Rey

Now, we’re getting into where Reylo comes in and what it does the redemption of Kylo Ren. 

As I’ve stated before, most fans are in agreement that Kylo Ren/Ben Solo must and should be redeemed. The true difference, I see, between Reylo shippers and Anti-Reylo shippers is the means by which he is redeemed. Most of us agree that Rey should definitely be involved, to an extent, but it really differs by how much she is going to be involved. 

Anti-Shippers seem to like the idea of her just being there to help him a little by making him realize the error of his ways, y’know...if the particular Anti-shipper likes Kylo at all...*rolls eyes so hard eyes can bench 300lbs*

Reylo shippers have a range from she is the biggest reason he changes to she is the only reason he changes. *rolls eyes into a galaxy far, far away*

I mentioned in a prior post how Luke did not coerce, did not pressure, and did not even fully persuade Anakin Skywalker, as Darth Vader, to turn back to the Light. It was the choice of Anakin Skywalker to save his son from his master. When it was a choice between the life of his son and the life of his master/ even his own life, he chose his son’s life...selflessly...without coercion and with no regrets. It was his choice of his own free will to do the right thing and to turn back and that, in my opinion, is what made the redemption of Anakin Skywalker so powerful. That he began to realize, with the help of his son, that what he was doing was wrong over the course of one and half movies- from afar- and made a free choice, at the moment Luke needed him the most, to cast aside the person who messed his life up in the favor of the person who would save his life.  

And that is what we would be missing if Rey was the only reason Kylo turned back. It is, factually, coercion. It is pressure. It is not of Kylo’s own free will, but of the promise of potential happiness that may never be. 

I am so against Reylo becoming canon because of what it would degrade Kylo’s redemption arc to. It would become the biggest, most unconvincing, most insulting trope that exists and we all know which one I'm talking about. I’ve said it before, but I will not say it again.

But I am also very against Reylo becoming canon for another, very motivating reason and that reason is because if Kylo turns back to the Light because of Rey, he will not have been redeemed. It would be The Excusal of Kylo Ren. 

I, for one, and I know I am definitely not the only one, believe that Kylo is fighting away from the Light, trying to stop feeling what he knows to be true, trying to fight off his true nature. He is not dark enough to convince me or even himself, which is why he prays and asks his Grandfather, misguidedly, for insight on the power of the Dark Side. He apologizes because he knows he’s not strong enough. He knows the truth that he was never meant to be what he is so desperately trying to be right now. 

Because of that, he must fight back to the Light side. He must. He must struggle, he must work, he must put in more effort than he ever has into getting back to the Light after pushing himself into the Darkness, needlessly. (I do desire to know his motivation for falling to the darkness in the first place.) But he must want it more than he’s ever wanted anything. I encourage him to betray Snoke or the First Order and join the Resistance, maybe even pull a Kallus/Falrum from Rebels kind of thing for a while. But whatever he does, he must put in the effort...

NOT SIMPLY FALL IN LOVE AND ABANDON HIS WAYS. 

THAT’S NOT REDEMPTION. THAT’S AN EXCUSE.

If he and Rey fall in love and Kylo just abandons his ways for love, where is the struggle? Where is the conflict? Where is the desire to do right? And where is the emotion the audience is desperately craving to feel in those moments? 

Nowhere, nothing, not here, and non-existent. 

When Anakin was redeemed, there was tension and uncertainty and anxiety, If this is how it plays out, there is nothing but *warm fuzzy feelings and butterflies* and then what the hell are we to really care about? 

We are left unsatisfied. We are left with questions. We are left with the feeling nothing really happened there, except a gratuitous love story, which was so unneeded.

A redemption takes place when someone works to better themselves and changes themselves for the better. We saw that happen with Anakin!Darth Vader. We saw him gradually change little by little until he made his final choice to reclaim the name of Anakin Skywalker and cast aside his guise of Darth Vader. 

The main point of this post is to show you that if Kylo is redeemed because he falls in love with Rey, it is just an excuse for him to turn back to the light. It eliminates his need for true redemption by giving him an “in” to the Resistance without having to put forth any effort into trying to better himself. Anakin had to slowly change his opinion and have his eyes gradually opened to the fact what he was doing was wrong and to decide of his own free will that he must change for himself and for his son. Kylo cannot be given an excuse because he will, as he now stands, not take responsibility for the millions of lives he took and not fight back from the Darkness, which he must to validate his redemption, because there is simply no need if he is in love with Rey and she with him. He simply does not need to fight back so the writers and directors will not do it. It’s the easy way out and the easy solution and we all know it to be true. 

But what we would get with endgame Reylo is an excuse for why Kylo turned back to the Light as quickly as he did. From what is known about Kylo Ren in TLJ, he will be darker than TFA. The change he made was from edgy to dark to suddenly in love and embracing the Light?

No. 

It doesn’t make sense. 

Well, unless we throw away his characterization as set forth by TFA, fighting off the Light as hard as he can. Love is not going to change him that quickly and that drastically. 

It does not make sense.

And we haven’t even spoken about the fact Rey is not the type of person to fall in love at first sight. She’s spent her whole life in a rough environment, guarding her heart and property. This edgelord, a term I use very affectionately for Kylo, is not going to tear down her walls that easily, especially after what he did to her in their first few interactions. She does not trust him and is likely to have difficulty trusting him in the future when they are likely on the same side. 

I do hope, however, that she does forgive him. It would, in my view, prove her strength of character and what a wonderful person she is. It also would, in a sense, validate Kylo’s turn to the Light in an indirect way. That she was one person he really did wrong, in the short space of time that we are currently aware of inasmuch we have seen and she was able to forgive him and validate him as a good, redeemed person after all the bad things he’s done. It would be a small forgiveness considering all the lives he took, but it would be powerful to have Rey forgive him for what he did to her. 

My favorite thing about several of the things I wrote is that it can be entirely platonic, many of the things Reylos want to have happen when/if they fall in love, can be even better if they happen because they’re reconciling their past as new friends because there is not nearly as much on the line and the pressure is off. Their relationship does not need to become romantic because it is needless. Everything that should happen can happen without romantic love and in my opinion, it is even more powerful that way.

And we didn’t even discuss how she is very likely a Skywalker. But we’re not going to talk about that.