Legacy of Vader: Reign of Kylo Ren: Part 10
What is it ? : Kylo is at Vaders Castle on Mustafar, he tells Vanee that he can sense Skywalker watching him, and wants to deal with Luke's Force Ghost, asking him what Vader would have done, but Vanee claims to not know. So Kylo attempts to enter the Vault, but just finds himself walking out of it again as it twists space.
He punishes Vanee for this, so Vanee shows him Vaders Meditation Chamber saying it is where Vader went when he wanted answers and clarity, so Kylo seals himself within.
He finds himself in a swamp, where he is confronted by snakes made from the skulls and extended spines of those he has been close to, Leia, Han, Lando, Luke, Snoke and Vader, he lashes out with two lightsabers, his crossguard red saber, and a blue lightsaber.
After fighting them, he kneels and concentrates as he is trying to locate Luke, and he remembers meditating with Luke, fighting alongside him, training with him.
He finds himself in a peaceful valley where a temple exists, he is confronted by a force ghost which tells him he doesn't belong here, so he lashes out, but his saber just passes through them, when another force ghost from the crowd around him solidifies into Luke Skywalker.
He asks Luke who killed him, as he wants to track them down and hear how he suffered in his last moments, but Luke tells him he died serving others as that was what his life was about, asking what Kylo's life is for.
Kylo tells him to stop teaching him, but Luke says that is difficult as he comes from a long line of teachers. So Kylo asks why Luke taught Rey, to which Luke tells him because she wanted to learn. Kylo demands that Luke stop watching him, threatening that if he doesn't, he'll find a way of destroying him, but Luke tells him that would only be possible by destroying the Force, and therefore destroying himself. Finally telling Kylo that he doesn't care about Kylo, but he'll always be there for Ben before he disappears.
A haggard and weakened Kylo sees himself in the swamp once more, as a massive figure with a red lightsaber attacks him, but in the real world the meditation chamber hisses open and Kylo drags himself out his clothes shredded and his body scarred. Vanee lifts him and places him in one of Vaders Bacta tanks, telling him that he is just where he needs to be.
High Points : I liked Luke, he's always been the hero for me, but his calm nature when he speaks to Kylo, revealing that he's not watching him for anything Kylo does, but waiting for the moment Ben Solo returns is fantastic. Even after everything, he still has faith, like he had faith in the goodness within Vader, that his father Anakin was still in there, he still has faith in the goodness within Kylo, that Ben is still in there.
The imagery is also nice, the skulls of those Kylo has been close to and betrayed upon spine snake bodies is very nice, and it's cool to see that not only are the dead there, those he killed, but the living that he betrayed. And also good to see it's not just those we should see as good, but Snoke is among them as well.
Low Points : The one that totally confused me is Luke's line about coming from a long line of teachers, and I instantly wondered, Really? Anakin and Padme? Neither of which are teachers, Shmi was a translator, and I guess we had no real idea about Padme's parents, so they could have been teachers, but that really doesn't seem to fulfil the description he gives. Does he mean Obi-Wan and Yoda? Because while both teach him, I suppose they barely fulfil the designation as Teachers, but that kind of makes everyone match Luke's statement as haven't we all been taught at some point in our lives? And Kylo being his nephew should kind of know the family tree, so know the BS that Luke is speaking.
So what do you really think ? : I guess we're setting up for the finale, because there's not too much going on in this one. Kylo fails to get into the vault, so uses Vaders meditation sphere to speak to Luke's force ghost, and that's it. Vanee seems to be setting up Kylo to become Vader, he's put him in the Meditation Sphere, put him in the bacta tank, and the preview of next issue shows Kylo being put in Vader's helmet. But the issue itself seems to be set up rather than any exploration of Kylo's relationship with Vader or his family in large.
So while better than the last couple of issues, this one isn't great, but does start us moving in perhaps a more interesting direction.
Final Words : I have to admit that once more the writers have shown me something I kind of want to see, the flashback to Kylo and Luke training, fighting, meditating together made me want to see a series based on this era. Luke Skywalker and his Padawan Ben Solo being Jedi in the Post Empire era, with Luke trying to revive the Jedi Order and Ben really not understanding the lessons, trying to take a faster path, and seeing the chaos across the galaxy after the fall of the Empire, showing us coming to his decisions that Vader was actually the hero, bringing order to the galaxy, rather than Luke who brought it all down. Now that's an unexplored period of time, which lasts for years, rather than this series being packed into the gap between a couple of movies.
Score : 7/10
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