Other Pages within RPGGamer.org:
Heavy Infantry Mandalorian	Sarria (Humanoid Witch)	Myykian	Nydak (Carnivorous Predator)

Legacy of Vader: Reign of Kylo Ren: Part 12

What is it ? : Kylo enters the Vault and finds himself facing Vader, who tells him that what he experiences here is only what he brings with him. Vader strides away, and Kylo chases saying he was promised power, and finds himself running over the helmet of a massive Vader which tells him that Kylo should never trust a promise of power, as power is never given away it is kept, power must be taken.
Kylo lashes out, slashing with his lightsaber through the eyepiece of Vaders Helmet. He finds himself facing Vader who continues lecturing him on power, but Kylo fights saying he is not Vaders student, he is his equal, but Vader tells him that he has no equal.
As they fight Kylo asks if this is all they are, generation fighting generation forever, is this their destiny, but Vader tells him there is no destiny, only power and how they decide to apply it.
Vader force chokes Kylo, and begins referring to himself as your grandfather, saying he was at his most powerful when he made his own decisions, to become a Jedi, to get married, to kill Palpatine. Before he removes his helmet revealing himself to be Ben Solo inside, and suddenly he's wearing Luke's Tatooine outfit.
Kylo attacks, and as they fight, Ben tells him how he's destroyed all his connections and history so reached back even further to his grandfathers life and caused chaos there, as we see flashbacks to him killing Gardulla the Hutt, the resistance on Naboo, and Grandea, and tells him the only interesting thing he did was with Tava Ren, because he did it for himself, not as an attempt to act as Vader would have done.
Kylo becomes enraged, attacking Ben who taunts him with that he destroys his past because he doesn't want to be who he is, that if he changed who he was then perhaps Rey would have taken his hand.
And Ben catches Kylo's lightsaber in his hand, telling him that Kylo knows deep inside that he can't really destroy his past, and that's why he's frightened, and why he's just a crying little . . .
We see Han and Leia holding the newborn Ben, saying that he can be anything he wants to be.
Ben tells Kylo that he is a Jedi, but Kylo denies it, telling him he is a ghost and he won't waste his time fighting ghosts any more. Ben walks away, telling him that if he wants a real enemy then he'll get one, but to be careful of what he wishes for as Kylo falls, and Ben fades away, as we are told, the Reign ends, the Fall begins, and Kylo Ren will return.

High Points : So the entire issue is basically the Dark Side Cave scene from Empire Strikes Back, Kylo is told that he only experiences what he brings with him, much as Luke was told by Yoda when he asks what is in the cave, "Only what you take with you." We saw this with Rey as well, so this is all illusion, this is all metaphor. Kylo is being taught, if only he'll learn the lesson, and perhaps he does because we see him seemingly learning to reject the destruction of his past he has been trying.
And the massive Vader he finds himself running across is an excellent way of showing how small he really it, how much he exists in the shadow of Vader.

Low Points : But for the final issue, I expected more, some revelation, something Kylo would discover or realise about his grandfather. Rather than just, that he learns to not be so self destructive.
And I have to ask why Ben Solo is wearing Luke's Tatooine outfit, it means something to the reader, the pure innocent hero version of Luke, before he makes any mistakes. But does Kylo know that? It seems as if Kylo has been watching the Star Wars Movies and knows what the imagery of Luke in that outfit means.

So what do you really think ? : To give the issue credit, it's a full issue of an exploration of Kylo himself, how he sees himself, scared that inside Vader is Ben, a version of himself who can defend against Kylo's attacks with his bare hands, a version that is far more powerful than he has managed to become through all of his rage, hatred and destruction. A fear that this other version of himself is more worthy of being the heir to Vader, a Vader who towers over Kylo's life.
But the revelation at the end just doesn't seem big enough, I wanted Kylo to learn that Vader's power really came into it's own when he redeemed himself, that Vader no longer exists, that Anakin does. Something the issue touches on, but doesn't show Kylo reacting to at all. Instead just leading to the statement that another Kylo series of comics is coming, a to be continued moment instead of any real vision.

Final Words : So, it looks like I'm going to have to read two other comic series to get the full arc. As mentioned the other day, to fill in the background on Kylo joining the Knights of Ren, I'm going to have to cover the Rise of Kylo Ren series, and The Fall of Kylo Ren series due out in a few months which might actually give us some closure on this story.
As for Reign of Kylo Ren, it's not been a disaster, it was interesting in its own way, only really failing when it was trying to build for the future by introducing Tava Ren, rather than exploring it's own premise. For a series called Legacy of Vader, I kind of wanted more of an exploration of Vader from Kylo's point of view rather than what we got, which was proof that Kylo in no way carries the Legacy of Vader.

Score : 8/10

Comments made about this Article!