The Rise of Kylo Ren: Chapter Two
What is it ? : Snoke and Ben are aboard the Space Station among it's gardens and Snoke expresses he likes the place as it was built to hold back the darkness, revealing skeletons with plants growing through them to show Ben how it failed.
They then discuss the Knights of Ren, and Snoke points out they might not be interested in Ben Solo, and Ben says how he hates that name, somewhat because both are fake, Ben wasn't really Obi-Wan's name, and Solo wasn't really Han's.
But they are interrupted by a droid telling Snoke that General Hux wants to speak with him, and Ben questions him as to who Hux is, but Snoke tells him that he became Snoke, who will Ben become. Setting Ben the task of finding the Knights, or dying.
We then flash back to years before, Luke Skywalker is on a mission with Lor San Tekka and a young Ben Solo. Lor has identified a lost Jedi Outpost from before the fall and is guiding Luke towards it, while Ben is receiving telepathic messages from Snoke. Snoke whispers that Luke doesn't respect Ben thinking of him just as a child, but Luke turns and thanks Ben for coming along, stating how glad he is.
They arrive at a temple cut into the rock, and inside locate many Jedi artefacts including a Holocron, Blaster Rifle and a Sith Holocron among many others, with Luke thinking it might be the biggest trove of Artefacts he's found, but suddenly he and Ben sense coldness.
Ren and the Knights of Ren are present, Luke lays claim to the artefacts saying they belong to the Jedi, and even if he wasn't the last of the Jedi, and he corrects himself, that he won't be the last of the Jedi for long, he'd still stop them from taking them as he senses the Dark Side in them. Ren orders the Knights to take down this "old man", and Ben steps forward that Luke is a legend, but Ren identifies himself and the Knights as Legendary.
Ben ignites his lightsaber, but Luke proves that he doesn't need any help as he beats up all the Knights until Ren ignites his lightsaber. Ren tells Luke it has a dead mans switch and if he releases it for any reason it will explode and kill everyone in the temple. So Luke tells him it's time for him to leave.
Ren agrees, taking off his helmet and leaving it behind, telling Ben that if being a Jedi isn't his path, then he should seek them out and learn a little about his shadow.
Back in the current day, Ben arrives at the now emptied temple, and picks up the helmet, putting it on and hearing from Ren who tells him where the Knights are, but as Ben takes the helmet off, he is confronted by the three Jedi students who have been tracking him . . . .
High Points : Now, the revelation about Ben's name is something I'd never considered, he has been named for heroes, Ben Kenobi and his father Han Solo, but both of the names that he has been given from them are fake. Ben was never Kenobi's real name, and Solo was just one Han gave himself. Leading him to think that these heroes themselves are fakes. Which is an interesting, if very shallow, reason why Ben has never been very happy with his name and so easily takes on the name of Kylo Ren. (although I was always a fan of the idea that secretly Leia was into pod racing and he was actually named after Ben Quadinaros).
A better reason for Ben's fall is that Snoke has always been talking in the back of his mind, no matter how nice Luke treated him, every action was twisted by Snoke. I can't imagine how bad this would be, if for your entire life you had someone twisting everything around you (probably including his own name) a forced version of schizophrenia. It takes the blame off Luke for training Ben wrong, as there was no way he could expect to sense this communication, it's a slower method of corruption but feels like Palpatines wanting to take the body of one of Leia's children in Empires End, making the children of the heroes into the next generation of villains.
I also liked that the station continues to be a representation of Snoke, it's got the initial appearance of a place of light, a garden, but then there's the people killed here entwined with vines and branches Just as Snoke is trying to appear as a gentle mentor to Ben, but there is the signs of corruption in his face and skin. So despite Snoke showing Ben the signs in the station of it's fall, he still fails to notice those signs in Snoke himself.
Low Points : Snokes bad wig still seems very silly, and Ren's plan to have an exploding Lightsaber seems like it might turn out bad for him (I'll actually be impressed if he eventually dies by his own exploding lightsaber). But that it's some kind of threat to Luke seems very weak, he could just throw Ren out of the temple using the force, crush the lightsaber, hold his hand on it so it isn't set off. But I suppose Luke is a Jedi, so gives him the chance to leave peacefully rather than executing the man.
This issue is also incredibly brief, some set up and then a quick fight where Luke dominates the Knights of Ren, and it's over.
So what do you really think ? : Something I haven't mentioned in this or last review is that it differs in layout from most Star Wars comics, which usually have a title page. These have the intro (in this case the scene with Ben and Snoke), and then a big double paged title page. It's dramatic and gives this story a feeling of it's own, as we're getting a big of story, then bam, titles, before we continue.
But this makes a very interesting split in this issue, as all of the High Points above take place in the introduction before the Title card, and my main Low Point comes afterwards. The time with Snoke is interesting, and reveals a lot about Bens fall, whereas while it's always a joy to see Luke back in a story, the Knights of Ren aren't really that interesting, their self description of "Legendary" really doesn't suit, "legends in their own minds" seems more relevant.
Final Words : I want to like this issue more because of what it offers and hints at, Snoke's voice in Ben's head, twisting and corrupting the boy since he was young, turning him against everyone around him, and even against his own name. Something which ends at Snoke's death, leading to Ben/Kylo reappraising his life, him realising that Luke, Han and Leia were on his side trying to help him, leading to his redemption in Rise of Skywalker. This is the story we never got, a more interesting and gripping version of Kylo Ren's story. But I feel we're not going to get this explored any further, and it'll just be a couple more issues (this is only a 4 issue series) of fights, against the Jedi Students, and then as he seizes control of the Knights of Ren.
Score : 8.5/10
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