Kylo Ren

Ben Solo, who took the name Kylo Ren after turning to the dark side, was a human male of the Skywalker bloodline, the son of Han Solo and Leia Organa and the grandson of Darth Vader. Trained as a Jedi by his uncle Luke Skywalker, he fell under the influence of Supreme Leader Snoke and became the master of the Knights of Ren and an enforcer, then leader, of the First Order. Idolizing his grandfather's dark legacy, he sought to finish what Vader had started, but ultimately renounced the dark side and gave his life to save Rey, with whom he shared a bond in the Force.

Birth and youth#

Ben Solo was born in Hanna City on Chandrila in 5 ABY, on the same day the Galactic Civil War was formally ended by the signing of the Galactic Concordance between the Empire and the New Republic. He was named in honor of Ben Kenobi, the alias of the late Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi. His mother, the Force-sensitive Leia Organa, sensed both the light and the dark within him from before his birth, and as a child he instinctively reached out through the Force, once telekinetically hurling a toy across a room in anger.

Strong in the Force and gifted with piloting skills inherited from his father and his maternal grandfather, Ben was sent to be trained by his uncle, Luke Skywalker, the first student in Skywalker's effort to rebuild the Jedi Order. Together they traveled the galaxy in search of lost Force lore.

Fall to the dark side#

From afar, the dark figure Snoke worked to corrupt the boy, drawing him toward the Knights of Ren. Ben came to idolize the legacy of Darth Vader, keeping his grandfather's burned helmet as a shrine. The turning point came when his uncle, sensing the darkness growing within his nephew, briefly considered killing him in his sleep; Ben awoke to the sight, and the betrayal shattered his faith. He destroyed Skywalker's temple, fled, and embraced the persona of Kylo Ren.

As Snoke's apprentice and enforcer, Ren became an influential figure within the First Order's power structure, existing outside the formal military hierarchy yet able to command its forces, an arrangement that deliberately mirrored Vader's place in the old Empire. This bred tension with officers such as General Armitage Hux. Snoke pushed Ren toward ever greater power, teaching him to turn fear into anger and anger into strength.

Master of the Knights of Ren#

Ren led the Knights of Ren and served as one of the First Order's foremost commanders, hunting for Luke Skywalker and crushing worlds that defied the regime. In his pursuit of his uncle, he sought to surpass Vader, walking the same battlefields where his grandfather had once fought and seeking to succeed where Vader had failed.

His search for Skywalker and his confrontation with the scavenger Rey drew the two into a bond through the Force. After his forces struck at the Resistance, Ren killed his own father, Han Solo, in a desperate attempt to escape his past, an act that left him not triumphant but hollowed. He was bested in a duel by Rey, who had never before wielded a lightsaber, and was disfigured by her blade.

Supreme Leader#

Brought before Snoke, Ren turned on his master, killing him and seizing power as the new Supreme Leader of the First Order. He claimed the Resistance had killed Snoke, concealing his own hand, and instituted a zero-tolerance campaign against worlds suspected of aiding the Resistance, making brutal examples of those who showed less than absolute loyalty. He drove the First Order's expansion across the galaxy while continuing his pursuit of dark side secrets, dispatching agents to recover ancient Sith relics.

Throughout this time Ren remained bound to Rey through their Force connection. The two glimpsed each other's pain, and Rey came to believe their destinies were intertwined.

Redemption and death#

The revelation that Darth Sidious had survived and had engineered Snoke shattered the respect Ren held for his former mentor and confirmed that he had served a greater power all along. Confronted by the memory of his father, by the spirit of Luke Skywalker, and by his bond with Rey, Ben Solo turned away from the dark side at last.

At the Battle of Exegol in 35 ABY, he fought beside Rey against the resurrected Sidious and the Sith Eternal. When Rey expended her life to destroy Sidious, Ben gave his own to revive her, transferring his life force through their bond before passing away and becoming one with the Force. His death ended the Skywalker bloodline, and Rey took the Skywalker name to honor the family that had been hers in spirit.