One of the most notable storylines in the Star Wars sequel trilogy is Kylo Ren’s restoration to the light side of the Force and how he’d achieve redemption were created by General Hux years before the circumstances of The Rise of Skywalker.
Kylo Ren struggles to find his place in the sequel trilogy as he is caught between the light and dark sides of the Force. Coming from a lineage of Jedi and Sith, he initially succumbs to the dark side but continuously feels a tug toward the light.
As a result, when he attacks the Raddus in The Last Jedi, he chooses not to fire Leia. One of General Hux’s thoughts of Kylo Ren anticipates that his love and connection to his mother will eventually be one of the key reasons he becomes Ben Solo again.
Kylo Ren Looks Like The Most Leia
In Tom Taylor and Leonard Kirk’s 2019 Age of Resistance – General Hux #1, Kylo Ren and Hux are stuck on a planet, with the former unconscious due to an attack by indigenous fauna. Hux then encounters Bylsma, a former Alderaanian palace guard living alone since his home world was destroyed.
To gain his trust, Hux affirms that the unconscious guy in front of them is, in fact, the son of Princess Leia, whom Bylsma still admires. Hux then honestly asserts that Kylo Ren is similar to his mother, which he concedes Kylo would refute if he were awake. While it may seem insignificant to Hux, Kylo’s resemblance to Leia builds a relationship that later becomes a major aspect of his redemption.
Hux is well aware that Kylo Ren is descended from the Skywalkers.
With Luke, Anakin, and Han as major influencers in his life, Leia appears to be the figure Kylo most resembles. Kylo doesn’t have his mother’s diplomatic skills or ability to maintain her cool, but he is as passionate, headstrong, furious, and cold as Leia is.
The particular traits Hux perceives in both Kylo and Leia are debatable. Still, this conversation confirms that Kylo’s mother-son relationship pervades the sequel age, even though fans haven’t witnessed the entire length of Ben Solo’s upbringing. Establishing Kylo’s parallels and strong relationship with his mother so early in the sequel trilogy’s timeline brilliantly links into his redemption, which is eventually sparked by Leia’s final hope and love-filled attempt to reach out to Ben Solo.
Hux may convince Bylsma that Kylo pursues Leia just to appeal to his allegiance to Alderaan; this story is about how cunning and nasty Hux is behind his timid persona. But General Hux is renowned for being quite public about his grievances and opinions of others, especially concerning Kylo Ren.
While Kylo’s vision of Han Solo is the final push that convinces him to fight with Rey, Leia’s death is arguably what convinces him to renounce the dark side in the first place, as one of the first things Kylo hears from Han shortly after Leia’s death is “Kylo Ren is dead.” In any event, the similar characteristics of Star Wars heroes and villains frequently play a significant role in the franchise’s themes of redemption. Hopefully, many more canon stories will continue to strengthen these linkages.