I’ve been using random questions every day to try and write more and so far, so good. I was looking at a blog post on Tumblr just before and then it dawned on me; why not use an image or better still, GIFs as a writing prompt?
So, I’m using these GIFs from a post on Tumblr to exercise with this morning. While it’s not something outside of Star Wars, I’ll use these GIFs to start with and maybe change it up as I go.
To me, it’s interesting because I never really thought about this at all until now, but look at how defiant Rey is in this scene! I mean she is in the Throne Room of her strongest enemy who is masterful in the dark side of the force. Rey just doesn’t care! Not a single bit – she takes Kylo’s lightsaber, and she runs toward Snoke without hesitation. This woman is so convicted, so worthy of being a Jedi, so much so, that even Snoke praises her conviction. Snoke acknowledges Rey’s “spirit of a true Jedi” although, a compliment coming from someone like Snoke would always have a double meaning.
Let’s look at Kylo Ren and his scene from The Last Jedi where he is using a similar conviction to attack his uncle, Jedi Master Luke Skywalker:
Without knowing anything about these two characters, the only thing we would see that these two people genuinely dislike the person they’re running towards. But of course, it goes so much deeper than that, especially for Kylo. There is no mistake that it is Kylo Ren, Supreme Leader of the First Order that is charging towards Luke. Some people on Tumblr tag him as Ben Solo. In this particular scene, they couldn’t be farthest from the truth.
In this scene, Kylo Ren is charging towards Luke with all the anger, hate and pain that he’s been fighting with since he first turned on Luke back at the Jedi Temple. You don’t really think about this when you’re watching – at least I didn’t. It’s so easy to get caught up in the moment! When I see this scene, I genuinely feel sorry for Kylo Ren because he thinks he is going to get the chance that he has been waiting for; the opportunity to turn on his old mentor and finally put an end to the Jedi Order. Kylo Ren would become the heir apparent Snoke mocked him about, he would become the all-powerful Jedi Killer. But no, in true Jedi style, Luke takes this opportunity and robs Kylo of his moment to shine, turning this vengeful act on its head, speaking words of forgiveness like only a true Jedi could. It’s even sadder because we know that Luke and Kylo Ren are bound by blood, something stronger than hate and pain and anger. I believe that while everyone was thinking about the redemption of Ben Solo, the only thing I take from this scene is the redemption of Luke Skywalker from the pain he believes he caused which fueled Ben’s suffering and only helped to reinforce Ben’s decision to turn to the dark side of the force.
darksiderconfessions.blog 
Great analysis!!!
Although I do see that final scene with Kylo a bit differently. Personally I think it is Ben that’s running — or rather the true blend of Kylo and Ben, because he’s finally facing the man who tried to kill him and essentially sent him down the darkside path to Snoke. Kylo never turned on Luke, Luke turned on Ben. And Luke purposefully antagonizes Kylo to distract him from the escaping Rebels but in doing so really just pours salt on a wound he created. If there are any words of forgiveness that need to be spoken it’s Luke needing to ask Kylo for his forgiveness but he never does — he just purposefully riles Kylo up. And because we see Luke as a “hero” we legitimize his actions but Rey totally called him out on it: he created Kylo Ren and we never once see him apologize for it, not even to Leia.
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Oooh, that’s a great reply! Thanks, Tara 🙂 So that scene in the cabin thingy when Luke is standing over Ben – there were two versions of it right? There was Kylo’s version when he is telling Rey about what happened and then there’s Lukes where is explaining his point of view, that in a moment of weakness, he felt that he had to stop Ben from becoming what he saw in Ben’s thoughts. Luke said that Ben had already started down the pathway to the dark side and that he saw the dark side already taking over in Ben’s mind. So he wanted to stop Ben from becoming Kylo Ren and in that moment, the only thing he could do was try to strike him down. I don’t think Luke is solely responsible for Ben turning. I think he is fully responsible for the way he acted at that moment – there is no denying what Luke did was wrong. One could even go so far as to say that by wanting to strike Ben down, Luke was also taking a step towards the darker side of the force by letting his emotions and feelings sway him. This is not how a Jedi behaves. Luke broke so many rules when he raised his lightsabre against Ben. However, I was reading on Reddit that apparently Snoke had been grooming Ben since his birth, and some even say in the womb (I dunno about this myself, this is just what I read) and if that is the case, Snoke is by far more responsible for Ben turning to the dark side than Luke was. I do think Luke screwed up but I don’t think he was responsible for Ben’s final decision to turn to Snoke and become a servant of the dark side. Just to add, if Snoke was grooming Ben since birth, that would indicate that Ben never had a choice in the matter, he was always going to turn, it was just a matter of when.
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I don’t think Luke is solely responsible, Ben made his own choices, but both Luke and Snoke both played HUGE roles in that decision. Snoke was manipulating Ben since before he was born, tormenting and isolating him, and Leia sent him to Luke to help (although she didn’t know what exactly was happening) and instead of believing in his nephew (the way he had his father — who he had no real experience of outside of what we see onscreen) he judges Ben and, even if for only a moment, tries to kill him. Now we don’t know the full story of everything yet and I’m hoping we get to hear Kylo’s point of view in Episode IX, but considering he didn’t know what was happening to him, was sent away from home to deal with it, and then was almost murdered in his sleep by the person who was supposed to help him, I think it’s pretty reasonable that he fled and ended up with the only constant in his life, I.e. the voice in his head: Snoke. But again, we won’t really know the whole story until ep IX because they’ve purposefully kept from telling us more than bits and pieces here and there in the movies and books, but I do think in the end Luke played a big role in Kylo’s fall. He made the monster he saw in his head similar to how the Council created the monster Anakin became — or that’s how I see it anyway 😄 I can’t wait to see Episode IX and finally get some real answers 😂😂😂
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Yeah I think that too – I didn’t know about the whole Snoke thing until I read it online – but when you think about it, it makes sense that Snoke would be doing that – it’s kinda creepy to be honest. I can see why some fans put their whole relationship in that “abuser” and “victim” situation because it actually is like that. I used to roll my eyes at fans who thought this because I never really cared all that much about their relationship. But the more I got read the more I understood the bigger picture. I can’t wait for episode IX, hopefully we’ll have more answers than questions 🙂
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