Kylo Ren didn’t go to Vader’s castle on Mustafar. Well, as far as the cinematic universe is concerned, he went to Mustafar in The Rise of Skywalker but we didn’t see Vader’s castle. There’s a very good chance Vader’s castle no longer exists.
But I saw this image of Kylo Ren on one of the posters released for The Rise of Skywalker and I kept seeing him at Vader’s castle. So I decided to put some of my photoshop skills to the test and made the following edit:
And with that edit, I had to animate it and it came out pretty good, I think!
We’ve got a long weekend coming up in New Zealand so I’ll have more time for more edits and lots of Photoshop! Until then, let me know what you’re up to in the comments, or just say hi! I don’t bite (much) 😛
As always, keep safe out there and keep creating!
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Kylo Ren going to Vader’s castle would have been such a fascinating way to tie the knot between the sequel trilogy and other stories (the Vader comics, Revenge of the Sith, Rogue One). This is one of the reasons I wish Duel of the Fates had been made instead of The Rise of Skywalker since Ren was going to spend time in the castle in that version of Episode IX. But, it is what it is.
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Yeah, when I read the script for Duel of the Fates I really wanted to see that version of the story. It was so much darker. And what they did with Ren was amazing. It just seemed so much more of a natrual transition in Kylo Ren’s storyline than him becoming Ben Solo again and making the Reylo thing happen. As much as I like the idea of Ben Solo, I was never a fan of the redemption arc itself. It just seemed forced to me. When you think of Anakin’s story, that was so fleshed out and natural. It didn’t seem forced in any way. If you get what I mean? 🙂
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I completely agree. I really disliked the redemption arc in TROS. I was really hoping that the third film would lean into Kylo Ren becoming “the monster” that Rey calls him. I loved that in TFA he wanted to be rid of the “pull of the light” and Ben Solo for good. I thought TLJ did just that, really leaning into Kylo Ren’s darkness and showing, by the end of the film, that Ben Solo really WAS gone. But TROS seemed to just…not care? I honestly can’t figure it out. Star Wars didn’t need another redemption arc (especially a cheap one with zero consequences). What it needed was a third film in this sequel trilogy that really elevated what Lucas did, adding to it while honoring it and really taking the franchise to a new place. Instead, it got that (platonic?) kiss and a lot of weird Palpatine family drama.
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Yeah, I doubt we’ll ever get what we really want to see in any Star Wars film produced by Disney. I think Disney play it way too safe with their story arc choices, pandering to the status quo. Everyone wanted to see Rey and Ben together as well as Kylo redeemed as Ben Solo and that’s what they delivered. The worst part about that is that they took Ben away at the end and it’s like wtf? Bring him back only to take him again? They should have left him as Kylo never to be redeemed than do what they did. It did the a huge injustice to what Lucas created in my opinion.
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Couldn’t agree with you more. It absolutely did a huge injustice to Lucas’ story. I walked out of the theater after watching TROS and was honestly furious. There was absolutely no clear vision for the three films in the Sequel Trilogy. They have their moments, don’t get me wrong (ahem, Paige Tico, ahem) but I honestly have no idea how to tie them to the Original Trilogy and Prequel Trilogy in my head beyond the title: Star Wars.
And I think you are right, Disney DID play it way too safe. I wasn’t a huge fan of TLJ but I could at least appreciate Johnson changing things up a bit, and doing some pretty unconventional things (killing Snoke half way through the film was a wicked move). But I fail to understand how or why Ben Solo was the object of desire for so many people. Kylo Ren was such an interesting and conflicted character! And then, when Ben does show up half-way through TROS, he isn’t even that interesting!
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Lol well, I really like the idea of Ben Solo the character. It would actually be nice to see his background and how he really did become Kylo Ren. We have the comics now, so that pretty much covers his backstory but in film, I think it would have been a lot mroe interesting than Finn’s boring background or even Poe’s spice running days. Like, who cares about those minor characters? I agree with you on TLJ, although killing off Luke Skywalker was a brutal move and I won’t be over that at all. Luke was really the true hero and they sullied his legacy and turned him into a crazy old hermit hiding from life and from his responsibilities. Something that would never happen if Lucas was in charge. Instead we get these poorly written “characters” who are supposed to replace Han and Leia? Really? No. Just no. I get that the franchise has to move with the times and all that but there’s writing a good story and strong characters and then there’s well, whatever we got lol.
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I like the idea of Ben Solo, too. I just don’t think he is all that interesting in TROS when he finally shows up following the “Bendemption.” But I am definitely willing to give the comic a read (when it comes out in graphic novel form). I think there are some genuinely good stories to be told about Ben, I just wish he hadn’t been redeemed and Kylo Ren remained through the end of the sequel trilogy.
Finn’s backstory is weird at this point considering TROS essentially implied that he has the Force without explicitly showing he has the Force. When he is talking with Jannah about that “feeling,” he/the film seems to be confusing the Force with having a conscience. If they were going to go there, they really needed to dive deeper into this rather than leaving it on the surface and making us say “wait, what, he has the Force?”
And Poe, good lord. I like Poe, I do. But the idea that he was a spice runner….#facepalm …..we get it, he is supposed to be the new Han Solo.
And I am with you with Luke. I think TLJ really missed with its portrayal of Skywalker. On some level, I get it, the idea that our heroes can make mistakes and all that jazz. But the idea that Luke would have a moment of weakness, igniting his lightsaber while standing over Ben, really undercuts the lessons he learned in ROTJ. I mean, my goodness, the man threw his lightsaber away and refused to kill his own father. Were it up to me, when he threw the lightsaber over his shoulder at the beginning of TLJ, it would have been Rey’s first lesson: this weapon is not the way of the Jedi. We do not engage in “aggressive negotiations” and we do not kill our enemies. Life is sacred, violence is dumb, and I am here on the island trying to figure out what to do to stop my nephew and the First Order (not pouting).
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Btw, I have two guest posts about Luke in the Sequel Trilogy on my site you might find interesting:
So, What’s Luke Been Up To?
An Ignoble End to the Skywalker Saga
Both are really good explorations of Luke and how he was handled. And to toot my own horn, I have a handful of Luke-centric posts as well 🙂
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Sweet, I’ll definitely check them out. I am glad I’ve found another Star Wars fan on WordPress that enjoys diving into the philosophy behind Star Wars as much as I do. I’ve been wanting to make some really good meta posts on Star Wars so I think I’ll make it a regular thing on my site. I used to post in-depth posts about certain things in the star wars universe but Adobe kind of took over my blog lol
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Glad to hear I can help you indulge your Star Wars appetite. I am always happy to talk the GFFA. When I started my site years ago I was basically using it as an outlet to just offer my random thoughts and love for SW. It is an added bonus to be able to hear what other people think about my thoughts and love. Plus, it is just fun in general to connect and share ideas, whether about SW or some other franchise. That said, I look forward to your upcoming “meta posts” about SW!
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Haha thank you 🙂 I want to integrate more of the star war universe into my daily posts and I might even throw in SWTOR updates as well for a change 🙂 I started playing again and yeah, I think it’d be cool fun to write about stuff going on in the old republic 🙂
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I have to admit, SWTOR is one area of my personal fandom I have never really gotten into. I absolutely love KOTOR and the entire history of TOR established in the Expanded Universe, but I just never really got into the game. I did read a handful of the novels, though, and I own a few of the Lego sets that were released when the game was launched. Maybe if you write about it I’ll be convinced to play it. 😉
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Ahhh I see! I was into SWTOR really hardcore at one point but then eventually, all my friends and guild mates left the game and I ended up just using the game for trading on the GTN which is pretty much what I’ve continued to do for a couple years now off and on. I just really like making credits lol. I did however, decide that I want to finish my legendary status which is when you complete every class story in the game and I’ve been slowly chipping away at that too while I trade inbetween. I thought about doing the YouTube thing while I play but I think the game is so niche now, there’d be hardly anyone watching it lol so I might just stick to writng about it 🙂
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I like that a lot. lots of subtle movement.
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Thank you so much, Neil 🙂
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