Star Wars: Legacy of Vader will bridge the gap in Kylo Ren’s story between The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker
Family and legacy have always been important parts of the Skywalker Saga in Star Wars. The sequel trilogy especially expanded on this idea in interesting ways. Rey (Daisy Ridley) was revealed to be the granddaughter of Emperor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid), but decided to carry on the Skywalker legacy instead. Meanwhile her counterpart in the Force, Kylo Ren (Adam Driver), the son of Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher) and Han Solo (Harrison Ford), decided to carry on the legacy of his grandfather, Darth Vader, instead.
In the movies, we don’t get to see much regarding Ren’s posthumous relationship with his grandfather. We see him talking to Vader’s cracked and charred helmet, but his motivations for following in his footsteps beyond the surface level act of rebellion against his parents and the betrayal he feels toward Luke (Mark Hamill) aren’t super clear.
This is about to change with the upcoming comic series Star Wars: Legacy of Vader, which is set to follow Ren between the events of The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker and revisit his connection to his grandfather. Now the Supreme Leader of the First Order, Ren is somewhat directionless in his quest for power.
According to writer Charles Soule, Kylo is “truly lost at this particular moment.” In a fairly short amount of time, he’s faced his two biggest mentors in combat, Snoke and Luke, killing one outright and losing the other to the Force. He’s killed his own father, nearly killed his mom, all the while finding “a deep connection with another Force-user named Rey.” And then there’s the whole taking control of the entire military of the First Order thing.
Basically, his emotions are a mess, “making him deeply unstable, angry, frustrated…dangerous” and in desperate need of guidance. Given how many bridges he’s burned with his family and with Rey at this point, all that he really has left is the legacy of his grandfather, Darth Vader.
It will certainly be interesting to get a peek into Ren’s psyche during this time. He had so much potential to be better than his grandfather, and yet he’s set on repeating his mistakes in his quest for power. Anakin Skywalker was tempted by the dark side because of love, because he wanted to protect Padme. But ironically, Darth Vader ended up alone for the rest of his life, only choosing love again in his final moments to save his son. If the comic series dives more into Ren’s feelings for Rey as well, there will certainly be even more parallels to draw between him and his grandfather, especially knowing how Kylo Ren’s journey ends.
Star Wars: Legacy of Vader is the perfect opportunity to show us more of who Kylo Ren is beyond the angry, power-hungry, backstabbing (or front-stabbing in his dad’s case) Sith Lord-in-training we see in the movies. He’s a complicated character, as Anakin was before he turned. Ren’s perspective on Vader’s legacy is going to be different than the rest of his family’s. Whereas they likely see tragedy and something to avoid repeating, he sees a kindred spirit, someone to look up to. Uncovering Vader’s past through Ren’s eyes promises to be quite the story.
Star Wars: Legacy of Vader # 1 arrives on February 5, 2025.