When The Force Awakens reignited mainstream enthusiasm for Star Wars in 2015, it felt like a cultural reset. By contrast, 2019’s The Rise of Skywalker landed awkwardly — its script and story choices provoked persistent disagreement and left numerous threads unresolved. Despite many valid criticisms of the film, I don’t count Adam Driver’s final fate as one of them.
Across three films, Ben Solo’s conflict between darkness and light culminates in a decisive choice. In the sequel trilogy’s finale he rejects the path of the Sith: he turns on Emperor Palpatine, fends off his own Knights of Ren and rescues Rey. In the film’s closing moments he transfers his remaining life force to her, shares a final kiss, and dies — his body dissolving into the Force. While some fans had hoped for more between Rey and Kylo, reports later surfaced that Driver discussed a follow-up project with Steven Soderbergh titled The Hunt for Ben Solo; Lucasfilm reportedly considered it, but Disney declined to move forward, citing concerns about explaining his return from death.citeturn0search0
Personally, reviving Kylo Ren would undercut what makes his end meaningful. His death is the payoff of a long, uneven arc: after years of pulling between two extremes, he deliberately chooses selflessness. That choice is the dramatic and moral resolution of his story.
Kylo’s finale reads back onto the Skywalker legacy: unlike Anakin, whose attempt to preserve Padmé’s life precipitated his fall, Ben’s arc resolves in surrender rather than selfish grasping. He grew up surrounded by parental love yet pushed it away in service of a darker ambition; ultimately, he reverses that rejection and chooses attachment over immortality. That reversal — saving the person he cares for at the cost of himself — is precisely why the scene lands with emotional force.
His death completes his redemption. He saves Rey in a way Anakin could not, accepts responsibility for his past, and melts into the Force alongside Luke, Leia and Anakin. Returning him as anything other than a spiritual presence would erase the weight of that choice.
Image: LucasfilmThat said, the franchise has a long history of undoing death. Palpatine’s return became a running joke online, Darth Maul survived an apparent annihilation to reappear in expanded media, and characters like Asajj Ventress and Ahsoka have been rescued through rituals or metaphysical loopholes such as the World Between Worlds. Star Wars makes resurrection convenient when a storyteller wants it.
Still, some sacrifices feel fundamental to the story and shouldn’t be reversed for the sake of additional installments. Think of Kanan Jarrus in Rebels: his last act protected his friends and gave the series emotional finality. Kylo Ren’s choice functions the same way for me — it is the essential resolution of his narrative. Fans understandably want more of beloved characters (Disney, there are plenty of spin-off opportunities waiting), but not every ending should be reopened. Let Kylo’s sacrifice remain the film’s one honest triumph.
Source: Polygon
