Over the course of the Sequel Trilogy, we witness Kylo Ren committing various atrocities, from killing his own father to destroying whole planets. But what was his first sin, the first time he took a life? This dark moment in Ben Solo’s past, that started him off on the path to becoming a villain, is revealed in a new Star Wars comic.
Star Wars: The Rise of Kylo Ren #3 follows on from the cliffhanger at the end of the second issue. In that, Kylo travelled to a Jedi outpost where he had first encountered the Knights of Ren with Luke Skywalker. His intention is to use clues to track them down so that he can join them. Instead, he finds his three former Jedi classmates at Luke’s academy – Voe, Hennix and Tai. They want revenge for what Ben did to Luke and the temple, so they engage in a bitter fight.
Ben makes a show of of embracing his darkness, but he can’t follow through with it. After Force-pushing Voe off a cliff, he’s compelled to save her by levitating her in the air. Hennix is not aware of his actions, though, and sends his lightsaber at Solo like a helicopter rotor. Ben manages to send the saber back at his opponent, but Hennix isn’t as quick as him and the blade slices him in half, killing him. Voe and Tai manage to escape, but Kylo Ren has spilled his first blood.
This is a neat addition to the character’s backstory, as it’s in keeping with the struggle between the light and the dark that defines him. Kylo rarely makes the shift to the darkness himself, as outside circumstances push him towards it (see: Snoke/Palpatine’s manipulation of him in his youth, Luke momentarily igniting his lightsaber while he slept, etc.) He’s still culpable for his own crimes, of course, but you could argue that he rarely does anything out of cold-blooded evil.
Star Wars: The Rise of Kylo Ren #3, written by Charles Soule with art by Will Sliney, is available now.