One of the many reveals stuffed into the first trailer for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker was the clip which saw Kylo Ren’s helmet being repaired. The First Order supreme leader formally known as Ben Solo previously smashed his headgear to pieces in a fit of rage in The Last Jedi, but the moment in the trailer featured some monkey-like creature fixing it up with new red detailing.
Now, a photo of a stand at the Licensing Expo currently unfolding in Las Vegas has been shared online and gives us another look at Kylo with his repaired helmet. There was some theorizing that the Knights of Ren might have rebuilt the helmet without Kylo’s involvement, but from his dress sense and his signature lightsaber, this image confirms that it’ll be Leia and Han’s wayward son who wears the helmet once again in Episode IX.
See for yourself in the gallery below (which also includes an earlier promo image of the helmet):
There’s been a certain amount of controversy over the filmmakers’ choice to have Kylo’s helmet rebuilt in Rise, as some felt it didn’t make sense with his destruction of the accessory in the previous movie. To be fair, though, you could argue that the use of the helmet in both films represents his changing state of mind. As his loyalties were wavering in TLJ, he destroyed his helmet. Now that he’s become the evil overlord of the galaxy, he’s decided to mend it.
Nevertheless, the Knights of Ren could be involved somehow, as we know they’ll finally make their proper debut in the franchise after being teased in The Force Awakens. We still don’t really know exactly who the dark order of Force users are, but it’s generally thought that they’re fellow former students of Luke’s Jedi academy who were swayed to the Dark Side by Snoke. What role they’ll play in Episode IX, though, we don’t yet know.
Either way, though, all will be revealed when Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker hits cinemas on December 20th.