Kylo Ren. Ben Solo. The son of Leia Skywalker Organa Solo and Han Solo, nephew to Luke Skywalker and the only grandson of Anakin Skywalker and Padmé Amidala. Star Wars has a habit of turning those with Skywalker blood bad. Well, the men do. Shmi and Leia came out fine. Anyway, in this post, we will talk briefly about Kylo Ren.
This post is only a rundown of Kylo’s backstory before The Force Awakens, not the entire thing. If you want to read the character’s full life story, check out the link above, which will take you to the Wookieepedia page.
The Grandson Of Skywalker, Namesake: Kenobi
Born in 5ABY, the year after the Battle of Endor, Kylo Ren was born Ben Solo, in honour of Obi-Wan “Ben” Kenobi, the man who bought his parents, Leia and Han, together. Kenobi had longstanding ties to Leia and Luke and their biological parents, Anakin and Padmé.
Growing up, Leia, Han and Ben’s uncle, Luke, kept the truth about Anakin a secret from young Ben. However, he was well aware of who Kenobi was and felt tremendous pressure to live up to his name. Also, the Skywalker bloodline was no secret, either.
Leia and Han feared that their son would follow the path of his grandfather, hence the decision to hide the former Alderaanian heir’s paternity from Ben.
Dark Side Tendencies
Throughout his early life, the future Kylo Ren struggled with his abilities in the Force. As a child, Ben would throw Force-induced tantrums that terrified his parents to the point they sent him to train with his uncle.
However, not even Luke could tame his nephew. Ben would join the Knights of Ren. Upon discovering that Anakin Skywalker and Darth Vader were the same person, Ben would kill his fellow students and burn down his uncle’s school, becoming Kylo Ren.
