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“As such, she is suddenly aware of her child’s mind and spirit: she senses pluck and wit and steel blood and a keen mind and by the blood of Alderaan is this one going to be a fighter!”
- Aftermath: Life Debt, Chuck Wendig
“[…] with the blood of a scoundrel and a princess in his veins, his defiance will shake the stars.”
- Last Shot: A Han and Lando Novel, Daniel José Older
Before I start: If you haven't read this post, which is an introduction of sorts to this one, I strongly suggest you do so, as I'll be referring to it a few times here.
But, as a quick reminder, I'll just re-state my theory here:
Ben knew about Palpatine all along.
I have to admit we should have seen the Palpatine reveal from the teaser coming. After all, they did “randomly” confirm a few weeks ago that Anakin really was a result of Palpatine manipulating the Force to create life. In a certain way, that makes Palpatine the Evil Father to end all Evil Fathers, and when The Powers That Be promote Episode IX as “the end of the Skywalker saga”, what they actually mean is that finally, the lineage Palpy created by unnatural means is finally going to defeat him, once and for all, and not that the line will die off with Ben (for the gazillioneth time: NO, REY IS NOT A SKYWALKER BY BIRTH).
After all, keep in mind that Force sensitivity is NOT hereditary: Jedi were for the most part Muggles, if I can describe them this way, and if it was otherwise, they would have been extinct a long time ago. Skywalkers are therefore the exception to the rule, and being extremely powerful, you can bet Palpy wants to take full advantage of them: Anakin, and indirectly his descendants, are “his” creation, after all.
It's basically a very twisted version of the Creation according to the Bible - at the risk of being blasphemous (don't hate me, Jesus, I'm just trying to make a point here), imagine a story where Satan (Palpy) creates a superhuman species (the Skywalkers) to manipulate them and destroy God's creation. Except the superhumans end up having families of their own, multiply, and ultimately turn against Satan cos he's an ass, and also because God (the Force) has enough of Satan's shit. That's the Skywalker saga in a nutshell.
Skywalkers messin' it up (again)
Luke and Leia growing up unbeknownst to Palpatine could have been an important glitch in the matrix, but they revealed themselves early enough for his backup plan to be ready (I’m going by the assumption Palpy did the math in the time gap between A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back – roughly three years. Not a lot of time, all things considered, but still. Note that I don’t have extensive knowledge of the comics). Or, you know, they wanted to make more films so Luke and Leia couldn't be the Glitch in the Matrix, so because of that, you can guess Palpatine went for the next best thing (Vader was kinda damaged goods anyway), someone who would theoretically be even easier to manipulate and mold than even Anakin ever was: Ben.
Why did I say previously that the Solo side of the family is a wild card? Simply because it’s one thing Crazy-Prepared Palpatine didn’t take into account, since Han is just an inconsequential, non-Force-sensitive smuggler. But combine Han’s heart and loyalty to Leia’s mind and stomach of steel, and as said in extra material, you get a fighter whose defiance will shake the stars.
How did Ben come to know that Palpatine was around and ready to strike back? No way of course Snoke would have let him know, even less Palpatine. But there is one thing, however, that could have definitely done so, and it’s hardly surprising since Ben is space!Hamlet:
Source: Star Wars, Episode VII: The Force Awakens (dir. JJ Abrams)
Source: Royal Shakespeare Company
(IT'S JEREMY BRETT AS HAMLET YOU GUYS)
We don’t know when or how Ben came across Vader’s helmet: I’m going to assume, for the sake of the theory, that it was during his travels with Luke and Jedi Camp.
Why didn’t Ben tell Luke, you’ll ask? Probably because he didn’t have time to: after all, Luke knowing is the last thing Palpatine would want, isn't it?
Source: Star Wars, Episode VIII: The Last Jedi (dir. Rian Johnson)
Based on what I've said in my previous post, I’m kind of debating right now whether it was Palpatine or Snoke trying to break into Ben’s mind, or whether it was a joint effort. A tweet from Pablo Hidalgo (which I do not have a screencap of right now) pretty much hinted that Snoke wasn’t behind the darkness tormenting Ben from a young age. People at the time interpreted it as Pablo saying “some people are just born bad”, which is pretty much opposite to EVERYTHING we’ve had so far. Long story short, Pablo was telling the truth… from a certain point of view, since it indeed wasn’t Snoke: it was Palpatine.
As for Luke reading into Ben’s mind and seeing death and destruction, I’d also say Palpatine was at work here. Seriously, what is the one thing that would scare Luke enough for him to want to kill his nephew, even just for a split second, and kind of diminishes the gravity of his action since trauma is involved? Palpatine.
Ben runs away, of course, but now he realizes that after Anakin’s reveal about Palpy via Vader’s mask, he’s really the only one up for the task on his side of things. Luke? Probably influenced by Palpatine now, and it might just be Ben’s fault if it happened. I mean, if we look at the scene from Ben's point of view, as he tells it to Rey... tell me Luke's face here doesn't give you the creeps.
Source: Star Wars, Episode VIII: The Last Jedi (dir. Rian Johnson)
It also explains why Ben didn’t go running back home to Han and Leia - since, logically, it's the first thing a scared young person with few resources would do - look, I'm around the same age as Ben when he "turned", and we're both adults, legally speaking, but running to Mom and Dad for help is sure as heck what I would have done right away. But he doesn't, because who knows? Palpatine might try to get to them as well.
Most people assume Snoke picked him up not long after the whole drama with Luke went down. That's what I'm assuming as well - but overall, what happened in the 6-year gap between the Jedi Camp Disaster and The Force Awakens is left in the dark - probably deliberately. Considering Snoke is dead, there isn't really much of a reason to keep it a mystery. We all know how turning someone to the Dark Side works - through pain, emotional (Anakin, pre-Vader suit) or physical (Savage Opress in the Clone Wars TV series).
The Hateful 8 (or are they?)
There's also the whole matter of the Knights of Ren - for people who are apparently going to play a part in Episode IX, we honestly don't know much about them. I'm mentioning them here since it is kind of hinted they're Luke's former students who ran off with Ben in The Last Jedi. Well, otherwise, what the hell happened to those kids? You could say Snoke killed them off to focus solely on his pet project, but wouldn't you want a few more Force-sensitive kids under your belt, even if they aren't as powerful as your central piece?
Then again, even if Rey was Ben's equal in the Force, Snoke didn't seem to hesitate about whether he needed to get rid of her or not - and I'm assuming Ben's feelings towards Rey were a lot stronger than those he may have for his former "classmates". But the point about where the heck the Knights of Ren comes from still stands.
It is odd, however, that the concept art for TFA refers to them as "the Seven Light" (and I will not make a Snow White and the Seven Dwarves joke here). Despite their positive-sounding name, all the more surprising considering they look like a bunch of brutes dressed in black, their alignment is also kept in the dark, if you'll excuse the pun. Are they loyal to Snoke? To Kylo Ren, who's supposedly their leader? Are they his former music band where he was their lead singer and he eventually quit because he was sick of all the preps in the media referring to them as a boy band? Are they actually serving Palpatine? Are they double agents? Again, it's all questions that will be answered in due time, but there's still too little information to really know.
Glitch In the Odds
Remember how Han infamously said: "Never tell me the odds"? All things considered, it makes perfect sense that one of the wild cards would be Han, instead of Luke or even Leia.
Of course, Luke *was* technically the glitch in the matrix in the Original Trilogy, since he was the hero of the story, destined to change the status quo. But in order to continue the story, the Happy Ending we got in Return of the Jedi had to be broken somehow, so there could be a story to tell.
And let's face it: if you remove all the emotional aspects (Vader becoming Anakin again by saving Padmé's baby! Yay!) and the rule of drama, Palpatine's death is pretty stupid in retrospect. As hammy as he is, we're talking about a guy who provoked a galactic war, managed to be the boss of both factions, ended the conflict by taking over the galaxy as a dictator/Emperor, all the while being the most powerful Dark sider of his time, since Anakin got conveniently roasted and therefore limited in his power. Getting thrown down a ridiculously long chasm may work for a Disney villain (SEE WHAT I DID THERE), but for a Sith Lord, I guess it's just another Tuesday afternoon at work. And it's still more plausible than Boba Fett getting out of the Sarlacc pit. (*ducks tomatoes*)
That's not to say that Luke "failed", or that Anakin wasn't the Chosen One as predicted by the prophecy. Once again, it's all a matter of point of view. Luke and the Rebellion did succeed in bringing down the Empire and giving the galaxy some respite, even if it lasted only thirty years and that the New Republic had its problems. Anakin did "bring balance" to the Force, since the Rule of Two of the Sith was broken for the first time in a thousand years, even if that meant wiping out the Jedi Order, which itself had become obsolete due to sticking to principles in a theoretical way more than practical, although that's a topic for another day.
It's unclear what Palpatine's intentions are at this point - well, UNLIMITED POWAH, obviously, but either he'll want his Empire back or them thirty years in hiding got him even more batshit and he wants the destruction of the galaxy just for shits and giggles - I mean, look at this guy.
Source: Star Wars, Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (dir. George Lucas) via Giphy
He'd totally destroy a galaxy just for shits and giggles.
Of course, someone like Han would be totally insignificant for him - heck, Han was pretty much just a MacGuffin of sorts for Vader in ESB to get Luke to fall in his trap, so you can guess someone like Palpy would give him even less the time of day.
And against all expectations... the Solo side of the family might just be one of the two reasons why Ben didn't go deep into the void entirely.
Of course, Anakin, Padmé, Luke and Leia all had admirable qualities of their own, which permitted them to do great things - but they all had one thing in common that caused their downfall or had them fail, one way or another: pride.
To elaborate, I'm just going to copy-paste a thread of tweets I've done in the past.
Of course, Ben does have some... distinctive Skywalker traits. He has Anakin's recklnessness and Straight-Outta-Gryffindor fire, Padmé's tenderness, Luke's impulsivity and loyalty, and Leia's stubborness and her mind of steel. Because of those traits, Ben is convinced that what he's doing is the right thing - which is something Adam Driver and Daisy Ridley have been consistent about regarding Kylo in interviews.
I don't think Ben is on the Kill Palps Quest out of the goodness of his heart, or because he particularly *cares* about the galaxy. He obviously wants to live up to Vader's legacy, and that's also why he fears he won't be as strong as he is. So it's probably first and foremost a case of "I'm Vader's heir, therefore it is my duty to kill Palpatine".
But most importantly, he has Han's heart, and the capacity to "think outside the box". But we'll expand on that on part 2.
