Family and legacy have always been important parts of the Skywalker Saga in Star Wars. The sequel trilogy especially expanded on this idea in interesting ways. Rey (Daisy Ridley) was revealed to be the granddaughter of Emperor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid), but decided to carry on the Skywalker legacy instead. Meanwhile her counterpart in the Force, Kylo Ren (Adam Driver), the son of Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher) and Han Solo (Harrison Ford), decided to carry on the legacy of his grandfather, Darth Vader, instead.
In the movies, we don’t get to see much regarding Ren’s posthumous relationship with his grandfather. We see him talking to Vader’s cracked and charred helmet, but his motivations for following in his footsteps beyond the surface level act of rebellion against his parents and the betrayal he feels toward Luke (Mark Hamill) aren’t super clear.
This is about to change with the upcoming comic series Star Wars: Legacy of Vader, which is set to follow Ren between the events of The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker and revisit his connection to his grandfather. Now the Supreme Leader of the First Order, Ren is somewhat directionless in his quest for power.
According to writer Charles Soule, Kylo is “truly lost at this particular moment.” In a fairly short amount of time, he’s faced his two biggest mentors in combat, Snoke and Luke, killing one outright and losing the other to the Force. He’s killed his own father, nearly killed his mom, all the while finding “a deep connection with another Force-user named Rey.” And then there’s the whole taking control of the entire military of the First Order thing.