Star Wars The Rise of Kylo Ren Issue 2 Review

Welcome to my review of The Rise of Kylo Ren. Back in December I gave the last movie of the Star Wars sequel trilogy – The Rise of Skywalker – a positive review. Now lets be honest, the movie is flawed, as is the entire sequel trilogy. But The Rise of Skywalker did not irritate me as much as The Last Jedi. The movie also introduced a large number of plot points, each worthy of a good backstory. And one of those is the just how Ben Solo became Kylo Ren and what the origins are of Snoke and Knights of Ren.

The Rise of Kylo Ren

And now we have issue 2 of the comic series The Rise of Kylo Ren. The comic was written by Charles Soule with Will Sliney as artist. This chapter starts with Snoke attempting to lure Ben with subtle argument in favor of the dark side. Yet Snoke is subtle, he lets Ben get there on his own. Quickly the subject turns to Ben’s name, its reference to Obi-Wan and his father Han. A new name is preferred as well as a new identity. Snoke tasks him with finding the Knights of Ren.

The next section of the comic shows Ben as a teenager. Ben, his master Luke as well as Lor San Tekka are on a mission to find a hidden Jedi cache of artifacts on the planet Elphrona. All the while Snoke is telepathically communicating with Ben and manipulating him. Once the cache is uncovered the Knights of Ren reveal themselves. Despite their bluster Luke quickly manages to defeat them – a scene I would very much liked to have seen in the trilogy. But their leader – Ren – makes pointed remarks to Ben. It is obvious Snoke is contuining to manipulate Ben.

In the present Ben revisits the Jedi cache looking for clues as to the whereabouts of the Knights. Their leader left his helmet behind, when Ben puts it on they communicate to him where they could be found. It is then that the three Jedi survivor form the temple massacre reveal themselves.

Conclusion

This chapter did a lot of things rights. Showing how a troubled Ben is manipulated by Snoke is more interesting than watching Ben forced into the dark side. The return of Lor San Tekka was also welcome, I hope we will see more of him and shed some light on pre-trilogy events. The battle between the Knight of Ren and Luke was as expected. Luke won, but the Knights had an ulterior motive. I do wonder how Ben is going to join them. He will probably have to kill its leader and the three Jedi pupils to proof his loyalty. This issue is available for $ 3.99 at Comixology. Issue 3 will be available on February 12.