One of my favorite things about Star Wars is the message it sends about redemption. Episodes 1-6 do a beautiful job of showing its audience through Darth Vader, that everything isn’t always in black and white, and that there can be a glimmer of light in some of the darkest people. I was delighted to see the sequel trilogy pick this theme up with its new antagonist, Kylo Ren. However, there were others who weren't as thrilled as I was. Some fans think that he’s irredeemable, because of everything he’s done since he’s turned to the dark side, such as killing Han and slaughtering the Jedi Academy. While these are admittedly horrible acts, to say that he’s irredeemable is false and quite frankly, shows a lack of understanding about the entire franchise.
It's no secret that Kylo didn't have the most ideal childhood. Snoke has been seducing him to the dark side since he was still in his mother’s womb. Throughout his life, this temptation only began to grow, as he felt abandoned by Han and Leia. His only hope to turn back to the light was to undergo Jedi training at Luke’s academy (or so many of the characters thought). But this only ended up being a catalyst into the dark side, as Luke tried to kill him while he slept. While I'm not trying to justify anything Kylo has done, it's hard not to be sympathetic to his plight. When you grow up in such a dark environment, it's not a surprise that you're going to be a dark person. But that doesn't mean that all hope is lost. Despite everything he's been through, Kylo has still managed to maintain a fairly strong moral compass, evidenced by the fact that he “still feels the call to the light” and even found it in himself to kill Snoke, after being commanded to kill Rey. I'll admit that he's still misguided, but he’s already making gigantic steps in the right direction. With this in mind, is confident that he’ll find his way back to the light side.
A constant argument that some fans make is that others characters have had tougher upbringings than Kylo, but did not turn to the dark side. Additionally, it's also said that his reasons for turning to the dark side weren't as good as Anakin’s, so they aren’t sympathetic to his plight. The problem with both of these arguments is that they’re treating suffering as if it's a competition. Other characters having it worse than Kylo does not devalue anything he went through or how he reacted to it. To say otherwise is like saying that no one really has a traumatic past, because there’s always someone who’s had it worse than them, Consequently, they’re not allowed to let their “subpar” experiences shape them. Obviously, this mentality is ridiculous and unfair. It’s great that some people are able to rise above their circumstances, but not everyone can be that lucky.
Overall, Kylo is still able to turn to the light. He needs a push in the right direction, and Rey and Leia’s unwavering faith in him will remind him of who he truly is: Ben Solo.
