Star Wars: Does Kylo Ren need redemption? Adam Driver doesn’t think so
Many Star Wars fans have been waiting to see Kylo Ren switch sides and redeem himself — but Adam Driver doesn’t believe his character needs a redemption arc.
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is only a couple of weeks away, and there are two major questions fans have when it comes to the trilogy’s main characters: Will Rey turn to the Dark Side, and will Kylo Ren embrace his humanity and redeem himself in the end? Both routes have been hinted at during the previous films, but it’s possible the final installment will surprise us by having neither actually occur.
Adam Driver, for one, doesn’t seem to think his character needs a redemption arc. In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, Driver responded to the question of whether or not Kylo will be redeemed by asking, “What does he have to be redeemed for?”
Fans can likely come up with a few answers to that question, starting with the fact that he murdered his own father. But from Kylo’s respective, his humanity is a problem that needed to be cut from the equation, and so, killing Han Solo could be seen as a twisted sort of redemption from his own perspective. That’s the angle Driver has taken when analyzing the character.
“[Kylo Ren] has a different identity, a different definition of what redemption is,” Driver explained. “He’s already been redeemed in his story. I don’t think there is a thought of redemption. He doesn’t have an outside lens of the events, you know — you know what I mean? That’s more of an outsider’s view of his world.”
It’s a fair point, since villains rarely view themselves that way. Still, there are moments when it seems that Kylo feels guilt for the things he’s done, and many fans are hoping the series takes that a step further in its final installment. And then, of course, there’s the connection to Rey — which could result in a change of sides for either party.
“I don’t think it’s all one thing,” Driver said of Kylo’s connection to Rey. “Part of the fun of playing it is the boundaries of it keep changing. At times it’s more intimate, sometimes less intimate. Sometimes it’s codependent. And then it’s, obviously, adversarial.”
From Driver’s view of his character, it doesn’t seem like fans will see Kylo get a redemption storyline in a traditional manner. But until the film officially arrives, we can still hold onto hope — can’t we?
dark. Next. How will Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker handle Reylo?