I was reading a French Star Wars magazine and suddenly there was an excerpt from a Kathleen Kennedy interview concerning Kylo Ren that I found pretty interesting. She discusses the character, makes parallels with our contemporary world, and at the end I had the impression she wasn’t talking about him as a villain, but as someone who still has to grow and who’s definitely good inside, or at least not bad at all (this is pretty hilarious when you think about all the absurd Kylo Ren drama we have here on tumblr…)
I don’t know if she has talked about this in other interviews, it’s probably the case, but I’ll leave this here for discussion.
I’ve made a rough translation of the French excerpt (English to French to English, feel the irony), probably not the best translation, but at least you’ll have the general idea :
“[Q] You really wanted Adam Driver for this role. What made him the perfect Kylo Ren ?
[KK] I had the opportunity to work with Adam on Lincoln. That was our first met. From the moment we started to think about this character, Kylo Ren, Adam was an obvious choice to me, and one of the few actors who could play him. J.J didn’t know him as well as I did, but he was immediately convinced when they met. He was one of the first actors we had considered for the role and it was an early decision. One of the most interesting aspects of Kylo Ren is his young age. Most of the time, villains are damaged, troubled and older. Making the new Star Wars villain a 30 years old man was a captivating choice. We could take advantage from a troubled adolescence and a past we know very little about. There we could find this tension between light and dark which dominates all the Star Wars universe. We could use it as a metaphor for the path that leads a young adult to his accomplished adult life. The characters who can be drawn to the dark side and seduced by all sorts of experiences that might be dangerous are compelling for us. For today’s audience it’s an original, fascinating and appealing character.
When we look at our own lives, it all depends on the choices we’ve made. Kylo Ren seems to have taken many bad decisions, but they aren’t necessarily bad decisions within the context of Star Wars, where they can lead to almost anything. This story reflects the real world. Many kids evolve in a political environment that can be difficult to decipher, and many events suggest that people are drawn to danger, trouble and agitation. In terms of international policy, there’s a sense that we live a time full of upheavals. The political structure of the Star Wars narratives reflects this in a unique way. Kylo Ren represents this dark side of society that can be appealing when we don’t know which side to choose and right and wrong become very vague concepts. All these aspects make Kylo Ren a really complex character and offer us many different options for future plots.”
Emphasis are mine. But seriously. Seriously. If Kylo Ren really is, for the writers, an image of our contemporary youth searching for answers, making mistakes and trying to grow in a chaotic world, who can simply imagine that he will die unredeemed, and that the message of this new trilogy won’t be a message of hope ?
I leave the original French text and the references under the cut for those who are interested.
… Or How A Force Bond Is a Totally Realistic Concept!
It has recently been proven that Quantum Entanglement (also known as “Spooky Action At A Distance”), in fact, exists.
Dubbed “Love On A Subatomic Scale” here –http://www.space.com/31933-quantum-entanglement-action-at-a-distance.html, Bell’s Theorem, that states that two particles can be intimately linked to each other even if separated by billions of light-years of space and that a change induced in one will affect the other, has been proven by National Institute of Standards and Technology
(NIST) in Boulder, Colorado. They proved the hypothesis by testing photon pairs.
Shining a photon –
the quantum of all forms of electromagnetic radiation,including light – onto a special metal strips cooled to cryogenic temperatures, which makes them superconducting (they have no electrical resistance) made them turn back into a normal electrical conductor for a split second.
Based on the starwars.wikia, the Force Bond (also known as Force chain or Jedi kinship) is described as: “a link through which two Force-sensitives could influence each other. It allowed the communication of feelings, thoughts and images across distances and granted greater coordination in battle. Through such connections the Force easily flowed, sometimes allowing one’s will to bolster the strengths of the other, or possibly to draw upon their strengths.” It is impossible not to see the connection between the concepts instantly.
So, Force Bond is a thing? Totally! 😉
I own nothing, image credits go to screenrant and starwars wiki
That would explain:
– Why Rey could enter Kylo’s mind and read his thoughts/inner fear (she used his own skill against him)
– Why Rey could suddenly fight Kylo with some of his own movements after standing on that cliff
– Basically why Rey is a fast learner (and NOT a Mary Sue) when it comes to the force – because most of it comes directly from Kylo (although – I wonder how their force bond was created!!)
A force bond could mean that Rey will indeed help and make Kylo stronger in the future when he decides to fight against Snoke. She will support him mentally (like a mantra) and he by sharing his fighting skills with her. Making her stronger. I would also LOVE to see more shared dreams and mindtalk between them.(;
I made a video comparison between the force vision and the movie’s present events. There are so many parallels between Rey and Kylo Ren and I believe their fates are intertwined and future have been altered.
Let me explain ~
The Force vision starts with a series of events, which is still debated to have occurred in the past or future, such as the cloud city, jedi massacre (or is it only rocks?).
The first scene Rey and the audience are certain know happened in the past is seeing Rey as a child yelling “No! Come Back!”, while being held back by Unkar Plutt.
Parallels align perfectly between Rey’s past and the movie’s present storyline, specifically what has transpired on Starkiller Base (refer to the video 0:00 – 0:06).
Past: (1) Rey looks downward at her younger self yelling for ‘presumably’ her parents to “Comeback” as the ship flies away. (2) She is physically being held back by Unkar Plutt telling her to be quiet. (3) The sky darkens and sun turns to red. Red light shines on her face. Does it symbolize the dark side? In the book, it has been hinted that Rey resisted the dark side in the final fight against Kylo Ren, when someone (Snoke?) told her to kill him.
Present: (1) Rey looks downward at Kylo Ren, who faces his father on the bridge. Han Solo tells him to “Come home” with him. (2) Han Solo implies that Snoke is using and manipulating Ben. Figuratively Snoke having a hold on Ben’s mind and free will. (3) When Starkiller Base finishes charging, the sky darkens and the sun turns red. Red light shades his face, symbolizing that he has been consumed by the dark.
Rey and Kylo Ren want to go back to their parents. Rey held on hope that her parents will return one day, while Kylo Ren has believed its ‘too late’ for him to go back. Both paralyzed in the same spot for years. Rey in Jakku and Kylo in the dark.
The force visions then shows us a future event that does occur in the same movie, which is the fight in the snowy forest of the Starkiller Base.
The force vision’s future event have altered drastically (refer to the video 0:06 – 0:12). Now Rey is fearless, Finn fights along side Rey, and Kylo Ren is unmasked.
Future: (1) Rey finds herself alone in a snowy forest. (2) Panic registered on her face, she starts to run frantically, until a masked Kylo Ren comes out from behind a tree with his lightsaber ignited. (3) Surprising her, Rey falls backward and out of the force vision.
Present: (1) Rey and Finn run away from Starkiller Base. (2) They stopped running when they saw Kylo Ren waiting for them with his lightsaber ignited. He is not wearing his mask. The mask represents Kylo Ren’s identity, which he let go during his confrontation with his father. (3) Rey faces Kylo Ren and aims her gun at him.
The future has changed, based on actions both have taken in the course of the movie.
After experiencing the force vision, Rey’s first instinct was to run away. Then decides to help BB-8 escape, when the First Order attacks Takodana. When she finally faces Kylo Ren for the first time, still frightened, she move backwards (instead of falling) while fifinv her gun. Indicating that the future has started to shift.
Kylo Ren and Rey Confrontation – Concept Art from 2013
The Art of The Force Awakens
If you’ve looked through this artbook then you know that Rey and Kylo Ren’s fight in the snow was one of the first things the creative team knew they wanted. The first piece above done in 2013 was the first time this snowy duel was depicted, but Kylo Ren and Rey being painted in a snowy environment (especially Kylo– they really wanted Kylo in the snow for some reason) is shown several times throughout the book.
The second image is a scene that never made it past the concept stages. Maybe we’ll get something similar in the future? Who knows.
And also we can see some pretty apparent parallels between the last acts of ROTS and TFA where Anakin/Kylo confronts Padme and Obi Wan/Rey and Finn.
Except while Padme was out of the scene after Force Choke and Obi Wan was doing all the fighting, Rey actually participated in the duel and kicked Kylo’s ass in a process.
It’s like the writers decided to remind us of Anidala in TFA. And for some reason they chose Rey and Kylo (of all people!!!) to resemble them and at the same time to be the opposite of them.
It’s like Reylo IS Anidala – only reversed. Anidala started good and ended with Padme dying and Anakin becoming Darth Vader. And Reylo starts pretty bad and it ends with… what?
I don’t know but I am pretty sure it won’t be The Light Jedi Goddess Rey Skywalker slaughtering her stupid evil cousin.
Like how can you ignore a person when they’re literally six inches away from you? How can you ignore them when they’re giving you the fuck-me eyes and seem unable to understand the concept of personal space?
Like if he had bit his lip like goddamn Poe, I’m done. I’m calling it. Subtlety is not this dude’s strong point.
The hash tags. I’m dying lol
WELL ITS TRUE
Fuck-me eyes! Yes. Yesyesyes.
Care to snapshot some clips of the novelization you’re referencing? 😀
Just a sample though, but the novel is not subtle at all. Their interactions it’s like they came up from a really dark fairytale :3 [x]
Halting an arm’s length away, he studied her face from behind his mask. When he finally spoke, he sounded at once impressed and surprised. “You would kill me. Knowing nothing about me.” As he spoke, he walked slowly around her paralyzed body. Frightened, she tried to follow him with her eyes, but her head would not turn. “So afraid,” he murmured. “Yet I should be the one who should be scared. You shot first. You speak of the Order as if it were barbaric. And yet, it is I who was forced to defend myself against you.” Having circled her, he moved even closer, peering into her face, her eyes. “Something.” He sounded mystified. “There is something…Who are you?”
Those last two, though!!! Even Snoke ships it, dude! ;D (Or at least picks up on that whole Death and the Maiden stuff that @ohtze is screaming at us about
Friendly reminder, that nothing’s a coincidence, everything’s intentional.
Stupid tumblr got rid of half my above reply. ^ -glares at it-
And seriously… I hope that it’s all intentional. The romances written into Star Wars have been grand love affairs before. And so have the friendships. And the antagonism. I just… I really really hope that they are aware of every last bit that we are picking up on, and that it’s not like “oh well that wasn’t meant to be taken that way at all.”
-kicks rocks-
But if it is all intentional and they have the gonads to go through with the relationship between Rey and Kylo (even if it’s a tragedy, or not even a romance… just something more)…. then I will be amazed and astounded and treat this as a beautiful piece of writing art for ages and ages to come.
And I think most people (or at least me) shipping Reylo want nothing more, but an exploration of their intense and complicated dynamic, without ruining their dynamics, but giving this something more these two have and it is throwing in our faces in the whole movie. These two combined are poetry. I just want them to give Kylo/Rey’s relationship, the attention it deserves. They can be something dark, tragic, unrequited, really deep than just a physical attraction, and not the half-@ssed and recycled trope “I’m your sister/cousin”.
I’m pretty sure that’s what all of us Reylo shippers want! Just some acknowledgment. Something that makes this a complex, multi-layered story that Hollywood has been lacking. Star Wars has given us those multi-layered relationships/stories before, and I just don’t want them to wimp out on it here.
I hate doing things by halves. If I’m going to ship these two, I’m gunning for fated lovers, Force bond, Force babies, happy ending – the whole shebang. Might as well think big if you think anything at all 😛
So I’m going to ride into battle with my Reylo banner fluttering in the air, my armour gleaming in the sun, my head held high and my sword drawn out, and by God, I’m not going to back down until they cleave my head with a pole-axe.
If we’re going down, we’re going down as heroes, in the name of everything that is right.
*looks dramatically into the distance as dramatic music swells in the background*
so idk if this has been pointed out already, but Rey’s and Kylo’s costumes are literally mirror images of each other, Rey’s is just the white version and Kylo’s is just the black version
the four panels of fabric below the waist in the front and back
the leather belt, gloves, and of course the bandaged fabric on the arms
the masks/head covering that drapes the shoulders
the light side and dark side of the force symbolism between these two characters is literally reflected in what they’re wearing and i’m just ???
and the fact that kylo’s is so much more layered and concealing, and he’s always donning the mask, effectively hiding his body, face, and emotions because he just wants to be cloaked in darkness and it’s just ???
Reylo Source 