Had I as many souls as there be stars

My dear mutual, you honor me with this ask.

The short answer: I have mixed feelings about it, which I’ve discussed at length with the preeminent Kylo Ren scholar in my life (@readyforsincerity). I think J.J. Abrams’ lack of a cohesive vision for the sequel trilogy resulted in the muddled presentation of its characters’ central themes, seen most egregiously in The Rise of Skywalker. Kylo Ren’s story is especially unsatisfying because it ends in his death, but it’s not as if the rest of the main cast escape unscathed.

The long answer: As far as division of blame goes, I think Disney/Lucasfilm wanted to have their cake and eat it, too—which is a difficult line to walk when a character’s entire arc revolves around the question of agency. If Kylo Ren bears no responsibility for his fall, then he can’t be a true villain; if Kylo Ren bears all the responsibility for his fall, then audiences won’t care to see him redeemed. Thus, we find ourselves in the current scenario, wherein Kylo Ren bears some responsibility for his fall and the rest is offloaded onto other parties: his family and/or Snoke.

It is a truth universally acknowledged that any fan who claims Leia, Han, and Luke bear some responsibility for Kylo Ren’s fall will be accused of character-assassinating the original trilogy’s protagonists; The Last Jedi caused a schism in the fandom at least in part because it forced audiences to confront the possibility of their beloved heroes Doing The Wrong Thing. I love Leia, Han, and Luke as much as the next person, but looking at the sequel trilogy (and surrounding canon materials) and deciding Ben Solo was a bad seed is a form of self-delusion. People aren’t born evil. Children aren’t at fault for being groomed.

The fact of the matter is that something stopped Ben from coming to his family about Snoke. We can choose to believe that he hid the relationship because he knew Snoke was evil and feared his family discovering his own inherent rottenness, or we can choose to believe that he hid the relationship because he trusted Snoke and feared his family would “misunderstand” the nature of their bond. In either case, his reasons are rendered irrelevant by the fact that the Force-sensitive adults in his life knew he was being targeted by the Dark and never addressed it with him.

I don’t think it’s bad storytelling for Han and Leia to struggle with their roles in the loss of their son; I actually think the fact that the film novelizations show Han and Leia blaming themselves for Ben’s fall in their private thoughts makes for an interesting contrast to what we see on screen. The problem is that most casual fans aren’t likely to pick up the film novelizations, and the films—by virtue of their medium—can’t give audiences the same degree of insight into their characters’ inner lives.