Here Is Why Kylo Ren Killed Han Solo in ‘The Force Awakens’

One of the things that people were sad about in the sequel trilogy of Star Wars was the fact that Han Solo was killed by his own son, Kylo Ren, during the events of ‘Episode VII: The Force Awakens.’ Of course, while there is no doubt that Kylo Ren did indeed kill his father by stabbing him with his lightsaber, there are a lot of things that can said about the exchange of words between the father and son duo. So, why and how did Kylo Ren kill Han Solo?

Kylo needed to kill his father

During the events of the sequel trilogy of Star Wars, we got to meet Kylo Ren quite early. This powerful dark-side wielder was an angry warrior who wanted nothing more than to find his uncle, Luke Skywalker, so that he could kill him and put an end to the Jedi Order once and for all. Of course, we know that Kylo Ren was actually Ben Solo, and that means that he was born the son of Han Solo and Leia Organa.

Kylo Ren seemingly had no qualms about the thought of killing Luke Skywalker because he was angry at him for what he thought were his uncle’s failures during the time that they were still together at Luke’s Jedi Temple. More importantly, he thought that Luke wanted to kill him and had already given up on him.

But while killing Luke was an easier thought for him, that wasn’t the same when it came to his parents. Ben had a difficult relationship with his parents because he thought that they had kept a lot of details about their history from him. He thought that they were afraid of what he could do if he found out that he was the grandson of Darth Vader. But while it may be true that he had a complicated relationship with his parents, the thought of killing them was a harder thing to swallow for him.

Still, Supreme Leader Snoke of the First Order demanded Kylo Ren to kill everyone he had a connection with in the past. He wanted his apprentice to complete his training in the dark side of the Force, and part of that completion was for Kylo Ren to sever his ties to his past as Ben Solo by killing his entire family. This means that Snoke wanted Kylo Ren to kill not only Luke Skywalker but also Han Solo and Leia Organa, as he believed that they were the ones who were anchoring him to his past identity as Ben Solo.

Of course, at that point in time, Snoke had more power than Kylo Ren because he was stronger in the dark side of the Force and had countless soldiers under his command. As such, Ben would have suffered greatly under his master if he failed to kill his parents.

Did Kylo Ren purposely kill Han Solo?

During the events of ‘The Force Awakens,’ Kylo Ren and Han Solo saw one another inside Starkiller Base, where it was clear that there was conflict brewing within the former Ben Solo. Nevertheless, Kylo Ren killed by igniting his lightsaber cleanly through his father, as Solo fell down into the abyss of the base.

While it might be true that Kylo Ren did indeed kill his father, the conversation between them prior to Solo’s death tells a good story of how and why it may have been clear that Kylo Ren didn’t want to kill his father.

After Kylo Ren told his father that he destroyed Ben Solo, Han told him that Snoke was only using him for his power and that he was going to kill him after he had already gotten what he wanted out of the former Ben Solo. Kylo Ren was aware that he was dispensable to his master, and that was when he told his father that he wanted to be free of this paint. He said, “I know what I have to do, but I don’t know if I have the strength to do it. Will you help me?”

Han was seemingly aware of what his son meant, and that was when he told him that he would do anything to help him. Kylo Ren withdrew his lightsaber as Han grabbed it with both of their hands on the hilt but with the emitter facing Han’s body. It didn’t take long for the blade to reignite as Kylo Ren thanked his father with a visible look of conflict on his face. Moreover, the comics shed some light on Ren’s inner conflict.

In ‘Age of Resistance – Supreme Leader Snoke,’ which is a comic book series, it was shown that Snoke took Kylo Ren to the same swamps on Dagobah that Yoda was on decades ago. He took Kylo Ren to the cave that Luke entered. And in that cave, Kylo Ren faced a version of his uncle and defeated him.

While it may be true that he had no problems with killing his uncle in his vision, visions of Han and Leia emerged. Snoke told him that he needed to kill his parents as well if he wanted to master the dark side of the Force. But the problem was that Kylo Ren didn’t have the strength to do so, and that was when he lied to Snoke that he also struck down the visions of his parents.

This scene showed that Kylo Ren was conflicted about the thought of killing his parents. When Han saw the conflict on his son’s face when they met one last time, he understood what he needed to do. Han also understood that Kylo Ren would have faced grave consequences if he failed to do what he was supposed to do. As such, the father helped his son in making it easier for the latter to kill the former.

So, some people say that Han was trying to pull his son over to the light side once more by telling him that he was willing to help him, but Han still understood that the conflict was eating his son from the inside. As such, while it wasn’t clear whether or not it was Kylo Ren who ignited the lightsaber, what was clear was that Han Solo may have made things easier for his son to kill him so that he could save him from the wrath of Snoke while also releasing a big burden off of his shoulders.

Why did they kill off Han Solo in Star Wars?

Of course, while fans were upset about the fact that Han Solo died in the first movie of the sequel trilogy, the truth is that Harrison Ford didn’t even want to return to play the role of Han Solo because he believed that his character should die.

As such, JJ Abrams, the director of ‘The Force Awakens,’ decided to kill off Han not only because Ford was reluctant to reprise the role but also because he thought that Solo was not evolving or contributing to the story’s development. And having Kylo Ren kill his father was going to make it easier for the story to have its own version of Darth Vader.