A Reckoning Unfulfilled: How Ben Solo's Fate Shadows Star Wars' Greatest Evil

Alright, let’s talk Star Wars, specifically the ending of the Skywalker Saga. And honestly, it’s still something of a raw nerve for many of us, isn't it? The grand finale, The Rise of Skywalker, gave us a lot to chew on, not least of which was the ultimate fate of Ben Solo. His sacrifice, his final breath after saving Rey – it was, without question, a poignant moment, a definitive turn from the darkness that had consumed him as Kylo Ren. A redemption, yes, a true hero's send-off, you could say. But for once, let’s consider what that finality might have cost the saga, especially when it comes to truly reckoning with its greatest, most insidious evil: Emperor Palpatine.

See, Ben Solo, the son of Han and Leia, the grandson of Anakin Skywalker himself, was always a character steeped in legacy, tangled up in the very fabric of the Force's eternal tug-of-war. His struggle wasn’t just his own; it was a continuation, a mirror, even, to Anakin’s own tragic fall and eventual return to the light. But here's the rub: when Ben Solo died, the last direct blood heir of the Skywalker name vanished with him. And that, in truth, changes everything, particularly how we view the lingering specter of Palpatine’s influence.

Now, I know what you’re thinking: Palpatine was defeated, blown to smithereens – again – by Rey and the collective power of all Jedi. And sure, on a superficial level, that’s true. His physical form, his seemingly endless clones, they all met their end. But Star Wars, for all its laser blasts and epic space battles, has always been about more than just physical defeat. It’s about balance, about the light pushing back against the encroaching darkness, a cycle that, dare I say, needs a living embodiment to truly feel resolved.

Consider this: if Ben Solo had lived, what then? What if he had been allowed to carry the weight of his past, not just as a ghost in the Force, but as a man? Imagine a Star Wars where a truly redeemed former dark sider had to grapple with the consequences, had to build a new path forward. This wasn’t just about his redemption; it was, in a strange way, about the narrative’s redemption of its own cycles. With Ben Solo alive, carrying the Skywalker name, the fight against Palpatine’s enduring legacy could have continued in a far more profound, perhaps even more terrifying way.

Because honestly, the defeat of Palpatine in The Rise of Skywalker, while visually spectacular, feels… incomplete, somehow. It’s almost as if the saga needed a Skywalker, a living Skywalker, to truly stand as the ultimate counterpoint to Palpatine’s undying malevolence. If the entire point of the saga was the Skywalker family's struggle with the Force and their role in bringing balance, then Ben’s permanent exit feels like a narrative shortcut, a missed opportunity to fully close that loop with a living, breathing testament to victory.

And that’s the thing, isn’t it? For a saga so obsessed with prophecy, with chosen ones, with the inherent power of lineage, to essentially end the Skywalker bloodline in a way that feels so absolute… well, it just leaves a peculiar taste. It almost, you could argue, diminishes the true, existential threat of Palpatine. Because if the Skywalkers, the very force meant to counter him, simply fade away after one final heroic act, does his defeat truly resonate as the end of an era, or just another temporary setback for evil?

So, yes, Ben Solo's death was powerful, an emotional gut punch. But maybe, just maybe, it was also a moment where Star Wars inadvertently chose a tragic ending over a truly revolutionary one. An ending that, in its finality, perhaps left a significant, lingering question mark over the ultimate vanquishing of its most enduring villain. What do you think? Did the saga truly redeem itself from Palpatine's shadow, or was something left unsaid, undone, when Ben Solo faded into the Force?