Reasons why I believe Ben Solo should have lived.

A thread:

I’d like to start off by saying these are just my opinions and I kind of just feel very strongly about this topic so wanted to get my points across. That being said, I’d love to hear your views and talk about this with anyone who wants to so please do reply with your opinions!

In The Rise of Skywalker, Luke states that Leia had “sensed the death of her son at the end of her Jedi path.” Hence, she proceeds to abandon her Jedi training in order to prevent the death of her son that she had foreseen, had she continued on her Jedi path.

It therefore makes no sense to me that Ben would die anyway. Why did Leia abandon her Jedi training to save her son when he would end up dying whatever she does, it makes no sense. This is one reason why I believe Ben Solo’s survival would have made more sense for the story.

Another reason why Ben Solo should have lived in my opinion is that it would provide an interesting story of atonement, post Episode IX. By this, I mean that, I think it would be incredibly interesting to see how a redeemed Ben Solo copes in the galaxy after what he’s done.

Personally, I would have loved to have seen a series post TROS exploring Ben’s guilt, how the galaxy reacts to him and how he goes about righting his wrongs in the best way he can. This series could even have seen Jedi force ghosts talking to Ben and helping him learn...

...how he can start righting his previous wrongdoings. I can’t help but think about the potential of Force ghost Luke/Anakin/Leia talking to Ben and helping him with his journey, post redemption and teaching him how he goes about his life from there.

Furthermore, I think Ben’s death would have provided a lot of thematic depth to the story at large. Seeing as Rey is a Palpatine, I feel like it would have been incredibly powerful to see a Skywalker and a Palpatine come together at the end of the Skywalker Saga.

This would drive home one of the key themes of The Rise of Skywalker: accept the past but don’t let it define you. The whole saga is about two families at war; the Palpatines and the Skywalkers so a coming together of the two would close the Saga nicely in my opinion.

I would also like to talk about the reason as to why he was killed off, and I can only think of two: laziness and the parallel to Anakins failings with Padmè. I say laziness as I believe the main reason he was killed off was because they didn’t know what to do with him post-IX.

And while I do agree, that the parallel of Anakin failing to saving Padmè and Ben succeeding in saving Rey is a nice one, I think the positive implications of Ben’s survival far outweigh the positives of his death, as in my opinion, his death doesn’t offer much to the story...

and actually detracts from it in many ways.

I also believe that Ben’s death is a poor story decision because of the fact that it feels just like a rehash of Vader’s death, just done in a worse manner.

Another point I’d like to make is the physical death itself is really poorly edited the way Ben just falls on his back and dies just feels so out of the blue and, to me at least, feels like a decision they made in the editing room rather than in the moment of filming.

Another point, which is kind of just one for me, but just to be frank, I think Ben Solo in The Rise of Skywalker was a joy to watch and I just really want more Ben Solo content because I love the character so much.

Something I’d like to also address is that I’m definitely not saying that Rey should have died instead, I absolutely don’t think that and Ben should be the one to go between the two but overall, I really think they should have just both survived.

Despite this whole thread, it is important for me to say that now that he is dead, I would prefer if he stayed dead rather than coming back just to please certain fans as I’m all for Lucasfilm doubling down on decisions and not just always giving fans their way.

And Lucasfilm doubling down on their decision and providing more story for the character could sway my decision, so that’s how I would like this situation to develop from here, just for them to give us more reasons as to why it was necessary, through storytelling.

More than anything, Ben’s death just saddens me as I think about what could’ve been with his story and the potential that was there, as I love the way his redemption was handled. His death just feels unnecessary, empty and an after thought.

As the thread comes to an end, I would like to say that Ben’s death still gets me emotional and I don’t think it’s absolutely TERRIBLE to kill him, I just think the way it was executed needed a lot of work in order for it to be considered a worthy ending for the last Skywalker.

Just to be clear, I’m not saying my take is the right one, and as previously stated I’m more than happy to hear the other side of the argument! And I would also like to add that I still love The Rise of Skywalker despite this one problem I have with the film!

And yeah, that’s all I have to say, please talk to me about your take in the comments, I want to discuss this with you!! And please try to be respectful, we’re all just fans at the end of the day and if you liked Ben’s death then I’m happy for you and respect your opinion!