Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker’s Surprise Cameo Explained

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker features the surprise return of an important franchise character who plays an important role in Kylo Ren’s arc.

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WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker saw the redemption of Kylo Ren (Adam Driver), and much of his return to the light side had something to do with his parents, including the surprise appearance of his dad, Han Solo (Harrison Ford). The final installment of the Skywalker Saga also wrapped up the arcs of some of the new franchise characters, including the sequel trilogy’s supposed overall bad guy. After killing Supreme Leader Snoke (Andy Serkis) in Star Wars: The Last Jedi, he went on a new adventure hunting down Emperor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid) in the hopes of retaining his control over the First Order and the galaxy.

The corrupted son of General Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher) and Han Solo, Ben Solo trained under Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) to become a Jedi. Things went awry during his training, unfortunately, pushing him to the dark side of the Force life his grandfather, Anakin Skywalker who became Darth Vader. Kylo Ren’s first true villainous act, however, took place in Star Wars: The Force Awakens when he decided to kill his own father. From then on, the debate on whether or not he’d be redeemed began, leading us to his arc in The Rise of Skywalker where he ultimately made his triumphant return to the light side of the Force thanks to some additional motivation from his parents.

Harrison Ford Returns As Han Solo In Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

After General Organa’s final attempt to convince her son to shed his villainous person leading to her death, Kylo Ren was burdened with his grief, realizing that this time, he really won’t be able to return to his mother. With Rey (Daisy Ridley) off to Exegol, he’s left on the ruins of the Death Star alone, when he suddenly found himself face-to-face with his father, Han Solo. The Rise of Skywalker scene set-up mimics their confrontation in The Force Awakens, but this time, Han seemingly knew that Ben was more conflicted than ever regarding his allegiance to the dark side. With some words of wisdom from his dad – including a reminder that he can still atone for his sins by standing by the same principles Leia fought for all her life, Ben decided to throw out his Sith lightsaber and rush to Exegol in the hopes of helping Rey fight Palpatine.

Han Solo Is Ben Solo’s Memory, Not A Force Ghost

Previous Star Wars films established that death doesn’t mean the end of certain characters. In The Last Jedi, Luke even told Leia: “No one’s ever really gone” – a line that was once again repeated in the first trailer for The Rise of Skywalker. We’ve seen dead characters return – be it with the Jedis transforming to Force Ghosts or in the case of Episode 9, Palpatine essentially being able to resurrect himself.

It’s worth noting, however, that Han Solo’s return in The Rise of Skywalker does not mean that he’s also able to transform himself into a Force ghost. Essentially, it works when the soul and essence of a deceased Force-sensitive being who surrenders to the will of the Force in their death are able to interact with the living. It was Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson) who most recently rediscovered this ability and taught Yoda and Obi-Wan Kenobi. In The Rise of Skywalker, both Luke and Leia were able to also make their returns following their death as Force ghosts.

Aside from the fact that only Force-users are known to be able to return as Force ghosts, they’re fairly easy to distinguish by the blue light. Han Solo did not have both of these requirements during his appearance in The Rise of Skywalker, meaning that he’s explicitly not a Force ghost. Instead, he’s simply Ben’s memory triggered by the death of his mom. With both of his parents dead, He had to come to the realization that the only way to move past his guilt was to confront what he did to his father.

Han Solo Forgives Kylo Ren and Brings His Son Back

Racked with guilt, Kylo Ren’s reunion with his father gave him the opportunity to finally ask his forgiveness for what he did to him in The Force Awakens. Ben didn’t even get to say he was sorry because. before he was able to muster the courage to say the words, Han already cut him off with “I know” – a spin on his iconic line from The Empire Strikes Back.

During their encounter in Episode VII, it was clear that Kylo Ren was trying to prove his allegiance to the dark side by killing his father. In that whole debacle, there seemed like a back-and-forth in his mind on whether or not he’ll take Han’s hand and reconcile with his parents, but digging into the dark side, Kylo ruthlessly killed his father, appearing to lose all chances at redemption. As Rey said in The Rise of Skywalker, instead of letting him fully embrace the dark side, he was only haunted by the memory of killing Han, proving that there was always a chance that he wanted to shed off his Kylo Ren persona and return to the light.

Han’s appearance in Ben’s memory was the beginning of his return to the light side in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. It’s uncertain if he had previous experiences like this since he killed Han, but with both his parents dead, he finally decided to drop his tough act persona and embrace his real nature. In their conversation, it’s revealed that Ben always considered potentially coming home to his mom, and with her also gone, he was worried that if he turned his back on the dark side it would be for nothing. However, Han reminded him that he can still make it up to her by standing by the same cause Leia fought relentlessly throughout her life. That fully convinced him to help Rey and the Resistance take on the Emperor Palpatine and the First Order.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/star-wars-rise-skywalker-han-solo-harrison-ford/