ST The Romantic Future of Kylo Ren and Rey

Gee there's something we've never heard before. Nobody is a Solo or Skywalker. Based on production. Yep-checks out because, as MSW said, nothing was ever said about the heros' relationship.

And in all of the authenticity of the new movies, JJ left it that way, keeping it open for RJ to figure out (a reason RJ was hired-he can pull complex storytelling together supposedly). Authentic because Lucas never had the ideas for the Skywalker family when ANH came out so Abrams wanted relationships left up in the air going into Episode 8.

 

That could very well be. This is the closest I have heard on a leak that they are not related.

 

But the article was from early September.

 

And?

 

Anything is possible but the odds of this happening diminished significantly when they cut out Rey and Poe's flirty first meeting, imo. It appears in the novelization, and if they had kept it for the movie I would have said the jig is up, now we know who Rey ends up with. But as it is right now, TFA does not show Poe and Rey interacting, whereas potential Kylo/Rey and Finn/Rey are already set up.

 

and Even then if the scene was added all it would do is split the pairing two ways because She Gave Finn the' Leia to Han on the table' Kiss right before that scene in the book.

 

No one wants a rehash of Anakin and Padme. Romance does not equate awful. We have stories like 50 Shades of Grey and Twilight, and then on the other end are the greats, Jane Eyre, The Age of Innocence, Dr. Zhivago (my personal favee) etc. Why can't Kylo and Rey fall under the latter group?

 

I think it is possible. I just don’t think they will do it.

I’ve been following this thread for a bit and I think you guys have hit a lot of the points about why pairing these two up would make for an intriguing story. I just don’t think Disney is going to jeopardize their new billion-dollar franchise by taking risks of any kind. Pairing up a strong male/female, protagonist/antagonist like Kylo Ren and Rey would be a risk. They wouldn’t want to upset the “everything is offensive crowd” that seems to be everywhere.

I don’t believe for a minute that whoever shot those scenes and edited them didn’t see how they would come across on the screen. The bridal and threshold carry immediately come to mind. I think some of it was probably deliberate in order to bait the shippers and tumblr crowd. I can’t stand the Marvel movies, but I know enough to know that there are wink and nod scenes and fans that pair up all the different characters. By baiting fans with fake “ships”, they in turn churn out the free publicity.

Also, why the idea of Kylo Ren and Rey as a pairing is such a crazy thought to fans makes no sense to me. These types of dark storylines are found all throughout the EU, which Disney has now cast aside. This isn’t a new dynamic.

I agree with the comparison to Buffy. Buffy had brutal fights with both Angel and Spike and no one denies those weren’t anything other than epic stories and romances. And Buffy Summers is still considered one of the best and most bad *** female characters of all time.

But…Joss is a Lucas, not an Abrams.

This pairing isn’t just in the imagination of the people who are intrigued by these two, but I think we are going to get a very PG and watered down version of the Star Wars Universe now that Disney owns it.


I also take issue with the fact that people are equating Kylo’s use of the force on Rey to rape as I don’t think anyone would be saying that if Rey was a male character. If they do see that scene as rape, then they were seeing the same sexual undertones as all of the people wondering if a romance between the two is possible.

 

I love your optimism But Kylo Ren has Killed Han Solo and If he harms more old characters from the OG its going to be hard to work that in. Also Age of Innocence and Jane Eyre are way to high for this series to reach for all I love about it.

 

This is from June 2015. It can be understood to imply that they can't be related because of the interrogation scene.
So the "undertones" we are seeing in that scene are very much real (not that I doubted, but it's good to have proof for the naysayers), and the production is aware of them, and probably planned them.

This quote strongly implies some kind of romantic arc for them, even if it's one sided. Yay! That's something.

 

Kylo is not the average baddie..he's still Han and Leia's son..I'm sure Han would want his son to be redeemed and to come back to the light

 

The thing that can't EVER be wiped away IMO is that Han reached out to him and he cut him down. He had an opportunity for redemption and he ran his lightsaber thru it. In many people's minds that is absolutely unforgivable. In addition to the Jedi he slaughtered, and the countless billions that he watched die on Hosnian Prime. Just too much red on the ledger, too much to answer for. Only way Rey-Kylo works is the other direction, if Rey is seduced by the Dark Side and joins willingly. Oh yeah, also provided that they aren't related which they probably are..

 

Great post! I think your thoughts about fan-baiting/deliberate attempts by movie makers to launch ships are spot on. I've noticed a lot of commenters in these forums tend to disdain ships and look down on shippers, discounting them as "Tumblrinas".

The fact remains that getting people to ship is the same as getting them emotionally invested in what is occurring with a franchise's characters. It's a smart practice from a marketing standpoint. Of course filmmakers take this into account and make calculated decisions about what to show in certain scenes, to say otherwise is downright naive.

 

..from the audiences point of view, yes he seems irredeemable, but not to his mother, who still believes there's good in him. As far as we know, he is the only child Leia and Luke have between them, if Kylo doesn't make it, that's the end of the Skywalker legacy, and apparently its very likely that Rey is neither a Skywalker or a Solo....we are just exploring the possibility of how a connection between them could help Kylo...

 

Who the hell says that?


Because I'm going to go ahead and disagree.

 

I liked your post because I agree with everything in bold. My question for you because I'm genuinely curious about your answer as a non Rey/Kylo shipper: if Kylo Ren suffers as a consequence of his action, and he repents and dies having sacrificed himself for someone he loves, do you think he can be forgiven?

As for the rest of your post, what do you mean by Rey-Kylo that works? Is it white picket fences and 2.5 kids? Is it riding off into the sunset together? Or can it be reciprocated or even one-sided feelings of something like love, which can impact the course of events in the final installment of the trilogy? Because to me it's the latter, and I don't think we need perfectly virtuous or perfectly evil characters for that to work.

 

I don't know... Disney had The Pirates of the Caribbean, with protagonists with questionable morals. Of course, it's different from having a questionable love story.

I don't think Disney is overseeing scripts. They have to let creators have creative freedom. Without creative freedom, movies become boring and predictable. I think Disney most of all wants to get a lot of people invested in the story.

But then, of course, the movie creators won't want to do something that people will hate. I think it all depends on Kylo's redemption arc and how believable it is. Another problem is Finn. Rey and Finn have been set up almost as a rom com couple, and Finn is a popular character. If course, the arc could be with Kylo, Rey and Finn and Rey ends up with Finn, that could happen. I think if they only have Kylo with a one sided obsession or even love it's fine, I don't think people will be upset about it. I think it's actually very possible unless they are related. Heck, in fact, part of me thinks they made them unrelated on purpose!

Now, for a love story, true love story, with at least a kiss, between hero and villain, that would take a lot of work. Kylo would need to have an amazing arc, and amazing change, Rey as well, and both of them would need to come to an understanding. I think if they could make it work it would be interesting, the story would have a big twist instead of moving forward. I think they'd also need to solve Finn's character. Since he's shown romantic interest for Rey, they can't just leave him alone, without her. I often read about female actresses being cast and how they'd be Finn's romantic pair. I'm not sure if it's true, but something like this would need to happen, and Finn needs to be better developed as a character and friend.

So I think it's possible, but I tend to think they are going to have Finn and Rey. On the other hand, a lot of work has been established in the dynamics between Rey and Kylo, including putting them in parallel in the poster, similar clothes, force connection, etc. Star Wars is about a battle between good and evil. If Rey and Kylo are not related, how are they going to explore their connection? How are they going to raise the stakes in their battle? This duel was good because it had something personal in it. They need to keep that going. I think they either make Kylo and Rey related, and frankly, I don't see the big deal in cousins, and I'm not sure they are siblings, or they have some kind of romantic arc.

I'm starting to think it's possible.

 

Good points — you don't need to be in the tank for Kylo/Rey (which I am not) to see that their interrogation scene had those undertones. Even their fight in the woods, when after the ground cracks, she looks back across to Ren's side to see if he's got more to say or do.

There is no reason to put that tension there if it doesn't become a story point. Rey just nearly killed Ren with Luke's lightsaber, so of course he's going to be gunning for her in the next movie, to get revenge. It would be like if there was romantic tension between Leia and Boba Fett in ESB — you already have Fett freezing Han, and that's a perfectly adequate hook for future conflict, so that personal angle would have been completely unnecessary to move the saga forward.

 

Mana

And this is where they really need to go to make the audience have an emotional investment in Kylo Ren and his possible redemption. If Kylo is the only Skywalker grandchild, it just creates that much more drama and impact for his character- it is automatic investment that is only diminished with more SkySolos wandering about.

 

I think that's one of the reasons they are not going with siblings. Yes, it would raise the stakes between protagonist and antagonist, but, on the other hand, people could hope Kylo burns in hell. With Kylo as the only Solo it's a lot more complicated. Sure, Kylo killed Han, but on the other hand, he's Han's son. Han would want to see him redeemed, Leia wants him redeemed. A lot more conflict.

 

Agreed. I think everyone here is of the opinion that he should be redeemed somehow. Also Marshall132, it's true Star Wars can't get that high up there. The stories mentioned above are pretty much of the romance genre, so the stories revolve on the two people involved, whereas Star Wars is an epic between good and evil. Just because it's an epic though doesn't mean it can't have a really beautiful love story woven in there. It reminds me how Lord of the Rings wove in the Aragorn/Arwen/Eowyn story well.

Star Wars is obviously constrained by length limit and has the overall story that it needs to focus on, but I think a great writer will be able to make a compelling story. A lot of us have also said that we don't envision a happily ever after between Kylo and Rey. As much as we shippers would loove to see a happy ending lol, we realize that's not likely. And that's not a bad thing really. Most of the epic romances don't have happy endings, which leaves a powerful, poignant feeling.

 

If he does more bad things in the next movie he could easily move into nonredeemable territory easily. Especially If it is known if he Kills more old cast, Or does more horrible things to the galaxy.

 

If it's a self-sacrifice like Vader's and it leads to eventual triumph for the heroes, idk, "forgiven" is a strong word.. I'm sure after Endor there were many that saw Vader as a monster even if Luke explained what he did. I'll just say that there would be acceptance and things would move on.

If by your statement you mean Reys compassion would stir humanity in him in some way, and that leads to a selfless act then ok, yes Rey/Kylo in that context would work. But that's not the outcome that would satisfy many of that ships supporters I dont think. Plus at this point there's absolutely no reason for Rey to feel anything but contempt for him. But we will see what transpires.

 

We shippers would definitely be satisfied. We're not asking for huge displays of love. Something very simple and moving is all we want really.

 

OK for all the literary references you made I must give you 10 Harold Bloom points LOL.