ST Ages of Kylo Ren and Rey in TFA

So my friends and I have been trying to make sense of the age of these 2 characters and making sense of it within the storyline. I have not been able to find out either of their exact age so I was wondering if anyone else knows?

I assume that during the film, Kylo Ren is about 29 years old. Rey looks like she is in her early 20s, so lets cap her off at being 20 years old. Now, taking into account Rey's flashback and everything we know/ think we know about it. In her flashback we see that she is maybe a 5 or 6 year old girl being left on Jakku. If this is correct, then given their age difference that would have put Kylo Ren at about 15 years old when he turned on Luke and killed all of the other Jedi that were being trained. Does this make sense to everyone? Personally I find that to be a little young for Kylo to not only turn on Luke, but to also destroy all of the other Jedi as well. What does everyone think?

 

I do believe that these are the ages of the characters. I think it was an interview with JJ Abrams.

 

I was wondering their ages too. JJ said the characters were 29 and early 20's? How old are the actual actors, I have no idea and am feeling too lazy to look them up.

 

Novel states Rey is "almost Twenty." Doesn't mention Kylo's age

 

The timeline doesn't make sense to me either as far as Rey being at the academy when Ben/Kylo turned against the Jedi if he was the one that took her to Jakku.

 

I agree. But then again that could explain why Rey was left with such a cruel individual to watch out for her on Jakku. Ben wanted to save Rey, but he also did not take the time to care about who would actually be taking care of her. But still, for me, Ben being 15 and taking out all of the Jedi just does not make sense. Why would Luke go into hiding because of a 15 year old boy? Is it that he could not bring himself to harm his nephew? Was it because he could not take on all of the Knights of Ren at once? Was it because Snoke was there as well and Luke knew he could not take Snoke? So many questions.

 

It actually makes a lot of sense that Kylo was that young when he turned on the academy. For one thing he had help, the Knights of Ren were an already existing group that Kylo was initiated into. It's also clear in the novel that he turned pretty young because when Han sees his face he is startled to see his son as a grown man for the first time.
His youth also supports, not detracts, from the theory that he was the one who took Rey to Jakku as it very much seems like something a dumb, panicking teenager would do when presented with a 5 year old girl he's supposed to kill but can't do it.

 

It makes more sense that Ben turned on the Jedi academy when he was around 25, but that would shoot down the theory of Rey being at the academy when it happened. Hard to believe he could do all that at 15, but maybe Snoke helped him.

 

I agree with Irisbest. I think that it makes sense that he turned at age 15, with the aid of Knights of Ren and maybe Snoke (if he was there). If this is the timeline, then I wonder why Snoke would not have completed his training during these 10-15 years leading up to the events of the movie. Could it be that Snoke did not yet fully trust Ben/ Kylo?

 

My personal theory is that Snoke distracted Luke (the source of Snoke's pretty obvious lightsaber scars in TFA) while Ben/Kylo led the Knights of Ren to destroy Luke's students. I don't think Luke was "home" when his students were killed, and instead only arrived in the aftermath. Snoke survived because Luke sensed what was happening and fled to try to save his students after he had already pretty much handed Snoke his butt.

I'm also wondering if Ben/Kylo flat-out left Luke's teaching and disappeared for a couple years before returning as a Knight of Ren. Either way I'd probably place his age as closer to 18/19/20 or so when the betrayal occurred.

 

But the problem with that is that it would not fit with the timeline of Rey being 5 or 6 years old. She clearly saw Kylo and the Knights of Ren in her flashback, so she was there when he destroyed Luke's students. If he was 18 that would mean that there was about a 15 year age gap between Kylo and Rey, which is impossible. At most they 10 years apart in age, and even that is pushing it. I could see the being 15 or 16 years old.

But I do like your question of if Ben left Luke a couple years earlier. There are only a couple theories that could make sense for Snoke to get to Ben. Either Snoke was a student of Luke or had some sort of influence in politics and was able to get close to Ben while he was training. Or Snoke sought Ben out and Ben agreed to full out leave Luke and go train with Snoke for a couple years. I would absolutely love some sort of standalone film exploring this time of Ben becoming Kylo Ren.

 

That is my whole issue with Ben doing all that at the age of 15. Why hasn't Snoke completed his training and why is he not more powerful 15 years later?

 

Maybe we can tie that problem into what Han said? Han told Kylo that Snoke was just using him to get what he wants. Maybe Snoke did not feel a need to complete Kylo's training because the First Order was already rising to power and he did not want to risk Kylo becoming too powerful, too quickly. Furthermore, of Snoke turns out to be Darth Plagueis (as many people think including myself) then it would stand to reason for him to be more hesitant to train his new apprentice (his former apprentice tried to kill him- Palps). So going by that theory, it makes sense that it is not until things begin to fall apart that Snoke decides he needs to complete Kylo's training.

 

Are we sure that Rey was there during the Knights of Ren massacre or whatever it was....? She is seeing alot of history through the lightsaber. Perhaps she was never there as she was not for several other scenes shown during the Flashback sequence or whatever we call it. If JJ Abrams said Ben/Kylo is 29 then fine but I see him as a spoiled adolescent brat in many ways...with his tantrums. He seems much younger to me.

 

We should not automatically assume that Rey seeing Kylo and the Knights of Ren in her vision was necessarily her revisiting her own memories. It was a vision, not necessarily a flashback. In fact some of what's been uncovered by way of "making of" materials makes it quite clear that at least initially it was not intended to be Rey's own history she was seeing, but rather the lightsaber's (though that does seem to have been changed in production).

People really need to stop treating these things as "given" when they are not. Rey saw the hallway of Bespin where part of Luke and Vader's duel took place, as well and I think we can be reasonably sure she wasn't there. The Force could just as easily have been showing Rey what she needed to see as opposed to things she's already seen but forgotten.

In other words, Rey, if we do NOT automatically assume certain aspects of her past, could have been abandoned before Kylo Ren betrayed Luke and his students.

 

Emotional maturity and physical maturity certainly aren't the same things.

 

And that she was 5 when abanoned on Jakku.

However, it does mention Han was seeing Ren as an adult for the first time. To me, that implied Ren was a teenager during the Massacre.

 

It should also be noted that the aftermath of the massacre we see Kylo and the Knights of Ren engaged in may NOT be the Jedi students. That does seem the most likely option, but it could be some other group they slaughtered together.

 

True that emotional maturity/physical aren't always matched up...and if it is known that he is 29 via the director that's fine...but I am still wondering if Rey was actually there at that massacre or was she just seeing the past in a vision. People assume she was there as a padawan but maybe not. Luke might not know she exists....Vader didn't know about Leia until he read Luke's mind. That is if she is in fact his daughter.

 

I agree- I think this is something that, down the line, should be explored with a standalone movie. There are so many possibilities and I think it could be a great story and they could show us what they should have shown us when Anakin turned to the dark side.

 

I don't think I'd buy any explanation that had Luke too weak to face his enemies. Luke's gone into hiding and given up on his dreams, which doesn't seem to match how he handled merely physical threats in the past. Plus Snoke's clearly terrified of him. He was willing to reveal the First Order's hidden superweapon and start a war before he was ready if it meant keeping Luke from being found. The explanation is much more likely to be simple: he can't bear to kill his own nephew any more than he can bear to train new Jedi to die at his hands. He distrusts himself and believes that he's a danger to the galaxy.

 

I'm pretty sure it's Constable Zuvio we see get taken out by Kylo Ren in that scene.

 

Fair points. Another possibility is that he was advised by Yoda and Obi Wan to go into hiding for a period of time (much like they did when Anakin turned).

 

Per Pablo Hildago - Kylo is 29-30, Rey is 19.

 

We don't know that Luke's given up. He may well just be seeking more knowledge so he can do a better job next time (otherwise why seek the first Jedi Temple?) Or he already knows that the proper time hasn't yet come to take action.

Also, it wasn't Zuvio that gets cut down in the vision. Just a guy wearing a similar-looking hat (there are some freeze-frames online that highlight this). Zuvio was supposed to be on Jakku, and is/was apparently what passes for a lawman there (hence the "Constable" designation).