'Force Awakens' exclusive video: No, Kylo Ren is not a Resistance spy
It's the Force Awakens theory that just won't die. You may have seen it on a Facebook wall or two since the movie landed with a Starkiller-sized splash last December.
The theory goes like this: Kylo Ren, also known as [spoiler alert for the three people who haven't seen Force Awakens yet] Ben, son of Han Solo and Leia Organa, isn't really the Dark Side devotee he seems to be -- he's actually there as a Resistance spy, deep undercover in the service of Supreme Leader Snoke!
Really deep undercover. So deep that proponents claim Kylo had to kill his father just to keep his cover. In the movie's crucial scene, they say, he's really asking Han Solo to help him by impaling himself on that red lightsaber -- Dumbledore-style. (The theories are never quite clear as to how exactly that would help.)
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The "Kylo spy" fans may redouble their efforts to prove that theory when the record-breaking movie arrives via digital download Friday (and Blu-Ray disc on April 5). But in this Mashable exclusive excerpt from Lucasfilm's documentary Secrets from The Force Awakens, included on the disc, there's some pretty compelling evidence that the spy thesis is nonsense.
Director and writer J.J. Abrams, along with actor Adam Driver, tell Ben's background story -- and it's basically what you would expect from Emo Kylo Ren rather than a superspy.
Basically, it all comes down to bad parenting.
"Imagine having your parents absent," says Driver, "having their own agendas, equally as selfish. He's lost in the world he was raised in and feels he was kind of abandoned ... he's angry because of that, he has kind of a huge grudge on his shoulders."
Abrams adds that Ben was "more than a bad seed" -- that he was specifically targeted by the mysterious Supreme Leader Snoke.
"He knew this kid was going to be incredibly powerful, and wanted him as an ally. So this mother and father have a target for a son, someone's watching their boy, and these parents aren't there enough to guide him."
There you have it: a cautionary tale for Hans and Leias everywhere. Spend more time with your little ones, mom and dad, or they'll grow up to be Kylo Ren.
What's your Kylo Ren theory? Let us know.
Topics Star Wars
Chris is a veteran tech, entertainment and culture journalist, author of 'How Star Wars Conquered the Universe,' and co-host of the Doctor Who podcast 'Pull to Open.' Hailing from the U.K., Chris got his start as a sub editor on national newspapers. He moved to the U.S. in 1996, and became senior news writer for Time.com a year later. In 2000, he was named San Francisco bureau chief for Time magazine. He has served as senior editor for Business 2.0, and West Coast editor for Fortune Small Business and Fast Company. Chris is a graduate of Merton College, Oxford and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. He is also a long-time volunteer at 826 Valencia, the nationwide after-school program co-founded by author Dave Eggers. His book on the history of Star Wars is an international bestseller and has been translated into 11 languages.
