There’s been a lot of talk thrown around about the origins of everyone’s favorite new Jedi, Rey. Although there’s definitely some fun in debating back and forth on this topic, I can’t help but feel we are falling right into Disney’s hands on this one. Brace yourselves: we may be questioning the lineage of the wrong Jedi my friends.

Instead, we should be talking about the dubious background of our new masked baddie, Kylo Ren (aka Ben).

     Just for the record before you read any further, major SPOILER WARNING. If you have not seen Star Wars: The Force Awakens yet, save this read for another time.

Those who have seen the film will likely retort with a knee-jerk reaction about how the Kylo Ren heritage question has already been answered.

But what if Disney was fooling us? What if it was a piece of fine misdirection with just the right amount of vagueness? What if Kylo Ren is actually just the adopted son of Han and Leia? What if Kylo Ren is actually the son of Luke Skywalker?

Again, it sounds pretty suspect, but let’s break it down based on what we know about the character.

((Quick Note: at no point in The Force Awakens is Kylo Ren ever referred to as “Ben Solo.”))

1. The Name

Let’s face it: Ben is a pretty stark name in the Star Wars universe, involuntarily evoking memories of our favorite Jedi Master, Obi-Wan “Ben” Kenobi. As such, one can only assume that this is an intentional reference that the common viewer is supposed to catch onto. However, there are a couple things that one cannot help but find strange with Han and Leia’s alleged name choice.

To begin, with the exception of one panicked utterance in A New Hope, only one character consistently refers to Obi-Wan by the name, “Ben,” and it definitely isn’t Han or Leia. Leia in particular refers to him as Obi-Wan, making the name choice of “Ben” incredibly improbable. Not only that, but why would you name your son after someone whom you’ve been shown to only have a marginal relationship with? Answer: You wouldn’t. But someone else would.

Having grown up on Tatooine believing Kenobi’s true name to be Ben, Luke never truly broke the habit. He referred to his first Jedi Master as Ben for the duration of the original trilogy and is shown to continue communication with him even after the latter’s death. As such, we can assume that Kenobi means a great deal to Luke, and if given the opportunity, Luke would likely name his son after him.

Need more proof? Strap in, because we’re about to take a shallow dip into the Star Wars expanded universe. Although Disney has confirmed that the expanded universe is no longer canon, we can assume that some pieces of storytelling will still carry over (why reinvent the wheel when you can just alter what you have to fit your needs?). In the expanded universe, there is indeed a character named “Ben” in Leia’s family tree. That said, he is not a Solo, but rather, a Skywalker. Ben Skywalker is the son of Luke and his wife, Mara Jade Skywalker. Unfortunately, the similarities end there, as Ben Skywalker is shown time and time again to be a warrior for the Light side.

Conversely, Han and Leia do have a son in the expanded universe that turns to the Dark side named Jacen Solo. Although it is quite possible that Kylo Ren is just a different take on this character, this option begs the question: why change the name, especially to one already attributed to another character?

Ben Skywalker

Jacen Solo

Conjecture: It is likely that the characters have been merged for the sake of simplicity. In the cinematic universe, Han and Leia do raise Ben like their own son, and similarly to Jacen, he turns to the dark side; but, genetically, he is the son of Luke Skywalker.

2. The Han Relationship

Kylo makes no secret of how he feels about Han, refusing to refer to him as his father even in his final moments. While this could certainly be chalked up to nothing more than circumstance, it could explain the strained relationship (I can see the Emo Kylo Ren “You’re not my real dad” tweets now). Additionally, Han’s fate provides a nice bit of symbolism and recall given its implications. But more on that in a moment.

3. The Episode IV Connections

It didn’t take moviegoers very long to notice the not-so-subtle parallels between the old films and The Force Awakens. Arguably though, the film draws most strongly from A New Hope for stability. Kylo/Ben’s childhood is no exception.

In the original series, Luke does not have the benefit of being raised by his biological parents, as they fell victim to a tragic fate (aka the prequels). Instead, Luke is raised by his Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru on the desert planet of Tatooine. Regrettably, Owen and Beru are viciously murdered by members of the Dark side.

Again, assuming that the parallelisms hold up, let’s take a look at the theory up to this point.

Kylo Ren, whose real name is Ben, is the son of Luke Skywalker, who presumably gave him up to be raised by his adoptive parents/aunt and uncle, Leia and Han. In order to sever himself entirely from his Light side origins, Kylo, a sworn agent of the Dark side, murders his adopted father/uncle in cold blood. Burnt blood?…

This effectively separates his origins from that of Luke’s, forcibly pushing the character in a different direction. While Luke took the pain from discovering the secret of his heritage and the death of his adopted father and used them for good, Kylo did the exact opposite, using them as fuel for his descent into darkness.

So there you have it. Good, bad, or indifferent, the writing is on the wall (or the blog I guess…): Kylo Ren is actually Luke Skywalker’s son and the adoptive son of Han and Leia.

Have any thoughts/gripes about the theory? Have one of your own. Sound off in the comment section below or follow us on twitter and share your thoughts at @GeekCaveCentral.