WITH BEN SOLO'S FALL…COMES KYLO REN'S RISE! Young Ben Solo is legendary Jedi Luke Skywalker's most promising pupil. As the son of Rebel Alliance heroes Leia Organa and Han Solo, as well as Luke's own nephew, Ben has the potential to be a great force for light in the galaxy. But the Skywalker legacy casts a long shadow, the currents of the dark side run deep, and Darth Vader's blood runs in Ben's veins. Voices call from both his past and his future, telling him who he must be. He will shatter, he will be reforged, his destiny will be revealed. Snoke awaits. The Knights of Ren await. Ben Solo's path to his true self begins here.
A man named Ren speaks to two brothers, Karrst and Filin. Meanwhile, Ren's allies, the Knights of Ren, battle agents of Sector Security, who were attempting to apprehend the brothers based on their crime of having killed at least a hundred people. Ren tells Karrst that he can join him and become a Knight of Ren, and that the Knights heard of him from a "friend," who told them that Karrst was Force-sensitive. Karrst confirms the friend's story, while Filin tells Ren that they will become Knights if he can get them out of there.
Ren tells Karrst that he can prove his loyalty to the Knights by killing his brother. However, Filin shoots and kills Karrst before the latter has a chance to carry out Ren's orders. While impressed by Filin's character, Ren refuses to induct him on the basis of his lack of Force-sensitivity and kills him.
Ren regroups with the Knights, one of whom named Trudgen asks him if he was successful in recruiting Karrst. Ren says that he was not, but that it does not matter because "the master" will find another suitable candidate soon.
In 28 ABY, the Jedi Temple of Luke Skywalker has been destroyed and is still burning as Ben Solo watches. From their starship, the Verity, Jedi trainees Hennix, Tai, and Voe observe the fiery destruction. Hennix tells the others that they should land and help, but Voe says that she does not sense anyone on the ground. However, Tai does sense a presence, that of Solo.
Tai confronts Ben Solo.
Following Tai's instincts, they land near the temple, where they confront Solo. Ben tells them that Luke Skywalker attempted to murder him in his sleep, and that the Jedi is now dead. Voe tells Solo that he would not be able to kill Skywalker, to which Ben rebuts that he is stronger than the three other Jedi combined. Solo tells them the temple was a lie that is now over and he's leaving. Despite Tai's protestations, Hennix and Voe draw their lightsabers to prevent Solo from running away. When Voe attacks Solo, he freezes her in mid-air and throws her into Hennix.
The three Jedi prepare to take on Solo together, but he uses the Force to violently levitate debris from the temple and hurls it at them. Solo stops when he realizes Hennix has been impaled in the side by a large piece of debris. Voe attempts to remove it, but Hennix tells her that the procedure will be safer on the Verity. Tai and Voe decide to prioritize saving Hennix over preventing Solo's escape, and Solo leaves in a nearby ship, the Grimtaash.
The Jedi temple's destruction
Back on the Verity, Tai tends to Hennix's wounds while Voe pilots the ship, giving chase to the Grimtaash. To lose the Verity, Solo makes an attack run and fires a precise shot to damage the opposing ship's main engines instead of destroying the ship.
With the other Jedi incapacitated, the Grimtaashs onboard droid, Geegee, asks Solo what destination to enter. Geegee asks if Solo intends to visit his mother, Leia Organa, whom he has not seen in some time. As Solo hesitates, a disembodied voice that is familiar to Solo asks if something has happened that the two thought might someday occur. Solo experiences a flashback, beginning with the moment in which he and Skywalker crossed blades. Solo brings his cabin down upon them and then emerges from the wreckage. Solo rages in anger and confusion over why his uncle attacked him. As he screams for answers, he points his ignited lightsaber at the temple, which has a cloudless night sky above it. His pupils constrict as his eyes cloud with red, then similar red storm clouds appear above the temple; he questions the sight of them. The clouds erupt with lightning that explodes the temple, sets it ablaze, and kills the students inside. Solo is knocked off his feet and rises to see the scattered bodies of dead students. When he attempts to run into the burning temple, he is again knocked down by an explosion. He watches the burning temple and says he didn't want this. The disembodied voice tells Solo that he did not choose it; the Jedi did—Skywalker. In the present, Solo tells Geegee he isn't going to Hosnian Prime and sets his new course.
On the Verity, Tai says that they have to find Solo and speculates on using the Force to do so. Hennix enters the cockpit and tells them that they will be able to track the Grimtaash through a transponder that Geegee will activate once they leave, which is standard procedure in case something were to go wrong on a mission. Tai asks if they should call Solo's mother, Leia Organa, and tell her what has happened, but Voe tells him that they should discover the truth behind Solo's betrayal and the destruction of the temple before they involve a third party.
Later, Solo lands the Grimtaash at an unidentified space station, where he meets with Snoke. The two embrace, after which Solo remarks on Snoke's scarred appearance, believing it was caused by Skywalker. Snoke turns the subject to what Skywalker nearly did to Solo, but Solo says it doesn't matter because he killed Skywalker. Snoke doubts that Skywalker has died and says they can set aside that problem for now. Snoke asks Solo what he plans to do now that he is no longer under Skywalker's instruction. Solo says that he has been thinking about the Knights of Ren.
Skywalker: A Family at War, written by Kristin Baver, frames this issue's temple fire and the deaths of the students as an event that was investigated in-universe, then misattributed by some to a freak meteorological event rather than use of the Force. Although some sources published after this issue do not specifically mention the storm, they have maintained that Ben Solo was the one who burned and destroyed the Jedi temple and caused the death of the Jedi Order. The 2021 "Kylo Ren and Other Followers of the Dark Side" booklet from the Star Wars Encyclopedia series explicitly states, "In fury, the boy unleashed his full powers, creating a storm that set the surrounding structures on fire and brought down the Jedi temple, killing most of his fellow students." The booklet thus confirms that Solo's responsibility for the destruction of the Jedi Order was not retconned by this issue's depiction of a lightning storm.
- UPC 759606097418; December 18, 2019; Marvel Comics; First printing
- UPC 759606097418; January 29, 2020; Marvel Comics; Second printing
- UPC 759606097418; March 4, 2020; Marvel Comics; Third printing
- UPC 759606097418; July 22, 2020; Marvel Comics; Fourth printing
- Star Wars: The Lightsaber Collection
- The Art of Star Wars: The High Republic (Phase One)