– Spoiler Review –
After trips down Vader memory lane and confronting both an Order 66 survivor and the new leader of the Knights of Ren, Kylo Ren returns to Vader’s castle, eager to unlock its secrets to help him with a vexing problem: the presence of Luke Skywalker. In Legacy of Vader #10, Charles Soule once again stuns as he takes Kylo on a mesmerizing journey of mystical proportions.
In the weeks between releases, the world turns and news, terrible and hopeful, finds its way to people around the world. And while the month since Legacy of Vader #9 has been particularly filled, be it the terrifying use of force against US citizens by the fascist ICE agents or the hope instilling victory of Zohran Mamdani for Mayor of New York City, in the world of Star Wars there also was news which was completely unprecedented. We learned about the film The Hunt for Ben Solo, which would’ve brought Ben Solo back to life post-The Rise of Skywalker and was championed by Adam Driver and all of Lucasfilm, and how it was cancelled, the first in the Disney era, due to the dastardly successive plans of power-hungry CEOs at Disney. Not only has this news jolted fans of the character, from billboards to planes flying signs over Disney parks, but writer Charles Soule also teased he was trying to figure out what it means for Kylo Ren to be happy, leaving us to wonder why he’d have to muse about such a thing: could it be for an upcoming issue of this series featuring a flashback (though it seems like all current comic series are going to be over soon and relaunches are set for 2026*)?; how about a new comic series with a younger Ben?; maybe even he’s writing a comic based on The Hunt for Ben Solo script, or who knows?! And somehow, building off the film revelation and his tease, Soule drops a doozy of an issue in Legacy of Vader #10, exploring some fascinating concepts regarding the Force which have some tantalizing implications for the Saga and for Ben himself. I think this issue would’ve landed with a splash regardless of the recent Ben Solo fracas, but it helped elevate an already great issue!
Somehow, someway, Kylo Ren has sensed the presence of Luke Skywalker watching over him and he demands Vaneé show him the secrets within Darth Vader’s vault in the Sith Lord’s Mustafarian castle, with the hope it’ll contain a way to banish the specter for good. While the vault doesn’t allow Kylo to enter, shown via a trippy page from Luke Ross and team that leaves me curious how and why it works, the young Supreme Leader takes his frustrations out on Vaneé, but the servant still wants to serve, offering up Vader’s meditation sphere instead. What follows is an absolutely fascinating journey through what felt like the Force’s own versions of hell and heaven, metaphysical planes showcasing not only the war inside Kylo, but some intriguing possibilities regarding the Force, much like how the World Between Worlds expanded our understanding as well. Soule’s well-versed in these types of things, and not just because he’s a Creative Consultant with Lucasfilm, but from how he explored the nuances of bleeding or cleansing kyber crystals, introducing the realm Vader entered at the end of the Darth Vader: Dark Lord of the Sith comic, and exploring complexities within Planet X for The High Republic’s big final (for now) novel. And I’m very glad he keeps getting to dive into this crazy stuff!
When Kylo enters the chamber, the outside ominously closing him in, he wills his grandfather to send Skywalker to him, only to find himself in a dark, swampy bog. In this hazy red space, otherwise greyed out in color, Kylo’s face looks desiccated, and it matches the faces from his past that aggressively appear before him, heads attached to long skeleton chains popping out of the swamp, whipping about and berating him. It’s a creepy, frightening realm, a fitting entry amongst the many takes on the underworld, and Kylo doesn’t like it either, scared and running from the skulls mocking his choices, mocking him. Given all the expectations on his shoulders, being the son of such famous parents and carrying the legacy of the Jedi from his Uncle, his actions about killing the past have been his attempt to rise above and find himself along the way, something Soule dove into with The Rise of Kylo Ren miniseries (and how his fellow Padawans let us see more about him). The fact the angry and vengeful Kylo of the past several issues becomes a child again in the presence of these heads from his past says a lot about how little he’s come on his path to finding himself, which one could call…a hunt for Ben Solo (wink wink). Like everything else, Kylo taps into his rage, thinking sheer might and power will save him from their taunts and how it makes him feel, though how he manifests both a red and a blue lightsaber to help him cut away the heads further lays bare how his hunt for himself is just as split as it ever was. Realizing it’s futile, he concentrates, thinking of his old Master, understanding this is not the place Luke would be, and as he searches through his memories, of what Luke stands for…Kylo leaves the dark side underworld behind.
Instead, Kylo finds himself in the light side Olympus, a beaming place full of Force Ghost specters, one of which he naively takes a swipe at with the blue lightsaber (which interestingly is the only blade he manifests while in this realm). Whomever the Ghost is that greets him is surprised Kylo’s even there, claiming he shouldn’t be able to, yet a voice from the other blue specters nearby points out, while he shouldn’t be, he’s here regardless, the voice revealing itself to be Luke Skywalker!! In a way, Kylo fulfills Luke’s promise from The Last Jedi, “See you around, kid”, by coming to this realm, and while the logistics of how Kylo’s been to either the dark side underworld or light side paradise remains wonderfully obtuse, their meeting here is delightful on so many different levels. Soule’s written quite a bit of Luke Skywalker over the years and, while he’s not written for him around this timeframe so much, he captures the Jedi Master’s humor, playfulness, and contentedness in such a way where it takes the Luke of The Force Awakens/TLJ and brings him to how we see him in The Rise of Skywalker, bridging the sequel trilogy’s arc for the character. This bridge and Soule’s overall take on Luke are a fresh reminder of how the sequel trilogy did understand his character and how his most powerful move, and the sacrifice that came with it, is the right one it showcased. Regardless, the interaction between Kylo and Luke is even better than what Soule manages for Luke’s character, as it distills the reality of how Kylo’s hunt for Ben Solo (going to enjoy doing that for a while!) is missing what’s right in front of him.
It’s only a few pages yet it packs a wallop, as the conversation starts off with a zinger (“So. You missed me that much, eh?”) and ends with line I’ve been thinking about since the issue ended. As we learned in The Last Jedi, Luke doubted Ben for just a moment and sparked the final fuse, yet through his time with Rey, Luke got over his self-pity party and reminded his sister no one is ever really gone, trying to reach his nephew one last time while sacrificing his life to bring hope back to the galaxy. As they talk in the Force Ghost afterlife, Luke’s content with his choices and still trying to teach Kylo, reach Ben inside, asking Kylo to tell him what his life has been for, though his nephew can only respond by dodging the question, angry Luke’s still trying to teach him. Despite the outburst, he’s still upset Luke taught Rey, so is it jealousy that spurns Kylo’s response, about hating Luke and claiming he’s failed by not making Kylo into him, because it worked out with her and she lived up to the expectations Kylo believed he couldn’t? Regardless, as Luke makes a good little joke about having goals, he points out Kylo should be wondering how he even gained access to the Force Ghost afterlife and then drops the knockout line before disappearing and Kylo ends up back in the dark side underworld: “Kylo Ren means nothing to me. But I’ll always be there for Ben.” Speaking about how this issue helps connect Luke’s story in the films, it does just as much for Kylo’s, as Luke’s line here echoes something the vision of Han Solo says to Ben in The Rise of Skywalker, after Leia passes, about how Ben’s never been alone, only Kylo was. Hot damn, imagine this issue giving us all this and then The Hunt for Ben Solo dropping in theaters?!
Kylo’s time with Luke deepens the doubts about his path inside him, posing vital questions he’ll have to face before continuing forward. When Kylo’s returned to the underworld, a giant, hooded figure appears, igniting a proportionately large red lightsaber as it threatens to remind Kylo of the pain he tried to forget, and when he crawls out of the meditation chamber back in the real world, we see some of the fruits of the hooded figure’s torturous labor. Between those questions from Luke and the beating he takes in the underworld, Kylo’s turn back to the light seems even more pronounced, while I’m curious to see where Soule takes Kylo next in the series’ potentially final two issues.
Luke Ross makes his return to artistry duties and what a return it is, alongside series regulars Nolan Woodard on colors and Joe Caramagna lettering. And there’s no better place to start than the underworld, a creepy realm that made me think of a flooded Dagobah, though while that hides small life and vegetation amongst its dead patches, everything about the underworld feels devoid of life, even the soul visiting, as Kylo’s face is desiccated, something even more visible with lines and deep indentations when he returns to it from the paradise side of things. The imagery of the vertebrae bone chains the disembodied heads cling to, also ghastly and malnutrition looking, is about as disturbing as I’ve seen in Star Wars. Woodard’s colors provide a brownish red for water and empty spaces between what little patches of dead life remain, while the overall greyscale of everything else aides in the sense of how lifeless this realm is, and if I was a Sith and knew what this place looked like, I’d be clinging to life too. But if I was a Jedi and saw what the Force Ghost afterlife was like, I’d probably be pretty happy about learning to let go. It’s such a stark contrast, going from swampy dead bog to this gorgeous valley region, a blinding light shining down on the area, the ground green and lush, the walls of the valley natural mountain formations with a gorgeous, multi-storied temple-like doorway carved out of the rock, while the color of everything is subdued due to the overwhelming brightness of the light. Caramagna’s smaller, yet neat way to differentiate the realms involves the word bubbles, as in the underworld, the skulls’ word bubbles are lined with and the words themselves have a wavy effect, giving their voices a spooky, drawn out hiss to them, while the Force Ghosts’ word bubbles, before they take a more direct form, are normal circles yet are barely visible, washed out in the light of the realm yet ringed the same blue the ghosts are. As dazzling as the Force Ghost paradise was, I have to say, my favorite panels are on Kylo’s return to the underworld and when the big hooded figure appears from the swap, as its hooded robe looks like it’s made from the vines of the underworld, and it’s just so abnormally large, it’s a fantastical and scary image at the same time. The follow panel, Woodward goes from the hazy red-browns to a drenching bright red, matching the now lit large lightsaber, Caramagna’s jagged edged bubble letters for the SFX giving the ignition a deep thrum to it, as if there’s no escape, which is supported by the bolded final line from the being of the underworld. In juxtaposition, I did also really like Ross’ take on the content and happy Luke, as he looked more like he did in The Rise of Skywalker than The Last Jedi, while it’s great to see it against Kylo’s steaming angry faces, highlighting again how far he’s out of his league.
Here are a few other things:
- Would how Kylo visits the Force Ghost afterlife be part of the journey on the hunt for Ben Solo by Rey and others (I’m guessing, as it was never confirmed who was all involved with the story)? Given those realms seem to exist, in a sense, and aren’t just in Kylo’s head, what could this mean for storytelling in the future? Could we see Rey visiting Ben there, if he’s never brought back/the resolution to that storyline is he ends up dead again? Other Jedi or Sith finding their way to such places? Kylo could likely only make it because the Force knows the good in him will win, but could a Sith ever manage to make it? How is the experience in the underworld for other Sith? Do they beat up the giant hooded person instead of being beaten up, like I imagine Palpatine visiting there could’ve gone? Could a full Sith like him ever do what Kylo did? I hope both the underworld and afterlife are visited again to play with such interesting scenarios, though sparingly like the World Between Worlds has been.
- While it’s obvious Luke was standing around with Yoda and Qui-Gon Jinn, their silhouettes are very distinct, the third person isn’t as easy to identify, but I’d be shocked if it wasn’t Obi-Wan Kenobi. Curious what they all get up to and chat about! I never really imagined Force Ghosts having like a place to chill, I wrote a really long article about them some time ago, but it’s an interesting addition to the lore! Might be time to write another Force Ghost article…though much shorter!
- As Kylo thinks about Luke to find him, the flashback imagery includes a glimpse of Luke training Ben alongside Tai, Voe, and Hennix, the three Padawans Soule introduced and made pivotal to Kylo’s story in The Rise of Kylo Ren!
- *As I alluded to earlier, the current run of comics from Marvel all seem to be quietly cancelled and ended early, as now it doesn’t seem like they are giving fans a heads up if something is coming to an end, with the only way for fans to know if their series survives is if they keep soliciting new issues. Hard to build up interest if it’s a month-by-month basis to know if something will keep going, as now they are more sales margin focused than ever before, and a series could be cut down with only 5 issues despite being called an on-going, like Doctor Aphra: Chaos Agent. So will Legacy of Vader survive past 12 issues? We might just get an answer, if there’s no news announcements, when the February 2026 solicitations hit later this November.
Legacy of Vader #10 isn’t seven seasons of The Clone Wars helping build up the prequel era, but it (alongside releases like Shadow of the Sith and potentially the upcoming Legacy novel) does a ton of similar work with less space for the sequel era, all wrapped in a fascinating journey fans won’t soon forget.
+ Kylo confronting heaven and hell…
+ …and what it all does for the sequel era
+ Art teams builds an intriguing underworld and paradise in memorable ways
Ryan is Mynock Manor’s Head Butler. You can follow him and the website on Bluesky.
LEGACY OF VADER REVIEWS:
Reign of Kylo Ren Vol. 1: #1 | #2 | #3 | #4 | #5 | #6 — Vol. 2: #7 | #8 | #9