Ben Solo Joy: A Star Wars Experience
Ben Solo Joy: A Star Wars Experience
by Jen Davies, nerd
Aug 5, 2026
I feel like we get Ben Solo for about 5 minutes in SW Episode 9: The Rise of Skywalker - apparently we had about 8-10 minutes depending on where you think Kylo Ren goes away, but it wasn't enough. Here is a collection of most of those too-few minutes in case you're not familiar with them (links below). If you ARE familiar with Episodes 7, 8 and 9 you might choose to rewatch these things, and I'd like to encourage you to pay attention to two things that I will talk about more below: a) the incredible shift in body language from actor Adam Driver, who plays the character(s), and b) the musical themes (which return in modified form from earlier in the films).
Start where Ben throws Kylo Ren away: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yENbL9YwEg4
Arriving on Exegol Pt 1: https://youtu.be/4zCuOfsiioI
Arriving on Exegol Pt 2: https://youtu.be/iXrcORBAQ-M
Becoming Ben Solo
In Episodes 7 and 8, and most of 9, Kylo Ren is heavy. He walks heavily and stiffly, and while we can see he is strong and powerful there is nothing 'lively' about him. That helps us to understand him as a villain: he moves as if there's something wrong with him. It's reminiscent of Darth Vader's stiffness, of course.
Then after what I think is a top 3 most spectacular light sabre fight in all of Star Wars, Kylo Ren (or Ben) is given a new lease on life and has to decide what he wants to do with it. He replays his father's, Han Solo's, final moments with him - with adjustments to help him externalize the realization is having, that the security he sought by ruling the galaxy was a false promise because the struggle for power is never-ending. The security he realized he wants is with Rey, but she will only have him her way (as Ben, not as Kylo Ren), so he has to let go of his alter ego.
And when he does - after he throws away Kylo Ren's chaotic lightsaber - suddenly he is lighter. He is physically lighter because he sheds a few layers of costume, and he is lighter on his feet. No more heavy footfalls - when he runs it's swift. When he leaps, it's far! And when he gets into a fight he is lithe and fast. It's joyful for us.
Part of the heaviness was the psychological misery that we can't see very well, but it's there if we think about what we see on film. (I'm not into the books and comics, but I don't need to be - it's actually there on the big screen, it just isn't explained, you have to think about it.) Who's the only person in Kylo Ren's head besides himself? Snoke. (Ugh.) When Rey goes there during the interrogation scene he pushes her out because at that point he doesn't think he wants anyone else close. Later even when he does seem to look forward to their impromptu Force connections, he denies himself the pleasure of her company by making the interactions disagreement in one way or another.
So when Ben shows up on Exegol with nothing but a sweater with the hole that shows how Kylo Ren died and a blaster, and he and Rey share a silent connection (what they say doesn't really matter - the key is that he nods 'yes' and she looks relieved), there's no disagreement like every time before. Of course it's also our confirmation that he's finally with her and her plans. It's also joyful for us.
Acting supported by appropriate music
Watching Ben become himself again is joyful.
Now listen to this piece of music, titled Kylo Ren Arrives at the Battle. Like Darth Vader and the Emperor have their musical themes, this is Kylo Ren's theme used throughout the films. It uses several instruments but in this first usage so you can't miss it, it's the strong French horn (baa baaaa ba baaaaaa baaaaaa):
https://youtu.be/NRRPCjr1Ito?si=xblE83hBN7tVsxBg&t=50 (it's a 2-minute piece, or you can start at the 50-second mark as I have marked with this link)
Note: It's my ringtone, and it's great. It isn't obnoxiously loud, and nobody else uses it so I always know it's mine.
Now give this piece of music a listen. It is a variation on that same theme, and incorporates at some points a few other well-known Star Wars musical themes you may recognize. The most important thing it does is take Kylo Ren's theme, and shift it from a minor key to major:
This shift from minor to major with more or less the same piece of music is used when Ben arrives on Exegol, feel free to go back and rewatch that part and you'll hear it.
If you know your opera, then you know that minor keys are typically used to represent antagonists, and major keys are usually used to represent protagonists. And of course, music written in minor keys sounds sad as well. Now you can attend a non-English opera and at least you'll know who the good guys and bad guys are!
Finding Joy
To come back on track, that music shift supports that amazing shift in body language that we get: the shift from sad and heavy to energized and light. It's a fantastic combination, on top of some great moments (the blast-behind-without-looking and the shrug when he comes up with a light saber out of thin air are top tier Star Wars moments for me - they're just so Solo, and reinforces that we are now looking at Ben as himself, embracing the messiness of his origins).
The end result is that it's joyful to experience Ben as he becomes who he is again.
It is joyful to see people being themselves. As an example, a lot of people were impressed by Alysa Liu, the American figure skater who won the individual women's gold medal in the 2026 Winter Olympics. The standout performances of hers were, as she has described it in interviews, just her going out on the ice and skating because she loves to skate. This was the one that secured her gold metal. She admits that she spent a lot of her earlier skating career trying to be and do what other people expected of her, and she saw way more success after she decided she was going to skate for herself instead.
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