It’s been a few weeks since we’ve lamented a Rise of Skywalker novelization reveal that most definitely should have been saved for the actual movie, but this latest one has motivated me to discuss it.
Apparently, in the book, Kylo interrogates Chewbacca after he’s caught by the Knights of Non-speaking Ren by doing his modified Jedi Mind Trick brain scan on him to find Rey and the others. While probing, he came across memories from Chewie’s past about Han, Leia, and himself, but as Ben Solo.
These memories gave some idea what Ben and Chewie’s relationship was like, and it sounds like it was a full on Uncle/Nephew bond, complete with Chewie teaching Ben various skills along the way.
Here’s an excerpt:
“He saw flashes of the Wookiee laughing with a much younger Han Solo than he himself remembers. Felt Chewbacca’s joy when his best friend married the woman he’d come to love like a sister. Saw the Wookiee cuddling a human toddler, teaching an older boy to fly a speeder, target practice with a young man, their blasters set on stun against a haphazard dummy made of rocks.”
The book also goes on to explain that Kylo saw pictures of Ben in Chewie’s house, and not pictures of other Wookies, which surprised Kylo due to the fact that he figured Chewie hated his guts for murdering Han Solo.
This realization is also explained as being the first time Kylo realized that he could feel hope again, and it taught him what it would mean to return to his former self, family, and friends.
You could argue now that Chewie was the one that tipped Kylo towards a path of redemption versus his Mom and Rey, but more importantly, you can scream at a wall about how angry you are that this exchange wasn’t in the freaking movie!
I mean how emotional and awesome would it have been to see this scene play out, and realize that yes, these two would have had a very strong bond in the past, and it’s insane that it was never even touched upon in the films.
That’s TROS for you I guess! More on this to come in next week’s episode of the SWTS, so get subbed up if you’re not already.
