It's been 305 days since audiences at the first showings of Star Wars: The Force Awakens watched Kylo Ren stab Han Solo through the stomach and let his body drop into the abyss below. And I just now feel comfortable writing that in the opening sentence of an article. But since then, as Star Wars fans tend to do, people have been obsessing over what exactly was happening between Han and Kylo in these fateful moments. Many think the two planned this death so Kylo could infiltrate Supreme Leader Snoke's crew. Others think this marked the completion of Kylo's transition to the Dark Side.
Ahead of the release of The Force Awakens' collectors edition, director J.J. Abrams has weighed in on the scene, explaining what was going through the two character's heads. Some wonder if Kylo, when he seems to be handing the lightsaber to his father, was actually messing with Han and planned on killing him all along, but Abrams has revealed that "Kylo Ren in this moment is actually being convinced to walk away from this."
Abrams also told USA Today that Kylo knows Snoke is using him, but can't accept it because "Deep down, he's gone too far."
What this means is that the subtext of this scene isn't quite as complex as fans imagined. If Kylo was being convinced not to kill his father, then it's unlikely that he was working as a double agent. Judging by what Abrams said, it seems that Kylo did indeed complete his transition to the Dark Side. Abrams also noted the rather blatant homage to The Empire Strikes Back during that scene, telling USA Today, "Obviously any time two characters in Star Wars go out on an incredibly thin bridge 10 miles above the ground with no railings, it's not going to end well with one of them."
Anyway, we still have 423 days until Episode 8 comes out, so I guess see if you can distract yourself with more pressing matters in the meantime.
