The initial installment of the Star Wars: The Rise of Kylo Ren miniseries, a comic book that is canon, is The Rise of Kylo Ren 1. Charles Soule penned the story, Will Sliney provided the illustrations, and Marvel Comics released it to the public on December 18, 2019.
KYLO REN'S ASCENSION BEGINS AS BEN SOLO FALLS! Ben Solo, the promising student of the legendary Jedi Luke Skywalker, stands at a crossroads. As the offspring of Rebel Alliance icons Leia Organa and Han Solo, and also Luke's nephew, Ben possesses the potential to become a beacon of light throughout the galaxy. However, the weight of the Skywalker legacy looms large, the dark side's influence runs deep, and the blood of Darth Vader courses through Ben's veins. Whispers from both his history and his future beckon, guiding him toward his destiny. He will break, he will be rebuilt, and his true purpose will emerge. Snoke awaits his arrival. The Knights of Ren stand ready. Ben Solo's journey toward self-discovery commences here.
Ren, a man, is in conversation with two brothers named Karrst and Filin. Concurrently, the Knights of Ren, Ren's allies, engage in combat with agents from Sector Security. These agents are attempting to detain the brothers for their crime of killing a minimum of one hundred individuals. Ren informs Karrst that he has the opportunity to join him and become a Knight of Ren, revealing that the Knights learned about him through a "friend" who identified Karrst as Force-sensitive. Karrst confirms the friend's account, while Filin states to Ren that they will become Knights if he can ensure their escape.
Ren proposes that Karrst demonstrate his allegiance to the Knights by eliminating his brother. However, Filin preemptively shoots and kills Karrst, preventing the latter from fulfilling Ren's directive. Although impressed by Filin's character, Ren declines to induct him due to his lack of Force-sensitivity and subsequently kills him.
Ren reunites with the Knights, where Trudgen, one of the Knights, inquires about the success of Karrst's recruitment. Ren responds negatively, stating that it is inconsequential because "the master" will soon identify another suitable candidate.
In the year 28 ABY, the Jedi Temple of Luke Skywalker has been destroyed and continues to burn as Ben Solo observes. From aboard their starship, the Verity, Jedi trainees Hennix, Tai, and Voe witness the fiery devastation. Hennix suggests that they land and offer assistance, but Voe claims that she detects no one on the ground. However, Tai senses a presence, specifically that of Solo.
Acting on Tai's intuition, they land near the temple and confront Solo. Ben asserts that Luke Skywalker attempted to murder him in his sleep and that the Jedi is now deceased. Voe refutes Solo's claim that he could kill Skywalker, to which Ben retorts that he possesses greater strength than the three of them combined. Solo declares that the temple was a falsehood that has now ended, and he intends to leave. Despite Tai's objections, Hennix and Voe ignite their lightsabers to prevent Solo from escaping. When Voe attacks Solo, he freezes her in mid-air and throws her into Hennix.
The three Jedi prepare to confront Solo collectively, but he employs the Force to violently levitate debris from the temple and hurls it at them. Solo ceases his attack upon realizing that Hennix has been impaled in the side by a large piece of debris. Voe attempts to remove it, but Hennix advises that the procedure would be safer on the Verity. Tai and Voe decide to prioritize Hennix's safety over preventing Solo's escape, and Solo departs in a nearby ship, the Grimtaash.
Aboard the Verity, Tai attends to Hennix's injuries while Voe pilots the ship, pursuing the Grimtaash. To evade the Verity, Solo executes an attack run and fires a precise shot to damage the opposing ship's main engines, opting to disable rather than destroy the vessel.
With the other Jedi incapacitated, Geegee, the Grimtaash's onboard droid, inquires about Solo's intended destination. Geegee asks if Solo plans to visit his mother, Leia Organa, whom he has not seen recently. As Solo hesitates, a disembodied voice familiar to Solo asks if the event they both anticipated has occurred. Solo experiences a flashback, starting with the moment he and Skywalker crossed lightsabers. Solo collapses his cabin upon them and then emerges from the wreckage. Solo expresses rage and confusion over his uncle's attack. As he cries out for answers, he directs his ignited lightsaber at the temple, which is under a cloudless night sky. His pupils constrict, his eyes cloud with red, and similar red storm clouds materialize above the temple. He questions the sight of them. The clouds release lightning that destroys the temple, setting it ablaze and killing the students inside. Solo is knocked off his feet and sees the bodies of dead students. When he attempts to enter the burning temple, he is 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—Skywalker—did. In the present, Solo instructs Geegee that he will not be going to Hosnian Prime and sets a new course.
On the Verity, Tai suggests that they must locate Solo and considers using the Force to do so. Hennix enters the cockpit and informs them that they can track the Grimtaash via a transponder that Geegee will activate upon departure, a standard procedure in case of mission complications. Tai questions whether they should inform Solo's mother, Leia Organa, about the events, but Voe suggests that they should first uncover the truth behind Solo's betrayal and the temple's destruction before involving an outside party.
Later, Solo lands the Grimtaash at an unidentified space station and meets with Snoke. They embrace, and Solo comments on Snoke's scarred appearance, attributing it to Skywalker. Snoke redirects the conversation to Skywalker's near-fatal actions toward Solo, but Solo dismisses it, claiming he killed Skywalker. Snoke expresses doubt about Skywalker's death and suggests they address that issue later. Snoke inquires about Solo's plans now that he is no longer under Skywalker's tutelage. Solo reveals that he has been contemplating joining the Knights of Ren.
Skywalker: A Family at War, authored by Kristin Baver, presents the temple fire and student deaths in this issue as an event that was investigated in-universe and subsequently misattributed by some to a natural weather phenomenon rather than Force manipulation. While some publications released after this issue do not explicitly mention the storm, they maintain that Ben Solo was responsible for burning and destroying the Jedi temple, resulting in the demise 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 [1] 00111; Cover A; Clayton Crain 00121; Cover B; John Tyler Christopher 00131; Cover C 00141; Cover D; Carmen Carnero & Rachelle Rosenberg
- UPC 759606097418; January 29 , 2020 ; Marvel Comics; Second printing [12] 00112; Cover E; Clayton Crain
- UPC 759606097418; March 4 , 2020; Marvel Comics; Third printing [13] 00113; Cover F; Clayton Crain
- UPC 759606097418; July 22 , 2020; Marvel Comics; Fourth printing [14] 00114; Cover G; Clayton Crain