7 years after the premiere of Star Wars: The Last Jedi, I still can’t believe that Star Wars missed the opportunity to take full advantage of one of its biggest plot twists. The Last Jedi is known for deviating greatly from the path Star Wars: The Force Awakens initially set, and not all of these deviations were negative. However, one plot twist still stands out the most to me.
The moment when Kylo Ren turns on Snoke and kills him using the Skywalker lightsaber is easily one of the franchise’s biggest plot twists. Viewers could have suspected that Kylo might actually begin to help Rey and slowly turn back to the light, but it wasn’t expected to begin with him killing his own master. The moment when Ren uses the Force to ignite the lightsaber into Snoke’s side was nothing short of shocking, creating incredible potential.
I still remember seeing this moment for the first time in the movie theater – there were audible gasps from most of the audience, and my jaw was dropped for the rest of the scene. My mind was trying to keep up with what my eyes were seeing, and the most prominent thing I remember thinking was “Is Kylo Ren actually about to turn back to the light as Ben Solo once again and help his mother and her Resistance?”
Unfortunately, Star Wars didn’t let this moment last. Kylo Ren simply took Snoke’s place, and I often wish that the franchise had taken more advantage of this thrilling plot twist. It clearly made an impact on the audience when it happened, but that excitement felt like it was almost for nothing when Kylo Ren simply replaced his former master. Now, this is something that will always be nagging in the back of my mind whenever I watch The Last Jedi, and I’ll always be left wondering what could have been.