In the end, it was Ben Solo’s father who saved him…not an all mighty Jedi.
“If Luke couldn’t reach him, how could I?” Han Solo said to Leia Organa in The Force Awakens referring to their troubled son.
“Luke is a Jedi, you’re his father. There’s still light in him. I know it,” Leia responded.
This small conversation rang true through the whole sequel trilogy. Later on in TFA, Han knew the Starkiller operation was essentially a suicide mission and didn’t pass up the last chance to save his son.
He didn’t save Ben in that moment but his sacrifice split Kylo/Ben to the bone…setting up his redemption later. Without Han’s sacrifice it’s likely there is no Bendemption and The Rise of Skywalker tells us that with it’s most touching scene.
The TRoS scene is Kylo/Ben’s memory (which is stated). His dark deed had been haunting him for over a year and it was the combination of Leia and Rey that pushed Ben Solo over the top to have this “vision” that truly saved him.
In The Last Jedi, Luke encounters Kylo one last time. He says multiple times he’s not there to save Ben…or his soul. He was there to do the most Jedi thing ever, to save the last spark of hope in the galaxy via self sacrifice. Luke knows he’s not the one to save Ben, he knows Han’s death haunts him and has split him.
Now for those of you who think that Han’s sacrifice (and even Leia’s) were for nothing, you’re wrong. If Ben doesn’t show up on Exegol, Rey would have fallen to dark side and gone through with the sacrifice that would engulf her with the power of the Sith. Once Rey saw Ben through the Force bond she knew that was the way out of things.
Secondly, Ben brings Rey back to life which is handing the baton off to the next generation of peacekeeping Jedi. Yes, it sucks that Ben had to die (maybe there’s a loophole out of that in the future though?! TBD…) but he saved the galaxy, the one he loved, and the future of the Jedi in doing so.
