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Kylo Ren ’s ( Adam Driver ) bow of repurchase in theStar Warssequels did n’t live up to its full potential , while Prince Zuko ’s onAvatar : The Last Airbendershows what it could have looked like . Avatarwas late add together toNetflix , and its strong debut has manifest the show ’s staying power and continued popularity . DespiteAvatarconcluding its three - season narration all the way back in 2008 , it did n’t take long for the show to rise to becomeNetflix ’s most viewed serial .
To be sure , both theStar Warssequels andAvatarhave seen their percentage of ups and down . 2017’sStar war : The Last Jediand as well as last year’sStar war : The Rise of Skywalkerboth remain polarizing entries into theStar Warscanon . At the same time , Avatarwas the basis of a really ruinous 2010 big - cover adaptation , The Last Airbender . While both brands remain undeniably strong , theStar Warssequel trilogy has proven arguably as controversial amongStar Warsfandom as the prequels once were .
While a number of aspect have factored into fans ' divided reaction , Kylo Ren ’s journey from scoundrel to hero sandwich has been among the most contentious point . It ’s for certain tough to refuse that Kylo ’s twist from the First Order ’s most pitiless putting to death machine to Rey ’s ( Daisy Ridley ) friend at the end ofThe Rise of Skywalkerwas the most undercooked aspect of theStar Warssequels . At the same meter , Zuko ’s course to becoming a submarine onAvatarnot only follows a very interchangeable overall template , but it also illustrates just where Kylo Ren ’s salvation went wrong .
Similarities Between Zuko & Kylo Ren
The striking thing about Zuko and Kylo Ren ’s various paths towards redemption is how much they run parallel to one another . Both Zuko and Kylo were trained in metaphysical fight disciplines , with each also bearing internalized scars from family fight . In Zuko ’s suit , his nerve was badly burned by his father , Firelord Ozai , in an Agni Kai , followed by his deportee from the Fire Nation , while Kylo , as Ben Solo , awoke to the sight of his uncle and Jedi skipper Luke Skywalker ( Mark Hamill ) destine to slay him with a Lightsaber for fearfulness of Kylo ’s internal dark , and Kylo subsequently cut off all ties to his family .
From there , both Zuko and Kylo compromised their ethical motive to find controller over their own lives . With Zuko only able to revoke his expat if he captures the Avatar , this leads to his determination to get hold ofAang , while Kylo ally himself with the Dark Side of The Force and the First Order . Kylo finally becomes positive that wiping out all remnants of the past and starting a new Empire with Rey is the only Leslie Townes Hope for the Galaxy . Unfortunately , when it came to Kylo , his journey back to the luminousness was hinder in a bit of different way .
Why Kylo Ren’s Redemption Story Didn’t Work
Much of the weakness of Kylo ’s buyback arrive down to how much it was fast - cross . BothStar Wars : The Force AwakensandThe Last Jedigave Kylo an manifest ferociousness that was season only by his steadfast belief in the wiseness of the path he was walking . While that ’s still present inThe Rise of Skywalker , it ’s cut back off at the knees by his female parent Leia ’s ( Carrie Fisher ) last ditch effort to reach out out to him through The Force . Ironically , it ’s follow by the picture ’s potent scene of Kylo ’s vision of his father Han Solo ( Harrison Ford ) , with Kylo ultimately toss his Lightsaber into the ocean and go away the Dark Side behind . For as muscular a consequence at it is in its inversion of Han ’s death inThe Force Awakens , Leia ’s moment of connexion with her son is the accelerator to a very quick succession of events : from Rey transfix and then cure Kylo to the tantrum with Han , which bring him back in time for the climactic engagement . The arc ’s speed at long last illustrates the false belief of Kylo ’s redemption .
For as far work as Kylo is by this point , along with how much he ’s distanced himself from his phratry , Leia ’s cause to connect with him interpenetrate his defense far too easily . Like Anakin Skywalker before him , Kylo is also a mankind with considerable parentage on his hands , include his own father ’s . This have his decision to finallyjoin forces with Rey in the final battlefeel very sudden when stack up against the role he ’s embodied for ninety - five percent of the subsequence trilogy by then . At the same time , comparing his rejoinder to the Christ Within to Zuko ’s show how much more the latter was capable to stick the landing place .
Why Zuko’s Redemption Story Was Better
Though Zuko ’s tale had the benefit of being tell with an overall great breadth of material , it was also capable to hit on several points that Kylo Ren ’s was not . First and foremost , Zuko was an antagonist that viewerswere set up to empathize withby his barbarous expatriate from the Fire country and loss of his honor , and even more so by how young he was when these events bechance him . Whereas Ozai was out to conquer the world , Zuko was just dealt a very risky handwriting , and bewitch Aang was no more than a agency to the end of his re - entry into the Fire Nation and the regaining of his honour .
Despite this , Avatarmade sure to receipt that the young Prince of the Fire Nation still had to atone for his natural process , with Zuko being pass up in his initial seek to connect forces with Team Avatar . Katara in special was reluctant to trust him , and even once he was allowed in , Zuko had to prove that he had truly vary . Even more so , Zuko ’s betrayal of hisUncle Irohat the end of the second season was his expectant failing . Zuko ’s balancing with Iroh was quite possibly the most intestine - wrenchingly emotional minute ever seen onAvatar , and as with his young alliance with Aang and his friends , the show hold off on it long enough for Zuko to come to full realize the error of his way and that the onus to make restitution was on his shoulders . Zuko join Team Avatar also came latterly enough into the third and final time of year for his redemption to have an force , but also with enough of the show remain for his re - alinement to decent involve him in the Fire commonwealth ’s defeat . On top of that , Zuko ’s rapprochement with Iroh from his other treachery come about in part two ofAvatar ’s four - part finale , " Sozin ’s Comet , " cook the moment of their tearful reconnection feel like something that Zuko had genuinely earn .
For as closely as Zuko and Kylo Ren ’s stories of salvation mirror each other , Kylo ’s had substantial gap in the route it postulate to get him to become a hoagie once more . At the same prison term , Zuko ’s journeying forced him to in full face the reality of his own failings without unlimited villainizing him , and that not only made Zuko ’s salvation an essential aspect of the show , but a truly fulfilling story of a youthful human being ’s pursuit to domesticise his accolade and finally doing so in the opposite way from how he reckon he had to . In the destruction , Avatar : The Last Airbendercrafted a gripping tarradiddle of Zuko ’s retentive route towards redemption , and the fact that it was such a long one shows where Kylo Ren ’s parallel level in theStar Warssequels come up short .
NEXT : Avatar : What bump To Zuko After The Last Airbender Ended
