Star Wars: Legacy of Vader #9
REIGN OF KYLO REN PART 9
Even after killing Snoke and taking the mantle of Supreme Leader, Kylo Ren still struggles with forging his own path in the shadow of his family’s legacy.
Kylo’s quest to kill the past led him to Darth Vader’s former home, where the young tyrant met the erstwhile aide of the Dark Lord, a man by the name of Vaneé.
In other parts of the galaxy, Kylo’s former acolytes, the Knights of Ren, follow a new leader, Tava Ren. This dark warrior sought Kylo out, pledging her loyalty to him. But Tava’s true motives remain mysterious….
Writer: Charles Soule
Artist: Luke Ross
Letterer: Joe Caramagna
Colorist: Nolan Woodward
Cover artist: Derrick Chew
Editor: Mark Pannicia
Publication date: October 15th 2025
It’s rare that Kylo Ren is faced by such a fearless visitor, but that’s what we see on the opening splash page of Legacy of Vader #9, as Tava Ren kneels before Kylo, realising she’s a Knight of Ren and activating his crossguard lightsaber, slashing at her as she flips out of the way, and with both their sabers ignited they clash, Tava asking if Kylo wants to know why she is there. He doesn’t, and the skirmish continues until a nearby First Order commander orders his troops to open fire on her, which instantly angers Kylo Ren to the point of using the Force to hurl them – and there are many – away, wanting to deal with it himself.
Tava is smiling, telling Ren that this must be more fun than he’s had in ages, and as he remmebers the battle alongside Rey after his execution of Snoke he utters ‘enough’, and asks why she has come, as he has no interest in the Knights of Ren anymore. She calls him out – he still carries their name, telling him the Knights are in awe and terrified of him in equal measure. She claims not to see what their fear is based on, but he quickly gains the upper hand, taking her saber and prepares to behead her, but she catches his interest when asking who else can discuss such matters with him but her?
We see them next in a banqueting room, Tava eating and explaining that the Knights are around, but too fearful to join her. She’s their leader, and Kylo wonders how that happened; simple, he treated them like garbage, and she treated them like they’re a prize, and we flashback to her history with the Knights. How she found them shattered, working as enforcers for a local gangleader, and how she – a hired assassin – learned who they were, killed the gangleader and freed them after a job gone wrong. Taking command, she was now Tava Ren, but knowing the how Kylo wants to know the why. Calmly she explains that her original plan was to come and kill him, but now she senses he’s fascinated by her. She believes he understands her as she feels she understands him. Rather than Supreme Leader, he’s a wild man who lives in a cage to which he has the key, and she pushes on, how he has a destiny but the First Order isn’t the pathway to it, and as she moves closer they kiss, with Kylo pulling back. She smiles, clearly believing she has him where she wants him, but he pauses and then puts a call to his troops describing Tava Ren and ordering that she not make it off the ship alive.
She’s rattled, but he tells her he’s exactly who he’s supposed to be and watches as she takes back her lightsaber, telling him that everything she said about him is true and flees, battling incredible odds and surviving until tremendous numbers arrives and she uses the Force to lift a transport and slams it into the advancing troops, springing aboard her ship and away as Kylo watches the ship leap to hyperspace.
One of the fair criticisms of the sequel trilogy was how the advance of the First Order and the motivations of the characters, especially those of the First Order, were never fleshed out or explained, but Lucasfilm and Marvel have done a solid job of continuing the story, taking us into avenues that have turned out to be fascinating to investigate. Legacy of Vader is no exception, delving into Kylo’s mind and his relationship with the legacy of his grandfather and his own motivations. Issue 9, while on the face of it being a straightforward clash of combatants, answers a question many of us would never think to ask; why is Kylo still using the title of the Knights of Ren when he has long outgrown them and moved on? That’s not fully answered here, but in the spirit of his own words – “kill the past, destroy it if you have to” – it’s a question that would certainly bear further exploration.
Attractive art by Luke Ross, a striking cover by Derrick Chew, great use of splash pages and framing and a version of Kylo that Charles Soule very much has in the pocket, this has been a great read so far, proving that despite the criticism the story and characters of the sequel trilogy very much deserve and require further investigation.
