Kylo Ren had infamously destroyed his helmet in The Last Jedi, but he's had it put back together for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. As it turns out, there's a kind of visual storytelling when it comes to the helmet, and Adam Driver talks a bit about what he thinks the helmet is symbolizing.
Talking to Entertainment Weekly, Driver explains, "It's another good example of [writers J.J. Abrams and Chris Terrio] kind of leading what's going on externally with the character with what is going on internally. That's not a new detail — it's been happening since The Force Awakens for that character. Even the first time we talked about putting on his suit, the suit was appropriately uncomfortable and that seemed like a really fun thing to play with — maybe he's literally uncomfortable in his own skin. It's restrictive in a way."
"And then he kind of goes through a rebirth over the second movie and starts to shed that a little bit and become who he is. He's a very unformed person, which is exciting to play and to have that be represented physically in a costume piece, or a lighting choice or, in this case, a helmet," Driver went on. "It's a coming together, he's cherry-picked things he's looked at through his history and that he's decided he wants to claim for who he is. So it's a physical representation of how that character has grown."
A lot of people are likening the red cracks as reminiscent of the Japanese art of Kintsugi where broken items are put back together with gold or silver; the philosophy is basically to portray that these imperfections/cracks should be displayed and celebrated rather than hidden away. We don't know what that means for Kylo Ren, but I think it's kind of him accepting it since he chose that helmet, and it was Snoke that wanted him to remove it; so him bringing it back is him embracing his own decisions and independence.
That's just my analysis though. I can't wait for the movie to come out so we can finally stop tip-toeing over spoilers and have in-depth discussions about the film.
For now, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is set to hit theaters Dec. 20.
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