Star Wars: What other endings for Ben Solo could there have been?

Many fans, myself included, weren’t happy with the decision to kill off the redeemed Ben Solo at the end of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. Truth is, it had to happen and here’s why.

Editor’s note: There are spoilers throughout for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker ended on a sad note, as the redeemed Ben Solo transferred the rest of his life force to bring Rey back from the dead. After an embrace and kiss between the two star crossed lovers, Ben entered into the nether world of the Force, with his entire body fading away.

This was an expected end to the saga, to be honest. If this is truly the end of the Skywalker saga then all living  Skywalkers should meet their fates. While it was the expected ending, it was also the easy way out. To have Ben Solo live would’ve been a surprise and a welcome one at that.

After thinking about it for longer than I’d like to admit, having Ben Solo die is really the only option the filmmakers had. There are other scenarios they could’ve gone with but none likely would’ve worked.

Here are some other endings for Ben Solo’s story arc they could’ve gone with, and why they probably wouldn’t have made sense in the overall narrative of the sequel trilogy.