Star Wars 25 pays off Luke Skywalker line from The Last Jedi

Before Luke Skywalker’s Force projection disappears in The Last Jedi, his final words to his Kylo Ren are, “See you around, kid.” Many fans thought this line would be paid off in The Rise of Skywalker, perhaps through Luke’s Force ghost interacting with his nephew, which could contribute to Ben Solo’s ultimate redemption and return to the light.

While The Rise of Skywalker did not follow through on Luke’s words, the Star Wars #25 comic by Charles Soule has followed through on it.

One of the four stories in Soule’s comic is titled “See You Around, Kid” and is told from the perspective of Kylo Ren after The Last Jedi and before The Rise of Skywalker. This story shows Kylo Ren revisiting important locations from his past with Luke Skywalker as Kylo is haunted by Luke’s last words and desperate to have the reckoning he feels he deserves.

He first goes to Crait, which is where he faced off against his uncle’s Force projection, and where Luke delivered the “see you around, kid” line. Kylo then goes to Elphrona where he first met the Knights of Ren and faced them with Luke many years ago, a story that is from Soule’s The Rise of Kylo Ren comics.

The last planet he goes to is the location of Luke’s Jedi temple and academy, which the novel Shadow of the Sith revealed to be the planet Ossus. Kylo Ren orders General Hux to bombard the location from orbit.

Much to Kylo’s chagrin, Luke does not appear on any of these planets. While his Force ghost probably could appear before his nephew, it is more impactful to not appear. Kylo Ren is not yet ready to listen or to grow from anything his uncle has to say.

Luke said everything that needed to be said during their showdown on Crait. Kylo needs to finish grappling with those words and his unresolved feelings before having any chance of earning redemption and returning to the light.

It is satisfying to finally see the full impact of Luke’s words on his nephew and to see how that impact didn’t have to be Kylo literally seeing Luke’s Force ghost. This story also helps to bridge the gap between Kylo’s story in The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker.

The Last Jedi left him shaken to the core by Luke, but in The Rise of Skywalker, he had seemingly moved on from that. Star Wars #25 shows how Kylo tried and failed to deal with those feelings, but also why he’d moved on by The Rise of Skywalker.

The sequel trilogy films may have concluded, but stories like “See You Around, Kid” in Star Wars #25 continue to enrich the sequel trilogy’s characters and overall narrative.