Alright, y’all want a rundown of what exile looks like in Star Wars? Cuz this is exile in Star Wars, and it ain’t pretty, or nice, or good. Nor is it meant to be:
Yoda
“Failed, I have. Into exile, I must go.“ –Revenge of the Sith
“Perhaps the Empire thought he was long dead and had ceased searching. Or, more likely, the Empire did not care, so unimportant one ancient Jedi Master had become.
He sighed again. Maybe the Empire was right. About how unimportant he had become, that was.”
“Their exile had been too long and too lonely. But had the two of them remained together, the Empire would surely have found them.”
“For Yoda, the galaxy was so rapidly becoming emptier and emptier.”
“He held back the loneliness. He held back a galaxy without Obi-Wan.”
“And he whispered to himself, ‘Mourn them do not. Miss them do not. Rejoice for those who transform into the Force.’
But he was lonely.
‘Train yourself to let go of everything you fear to lose.’
But he was lonely, and old.
And he had failed.
He had not seen the paths the young Padawan Anakin had begun to take."
–“There Is Another”, From A Certain Point Of View
Ahsoka
"She was alone, something she was never meant to be. Her people were tribal…and her ability to use the Force gave her a galaxy of brethren from all species. Even after she left the Jedi Temple, she could feel the others when she wanted to–the ebb and flow of them in the Force around her.
Until, of course, she couldn’t.”
“…the yawning gulf that had haunted her since Order 66.”
“…there was a darkness to her meditations now that she didn’t like. …The familiar presence of Anakin was gone… Ahsoka couldn’t feel him anymore, or any of the others. Even the sense of the Jedi as a whole was gone… She missed it like she would have missed a limb.”
“She felt the familiar tightness in her throat, the same strangling grief that came every time she imagined what had happened when the clone troopers turned.”
“Ahsoka found herself spiraling down through her grief and reached out to grasp onto something, anything, to remind her of the light.”
“The Jedi were gone. Ahsoka thought it mercilessly, over and over again–still too afraid to say the words out loud–until she could take the final step: the Jedi were dead. All of them. …They were dead, and there was nothing Ahsoka could do.
Why had it been her? She’d had that thought a hundred times since Order 66. Why had she survived? She wasn’t the most powerful; she wasn’t even a Jedi Knight, and yet she was still alive when so many others had died. She asked the question so often because she knew the answer. She just hated facing it, as painful as it was. She’d survived because she had left. …She walked away from the Jedi…and because of that she was alive, whether she deserved to be or not.” –Ahsoka
Obi-Wan
“Bail thought of Obi-Wan, sitting by himself on some Outer Rim world. His sacrifice was to take himself out of the way, to focus only on the future and not give any thought to the present. It would be a lonely way to live, even if it was peaceful, and Bail did not envy him at all.”
“He’d gone to Shmi Skywalker’s grave to apologize for losing her son. He had never met her…but Qui-Gon had made her a promise and Obi-Wan hadn’t been able to keep it. As he stood there, looking at the stone, he felt an even deeper shame.” –Ahsoka
"‘For nearly two decades, I have been little more than a shadow waiting to become a Jedi Knight again.’"
"Only after Anakin’s fall did [Qui-Gon] push himself to appear fully. …This he did for Obi-Wan; at least his Padawan did not have to spend his years in the desert entirely alone."
"But after all his losses, all his sacrifices, all these endless years in the desert, Obi-Wan Kenobi still wants more life." –"Master and Apprentice”, FACPOV
“Nineteen years. Nineteen years since I left him to die. Nineteen years of reliving his corruption every night in my dreams.” –“Time of Death”, FACPOV (Obi-Wan was having recurring, depressing ptsd dreams about Anakin during his entire exile, y’all)
Luke
“I see things that are not yet to be. …worst of all, Luke, as I am now, an old man, his face creased, his eyes haunted. He’s cut off from those who love him, consumed by regret and sorrow. It is too much to bear, a future I never want to see." –"Time of Death”, FACPOV
“’Do you think I don’t know my friends are suffering? Or that I came to the most unfindable place in the galaxy for no reason at all?’”
“He wondered what that Luke Skywalker would think of what he’d become.”
“…whatever had happened to him had led him to reject his own legacy as well. Not for the first time, she wondered if he had slipped into madness during his years in exile.
But the bearded man in the rough-hewn woolens didn’t look insane. Just profoundly sad.”
“Rey wondered if he relived those dark times every day, brooding on top of the island as when she’d first met him, or if he never did–if it was her arrival that had forced him to confront the events that had caused him to shut himself away from family and friends and vanish."
“‘…it was I who broke that family. I failed. Because I was Luke Skywalker, Jedi Master. A legend.’
He said that last word as if it were something terrible–a burden and a curse.”
“…a broken man dragged back into a storm he’d thought he’d escaped.” –The Last Jedi novelization
“And I was left with shame and with consequence.”
"I came to this island to die." –The Last Jedi
******************************
Exile in Star Wars is grief, shame, anguish, guilt, survivor’s guilt, and intense loneliness. Exile in Star Wars (and in general, really) isn’t a salvation, it’s a penance. And Ben Solo is already paying the penance for his own sins, and his grandfather’s, and the fatal mistakes of his Jedi forebears that have been reverberating throughout his family and the galaxy for decades. Which is why one of the purposes of this trilogy is to make it clear that, finally, enough is enough.
LF protecting their beautiful, beautiful tortured boy.
He literally throws temper tantrums but ok it’s not that I don’t like him, he’s just literally a child
Children throw temper tantrums because they are young and due to their youth they haven’t learned how to properly express their emotions. They usually grow out of them as they mature and their capacity for processing their emotions increases. Children who are spoiled may throw tantrums in order to get their way, but spoiled adults exhibit their spoiled attitudes differently.
If an adult exhibits a pattern of tantrum-like behavior then it’s no longer due to being spoiled and it’s a medical issue usually of a psychiatric nature. Some examples are autism, intermittent explosive disorder, and intellectual disabilities. Please don’t infantilize people who struggle with explosive episodes by calling them literal children. The only literal children are people who are child aged.
If you read the article the creators of Wreck-it Ralph say they wanted to be true to the character and Lucasfilm informed them that Kylo being a spoiled child isn’t true to his character. I think it’s interesting that the TLJ novelization has Leia remember that he struggled with explosive issues as a child and now we know that the source of his issues wasnot due to being spoiled. I’m sorry if this came across as confrontational, but it’s something I feel really passionate about due to my own conditions.
I’m actually really happy that Lucasfilm isn’t perpetuating the attitude that adults with these issues are just spoiled because it really hurts those of us who are trying to manage their condition.
I’m sorry, I didn’t know that and I really didn’t mean to be offensive. I don’t think he has any psychological issues besides maybe some anger issues tho?
@aro-ace-from-outer-space22 You’re URL is awesome btw. Surprisingly enough, Kylo is actually 29 years old rather than 18. People with extreme anger issues count as a mental illness. Intermittent Explosive Disorder is this for example. According to the directors Kylo is also struggling to grow up which mentally well people don’t usually struggle with. So him coming across as young despite being well into adulthood is intentional. This is usually a sign of trauma. In the TLJ novelization Luke senses that Kylo’s rampage on Crait is more about pain and fear than anger. Luke also in the confrontation on Crait “sensed that Kylo Ren was just a shell around the same broken boy he had tried so hard to reach.” (p 297) Also this is his reaction to seeing Luke.
He has to sit down to collect himself.
“He had seen his apprentice’s enormous potential when he was still a child–the latent power of the Skywalker bloodline was impossible to miss. And he had also seen how to exploit the boy’s feelings of inadequacy and abandonment, and his mother’s guilt and desperation to contain the darkness within her child.” (TLJ novelization P 222) This passage is about Snoke manipulating Kylo since he was a child for his own uses which is child grooming and a form of child abuse. Abused children often develop anger issues and other forms of mental illness.
“It’s more than just having a ‘bad seed’ as a kid. Snoke had targeted this kid and knew that this kid was going to be incredibly powerful in the Force and wanted him as an ally.” – JJ Abrams, director of the The Force Awakens
There’s also evidence to suggest that Snoke has been manipulating Kylo since he was in the womb. These next passages are pretty long so I’m going to use the screenshots that @corseque helpfully provided us with.
Also this: “Kylo stood stone-faced as Snoke approached him, willing himself to remain still as one finger stretched for his cheek, then higher. The fingertip traced Kylo’s eyelid, leaving a streak of moisture behind.” I just…ew. Not gonna lie as a victim of abuse this really creeped me out. Snoke is evidently still abusing him.
They even filmed this scene but understandably decided not to use the footage.
(@ the person who made these gifs, thank you for the quality nightmare fuel)
It doesn’t excuse his actions, but it does explain why he has the issues he does and makes him more sympathetic.
I think even if Kylo didn’t have issues, making fun of behavior that is in adults a symptom of mental illness is pretty tasteless. That’s why I can’t stand all those “Crylo” and “Darth Tantrum” jokes.
Hey everyone! It’s been a while since I have written a meta, and this would be the first time that my meta is focusing on the villains, rather than the hero(es). I have seen that popular post about the Stockholm Syndrome and the three characters mentioned in the title here, however, this is not a rip-off, and I am taking a different spin on the relationship. Hope you have fun reading, leave comments, and don’t be shy to message me about this or anything else! 🙂 Oh, and, I could also probably write a whole separate meta on the villains’ narcissism/dark triad, there are whole books written on the topic, but I am trying to give a brief overview of all the aspects of the relationships, and draw all the parallels I can find.
Let’s get started! 🙂
A common denominator for
Supreme Leader Snoke (Star Wars), Mother Gothel (Tangled), and Judge Claude Frollo (The Hunchback of Notre Dame) would be the dark triad.
THE DARK TRIAD
The dark triad is a subject in psychology that deals with three traits – narcissism, machiavellianism, and psychopathy. All are conceptually distinct although empirical evidence shows them to be overlapping. They all point to a callous-manipulative interpersonal style.
Narcissism is characterized by grandiosity, pride, egotism, and a lack of empathy.
Machiavellianism is characterized by manipulation and exploitation of others, a cynical disregard for morality, and a focus on self-interest and deception.
Psychopathy is characterized by continuing antisocial behavior, impulsivity, selfishness, callousness, and remorselessness.
I will elaborate on how these traits (perhaps not all of them, but most of them) manifest themselves below.
One thing that all of these villains have done to their victims (Kylo Ren/Ben Solo, Rapunzel, and Quasimodo, respectively) was separating them from their families at a young age and then keeping them in isolation, in order to achieve selfish goals.
NARCISSISM
Apart from a certain air of grandiosity, egotism, and disregard for others, it is easy to see how pride manifests itself in the three antagonists, physically. There were two studies that determined that people with dark triad traits put more effort into their appearance. All three are vain – Snoke is dressed in a gold robe and slippers, Mother Gothel captured Rapunzel in order to remain young and beautiful forever, and Frollo adorns himself with large rings (do not get me wrong – nothing wrong with large rings, I am just talking about what they represent, in the limited character exposure we get! 😉 ).
STUNTED GROWTH, EXPLOITATION
One of the defining characteristics of these relationships is that the villain does not let their victim grow – otherwise the victim would certainly run away. While this stunting refers to the intellectual and emotional,in Rapunzel’s case, this is symbolized and presented in a literal way – Rapunzel wears a dress that is several sizes too small for her body, even though Mother Gothel does not seem to have monetary issues, and makes shopping trips. When it comes to the intellectual, Rapunzel only has three books, even though she obviously enjoys reading – she does it every morning. While Quasimodo is about 20 years old, we can see him still learning (or rather – endlessly repeating) the alphabet (Frollo: D? Quasimodo: Damnation?Frollo: E? Quasimodo: Eternal damnation!). Quazimodo is bright and he could certainly do more. Snoke somewhat stunts Kylo Ren’s intellectual growth – remember Snoke’s promise about the continuation of the training in exchange for Han Solo? – but the stunting is predominantly emotional (I will talk about the emotional aspects later).
The villains all exploit the victims – Kylo and Rapunzel possess supernatural gifts (”raw, untamed force power” – of use to Snoke for ruling the known universe, and a healing/rejuvenating power, respectively). When it comes to Judge Frollo, the exploitation is more subtle – when the archdeacon insists that Frollo mustn’t kill the malformed infant on the steps of a cathedral, Frollo says that the boy might prove to be of use one day. It is also worth mentioning that he did not spare Quasimodo out of pity, but he was “afraid for his immortal soul”.
CREATIVITY
It is interesting to remark how Kylo Ren, Rapunzel, and Quasimodo are all creative people.Kylo Ren practices calligraphy in a universe where everything is digital, Rapunzel paints, cooks, makes music, knits and charts the stars, whereas Quasimodo sculpts figurines and buildings out of wood and paints them. In a way, this indicates that they are responsive to outer stimuli, that they deeply process the events and the world around them, meaning that they are more open, and more vulnerable to “input”. This makes them a perfect target.
FAMILY
Upon isolation, the villains take up the role of the protagonists’ parents. Since the protagonists are being stunted in their development, and do not have enough of a critical opinion about their “caretakers”, they still believe in their parental figures’ judgement when it comes to what they should and should not do (less so over time).
There is also a lot of guilt-tripping going on, making the victim feel like a burden – the villain’s narrative is always a variant of how the world wanted/wants to kill the victims, and rejects them, but the they saved them.
Frollo tells Quasimodo that his mother abandoned him, and that anyone other than Frollo would have drowned him, had they found him. In a Star Wars novel, it is said that Snoke used Ben Solo’s feeling of inadequacy for his own purposes. While I have no proof of it, I am guessing that Snoke told Ben Solo how his mother, Leia, too involved into politics (novels), and father, Han, who would often be absent, did not care about him, and are abandoning him. This makes the victim clutch to their abuser, as they do not wish to be left again.
It is important to mention the following:
Rapunzel is in a tower, and her parents live far away.
Quasimodo is in his “cathedral sanctuary”, his mother dead, his father probably imprisoned. However, he wants to seek belonging among the people of Paris, establish a new “family”.
Kylo Ren, on the other hand, IS surrounded by people, BUT, from what I have concluded, he is “kept” secluded, something represented in his costume too, especially in The Force Awakens, where he is completely wrapped, to the point that not even a bit of his neck is showing. I also guess that, like Vader before him, he is seen as some sort of a strange wizard that no one really wants to be friends with. Instructed by Snoke, he killed his father – additionally, the deed makes it harder for him to go back home, to the Resistance, and to old friends. Snoke wanted to kill Leia, too.
LOVE INTERESTS
All the three villains try to – literally – destroy the protagonists’ romantic/sexual interests.
They convince the protagonists that their love interest is trying to exploit them and/or that their relationship is not genuine. Ironically, in the cases of Mother Gothel and Judge Claude Frollo, I think that they even think this to be at least partially true and that they may be projecting. This also implies that, as they are the ones uncovering this “truth” about the “manipulation”, and “protecting” their victims, they are the ones to be trusted as they have the protagonists’ best interests in mind.
While they are cutting off the emotional comfort and reassurance that the love interests would provide to the victims, making it easier for the victims to stand their ground and run away, I believe that they are also trying to prevent them from physical intimacy, that would help the victim transition from the child-like-state that they are in into (sexual) maturity. The villains intentionally infantilize their victims – Snoke calls Kylo Ren a child, Frollo calls Quasimodo “boy”.
SELF-ESTEEM
Another way in which the villains manipulate their victims is through ruining their self-esteem. This leaves a deep cut in the protagonists as, their whole lives, they receive both praise and insults from that ONE person (see the first paragraph in the segment “FAMILY”), whom they have respect and a certain sort of awe for. In part, they want to prove themselves, and that’s why they obey. For example, Frollo calls Quasimodo deformed, ugly, and implies that Quasimodo is intellectually inferior. Snoke mocks Kylo Ren for being emotional, sensitive, and compassionate. Mother Gothel makes plenty of remarks about Rapunzel’s “inadequacy”, including some about her appearance. The worst part is that the abusers tell their victims that that is simply the way things are, and that they are making all of those nasty comments for the victim’s own good, so no harm would come unto them. The lack of self-esteem makes it easier for fear to be instilled.
FEAR
Fear is a “great” way to manipulate victims and further isolate them. It does not take much to instill fear into Kylo Ren after the Luke Skywalker incident. It was, after all, his own uncle, who camein the night with the intent to kill him. When it comes to Quasimodo and Rapunzel, they were fed lies about the exaggerated dangers of other people and the world their whole lives. In Quasimodo’s case, the Festival of Fool’s day incident did not help.
THE GOLDEN CHILD AND THE SCAPEGOAT
A tactic that Snoke employs, as Kylo is not completely, literally, cut-off from the world (unlike Rapunzel and Quasi) is scapegoating. This is a technique that many narcissists employ (it does not fall into the diagnostic criteria for narcissism, but it is nevertheless well known). From what was briefly shown in The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi, we can conclude that General Hux is “the golden child” and Kylo Ren is blamed for failures whenever it serves a purpose for Snoke. This again instills a feeling of guilt and inadequacy, prompting Kylo to perform “better” next time.
IMAGINARY FRIENDS
Developing imaginary friends as a support network is a testimony to the deep loneliness that the caharacters are experiencing.
It is tragic that a twenty-year-old and a thirty-year-old are turning to stone gargoyles and a melted helmet of a dead man, respectively, for advice and support. This also shows that the trust between the victims and the perpetrators is one that is not based on trust and understanding.
Commentary:
Things turned out well in the end for Quasimodo and Rapunzel, and I hope that everything will work out for Kylo Ren/Ben Solo as well. I wish to say that he is not blameless for all that has happened so far in the sequel trilogy, but I am hoping for a redemption arc, and him breaking away from his old mindset.
Thank you for reading! Again, feel free to comment! 🙂
Disclaimer: I own nothing, entertainment and educational purposes only; I do not own any of the images or characters
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