Kylo Ren idolized Darth Vader, but Vader’s story did not really end the way Kylo wanted it to. He came back to the light, saved Luke, and rejected the path of the Sith at the very end. So did Kylo Ren know about Vader’s redemption, or was he chasing a false version of his grandfather’s legacy?
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Kylo Ren Did Know What Vader Chose at the End
Kylo Ren appears to have known that Darth Vader turned against the Emperor at the end of Return of the Jedi. The clearest evidence comes from The Force Awakens novelization, where Snoke directly refers to Vader’s final decision on the second Death Star. He tells Kylo that the Empire fell because Vader “succumbed to emotion at the crucial moment” and says that if “the father had killed the son, the Empire would have prevailed.” Kylo then answers, “I will not be seduced. I am immune to the light.” That exchange shows Kylo already knew what Vader did. Snoke is talking about Vader choosing Luke over the Emperor, and Kylo answers as if he already understands that history.
J.J. Abrams explained the same idea in even plainer terms. He said, “Kylo Ren idolizes Darth Vader, not Anakin Skywalker,” and that Kylo admires “what Vader represents and what Vader was trying to do.” Abrams also says that, from Kylo’s point of view, Vader “didn’t succeed” because he was “seduced by the enemy and failed because of that seduction.” That lines up directly with Snoke’s speech in the novelization. Kylo knows Vader saved Luke, but he reads that moment as Vader failing at the end, not as Vader being redeemed.
But Kylo Ren Saw Vader’s Redemption as Weakness
The key point is not just that Kylo Ren knew what Vader did, but how he was taught to understand it. In The Force Awakens novelization, Snoke does not describe Vader’s final act as redemption. He describes it as failure. He tells Kylo that Vader “succumbed to emotion at the crucial moment” and calls it “a foolish error in judgment.” He even spells out the dark-side version of what should have happened: if “the father had killed the son,” the Empire would have survived. Kylo’s answer shows he accepts that framing. He does not push back or defend Vader’s choice. Instead, he says, “I will not be seduced. I am immune to the light.”
That exchange is what makes Kylo’s view of Vader so revealing. He knows Vader saved Luke, but he does not talk about it as compassion, redemption, or Anakin Skywalker finally returning. He talks about it the way Snoke wants him to talk about it: as the moment Vader failed. So Kylo is not admiring Vader’s whole story. He is clinging only to the version of Vader that existed before that final decision on the second Death Star.
Kylo Ren Knew the Truth, But Chose the Part He Wanted
Kylo Ren knew how Vader’s story ended, but he separated that ending from the version of Vader he wanted to follow. The exchange with Snoke already shows that. Kylo does not deny that Vader saved Luke. He does not question Snoke’s version of what happened. Instead, he answers by saying he will not make the same mistake. That means Kylo is treating Vader’s final choice as the part of the story he has to resist, not the part he has to understand.
So when Kylo keeps talking to Vader’s helmet and trying to live up to Vader’s legacy, he is not embracing Vader’s whole life. He is holding onto the image of Darth Vader before Endor and discarding what came after. In Kylo’s mind, the real legacy is Vader as the Emperor’s enforcer, not Vader saving Luke on the second Death Star. That is why he can know the truth and still obsess over Vader. He is choosing only the version of Vader that fits the path he wants for himself.