I came across that old Reddit thread where someone joked, “Tree hugging Snoke be wilding out here and creeping on young Kylo,” and people were pretty shocked in the comments. The funny part is that the thread wasn’t wrong at all. Let’s go through the full picture.
The Knights Of Ren And The Door Ben Would Soon Walk Through
The issue opens with the Knights of Ren doing what they do best: fighting, pushing through danger, and treating violence as part of their code. Their leader, Ren, meets two brothers—Karrst and Filin—while Sector Security forces close in.
Ren introduces himself with calm confidence:
“I am called Ren… but that’s not my name.”
He explains their belief system, which centers around something he calls the shadow or the red, and he describes how the Knights live by that force-driven instinct:
“The red doesn’t stop to worry about what it’s burning… the Ren just is. It lives and it consumes and it doesn’t apologize.”
Ren tells Karrst they heard he could “touch the shadow,” which is their way of talking about Force sensitivity. To join them, Ren demands a death, and says:
“A good death… my brother.”
Filin panics and kills Karrst first, trying to prove himself, but Ren rejects him since he cannot use the Force. He kills Filin on the spot. When one of the Knights asks if they found their new member, Ren answers:
“No… but the master will find us someone else soon enough.”
This opening sets the tone for everything that comes later with Ben and Snoke. The Knights follow a master. They are shaped by the dark. And Ben is already on a collision course with them, even before he knows it.
The Temple, The Fight, And The Voice That Follows Ben Into The Stars
The story then moves to the night the Jedi temple burns in 28 ABY. The flames are still spreading as Ben stands alone. Three Jedi trainees—Hennix, Tai, and Voe—return from off-world and sense only one familiar presence: Ben.
They run to him in total confusion. Voe asks where Luke is. Ben answers with a heavy mix of fear and anger:
“He attacked me… tried to kill me in my sleep. And now he’s dead.”
Voe refuses to believe that. Ben replies:
“You don’t think I could do it?… I was the temple’s prize student.”
The argument turns into a fight when Voe and Hennix block Ben’s escape route. Ben warns them:
“Just get out of my way. I won’t be responsible for what happens if you force me to fight you.”
They move forward anyway, and Ben uses the Force with speed and precision the comic highlights well. He throws Voe into Hennix, then faces all three together. This time he uses debris from the falling temple, and the fight ends with Hennix badly injured.
Ben flees and gets into his ship. As his droid Geegee asks for a destination, a familiar voice slips into Ben’s mind. The voice asks if something happened that both Ben and Snoke feared might someday happen. Ben falls into a memory of that night—Luke entering his hut, their clash, and the roof falling.
In the memory, Ben looks toward the temple. A storm forms above it. Red lightning hits the building and spreads through it. Students die at once. Ben whispers:
“I never… I didn’t want this.”
The voice answers:
“You did not choose it, Ben. The Jedi did. Skywalker.”
This moment shows how Snoke moves into Ben’s thoughts when he is most vulnerable. Snoke uses Ben’s fear and shock to pull him closer, framing the event as something that was done to him, not something that spiraled out of control.
Ben sets a new course after this moment. Meanwhile, the three surviving Jedi decide to pursue him through space, trying to save their friend or bring him to justice depending on who is speaking.
Snoke’s Welcome And The Way He Draws Ben In
Ben finally lands on a quiet space-station garden inside glass domes. The place looks gentle on the surface, though the comic shows a slow corruption spreading under it. When Ben gets out of his ship, Snoke walks toward him with open arms and says:
“My boy… I’m so pleased you came to me.”
They embrace, and Ben notices Snoke’s scars. The scene feels very personal, and Snoke’s tone remains soft while they talk about Luke. Ben says:
“I killed him.”
Snoke answers:
“Do you think so? Luke Skywalker will not die easily.”
Snoke then shifts the entire conversation toward Ben’s next steps, and says one of the most important lines in the issue:
“Let us put Skywalker aside for now. He has stolen too much of your life as it is.”
He asks Ben what he plans to do, now that Luke is no longer guiding him. Ben takes a moment, then gives the answer that sets him on his future path:
“I’ve been thinking about the Knights of Ren.”
This final scene shows how Snoke gets close to Ben not by force, but by acting warm, welcoming, and protective. He works his way into Ben’s emotions at a moment when Ben feels cut off from everyone else. The Knights of Ren become the next step, and Snoke is the one guiding him toward it.
Tree hugging Snoke be wilding out here and creeping on young Kylo.
byu/NatsuDragneel– inStarWars
The comic shows something more personal about Ben and Snoke than what the films explore. Snoke steps into Ben’s life not as a distant leader, but almost as a parental figure who waits for the exact moment Ben breaks. He speaks with warmth, welcomes him with open arms, and turns Ben’s fear into a path he can control.
Nothing in this issue changes the tragic events of that night at the temple. The details simply reveal how fast Snoke moves to fill the space left behind, how easily he shifts the story, and how naturally he guides Ben toward the Knights of Ren.