One of the takeaways from the “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” trailers was that Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) repaired his signature mask after destroying it in “The Last Jedi.”
What happened: Ren debuted in the sequel trilogy wearing a Darth Vader-like mask, sending chills up the spines of anyone who opposed him. But in “The Last Jedi,” Ren shattered the mask out of his frustrations of not being taken seriously by his mentor, Supreme Leader Snoke.
Now: In the trailer for “Rise of Skywalker,” Ren’s mask has been put back together with a red-orange melding solution. And the film’s director, JJ Abrams, said in the upcoming edition of Empire magazine that putting the mask back together was intentional, per ComicBook.com.
Abrams: “Having him be masked, but also fractured, is a very intentional thing,” Abrams shared with Empire Magazine (H/T Reddit). “Like that classic Japanese process of taking ceramics and repairing them, and how the breaks in a way define the beauty of the piece as much as the original itself. As fracted as Ren is, the mask becomes a visual representation of that. There’s something about this that tells his history. His mask doesn’t ultimately hide him and his behavior is revealed.”
Flashback: In September, a leaked photo for “Star Wars Insider” magazine showed off Ren’s new mask, too. Indeed, it’s the same mask from “Force Awakens” and “The Last Jedi,” only with red, vein-like lines sprouting through it, as reported by the Deseret News.