While Star Wars fans universally agree that Kylo Ren doesn’t hold a candle to Darth Vader in practically every regard, he actually had a much better chance of ruling the galaxy than Vader ever did–and one nearly fulfilled prophecy proves it.
Ben Solo, AKA Kylo Ren, became a warrior of the Dark Side after he was nearly assassinated by Luke Skywalker as a child due to his extremely strong connection to the Dark Side of the Force. After he ran away from his murderous uncle, Ben was seduced by Snoke (secretly Darth Sidious) and delved deeper into the ways of the Dark Side. However, rather than following the ways of the Sith, Ben earned the title of leader of the Knights of Ren–a group of nihilistic zealots who worship the ways of the Dark Side without adhering to the rules of the Sith and want nothing more than to spread chaos across the cosmos. From that moment forward, Ben Solo became Kylo Ren and militarized the once rogue Knights of Ren.
In Dark Horse Comics’ Star Wars: Legends series Star Wars: Darth Vader and the Ninth Assassin by Tim Siedell, Stephen Thompson, and Iván Fernández, Vader follows the trail of an organization known as the Heinsnake Cult as they have been trying to assassinate the Emperor. The trail leads to the cult’s homeworld where its religion reigns supreme in society. When Vader arrives, the cult leaders aren’t afraid of him, but are actually overjoyed by his arrival. Based on ancient hieroglyphs, their religion states that Darth Vader is the Chosen One to the Heinsnake Cult who is prophesied to bring about glorious chaos across the galaxy by eliminating the Jedi and the Sith then ruling the galaxy himself in a way that would make it erupt into anarchy.
Darth Vader unintentionally comes close to fulfilling this destiny, but he abandons it by helping his son, Luke Skywalker, fulfill his destiny of bringing balance to the Force. However, while Darth Vader failed in his duties as the Heinsnake Cult’s Chosen One, Kylo Ren inherits his grandfather’s destiny with a much better chance at success. By the end of Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Snoke is dead, Luke is dead, and Kylo Ren is the Supreme Leader of the First Order while retaining his title as the leader of the Knights of Ren. Ensuing chaos is essential to the Knights of Ren’s religion, just as it is for the Heinsnake Cult, and with Kylo Ren as the Supreme Leader of the galaxy with no Jedi or Sith in the picture strong enough to challenge him, Kylo Ren could have brought the Heinsnake Cult’s prophecy to its anarchistic conclusion by using his influence to spread chaos across the galaxy with his Knights of Ren.
Darth Vader was loyal to the Emperor and to the Sith, so when he was told of the Heinsnake Cult’s prophecy, he rejected it without a moment’s hesitation. However, Kylo Ren was never a Sith and proved by leading the Knights of Ren that his ideals fell more in line with the Heinsnake Cult’s way of thinking. For a brief moment following The Last Jedi, Kylo Ren was the highest authority in the galaxy and had every means to throw it into chaos once the Resistance was taken care of. Darth Vader was never in a position to rule the galaxy unchallenged as he died immediately after helping Luke stop the Emperor, plus his loyalty to the Sith would ensure the galaxy would remain under fascistic control if he were to take over. Kylo Ren had the means to rule while also having the backing of an ancient prophecy behind him, proving that he had a much better chance of ruling the Star Wars galaxy than Darth Vader ever did.
