Warning: This article contains SPOILERS for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
Disney’s Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker serves as the conclusion of Kylo Ren’s 3-movie arc, and, surprisingly, it does so in a way that’s reminiscent of Billy Hargrove’s journey on Netflix’s Stranger Things. After the 1980-set science fiction series proved to be a surprise hit for the streaming service, Stranger Things season 2 introduced a number of new faces: notably, Sadie Sink’s Maxine “Max” Mayfield and Dacre Montgomery as Billy, her older stepbrother. Season 2 saw Max rapidly integrate with the established party through Lucas. Billy, meanwhile, served as more of an antagonistic force. The Stranger Things season 2 finale, however, offered a brief glimpse as a different side to Billy — a scared boy in the face of his clearly abusive and domineering father.
Similar to how the show evolved Steve Harrington beyond his initial disposition, Stranger Things season 3 delved deeper into Billy’s character. After a fateful night, Billy found himself under the thrall of The Mind Flayer. As the otherworldly entity tried to gain a new foothold in the world, Billy was tasked with doing some unspeakable things. Throughout it all, however, it was clear how much Billy was trying to resist, often tearful just prior to numerous enforced actions: a trait not dissimilar to how Kylo’s conflict manifested. Billy’s conflict came to a head when Eleven psychically prompted a memory from Billy’s childhood to come to the forefront of his mind. Remembering his mother allowed Billy to regain control of his body during the epic Stranger Things mall show-down. Standing up to the Mind Flayer, Billy actively protected Eleven from the creature’s attacks — even at the tragic cost of his own life.
The parallels between Billy Hargrove and Kylo Ren are clear to fans of Star Wars. After all, while his parents, Han Solo and Leia Organa, could never be what’s considered abusive, they still had a massive legacy behind them. With the galaxy’s only remaining Jedi Master, Luke Skywalker, also part of the family, that’s a hell of a lot of pressure for Ben Solo to be born into — not to mention try to live up to. As such, it’s easy to see how Snoke (later revealed to be a puppet of Emperor Palpatine) was able to get inside Ben’s head under the guise Darth Vader and take control. The altercation between Ben and Luke, as revealed in Star Wars: The Last Jedi, served to send Ben further to the dark side and towards the Kylo Ren persona.
Both Billy Hargrove and Kylo Ren were prone to violent outbursts, lashing out at the world in response to some failure or unacknowledged internal anguish. Even Billy and Kylo’s respective journeys back to the light are all but identical. Billy’s redemptive moment was triggered by Eleven and a memory of his mother, while Kylo’s turning point was first prompted by the emotional scene of a dying Leia reaching out to her son. That distraction not only allowed Rey the opportunity to defeat Kylo, but also to see how much she was letting rage drive her. As a result, Rey, who shares more than a few similar abilities with Eleven, healed Kylo Ren’s injury.
Rey’s own gesture had the added bonus of finally giving Kylo the strength to similarly let go of everything that had driven him to the dark side. Discarding his lightsaber and returning to the name Ben Solo, he rallied to Rey’s side against Emperor Palpatine. When the time came, much like Billy, Ben didn’t hesitate to sacrifice his life in order to save Rey’s. Fan reactions to both tragic deaths have been largely mixed, mostly because Billy and Ben Solo no doubt had even more room to grow and further levels of redemption to achieve. Whatever side of the fence one sits on, however, and despite the fact that the similarities are assuredly a coincidence, there’s no denying that Stranger Things and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker helped to make 2019 a good year for more complex and nuanced heroes.
