I love Ben Skywalker

I think this has a lot to do with me being a Middle School teacher and Ben being the age of an 8th grader. Ben is really a great character. The authors have gone through great lengths to make him a believable 13 year old. He's confused, at once a man, and then a boy. He sees the world in absoultes, but he questions what is happening around him. He loves those he knows like Jacen his mentor/cousin/father and his own parents. He wants approval of the Galactic alliance Guard, he wants to prove himself. and when things go wrong he needs the affirmation of those around him to tell him he's okay. Yet he is independent and strong. He is 13, practicing adulthood, and doing the best he can.


Let me just say I adore Ben S. Never before has SW undertaken such a bold step to take a child and press him into adulthood. I don’t think they ever had anyone as young as 13 kill. I think that is likely why KJA changed Kyp’s age between the two books from 16 to 18 because he didn’t want flak about a mass murdering child. Poor Ben, he killed two Corellians during a raid who likely didn’t need to be killed. I think the scene was written from his point of view so you have to read into it that the Corellians could have been subdued but not killed and that Ben panicked a bit and it may be said he was in over his head with the amount of responsibility Jacen put on him.

Ben will believe e is tainted and thus be more susceptible to Jacen’s Sith influence because he will feel soiled and unable to be a perfect Jedi like his dad would want. He already feel s alienated from his father and he hates the idea of the Skywalker legacy. He will want his own path and he will think he will find it with Jacen.

Luke has very limited control over Ben, very! He has no idea how to intervene. I get a bad feeling we are at a cross roads in time and if Luke had gotten Ben to the academy at this point in Bloodlines time it would have been okay, but now Ben had killed and he has crossed over in his mind. He is still at an age of absolutes.