this bit from baghs’ lore is haunting me . a blackboard with all the francophones’ initals . were all of them originally island experiments that managed to escape like qbaghs?

On The Force Bond: Snoke Probably Created It, But Here’s Why That Might Be Better

I was re-reading the TLJ novel for about the 20th time this week, and paused over Snoke’s passage about creating the Force bond between Rey and Kylo’s minds. In the film, I never bought that Snoke created their Force connection – It was too powerful and genuine to owe anything to his gross manipulations. I thought this was just Snoke’s latest gambit to manipulate and torment Kylo, in order to keep him firmly isolated in the dark side. But in the novel, it really doesn’t seem like Snoke’s words are empty. He thinks quite a bit about the master plan that motivated him to link their minds, and gives us useful material to understand the Force-bond more fully.

Here’s the idea that set this all off: Snoke would never have thought to bridge their minds (or if he didn’t make the bond himself – at least claim he did) if he hadn’t sensed Kylo’s “compassion” for Rey from the first. This hints that Rey and Kylo’s feelings for each other are much bigger, unpredictable things than a link through the Force. To Snoke – they’re a much more serious threat.

Before I read the TLJ novel, I personally believed the Force bond was initiated during the TFA interrogation scene, when they both enter each other’s minds. This is the point when Rey begins accessing her powers. And in the TLJ novel, when she thinks back to this encounter, she remembers it was also as if Kylo’s training and force abilities were also shared with her, when she entered his mind:

He had probed her thoughts, sifting and sorting, and seen much that she would have kept from him – him and anybody else. Her desperate certainty that her abandonment on Jakku had been a mistake, or a grim necessity that would be put right by her lost family, if only she waited long enough and patiently enough. Her terror and despair that she was deluding herself, and would spend her days in solitude, ending up as anonymous bones in the sand. Her dreams of an island amid a trackless ocean – the very island on which she now found herself. Kylo had rummaged through these hopes and fears, things he had no right to. But as he searched, something had changed. Even as he callously rifled through her mind, he had somehow revealed his own. Rey found herself in his mind even as he invaded hers. She felt his rage, like a ruinous storm that filled his head, and his hatred, and his lust to dominate and humiliate those who had wronged him. But she also felt his hurt, and his loneliness. And his fear – that he would never pove as strong as Darth Vader, the ghost who haunted his dreams. Kylo had retreated at finding Rey in his head – had practically fled from her. But that had no been the end of htat strange, sudden connection. She had seen more – far more. Somehow, almost instinctually, she knew how he accessed some of the powers at his command – even though she didn’t understand hem. It was as if his training had become hers, unlocking and flinging open door after door in her mind. But now Rey couldn’t shut those doors – and she feared what had been set loose. Kylo had urged her to let him be her teacher – had pleaded with her, almost (Page 120 – 121).

From this encounter, we know with certainty that it was Kylo’s presence (both in physical proximity and in her mind) that unlocked Rey’s latent Force abilities. It is also clear that it was this moment of mental communion with Kylo that, without question, linked them in one manner or another. This could mean the initiation of the Force bond – or simply an unparalleled understanding of who the other truly is, including their deepest emotions and fears.

When we’re discussing Kylo - locked deep in his conflicted, delusional, self-hating shell – and Rey – fiercely independent and deflective of her inner uncertainties – just that complete understanding alone could be more powerful for these two than any mystical Force connection. They’ve been stripped down completely before each other, with the other having intimate knowledge of parts of their souls they never would have chosen to share with anyone.

And yet – this knowledge isn’t a tool of power or manipulation for either of them to wield against each other. To the contrary, it puts them on entirely equal footing, and imbues each with a protective instinct towards the other (though Kylo’s manifests more quickly than Rey’s). They understand what they’ve each seen in the other, recognizing much of the same within themselves – and though they might not wish that it were this way, these similarities call to something deep and compelling in each of their hearts.

All of this potential for feeling and warmth between these two was laid by the interrogation mind-meld alone. Next, we can ponder what Kylo really means when he sees the light saber fly into Rey’s hand and says, “It is you.”

He could be referring to a force-connection between them that existed long before they ever met in person – Meaning that he long sensed that he’s been waiting for someone, but never knew when or where that person would cross his path.

Or: He could still be thinking about everything he just saw in her mind – About how her loneliness is comparable to his own, about how she too yearns for and needs the love and acceptance represented by her parents. He could be realizing, out loud, that she truly is everything he thought she might be: Every bit as powerful and alone as he is. She is the counterpart to his darkness, the companion to his emptiness – All that potential he saw in her mind that shook him so deeply, it’s all real.

The more I consider, the more I find the latter much more interesting and powerful. It paints a picture of a more tender, human connection – Based not on cosmic prophecy, but simple, ungovernable human feeling: Empathy, yearning, temptation, and attraction. Furthermore, seeing a connection like this well up in Kylo naturally, rather than being guided by the Force, speaks volumes for his humanization and redeemability. (Though I firmly believe in both regardless)

In the novel, it seems quite clear that Snoke isn’t intentionally lying when he says he was the one who connected their minds. However, even if it is true – this hardly means there was NO pre-existing connection between Rey and Kylo before he created one. If anything, I think the fact that Snoke chose this strategy demonstrates that there WAS something there already – something strong enough to cause Snoke concern. This is what Snoke sensed, when he accused Kylo of having “compassion” for Rey. At the least, he sensed Kylo was fascinated by her strength (even while shaken by it) and empathized with her feelings of solitude and struggle to find purpose. Snoke knew these feelings of compassion within Kylo would again call him to the light.

So, Snoke seized this as a strategic opportunity. As we see from the novel, his plan had multiple goals:

Bridging their minds had been a gamble, one he had weighed for some time. But it had worked even better than Snoke had hoped. It had fooled the girl into revealing Skywalker, but it had also forced Kylo to confront his weaknesses. By eliminating Rey, he would also be excising the flawed, hesitant, weak half of himself (Page 235).

So the plan was: Bridge Kylo and Rey’s minds so Kylo would be even more strongly drawn to her, eventually baring enough of his torment and conflict to compel Rey to come to him. Snoke would seize Rey and once he had pulled Skywalker’s location from her mind, then use her as the means of extinguishing the lingering, feebly growing light within Kylo.

It was essential to Snoke to keep the light in Kylo contained. He knew that a growing closeness with Rey would only serve to feed the light – hence why the plan was a gamble. However, if Snoke’s plan succeeded, he would not only be able to douse Kylo’s light through Rey’s death at his own hand – But, through revealing to Kylo that Rey was only there due to Snoke’s machinations and control, that Snoke had orchestrated the mental connection that drew them together, Kylo would believe the light had never existed in the first place. Kylo would think there had been nothing genuine in all that passed between him and Rey, and that he still wasn’t capable of compassion or gentleness, after all. THIS would be just as equally devastating to Kylo as learning that the idea of Rey caring for him was only a trick.

Snoke’s plan half worked and half spectacularly backfired. Obviously, he wasn’t expecting the pre-existing attraction between Rey and Kylo to be so powerful and indeed so genuine that the addition of the force bond, rather than permitting Snoke to control it, only made it unbreakable. He certainly didn’t expect his apprentice to have the willpower and open-heartedness to choose the kindness of a girl over the cold might of the dark side and loyalty to his master. Snoke’s complacency makes it all the more satisfying when Rey is proved right, after telling Snoke, “You underestimate Ben Solo. (…) It will be your downfall.”

Indeed, Snoke spent the past innumerable years trying to brainwash Kylo into believing Ben Solo was weak, useless, and needed to be cut away from Kylo Ren. Snoke was incapable of realizing that Ben Solo possessed a heart stronger than any powers Snoke could ever hope to wield himself.

But even though Snoke got the come-uppance he deserved, his interference with the natural, human bond between Rey and Kylo still, annoyingly, kind of worked. While the reveal that Snoke connected their minds didn’t stop Rey and Kylo from trusting each other and joining forces to defeat the Praetorian Guard; it did, after Rey leaves, succeed in making Kylo doubt that any genuine connection ever existed at all.

At first, Kylo was prepared to trust Rey, no matter what Snoke said. Kylo was still willing to choose her over his master, because regardless of the origin of their mental connection, he still believed in all that had happened between them, and he believed Rey had been equally as moved as he was. But, when Rey rejects him and leaves him, Kylo relapses. Rey did not turn for him – the vision must have been a lie, along with everything else. It had all been Snoke’s manipulation, and Rey must have utilized it as a chance to deceive him in order to advance the Resistance’s goals. The novel doesn’t make the details clear of what went through Kylo’s mind when he woke up alone in the throne room, but that’s my best reading of what fueled his rampaging fury in the rest of the film.

Until, of course, the Force connection opens that last time and it stops him short. Because this is the proof that whatever bond exists between him and Rey outlived Snoke – Meaning, in all likelihood, that it predated him as well, with its roots in honest, undeniable connection, rather than manipulation.

The Force bond itself – assuming it was created by Snoke, which the TLJ novel makes rather hard to argue around – did not initiate the connection between Rey and Kylo; It only served to strengthen something human, profound, and genuine that already existed between them. And though I’m surprised to say it, I think I like it this way. As Force-users, it would only be fitting that Force skype sessions help their relationship progress and deepen. But isn’t the whole thing so much more meaningful if it began without any help from the Force at all?

Justice League of America: Rebirth Teases the DC Universe’s Future

SPOILER WARNING: The following article contains major spoilers for “Justice League of America: Rebirth,” in stores now.

“Justice League of America: Rebirth” #1 features the formation of this latest incarnation of DC Comics’ most prominent super-team: the Justice League of America. Not to be confused with “Justice League” also being published, this version of the JLA’s line-up was publicized well in advance: Batman, Black Canary, the Atom, Vixen, the Ray, Killer Frost, and Lobo.

RELATED: DC Comics Has Solved Its Multiple Lobos Problem — For Now

But while Steve Orlando, Ivan Reis, Joe Prado and Oclair Albert’s basic introduction is fairly straightforward, with a few exceptions, the title also provides glimpses into what’s ahead for these characters in the months ahead.

MORTALS, NOT GODS

Grant Morrison and Howard Porter’s “JLA” in the late ’90s made its inspiration very clear: The JLA was portrayed as the DC Universe equivalent of the Greek god pantheon of Mount Olympus. Morrison took that analogy to an extreme, directly connecting each member of its line-up to one of those deities. While no other version of the Justice League has been quite as blatant, the overall idea of the Justice League being composed of god-like heroes has stuck since then, a strong contrast to the B- and C-level heroes that populated the team prior to that revamp.

Here, Orlando is openly repudiating that idea to give a core reason for this version of the Justice League of America to exist. “I’ve started something new,” Batman explains. “A different team. Mortal. Not gods.” It’s an immediate contrast to the line-up in “Justice League” with the characters operating on a slightly different level. Later, Batman clarifies that the world needs, “heroes they can know […] to inspire them, show them they can be heroes.” It’s lining up directly with the initial statements surrounding “DC Universe: Rebirth” #1, with the emphasis on hope within the DC Universe. What better way to inspire hope in the general population than to remind them that they, too, can be heroes?

Almost certainly connected to the idea of a less godly, more everyday Justice League is that this team is headquartered out of a cave in Happy Harbor, Rhode Island. That was the original location for the Justice League back in 1960 (their “Secret Sanctuary”), when the team was a bit more low-level. Interestingly, Orlando and Reis make it clear that this was at one point a team headquarters as well, with old staircases, computers, and the like already within its depths. Batman says that it’s been his for a long time, and calls it, “a remnant of a bygone era.” With the New 52’s Justice League team having only formed in the recent past, is this another hint of the pre-“Flashpoint” timeline seeping into the current reality?

TEASING THE FUTURE

A currently-popular story structure when launching a new superhero comic is to reserve the last page of the comic to show the audience planned stories for the series. Orlando and Reis give us just that, with four panels showing, presumably, four different stories to come. And while the panels may seems lightly oblique, there is at least some hints that can be gleaned from them.

The first panel gives Lobo and the Ray in battle; as the Ray stabs Lobo through the chest, Lobo’s shouting, “Come on, ya bright bastich! Gimme yer best!” It’s clearly meant to imply that at some point that Lobo — already a slightly untrustworthy member of the team — goes bad.

But is that really what we’re seeing here? When Lobo and Batman visit the Atom, it’s worth noting that Batman is the one ready to dismiss Ryan Choi out of hand on behalf of being Ray Palmer’s teaching assistant. On the other hand, Lobo is the one recognizing the Atom’s scientific brilliance, first fiddling with one of the pieces of technology in the lab, then being impressed with the formulas written on a board by Ryan and noting that it, “ain’t bad work… fer a human.” This incarnation of Lobo isn’t a moronic space-biker. He’s got attitude, sure, but there’s intelligence there as well. Could this scene really be a moment where Lobo is deliberately asking Ray to stab him, perhaps as a training sequence, or to exorcise some sort of control or possession? And if the latter, who better for the Ray’s powers to work upon than the ultimate villain behind Lobo’s return in “Justice League vs. Suicide Squad,” aka Eclipso, with a power that depends on darkness?

The second panel gives us Killer Frost in some sort of ancient ruin, while a mostly-unseen figure warns her that Frost’s life, “hangs on an impossible choice.” All we can see of the speaker is a human hand, part of what appears to be red robes, and a few links of chain. The speaker calls Frost a “sister,” heavily implying that the speaker is female. But beyond that, who could it be?

One possibility could be Pandora, the character who wore reddish-purple robes and was central to the early days of the New 52, as well as being associated with old Greek mythology. That said, with Pandora’s disintegration within the pages of “DC Universe: Rebirth” #1, chances are high that DC Comics isn’t ready to bring back an ultimately failed character concept.

If we stick with the idea of the ruins hinting at mythology, this could also be a reincarnation of the Greek Fates; they were destroyed during the Meredith Finch and David Finch run on “Wonder Woman” with their powers given to Donna Troy, but considering how much of both Wonder Woman and Donna Troy’s current history is being rewritten, anything’s up for grabs. The dialogue certainly leans towards a character that can sense the future, after all.

The third panel features Batman holding a shield with the word “Liberty” at the top, five-pointed stars on either side, and what appears to be a cross insignia. It’s hard to tell if the center is a reflection of the person talking to Batman, or merely a glyph of someone with an old-fashioned revolutionary-era hat (complete with feather) and a domino mask. It would be easy to assume it’s the speaker, but the dialogue makes that less than certain. Whoever used the shield beforehand died in the process, while going up against Batman’s foe.

Add in the old-fashioned nature of the shield, and the fact that in “DC Universe: Rebirth” #1 we got blatant hints that the Justice Society of America will be re-entering DC Comics continuity, and we wonder if this could be a relic from the early days of the JSA. If so, the original owner’s face might be engraved on the center of the shield. Add in the word “liberty” and it could be more than just a nod towards the United States; perhaps it was once owned by a JSA-era Liberty Belle? The original version of the character was created back in 1942, and while she was part of the All-Star Squadron, there’s no reason why she couldn’t retroactively be added into the new Justice Society, especially since the two teams have shared members over the years.

The fourth and final panel in many ways feels the easiest to parse, as Ryan Choi appears to have finally found the missing Ray Palmer. (Of course, since the person in question’s face is hidden, we can’t be certain that Ryan Choi’s statement is correct.)

What’s interesting here is how Ray Palmer is dressed. With a hood and doublet over what appears to be some sort of armor and metal cuffs, while wielding a slender looking gun, Ray Palmer looks more at home in the days of the Three Musketeers rather than the modern era. It’s hard to keep from thinking about the Jan Strnad and Gil Kane “Sword of the Atom” comics, which plunged the character into a setting more in line with “Conan” comic books than typical superheroes. Wherever Ray Palmer is trapped this time, chances are now high it won’t look like the world outside our window.

With “Justice League of America” #1 arriving in stores later this month, we hopefully won’t have long for the future to become the present. In the meantime, Orlando and Reis are deliberately teasing readers on what the future might be. Let the speculation begin!

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