Hello and thanks for reading. Some brief notes on Part Four:

This story is heavily influenced by my Revan fic. Recalled to Life is not a great story. Like Red, it is a fic bursting with ideas that found their expression better elsewhere. Still, the process of writing Recalled to Life convinced me that Revan is an utterly fascinating character. The more I learned about him, the more I wanted to write a version of Kylo that had Revan's perspective. For Kylo to be a man who wants to do the right thing, but is expedient about getting there. A man who cares less about process than outcomes. A man who seeks to tear down the orthodoxy around him because it impedes his goals and often yields the wrong results. A man who combines and embodies both the best and worst of the Jedi and Sith traditions. Revan was a mixed bag, like Kylo Ren. Was he a flawed hero? Or a villain with redeeming qualities? It sort of depends on which part of Revan's wide-ranging (somewhat preposterous) story you read. I like to think that approach is a great way to view "redeeming" Kylo Ren.

As I'm sure I have written in story notes before, I'm not interested in redeeming Kylo in the ROTJ sense. My view is that the sequel trilogy as its premise has moved past all that. The idea that anyone is all Light or all Dark seems too simplistic. Balance has to mean some mix of Light and Dark, some combination of Jedi and Sith. What does redemption mean in that context? My best answer is that Kylo becomes a leader like Revan, and not a leader like Luke Skywalker or Yoda. Readers take note: I won't be writing any 'Kylo turns to the Good Side' fics. And I refuse to write any ROTJ sacrificial endings with 'Kylo dies saving Rey' tropes that prove Kylo's love to make the tween girl in all of us sigh with happiness. It's not that I don't write happy endings, but that I envision a happy ending somewhat differently than the prevailing fairytale wish fulfillment conclusion some readers prefer.

If I didn't have it before, I probably have now earned a reputation for killing Rey. I've done it in two other stories now. But in the rest of my catalog, Rey always lives even when Kylo thinks she's dead. And even when she's dead, she doesn't always stay dead. But look, main characters die in SW. I'm not breaking any new ground.

There are some readers who cannot conceive of Reylo without Kylo having some doggedly determined, slightly Dark puppy love for Rey. He must remain obsessed and devoted in all circumstances and plot lines. He must be willing to surrender his life, his Empire, his Force or whatever to prove his love. Real life and real love don't work like that. There are limits to what any partner will take from another. Spousal love, no matter how deep, is often not the same unconditional love people show to children. Kylo will accept Rey's Dark temper tantrums and violence, but he has huge issues with her allegiance to her father. She knows this before she leaves—it should come as no surprise—and it becomes a breaking point. Kylo will tolerate a lot from Rey, but this goes too far. And that's an important lesson about love: sometimes people you love will let you down. Then, it's up to you to decide how you deal with it. Dark Kylo falls into the 'if you're not with me, you're my enemy' trap, naturally.

"How's your wound?" is my favorite TLJ line after "It's time for the Jedi to die." "How's your wound?" is how a parent reacts when you see your kid did something dangerously stupid. First, you're all "is anyone hurt?" And then you're all "what were you thinking/this is what happens when you don't listen to mommy/how many times have I told you not to play on the stairs" etc. Because once there's no real damage to attend to, it's time to vent how pissed off you are and metaphorically shoot Force lightning at your idiot kid making bad choices. This line more than any other tells me that Snoke is far less of an abuser than many fans wish to believe. As I have maintained in other story notes, victim/abuser is just one way to understand the Dark Master/Apprentice relationship, and it's far too simplistic on its own. Plus loaded labels like victim/abuser tend to end a discussion, rather than begin it. If you've read any other blueenvelopes stories, you know I have a hard time with our current very judgy culture full of flashmob haters. There is a rush to judgement mentality that tends to look at a single act or aspect of a person and decide that is their full measure. We are more than our worst moments and our bad habits and regrettable missteps.

I love it when Snoke gets thwarted. That happens quite a bit in my stories He's not all-powerful and he loses now and then. He takes risks that don't pay off (Ghosts) or his plots blow up in his face because the Force has other objectives (A New Hope). Here, all his Skywalker machinations and years of mentorship of Kylo come to nothing. The Sith are gone, the Jedi have ended, he's got an Apprentice capable of balancing the Force . . . and he's still in jail.

Why? Well, first of all, Snoke misses the whole point of his prison stint. Balancing the Force is not meant to be some unachievable hurdle that keeps him forever imprisoned. Instead, it is the test of his rehabilitation. Only once Snoke is Light enough to balance the Force is he fit to return to society. But instead of spending his efforts reforming himself, Snoke spends his time scheming to get rescued. So when Kylo tells Snoke to balance himself, Kylo is absolutely correct. It's one of those moments of accidental insight, he just doesn't realize it. But Snoke will.

The issues between Snoke and Kylo are as much personal animosity as they are a power play. Kylo is terrified of his old Master's abilities and suspicious of his motives. Resentful too of the subtext to galactic history—Snoke's stint in prison—that was kept secret from him. But the former pawn Kylo now holds the trump card and he's not about to let Snoke win. Unfortunately, Rey's life hangs in the balance. Rey has been the bridge between these characters for much of the story, and she's the real loser here at the end of Part Four, not Snoke.

Snoke didn't plan Rey's death, but he's far too experienced of a player not to try to use it to his advantage. When Kylo declines the resurrection offer, Snoke ends up offering Kylo power—it's the classic Sith move—and that just confirms all of Kylo's worst suspicions. So, why ultimately is Snoke still stuck in jail? It's because Snoke has his Apprentice pegged all wrong. Kylo is too much of an altruistic Skywalker at his core. Too much of his mother and his uncle, even if he has a different political perspective on things. Kylo is not about to risk the fate of the galaxy purely for his self-interest. Even for his beloved, but estranged Rey.

Note that granddaddy Darth Vader would absolutely have accepted Snoke's bargain. Anakin basically thought he accepted a version of that deal from duplicitous Sidious, only Sidious didn't have the power he promised. So, it turns out that Snoke made the right pitch to wrong Skywalker. I couldn't resist giving Snoke some Kenobi (Light) and Sidious (Dark) lines here at the end so I could give Kylo some Anakin flavor. But ultimately, Kylo makes the opposite choice of his grandfather. Kylo might revere and copy Vader in many things, but in this case he deviates quite starkly.

In my stories, Snoke is always the Dark conjurer of the Skywalker bloodline. This fic fleshes out why. In my other fics, the motive for creating Anakin Skywalker is power. Snoke wants a pawn who can balance the Force because he wants to control it all—both the Light Side and the Dark Side. Being just Dark isn't good enough any longer. Bored megalomaniac Snoke wants a new challenge. And that's an okay explanation, but why would Snoke risk creating the Chosen Ones who might eclipse his own power? I created an answer in this story's elaborate backstory of imprisoned Snoke/Vitiate playing the long game as he plots to gain his freedom. I love the idea of him being so powerful and yet so firmly stuck. And, I love the idea of Snoke creating a work-around by learning to project himself out of his prison. He just can't stand being marginalized. The man has to meddle and control.

As always, I seek to explain, connect, and deepen the existing SW canon. To create continuity and bridge plot lines and eras. It all has to make coherent sense because in real life people do things for a reason. And, the consequences of those choices need to be reasonable and have consequences of their own. That's what makes SW a saga. Anyhow, a good villain needs a purpose for his evil deeds. Note to Disney: just making Snoke a power-hungry madman is sort of lazy. Ultimately, it feels dissatisfying.

Sometimes, it can be very hard to help someone. Kylo spends basically all of Parts One and Two attempting to help Rey. She is very mistrustful at first for good reason. Part Four has Vitiate attempting to help both Kylo and Rey. This time, Kylo is very mistrustful for good reason. It all blows up in his face by the ending. And that's because sometimes who tells you something is as important as what they tell you. Hux tells Kylo the truth but he doesn't recognize it as truth. Rey does the same thing with similar results. Kylo's justifiable paranoia keeps him from accepting the truth. But the thing about paranoia is that it feeds on itself. The irony is that the coup Kylo worries about does indeed occur, but Hux is not the ringleader. Similarly, Kylo rejects Rey because he fears she is a trap that Snoke has set for him. But in the end, it is the intervention of others that brings Kylo to Snoke's lair of his own volition.

So, where are we now? Kylo is going to return home to a well-organized, continuing revolt. Rey and Hux are dead on Mortis where time (conveniently) stops. Vitiate is still in prison angry and sad. Baby Carl has a holochron and Rey's sword with him in the World Between Worlds, but only dead Rey knows it. Coming up: Kylo's Empire splits into a civil war with the hardcore First Order "Separatists." Snoke is not out of it yet. He has more tricks up his sleeve. And someone is going to show up with a baby they claim is Carl.