In the original Star Wars Expanded Universe continuity (which has been designated Legends), Luke Skywalker had a descendant named Cade Skywalker, while in Star Wars canon, Luke had a nephew named Ben Solo aka Kylo Ren. While these two characters are wildly different - even aside from the fact that they exist within two separate continuities - they do share some major similarities.

Throughout his time training to become a Jedi, Ben Solo was being seduced to the dark side by Snoke (secretly Sheev Palpatine). When Luke betrayed Ben’s trust and, in fact, threatened to kill him in cold blood, the youngest of the Skywalker bloodline fully rejected his family’s name, and his anger continued to grow until he was completely overtaken by the dark side. Kylo Ren even had the chance to face-off against the Force-projection of his master in Episode VIII.

By the end of the sequel trilogy, Kylo Ren threw his life as a dark sider away and accepted the light side of the Force so entirely, that he was able to help Rey defeat Palpatine. Kylo Ren was filled with the dark side because of his family’s legacy, with Luke’s betrayal being the straw that finally broke him. But in the end, Ben Solo chose the light - just like Cade Skywalker.

Cade Skywalker Chose The Light After Dabbling With The Dark (Just Like Kylo Ren)

In Star Wars: Legacy #0 by John Ostrander, Jan Duursema, Sean Cooke, and Dan Parsons, readers are given background information on the characters in this new era of Star Wars including Cade Skywalker. It’s revealed how much disdain he initially had for the Skywalker name. Cade hated being a Skywalker so much that even his closest friends didn’t know that was his last name once he abandoned the prospect of becoming a Jedi.

Then, in Star Wars: Legacy #39 by John Ostrander and Jan Duursema, Cade actually gets a one-on-one lesson with Luke Skywalker’s Force Ghost, ending in a lightsaber duel between them, one fueled by anger and light side vs dark side energy. Up until that point, Cade was tapping into the dark side of the Force for any given reason. His career was that of a bounty hunter, and before long, he became public enemy #1 for the One Sith, so there were plenty of opportunities to redirect his anger and fear into power during times of crisis. While that was great for short-term gain, Cade regularly tapping into the dark side meant he was more susceptible to falling to the dark side completely. However, after this issue, Cade utterly rejected the usage of the dark side, and instead dedicated himself to the light.

Future Generations Of ‘Skywalkers’ React The Same To Their Legacy (No Matter The Universe)

There are more than a few obvious parallels between Cade Skywalker and Kylo Ren, from both receiving training from Luke Skywalker directly, to both eventually battling a Force-projection of their Jedi master. However, what’s most interesting is that both future ‘Skywalkers’ found their very names to be suffocating and/or shameful, and all it took was a single catalyst to make them abandon it entirely. Apparently, it doesn’t matter what universe these future generations of Skywalkers grow up in, or which creative mind is behind crafting their stories, or even the specific breaking point that drove them to it, the name ‘Skywalker’ is an impossible burden to bear, and inevitably led both Cade and Kylo Ren to the dark side.

While Kylo Ren clearly fell to the dark side much more dramatically than Cade, the two both tapped into the dark side for the same reason. Add that to the more literal parallels in their stories, and it’s easy to see how Luke Skywalker’s original descendant Cade Skywalker shares some major similarities with Kylo Ren.