Star Wars: 10 Things Everyone Gets Wrong About Kylo Ren
4. He Only Found Out The Truth About Darth Vader Late
Speaking of Kylo Ren's obsession with the half-man/half-machine Anakin Skywalker eventually became, it's never really noted in the sequel trilogy exactly when Ben Solo discovered the truth about who his grandfather really was.
Most probably assumed Solo would have been informed about such a massive part of the Skywalker story at some point before he began his training with Uncle Luke, right?
Well, apparently not.
As explained in the 2016 Bloodline novel by Claudia Gray, Leia Organa had actually chosen to keep the fact that Darth Vader was her father a secret, with not even young Ben being made aware of this fact.
However, when one of Leia's political rivals eventually reveals exactly who her father was to the galaxy, Ben ultimately discovers the shocking fact.
As noted in the Skywalker: A Family at War biography by Kristen Baver (via CBR), "Ben Solo discovered his own relation to Darth Vader, not via his family, but by holonet news. The revelation felt like a betrayal."
Unsurprisingly, it wasn't too long after this that a Ben in his mid-20s ultimately turned his back on the light side, with Solo's (maybe accidental) destroying of the temple happening that same year in 28 ABY - six years before the events of The Force Awakens.