Star Wars: 7 Ways Episodes 8 And 9 Could Actually Improve The Prequels

Kylo Ren's reverence of his grandfather stretches back much further than his time in the iconic black armour and breathing apparatus. He's desperate to get his hands on any scrap of Vader history - just look at his reaction when he first laid eyes on Anakin's Lightsaber in The Force Awakens.

Han Solo's wayward son's arc is far more poignant when juxtaposed to Anakin's. It forces the audience to ask whether history is destined to repeat itself. They all know the story of how Vader was seduced by a lie and fell from grace, and Kylo's story holds more gravitas with this as a point of comparison.

Although the full circumstances surrounding Kylo's Dark Side descent are yet to be revealed, Yoda's warning to Ani sounds hauntingly familiar when rewatching the prequels: "Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate… leads to suffering.”

That sounds like the path Snoke's protege is descending along, and without Anakin's prequel trilogy arc to offset it against, it's certainly less poignant.

This is where a Hayden Christensen Vader cameo would come in most useful. His Force ghost could warn Kylo about what happened to him during the events of Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, and play a key role in his potential redemption.