WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Star Wars: The Rise of Kylo Ren #3, by Charles Soule, Will Sliney, Guru-eFX and VC's Travis Lanham, on sale now.
Despite knowing what happened to Ben Solo in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Marvel's Star Wars: The Rise of Kylo Ren is keeping it pretty interesting when it comes to detailing what turned him to the Dark Side in the first place. We're seeing how Snoke influenced him right under Luke Skywalker's nose, why he hated his name and the reason he adored Darth Vader from an early age.
In Issue #3, though, as Ben falls into the lure of the Knights, he reveals the price he paid to get in -- the murder of a Jedi. And make no mistake, it's a heartbreaking kill, as it proves Han and Leia's son really wasn't as vile as we thought.
On Elphrona, the planet where Ben and Luke once squared off with the Knights, Ben's former classmates confront him at a mysterious Jedi museum of sorts. They want him brought to justice for destroying Luke's temple, but the issue quickly flashes forward to show Ben with the Knights, confessing how the fight went. He regales them with tales of the headstrong and jealous Voe, the neurotic Hennix and the eternal optimist Tai, keeping it a mystery who he killed. So much so, you might think he's lying.
As he recalls the drama, you can tell the incident weighs heavily on his conscience, though. In the flashback, Ben is attacked, and as he Force-jumps onto a cliff's edge, Voe follows. Enraged by her calling him a murderer and not willing to listen to him -- as it was the Knights who actually blew the temple up and not Ben -- the young Solo snaps. He Force-pushes her off the cliff but catches her with his telekinesis. He's immediately filled with regret but is struggling to hold Voe mid-air. Tai's trying to get to her too but he's not that strong and also tired from fighting Ben.
Hennix, however, rushes to the clifftop and throws his lightsaber like a boomerang only for Ben to deflect it and shoot it back. It seemingly slices Hennix, who thought Voe fell to her death, off-screen. Voe drops as Ben's concentration is broken, but Tai braces her fall, which leads to Ben shoving them into the temple, collapsing the rubble. At this point, we don't know who died but it's clear, out of reflex, Ben may have committed the murder. Decked out in a blaster and jacket like his father, Ben exits stage left with the Knights. They're all too happy to have a Jedi-killer in their ranks and it seems as if Ben was speaking the truth.
Further flashbacks show it was indeed Hennix who got cut to death as Voe and Tai use their telekinesis after recharging and power their way out the fallen temple. They find Hennix's body and vow vengeance. It's a sad state of affairs as we can clearly see Ben didn't want to murder any of the trio. Just like Luke's temple, he was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Hennix's death was an accident and he brought it upon himself by being rash and not listening to Ben. It's admittedly hard to do so under such circumstances as he did think Ben was killing off Jedi left, right and center, but from one framing to another, the Solo kid just has the worst day. Nonetheless, as he goes through the emotions, he begins killing off the past as Ben realizes he was never accepted by his Jedi peers to begin with. It's sad, as Hennix did believe in the old Ben, wanting to unlock the Force with him, but unfortunately, he never got that chance. He's slaughtered by who he considered his best friend.