I am a bit worried about Kylo Ren, the new villain from Star Wars: The Force Awakens. He seems to represent a different kind of evil than we have yet seen.

(Spoilers Ahead.)

Of course, Darth Vader was evil. In the original Star Wars: A New Hope, he did not hesitate to kill and choke people, even those on his own side. In The Empire Strikes Back, he had no qualms about torturing people and inflicting violence on his own son.

Yet, as the Star Wars prequels filled in his story, Darth Vader’s movement toward evil is actually an attempt to save those whom he loved. He could not save his mother when she was captured by the Tusken Raiders. He wanted to save his wife Padmé who was pregnant with his children, and Palpatine tempted him with the power of life over death. Even in Return of the Jedi, Darth Vader kills the Emperor in order to save the life of his son. Vader’s move to the dark side was to try to save those he loved.

It is a pattern strikingly similar to the heroes of Star Wars. Leia risks her life to send the Death Star plans to the rebellion to save her family, her planet, and all those under the tyranny of the Empire. Luke risks his life to destroy the Death Star, rescue Han Solo, and save his father. When push comes to shove, Han Solo chooses to help his friends and the Rebellion, even if it means losing money and risking his own life. Even Lando, after betraying Han, sets out to rescue him and then leads the Rebellion’s fleet against the Empire. At every moment, these characters set out to save those they care about. The main difference between them and Darth Vader is that they cared about a vast number of people—their friends and families but also strangers and enemies—whereas Darth Vader only cared about those in his immediate family.

Still, this little bit of love is what enabled Darth Vader to be saved at the end of Return of the Jedi. Vader ultimately cared about others, wanted good for them, and this small opening was big enough for him to ultimately reject evil for good.

The new villain Kylo Ren is a very different kind of evil. The parody Twitter account for Kylo Ren is quite amusing precisely because it captures his mentality: self-absorbed. Kylo Ren is seeking a sense of his own identity, his own place in the world. He has traded loyalty to family—Leia and Han—and his teacher and fellow students—Luke and the new Jedi order—to make himself important and powerful. He worships at the mask of Vader, not the true Vader that sought to save those he loved, but the image of Vader that was feared throughout the galaxy. In short, Kylo Ren seems to be about only himself, his own reputation, his own place in the universe.

This image of evil is troubling because it leaves little hope for redemption, no opening for the good. “It is better to rule in Hell than to serve in Heaven,” quipped Milton’s Satan. This seems to capture the proposition that Kylo Ren has bought into. There is no love, nothing that pulls him out of himself into relationship with others. Even those people that do care about him, like Han Solo, those that long to draw him back and reach out to do so, he kills. Why? Because it will make him one of the most powerful Knights of Ren.

Supreme Leader Snoke: There has been an awakening. Have you felt it?

Kylo Ren: Yes

Supreme Leader Snoke: The dark side, and the light. The droid you seek is aboard the Millennium Falcon in the hands of your father, Han… Solo.

Kylo Ren: He means nothing to me.

Supreme Leader Snoke: Even the Knights of Ren have never faced such a test.

Kylo Ren: By the grace of your training I will not be seduced.

Supreme Leader Snoke: We shall see, Kylo Ren. We shall see.

This choice for evil is troubling because it make the person less open to redemption. If, like Vader, the evil is chosen as the result of a misguided love, an attempt to overcome the fear of loss, there is hope. Greater love breeds greater courage, and courage can help to endure doing the good even in the face of threat. There is always hope for Vader given the story of his fall.

But when you define yourself through violence, by being willing to kill in order to demonstrate the kind of commitment you hold, what can turn you? If what you are is a killer, a person who sows death and destruction, stopping means the loss of yourself. It means you lose your sense of meaning and purpose, the very thing you were pursuing by means of death. So, how can one stop? Perhaps this will be the key question for the next movies. How is redemption wrought for those whose whole identity is rooted in violence? It seems an important question for us today as so much violence is done by those who define themselves by their willingness to kill others.

There was no answer to this in The Force Awakens. We will have to wait for Episodes VIII & IX for the Star Wars’ answer to this kind of evil. As a Christian though, I can only imagine that it will take some form of a Christ-like love.