Kylo Ren returns to a First Order that no longer behaves like a single chain of command. Charles Soule uses The Fall of Kylo Ren #1 to show General Hux and General Pryde pulling the organization into rival camps while Kylo Ren is away.
Hux and Pryde Split the Chain
Charles Soule says, “The First Order has become divided and reduced to squabbling amongst itself without his central leadership, making its military appear weak and ineffective.” That is the sharpest business takeaway in the issue: a force built to project control now looks internally stalled, and the split is visible down to staff loyalty markers, with red bands on one side and gray bands on the other.
“the dynamic between General Hux and General Pryde” is the plot thread the comic fills in, and it does more than add color. It explains how Pryde climbed the First Order ladder before The Rise of Skywalker, giving the rivalry a history instead of a sudden introduction. That makes the hierarchy feel less like a clean command structure and more like a system held together by personalities and access.
Hetzal Prime and Finalizer
At Hetzal Prime, Pryde sabotages the Finalizer’s main cannons, and that single move keeps Hux’s plan from playing out as intended. For readers tracking the organization across The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker, the detail matters because it shows the split is not theoretical; it has operational consequences inside the fleet.
By the end, Kylo Ren has to order Hux and Pryde to settle their differences quickly, and that instruction tells the story plainly. “Kylo Ren’s leadership is necessary to avoid it from splintering off into rival factions.” Soule’s own framing leaves little room for a tidy reading: without Kylo Ren at the center, the First Order can still move, but it cannot move cleanly.
The Rise of Skywalker Bridge
The Fall of Kylo Ren is positioned as the conclusion of Kylo Ren’s arc between The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker, after his Force-related sabbatical in Legacy of Vader. That bridge gives the comic its value: it answers why the First Order enters The Rise of Skywalker looking divided, and it turns Hux’s internal weakness into part of the setup rather than an unexplained shift.
The practical read is straightforward. Kylo Ren does not just return to resume his quest for galactic domination; he returns to impose order on a leadership fight that has already made the First Order look fragmented. The issue stops short of showing a clean resolution, but it makes one point impossible to miss: his absence is the reason the machine starts to seize up.
