This post contains major spoilers for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child and Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
The magic of the Wizarding World is back into the lives of each and every Potterhead. Three days after Harry Potter and the Cursed Child hit bookshelves, the internet is buzzing with thoughts and theories as more people obtain and quickly devour their copy.
Among the major takeaways, we can’t help but notice how similar Potter’s son is to a certain Star Wars villain.
As far as plot goes, the latest installment is a father and son story. Harry Potter and his son Albus face a complicated relationship ruled by pride and misunderstanding, and the story unfolds based on their heated interaction.
The play picks up where we left off in Deathly Hallows, with Harry assuring Albus that Slytherin House is for good, brave wizards, just like the others, before he boards the train and starts his first year at Hogwarts. Albus is sorted right into Slytherin, known for being the darkest of the four houses, and immediately feels the separation between his famous Gryffindor father and himself.
Aside from that, Albus feels like a misfit at school. He isn’t great at spells or quidditch, and can’t help but be bothered by the sneers of the other children who think the son of the great Harry Potter is a joke.
Harry struggles to connect with his son and keep him away from the darkness, but Albus is full of resentment. He is fed up with being the son of a famous father—a father he feels he can never live up to. A father who will never understand him. And so, he rebels.
Sound familiar?
Just last December, Star Wars: The Force Awakens was bestowed upon us all, continuing the plot of the beloved story and blowing up the pop culture world. Although the latest episode focuses on Rey’s arc, we can’t exactly ignore the reason for the biggest plot twist: A failed father-son relationship.
The internet has started to notice the similarities between Albus Potter and Kylo Ren, the son of Han Solo and the villain of The Force Awakens. Both sons of the famous heroes are misfits clouded by a certain darkness, wishing for the separation between themselves and their fathers. Their supernatural instincts lead them down troublesome paths that spark disorder.
Not everyone is both a Potterhead and a Star Wars fanatic, but a few fans have picked up on the similar struggles of the two young rebels, and taken to Twitter to express the connection.
What does Albus Potter and Kylo Ren have in common?
— H (@21MilesNorth) July 31, 2016
They both have serious daddy-issues.#HarryPotterAndTheCursedChild
It appears Albus Severus Potter and Kylo Ren have a lot in common.
— Andrew Rohne 📻 (@KE8P) February 10, 2016
Vox even points out how the line uttered angrily by Albus, “I didn’t choose to be his son,” is in close precision to Kylo Ren’s reaction to Solo, whose feelings eventually escalate and lead to the betrayal and murder of his own father.
Don’t worry, Albus does not kill Harry Potter.
Unlike the shock of Solo’s murder by his own son, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child takes a turn for the better and remains on the light side. Although Solo’s attempt to bring his son home and away from the darkness fails, Harry is able to reach Albus before it’s too late.
Of course Albus also had the support of his best friend, Scorpius Malfoy, the son of Draco Malfoy. (Ironic, right?) The two boys both share strained relationships with their fathers and bond over their outcast status. However, instead of letting their resentment take over, they soon come to realize they have it a lot better than they thought.
Maybe if Kylo Ren had a best friend like Scorpius things may have turned out differently, but we can’t help but compare the similarities to both.
So will the family drama continue in the Potterverse? We can’t be sure, but there’s one thing we can glean from both stories so far—a father-son relationship is not something to mess around with.