Warning: This article contains Spoilers for Star Wars: The Last Jedi!
At the time when Ben Solo was lured by the Dark Side and became Kylo Ren, he not only joined Supreme Leader Snoke as an apprentice, as well as one of the mightiest First Order agents, but, he also became the leader of the Knights of Ren. To the extent that we know them, the Sith don’t exist after Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine perished in Return of the Jedi, but, the Dark Side still exists in the far, far away galaxy and the Knights of Ren have turned out to be the leading exponents of the Dark Side of The Force. Even when The Last Jedi gave Kylo Ren a great deal of character development, by making him kill Snoke and taking the command of the First Order, his fellow Knights were missing in action during the latest Star Wars film. We wonder what happened to them and whether they will be seen in Episode IX?
Till now, the only visuals of the Knights of Ren in the Star Wars films have come during Rey’s vision in The Force Awakens. When she touched Anakin Skywalker’s lightsaber, she was faced with several visions of moments from past and future. One such moment showed a guy being stabbed with a crimson bladed lightsaber, and after a few seconds, Kylo Ren and the other Knights were seen next to the murdered warrior, and there were bodies scattered all around them. It was not revealed as to why that slaughter took place and just like Kylo, the other Knights of Ren wore masks, so we don’t know what they looked like. However, The Last Jedi might have offered a hint about the origin of the Knights. While telling the truth to Rey about Ben Solo’s joining the Dark Side, Luke Skywalker said that after destroying the Jedi temple and killing most of his apprentices, Ben left with some of the like minded students. This might imply that those students became Knights of Ren, which would also explain their Force prowess. Because if they had been okay with their teacher and other classmates being murdered, it wouldn’t be a big deal to imagine them putting on black costumes and using red lightsabers.
As of now, that’s the only detail we have about the Knights of Ren. Neither the Star Wars books, comic books or the video games have featured their origin story yet. Therefore, they remain a mystery. Considering how The Last Jedi had The First Order succeeding in almost wiping out The Resistance, it is weird to see the Force using friends of Kylo Ren not being a part of the battle. It was earlier stated that there might be a battle featuring Luke and Rey take on the Knights of Ren in The Last Jedi, but, that didn’t happen. Rather, the battle was between Rey and Kylo fighting the Praetorian guards of Snoke. Although Kylo Ren was the right-hand guy of Snoke, the Hugh Hefner inspired villain must have had other useful apprentices too, or else he won’t have been surrounded by them. Therefore, at the least, we can guess that the Knights are busy working in other areas of the galaxy, expanding the First Order’s rule, but, it would have been much better if they had just played a short cameo in The Last Jedi, if not a proper part.
Now, two out of three films of the current Star Wars trilogy have been released, and only Episode IX is our chance to see the other Knights of Ren on the big screen. Kylo Ren has now become the Supreme Leader, and it could be possible that Kylo might connect to the other Knights frequently. General Hux has a lot of motive to be wthKylo now. Therefore, it would be logical for Kylo to rely upon others who have the same vision as him and are Force capable. It is not as if we are talking about a group as sizeable as the original Jedi Order, which comprised of thousands of Jedi. Recalling Rey’s Force vision, we saw only six other Knights. It is a group larger than the Sith Order’s Rule of Two, but, still a small group, thus, reducing the chances of internal bickering (but, deception and backstabbing can never be ruled out).
In case, the other Knights of Ren featured in Episode IX; it might be a great thing if they stepped out of shadows when Kylo Ren stood in the spotlight. It would be great to see them in action. It is not known as to how much time would pass between The Last Jedi’s events and Episode IX. Therefore, whether Rey gets other Force user friends during the 2019 movie or continues being The Last Jedi, but it would be fantastic seeing her battle other Knights of Ren before taking on Kylo Ren for the final time. Episode IX not only needs to finish this trilogy but, effectively the whole Skywalker saga, with a mega impact and it might be helpful to feature the Knights of Ren. It would be a terrible waste to have six Dark Side Force users and not to use them.
Star Wars; The Last Jedi is currently playing in cinemas and you can check it out in your local theaters. Episode IX will bring the curtains down on the ongoing trilogy on December 20, 2019.
