By George & Josh Bate
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Legacy of Vader #8
The Knights of Ren were one of many intriguing elements teased in the first installment of the sequel trilogy. Kylo Ren’s gang of similarly dressed warriors appeared in a brief vision in The Force Awakens and, much like Boba Fett in The Empire Strikes Back, immediately caught the eyes of Star Wars fans, who wanted to learn more about the characters. Disappointingly for some, however, the Knights of Ren did not appear at all in The Last Jedi before appearing in The Rise of Skywalker a bit more substantially. This led many to speculate where were the Knights of Ren during the events of the sequel trilogy, in particular Episodes VII and VIII. Well, that question has finally been answered in a new comic.
Charles Soule’s Legacy of Vader chronicles Kylo Ren’s journey in between the events of The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker. So far, the comic has detailed Kylo’s exploration of his grandfather Darth Vader’s background, leading him to Tatooine and Naboo. In the most recent issue, Cardo, a member of the Knights of Ren, recounted where the group of warriors were during the sequel trilogy.
Cardo explains that the group under Kylo Ren’s leadership began well but slowly devolved into something darker and bloodier. The other Knights started to speculate that Kylo was receiving instruction from someone behind the scenes, a suspicion that was proven right when Supreme Leader Snoke introduced himself to the group.
In the comic panel above, Snoke tells Kylo that he must “take the next step toward your destiny.” He continues, “You will leave this rabble behind. They should no longer be in your presence. Much less mine.”
Snoke proceeds to use Force lightning and a battalion of stormtroopers to attack the Knights of Ren as he claims Kylo Ren has outgrown their purpose. This led the Knights to run for their lives, fitting given Snoke labeled them as “rats of the dark side.”
The above comic panels explain why the Knights of Ren only appear in one brief vision sequence across the first two installments of the sequel trilogy. They weren’t around because Snoke, the Supreme Leader of the First Order, had banished them. In turn, upon Snoke’s death in Episode VIII, it appears the Knights re-emerged and once again fell under Kylo’s leadership now that he was no longer under the command of Snoke.
But this comic also has another interesting detail to speculate on….
The confrontation between Snoke and the Knights of Ren occurs in a dark, rainy setting very much reminiscent of Rey’s vision of the Knights in The Force Awakens. It seems possible then that Rey’s vision was actually a glimpse of this fateful confrontation depicted in Legacy of Vader #8. Now, when you rewatch The Force Awakens, you can see this scene on Takodana differently as it does not merely include a glimpse of some cool looking characters, but, rather, a decisive moment in the history of Kylo Ren.