Speculation thread as to what the Knights of Ren are. I wish they had expanded on it more in the movie.
>>64028959
This is a good sign. One of the best things about the OT was how poorly explained some things were. It just threw you into things assuming you already knew everything about the universe and hoped you could keep up. This led to a lot of interesting fan speculation back in the day.
The Knights of Ren are a group of young men who formed in the aftermath of the Empire's destruction. Most of them are orphans, space rats, wanderers who have joined smuggling crews and sought after historical artifacts.
They don't have a leader until they meet a young Jedi initiate named Ben Solo who is undergoing his Jedi trials. Luke sent him to a world that was rich with Jedi history in search of a holocron. But Luke never told Ben about the truth of his lineage, and this will forever haunt him.
Solo is searching the ruins of the world in question when he meets the Knights of Ren. He can sense a dark aura around them and asks them to explain themselves. They tell Ben that they're true believers in Ren, the first Sith and the demigod who animates the dark side of the Force. He's a figure not unlike Lucifer: once a beautiful, dashing knight... He embraced the dark side and led the first Sith tribes to war against the Jedi. The knights believe that the Sith who came after (Sheev and Dooku and Maul) are heretics who misused the dark side.
(con't in next post)
The Knights of ren are led by Darth plagius (snoke). Plagius was palpatines master, which is why he looks so deformed from his botched assassination attempt. Rey used to be one of the sith and was mind wiped and dropped off on the totally not Tatooine planet of Jakku, after she went full an akin and murdered the new batch of young padawans (as hinted in her flashback). That's why luke went into hiding. His main apprentice was his daughter, Rey, and she betrayed him to the dark side (at the behest of snoke/plagius) and he needed time to meditate.
(cont'd)
Ben Solo rebukes them at first, but they lead him through the ruins of the beautiful world and tell him the history of the galaxy (from their point of view).
The gorgeous architecture lays in shambles, but they lead him into a ruined city and explain that the Sith once revealed themselves here. It was once called Theed. And a Sith Lord carried with him a vast library of information on a holocron.
Ben wants to run, he wants to go back to Luke, but his curiosity won't let him. He helps the Knights of Ren find the bones of Darth Maul. And in his tattered robes they find the holocron. This leads to a vast education in the teachings of the ancient Sith.
Finally Ben feels he must tell them the truth. He confesses he is a Jedi initiate and that his Uncle is Luke Skywalker.
The Knights look at one another in disbelief.
"Then you're the one we're looking for," they say. "You're the heir to Vader's throne. You can do what he never did. You can see what he was too blind to see."
Ben feels betrayed by Luke. Why didn't he tell him? Why did he hide the fact that Vader was his grandfather? Was he pulling Ben's strings like Palpatine pulled Vader's?
He decided he wouldn't be a tool of a heretic like Luke. He wouldn't suffer the fate his grandfather did. He leads the Knights of Ren to a raid on the Jedi Academy.
They're a bunch of nerds who wanted to skip Luke's training so they could get lightsabers. They didn't have the patience to lift an x-wing or practice reflecting blaster shots. Kylo ren goes off with some others and finds snoke. He doesn't really understand what he's getting into but hey he gets a lightsaber much sooner this way as well as a bunch of sith threads. He and his posse roll up to the new Jedi order and tell them to join their new club but Luke's loyal followers refuse and get killed. Then snoke tells him the rule of two and as a test kylo kills the other knights of ren.
They are like those fat beta neckbeards from high school who wanted to look "badass" with their trenchcoats and katanas
>>64028959
Probably some really highly trained people under the command of Kylo and Snoke, I imagine they'll confront Luke, Finn, and Rey at the end of Episode VIII in some battle where Rey 1v1's Kylo while Luke and Finn fight the rest of the Knights.
>>64029163
>heretics who misused the dark side.
what's the true use of the dark side
>You can see what he was too blind to see
what's that
the "Trenchcoat Mafia" of Luke's Jedi School
led by Zyklon Ben Solo
(cont'd)
After they purge the Jedi, the Knights take Kylo to their master: Supreme Leader Snoke. He resides on a planet far afield from the galactic charts. It's a desolate, cruel world with stark geography and scarce flora-and-fauna.
They lead Ben into the catacombs where Snoke levitates in meditation, contemplating the mysteries of the Force. There he dubs Ben Solo a new man: a Knight of Ren. What's more...
He will be their leader, their Ky'lo in ancient Sith tongue. And when he has hunted down the final Jedi and purged the galaxy of the heretics who have wrought such chaos on the galaxy, from the Clone Wars onward, Ren will return to rule for a thousand generations.
This secret, Snoke tells Kylo, was hidden from Vader. Had he known, he would have usurped Palpatine long before he grew old and weak. Had he known, he would have killed Luke. Family means nothing. All must be sacrificed at the altar of Ren.
"If you show an ounce of compassion like Vader did in his final moments, Kylo, you will have failed Ren," Snoke tells him. "You must prove your faith in him by killing all that stand in our way: even those you love."
Though he still feels glimmers of light within him, Kylo resolves to purge all of it. He is prepared to kill anyone who stops the coming return of Ren: even his own father and uncle.
What is the deal with the light broadsword? A friend told me there was a scene explaining it, but I just saw the movie and it didn't explain shit. It's fucking dumb.
>>64029733
I don't remember them explaining it either, but it's supposed to be an ancient lightsaber design.
REY IS A KNIGHT OF REN WITH MEMORY LOSS REY IS A KNIGHT OF REN WITH MEMORY LOSS REY IS A KNIGHT OF REN WITH MEMORY LOSS REY IS A KNIGHT OF REN WITH MEMORY LOSS REY IS A KNIGHT OF REN WITH MEMORY LOSS REY IS A KNIGHT OF REN WITH MEMORY LOSS REY IS A KNIGHT OF REN WITH MEMORY LOSS
They trained under Luke Skywalker to learn the way of the Jedi
They wanted nothing more but to bring pride to their families and the New Republic
One day, however, everything changed
Their fellow trainees were murdered, in cold blood. A lone Padawan stood atop a mountain of corpses, playing with a severed head like it was a ball.
Luke subdued the renegade. He did not kill the renegade. He banished the renegade to a desert planet, with new memories and a new name.
Ben Kenobi and his fellow survivors couldn't accept this outcome. To spare a murderer who killed for the thrill of it? There's mercy, and then there's just naive excess.
But the renegade's location was hidden from them. Luke Skywalker had vanished, and not wanting his surviving Padawans to become victims to anger, hidden the location of where he sent the Renegade. He wanted his surviving Padawans to let go of their anger.
But Ben and his survivors couldn't let go. They couldn't just throw away the lives of their fallen brothers and sisters away like trash. They needed power. They needed to become stronger, and they needed to find Luke Skywalker.
Only Luke Skywalker knew where the renegade lived
Only Luke Skywalker could let Ben set things right.
And if he had to turn to the Dark side to find him, then, so be it.
>REY
>R
>RE
>REN
HOLY SHIT
REy/Ren is the ancient fear
>>64028959
Finn is a Knight of Ren.
>>64029882
That sounds like headcanon. Nothing in the movie indicates that.
>>64029163
>>64029372
>>64029669
>>64029372
did you make this off of the top of your head? or was this based on the flash back in the movie?
>>64029922
fuck, I like it
>>64030150
I'm just spitballin', anon.
>>64030192
it sounds dumb, but... im the sorta perosn who likes dumb, IMO the knights of Ren are just dark jedi like Kylo is
Weren't the Knights of Ren the new Dark Jedi order?
>>64029733
>>64029882
>>64030099
It's been more-or-less explained in supplementary material. Kylo Ren's lightsaber crystal is cracked. The "crossguard" is actually venting the energy so the thing doesn't explode.
That's also why the blade is as ragged as it is. It's all fucked up.
>>64029922
Kylo calls Rey a traitor, not Finn. It fits.
>>64029922
I could see this being it
"no Rey, you are the demons" will be the new "I am your father" in Episode VIII
>>64030300
What supplementary material? I remember that being a half assed fan theory based purely on the first trailer.
>kylo ren was under luke's training
>he was a promising jedi among his friends
>obsessed with vader and is an emo loner
>kills the rest of the jedi students
kylo ren is literally an edgy school shooter in sw universe. I bet the knights of ren were just some other pseudo commando robots obsessed with siths and killers
>>64030454
Pretty sure the Visual Dictionary mentions the cracked crystal and them being vents.
They're some elite storm troopers who showed high efficiency with riot baton things and extreme loyalty so The First Order assigned them as a squad to Kylo for specialty missions, to give other Stormtroopers something to train/aim for, and to make Kylo seem more intimidating
>implying the Knights of Ren aren't anything like the Knights of The Old Republic
>>64029043
I really don't understand this notion. How can anyone enjoy being confused?
>>64029364
Wasn't it confirmed she was dropped off there as a child?
>inb4 implanted memory
>>64029922
This makes the mind reading (attempt) scene retarded as hell. Why try to break into her memory if you already know it yourself? Why not mention that she was a sith as well in order to get her to rejoin the dark side?
>>64030689
it's an easy way to make the world feel big and alive without needing to show it
>>64030867
IGUESSGODDAMNIT I HATE HAVING TO IMPROV$#E AS A PERSONNN
![stimpyspet-screenshot_08_zpscc71f6f7[1].jpg](https://i.imgur.com/4hILJP5.jpg "stimpyspet-screenshot_08_zpscc71f6f7[1].jpg")
Knights of Ren are a cult devoted to the legendary Sith Lord, Ren Hoek. He was particularly well-known for the great power brought about by his boundless rage.
>>64030867
For a base the size of a planet the movie sure did do a bad job of making starkiller base look big whatsoever
>>64029991
>REY
>BEN
>REy & bEN
>REN
:)
>>64031372
The question is, was Ben also mind-wiped to forget Rey? Surely he would recognize her (going off of this Rey is Evil theory).
So was he baiting Han the whole time, or was he actually conflicted?
>>64032102
A bit of both. He seemed genuinely conflicted, but he never did tell Han what he needed help with.
>>64032102
>severus_snape_as_an_emo_jedi.png
>>64032102
Conflicted
he got all teary
he knew letting Han go, or killing him, would define his next transition
he chose the latter in a moment of mental "triumph"
>>64029372
>the bones of Darth Maul
Too bad he didn't die on Naboo.
Write your own damn movie Jew Jew!
>>64030315
No? He definitely calls the runaway stormtrooper a traitor.
>>64029922
Doesn't Han refer to the student who rebelled against Luke as a "he"? If Han didn't specify, this theory holds water.
>>64030830
Kylo was after the map and was mind reading her because she had saw map
>>64032102
>>64032410
If you give a shit about the novelization, it also says it had the opposite of the effect he anticipated. Basically just crushed him emotionally and made him weaker, unable to anticipate or avoid the bowcaster shot.
As far as his background and the Knights of Ren go, I'll go through my ideas.
My guess is that Snoke is not really a Sith in the traditional sense, but is a believer in true balance in the force.
For likely thousands of years, the light side of the force has been completely dominant. Through Vader's slaughter, the force was actually brought closer to balance than it had been in memory.
After Luke caused the deaths of both current Sith and began teaching a new generation, the balance was again significantly skewed. This is what Kylo is referring to when he says he will finish what Vader started. He feels he has to become a champion of the dark side to counter Luke, not because he wants to, but because he was influenced by Snoke's belief in balance.
If you look at the art book, it mentions that Snoke sees Kylo as being an ideal blend of dark and light potential. It's possible he is after the map and Luke so he can kill him and no longer be bound to the dark side, becoming the sole embodiment of balance.
In one of the flashbacks, you see him apparently saving Rey from one of his own.
This could indicate that Kylo was actually the one to put Rey in hiding, both because he couldn't bring himself to kill her and didn't want Luke to find and train her.
At the end, he basically states he knows who she is, and when the officer mentions a girl has become involved in the plot, he becomes enraged. Something so vague would only trigger this much of a reaction if he specifically knew she was in that area.
Might be a bit of a stretch, but as he clearly seems to be forcing himself to be evil, I think it fits.
>>64032102
>kylo, in the light, speaking with his father about leaving the First Order and reuniting with his family
>kylo, in the dark, kills his father
It's like poetry
>>64033244
I like this theory
>>64033244
I got that impression too. Knights of Ren were saving Rey from some kind of slaughter at the Academy based on how that Padawan is killed in its attempt to harm Rey. Good theory.
am i the only that laughed at the name snoke? every fucking line with snoke in it could not be taken seriously.
SNOKE. just say it out loud. SNOKE.
>>64033677
It's not any worse than Tyranus, Maul, or Grievous.
But it is stupid
