Warning: There are spoilers ahead for Star Wars: The Last Jedi! If you still haven’t seen it by now, what are you waiting for?!
Captain Phasma ain’t this generation’s Boba Fett—no, that dubious honor belongs to the Knights of Ren, Kylo Ren‘s brothers-in-arms with the cool armor who have had only a few seconds of screen time in The Force Awakens. At least Phasma got her rematch with Finn in The Last Jedi, which is more than we can say about the Ren boys. As part of his never-ending media tour, director Rian Johnson has finally addressed why he left the Knights of Ren out of his movie. And today’s Nerdist News has an intriguing theory about their first appearance.
Join guest host and the penultimate Jedi, Amy Vorpahl, as she expands upon Johnson’s recent comments on the Empire Magazine podcast. “I guess I could’ve used [the Knights of Ren] in place of the Praetorian guards but then it would feel like wasting them because all those guards had to die. And if Kylo had some kind of connection to them it would’ve added a complication that wouldn’t have helped the scene… Truth is, I just didn’t see a place for them in the movie.”
Respectfully, however, the battle in Snoke’s throne room could’ve been the perfect time for Kylo to run into his bros. Can you imagine the emotional turmoil if Kylo actually cared about the people that he had to fight in that scene? Granted, it would have been a waste to kill off the Knights so quickly. But it may have been a better fate than their current status in oblivion.
Having said that, we could easily see Kylo calling his bros up from the minor leagues in Episode IX and enlisting them as his new Praetorian guards or even his direct disciples as he attempts to rule the galaxy. Here’s something else to consider: we may have already seen this happen. During Rey’s Force-induced vision in The Force Awakens, she saw Kylo standing side-by-side with the Knights in the rain. Are we to believe that Kylo and his buddies had those helmets on hand at the Jedi Academy in case they ever decided to go bad? Or did we get a glimpse of a future that will play out in the next film? That potential flash-forward may mean that Kylo will go back to wearing a mask, perhaps to seem more imposing as the new supreme leader of the First Order.
Do you agree with Johnson’s reasons for keeping the Knights of Ren out of The Last Jedi? Ignite your lightsabers and let’s discuss!
Need More Star Wars?
- Watch as Rian Johnson gets sassy with Last Jedi dissenters.
- He also hinted at deleted scenes.
- And finally, Rian names female directors he’d like to see helm Star Wars.
Images: Lucasfilm
