Star Wars 9: Kylo Ren and Knights of Ren TWIST? ‘They’re NOT minions’ in Rise of Skywalker

The antagonist, played by Adam Driver, has perhaps been the subject of the most speculation ahead of the release of saga finale Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. While it is confirmed that his Knights of Ren will be returning, the presumption has been that they will act as Kylo’s personal army – but this may not be the case. A theory on the Star Wars Speculation area of Reddit has impressively been 99% Upvoted by readers.

Theorist Mattarreyes wrote: “The go to theory right now is that KOR are Kylo’s minions in the movie. The idea that he fights a KOR in the promo has mostly been debunked.”

They argue that “the dynamic between them might be more complicated”, reasoning: “Kylo has enough minions already, he regularly leads Stormtroopers.

“Why give him a completely new unit and have the unit be just as obedient?”

It’s also flagged that Kylo “messes up badly on Crait” in The Last Jedi, and so “he won’t just lead the Order as Snoke did”.

The writer added: “There will be discontent [with him] in the [First Order].

“This might be represented by Hux and the new general, but Kylo can strangle them and everyone knows it.

“Now a bunch of KOR who look look like they rival him physically and are also force trained? That’s a veritable threat.”

So could the Knights of Ren actually be a threat to Kylo? “Kylo couldnt take the 6 pretorians alone; KOR are more badass,” the theorist pointed out.

“I don’t expect this to be an overt conflict from the beginning,” they clarified.

“More like, they are his ‘faithful bodyguards’ that trail behind him for ‘protection’ but everyone involved knows they are there to check him should he step out of line.

“Might be why the mask is reforged, as we know that KOR are there? Falling back in line (or pretending to) due to close scrutiny?

“Bonus crack: Maybe every one of them is a Master of KOR (like a Jedi Master) and the title doesn’t mean Kylo is their direct superior. Maybe he’s the slow one who keeps failing his final descent-to-darkness exam and that why he was still training under Snoke.”

Read the full theory and the discussion around it on Reddit.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is out in December and ties up the whole sequel trilogy – and the nine-movie saga that started with A New Hope in the 1970s.

It will reunite many of the franchise’s favourite characters, including Ian McDiarmid as Palpatine and the late Carrie Fisher as Leia.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is out on December 19 in the UK.