Marvel’s Star Wars comic The Rise of Kylo Ren details the first time that Ben Solo met the Knights of Ren. The series, which is written by Charles Soule and Will Sliney, is giving Star Wars fans the backstory of Kylo Ren. For now, the character is still a young Ben Solo, traveling around with Luke Skywalker and Lon Sen Tekka. They are traveling around looking for Jedi artifacts in an effort to rebuild the Jedi Order, which takes them to the Outer Rim. This is when they come into contact with the Knights of Ren for the first time.
We previously learned that the Knights of Ren are led by one physically damaged masked man who goes by the name Ren, which is also the name of the red Sith Lightsaber that they all worship. They are sensitive to the Force, but not nearly as much as a Jedi. When they come into contact with Luke, Ben, and Tekka, they engage in battle, which ends up as a draw. However, Ren can sense the Dark Side of the Force in young Ben. He can sense powerful darkness from within Ben Solo.
Ren offers Ben Solo a chance to join the Knights of Ren and namedrops Snoke in the process. It appears that Snoke is already pulling the strings, which means that it’s ultimately Emperor Palpatine and the Sith Elite doing everything from Exegol in the Unknown Regions. The story keeps getting deeper and deeper with some interesting twists. For now, Ben Solo is still with Luke Skywalker, but he is questioning his Dark Side connection.
While it seems that the Knights of Ren are working with Snoke, it also appears that they do not follow Sith traditions and don’t come off as too smart. In other words, it sounds like they were all easily manipulated by Emperor Palpatine and the beloved red Sith Lightsaber. Star Wars: The Rise of Kylo Ren only has two more issues to go, so it is believed that things will move a lot quicker when showing Ben Solo’s transformation into Kylo Ren. The Rise of Skywalker finally brought the Knights of Ren back, but they weren’t a huge part of the story and one can see why after reading through these comics.
In addition to the Ben Solo transformation into Kylo Ren, the new comic series gives us some more insight into how Luke Skywalker was feeling so much darkness from his nephew. The Last Jedi finds Luke lose his confidence while doubting everything the Jedi Order has taught him. He becomes bitter and retreats to a world of exile, which is something that Rey tries to do in The Rise of Skywalker. It’s going to be interesting to see how the rest of Ben Solo’s story unfolds in the next few weeks. You can purchase the Star Wars: The Rise of Kylo Ren over at Marvel.
