SPECULATION Ben Solo, founder of The Knights of Ren

Interesting take.

However Kylo wants the dark. He speaks resisting the pull of the light. He wants to see again the power of the dark side. He isn't grey. He overtly speaks against the light. He is a rage fuelled emotionally stunted tyrant.

Now it would be interesting for sure if the Knights of Ren were all renegade jedi who turned on the students.

 

Good point.

 

Kylo didn't create the KoR. They already existed as a satellite group and he became their master. This is confirmed.

 

Very good theory. But maybe the knights of ren are simply clones of vader under the command of his descendant ?

 

Great theory, hoping to see more of KOR in ep.8.

 

We know that the KOR had already existed before Ben Solo turned to the Dark Side.
"It was a group that existed before him, that he was a part of. Their place within everything is maybe more of a satellite group than I would say ... This is really tricky."
- Adam Driver

But this doesn't mean Jedi aren't part of the KOR. Other Jedi could've turned to the Dark Side after Ben Solo turned.

I don't think Snoke wants to bring Kylo Ren from the grey zone. He actually wants to use both sides to create a new kind of force user.
"The Supreme Leader believes Ren to be the ideal embodiment of the Force, a focal point of both light and dark side ability." - TFA Visual Guide

 

Is it confirmed anywhere that the Knights of Ren are all force users?

 

No. There is no confirmation one way or the other about the Knights of Ren using the force. Many assume that because Kylo is their leader that they are Force users. On the other hand, they seem to be carrying melee weapons in the Forceback scene which could imply they are not Force users. At this point we can only just speculate as very little is actually known about the Knights of Ren.

 

while i don't disagree with you (as you know), i will add that there is some ambiguity about how Snoke wants to manage Ren's Light/Dark mix.
don't forget Snoke chastises Ren for his compassion multiple times (and it's implied in the book he may even intend to punish him for it).
so part of why Ren wants to shove the Light out is because of his desire to please Snoke (or at least avoid his displeasure).

 

There were no Sith Lords in The Force Awakens. What ever Snoke believes he's not Sith and he's trained at least on other person besides Kylo Ren. It's not known if that person is still alive or if Snoke trained more than two.

 

I can see why you think that, as it implies Snoke is fascinated with creating a perfect, balanced grey force-user. However, I don't buy this notion whatsoever and I will explain why:

I think that quote is connected to this passage from the novel,

"Ren straightened. “It is your teachings that make me strong, Supreme Leader.”

Snoke demurred. “It is far more than that. It is where you are from. What you are made of. The dark side–and the light. The finest sculptor cannot fashion a masterpiece from poor materials. He must have something pure, something strong, something unbreakable, with which to work. I have–you.” He paused, reminiscing."
​

I have a few thoughts on this passage:

• Kylo says that Snoke's teachings are the source of his great strength. Kylo also says,“I am immune to the light,” Ren assured him confidently. “By the grace of your training, I will not be seduced". The TFA guide also says, "Kylo Ren aspires to build immunity to the light - to succeed where Darth Vader and his sentimentality once failed." Considering just this, there's no way Snoke is teaching Kylo any light side powers. It completely contradicts Kylo's agenda.

• Snoke refutes Kylo's statement by telling him his strength and power goes far beyond Snoke's teachings. To me, this hints that Snoke believes Kylo's power is rooted from his family's bloodline and his family's origin. The TFA guide also says this about Kylo, "Through his veins courses the bloodline of most powerful Jedi and Sith, and Ren sees it has his birthright to rule the weaker beings in the galaxy." I think what Snoke is getting at here is that Kylo's construction (he compares him to a man-made object) is a product of both the Dark and Light sides of the force. The line from Snoke "He paused, reminiscing" is key also. Snoke is proud of what he has created in Kylo, but it's in relation to the past tense, and not what dark/light side mix Snoke is interested in creating in the future. Most evidence suggests Snoke and Kylo want to become fully dark.

 

Why would melee weapons = non-force user? We've seen the Witches use melee and ranged non-lightsaber weapons. We've seen non-force users using Lightsabers. I don't think someones choice of weapon can indicate whether or not they are able to use the force, like it could in the PT era.

Also, at least on of them is clearly holding a blaster.

 

Personally, I think that Acolytes of the Beyond were likely transformed into the Knights of Ren.

Part of me hopes that it was Ezra who did that (the Knights of (W)Ren, as in, Sabine Wren) but yeah, it just seems like it's going to be AotB => KoR

 

I guess the question we need to answer before we go deeply into the Knights is, who or what is Ren?

 

I think the kor is just a special forces type group. I don't think luke had an Academy. Jedi only train one person at a time. Would not have had enough time to train multiple students. Ben was his only student.

 

I agree. There was no academy, per se. Just Luke and Ben traveling around.

Even Pablo stated there really wasn't an academy.

 

there was definitely more than one student:



"Kylo Ren betrayed the other Jedi students studying with Master Luke Skywalker, and is responsible for their destruction."

if anything i think that Kylo Ren led the Knights of Ren to the Jedi students thus betraying and destroying them. this would fit in with the image of the KoR standing around a bunch of dead bodies in the rain scene during the "Forceback" in TFA.

 

no, it wasn't an academy, but Cerise also suggests that Luke had "acolytes" (plural) in Aftermath: Life Debt.

 

Interestingly (and perhaps a bit off topic - sorry!) the entry says Kylo Ren is "the most gifted apprentice of Supreme Leader Snoke" strongly implying that Snoke has (or had) other apprentices besides Kylo Ren. Unless this refers to the Knights of Ren, then there may be some other mysterious Dark Side users running around. Hopefully we meet them in VIII or IX!