Here's Why The Knights Of Ren Weren't In Star Wars: The Last Jedi
In space, sometimes there's just no space.
The Last Jedi attracted a lot of criticism for some of the questions it simply ignored. We didn't find out where Snoke came from, we didn't really get a definitive answer about Rey's past and the issue of Maz and the lightsaber was just entirely glossed over.
On top of that, we also didn't get to see the coolest element introduced in The Force Awakens. The Knights Of Ren - the group of similarly dressed cohorts Kylo Ren apparently brought to destroy the Jedi temple should have played a role in establishing Ren's backstory. And yet, they were completely absent from the movie, annoying more than a few fans.
And now, finally, Rian Johnson has revealed why that was the case.
The director appeared on the Empire podcast dedicated to the movie saying there simply wasn't a logical place for them:
“We have a very full movie already there literally was just not room for another element…I guess I could’ve used them 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.”
So are we just never to see them again? Or will Ren turn to his former fellow students to beef up his personal guard now that the Praetorian Guard can't be counted on? Let's hope the return of JJ Abrams means the characters he introduced actually get their time to shine.
And that will also mean we have more of a villainous presence in the final movie of the trilogy, which was looking something of a concern when Snoke was so unceremoniously killed off.