The Sith are the first antagonists of the Star Wars saga, however they’re largely absent from the sequel trilogy, having been seemingly changed by a distinct darkish facet faith: The Knights of Ren. All conflicts within the Skywalker Saga lead again to the Sith eventually, particularly their deadliest and most good Darkish Lord, Darth Sidious, aka Palpatine. The Sith seemingly died with Palpatine in Return of the Jedi, however The Emperor survived, and, thus, the Sith Order did, too. With Sith affect remaining behind the scenes but once more, the Knights of Ren grew to become the brand new face of the galaxy’s darkish facet menaces, with their chief, Kylo Ren, being second in charge of the Galactic Empire’s successor state, the First Order.
Though the Jedi are the galaxy’s simplest and well-known Drive customers and the Sith probably the most highly effective darkish facet customers, the 2 are hardly the one Drive religions within the franchise. The Sith created a splinter group, the Inquisitors, as a method to make use of corrupted Jedi as Imperial brokers. Star Wars: The Clone Wars included a considerably reimagined model of the Legends-era Nightsisters, who use the darkish facet within the type of spells. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story launched the Guardians of the Whills, a Drive-using faith separate from the Jedi who guarded the Kyber crystals on Jedha. Contemplating what number of Drive-using religions exist within the Star Wars franchise, the sequels’ introduction of a darkish facet group aside from the Sith was becoming.
The Sith orchestrated the Separatist Disaster and the Clone Wars within the Star Wars prequels, paving the way in which for Palpatine to interchange the Republic with the Galactic Empire with Darth Vader at his facet. With the Sith seemingly gone on the finish of the unique trilogy, the sequels launched Kylo Ren, the son of Leia Organa and Han Solo, because the successor to Vader and the chief of the Knights of Ren. The Knights had solely a quick look in Star Wars: The Drive Awakens and a small position in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, however their origins and philosophies had been expanded on within the four-issue comedian miniseries Star Wars: The Rise of Kylo Ren.
1000’s of years earlier than the occasions of Star Wars‘ Skywalker Saga, a bunch of fallen Jedi shaped the Sith Order on Moraband. Though they started as a Jedi splinter group, the Sith Order has a essentially completely different outlook on the Drive and the galaxy than the Jedi. Utilizing the corrupted energy of the darkish facet moderately than the Drive, the Sith believed in dominating the galaxy from the shadows and imposing their absolute rule over all different beings. The Sith additionally developed the Rule of Two as a method to maintain the order alive and scale back in-fighting. The Rule of Two, created by Darth Bane, saved the Sith two solely a grasp and apprentice, every making an attempt to interchange the opposite.
The precise origins of the Knights of Ren are unknown, however sooner or later a gang of darkish side-using marauders established themselves within the galaxy’s Unknown Areas, terrorizing the individuals of the galaxy. Not like the Sith, the Knights of Ren had a much more passive philosophy and use of the darkish facet. Whereas the Sith sought to regulate the darkish facet and use it to regulate the galaxy, the Knights of Ren adopted the darkish facet, following its pull wherever it took them and stealing, pillaging, and murdering wherever their travels introduced them. Not like the Sith, the Knights of Ren didn’t restrict their members, however given their darkish facet use, solely the strongest and most ruthless might be part of their ranks.
Whereas the Sith and the Knights of Ren have essentially completely different philosophies, the 2 do share some commonalities. Other than utilizing the darkish facet of the Drive, each organizations additionally used related weapons, in some instances. The signature weapon of the Sith is the red-bladed lightsabers, which they created by corrupting Kyber crystals with the darkish facet and making them “bleed.” Whereas the Knights of Ren use varied scavenged weapons, their chief additionally makes use of a red-bladed lightsaber, although theirs are usually completely different from Sith weapons. Ren, the earliest identified chief, constructed a self-destruct mechanism into his weapon, and Kylo Ren modified his weapon with a cross-guard to vent the unstable blade’s extra power.
Two of the Star Wars sequel trilogy’s fundamental villains, Snoke and Kylo Ren, will not be Sith. Kylo Ren, regardless of worshipping his Sith Lord grandfather, by no means grew to become a Sith himself. After leaving Luke’s revived Jedi Order, Ben Solo joined the Knights of Ren, finally killing their chief and taking his place as their new grasp, Kylo Ren. As a Knight of Ren, Kylo wore physique armor and a fearsome masks, which served a number of features. Along with defending his head and indicating his knighthood, the masks additionally allowed Kylo to really feel extra like his grandfather and idol, Darth Vader.
Snoke wasn’t formally a part of any darkish facet faith, Sith, Knights of Ren, or in any other case. Snoke was an unaffiliated darkish facet consumer and the Supreme Chief of the First Order, although he did mentor Kylo Ren, serving as his darkish facet grasp, which gave him a level of authority over the Knights of Ren. Snoke was, finally created as a proxy for Darth Sidious, so regardless of his free will and unimaginable energy in the dead of night facet, Snoke was one more software of the Sith Order, and his betrayal by Kylo Ren adopted the Sith Rule of Two completely.
Regardless of by no means having joined the Sith, Kylo Ren grew to become an ally of the order in The Rise of Skywalker. Working with Palpatine, Kylo mixed the First Order with the Sith Everlasting, forming the Last Order. The Knights of Ren adopted Kylo Ren into this alliance as properly, persevering with to serve Palpatine after Kylo grew to become Ben Solo as soon as extra. This was a becoming transfer for the Knights of Ren since they observe the darkish facet, moderately than rule over it. With Palpatine, the galaxy’s strongest darkish facet consumer, rising in energy, it is sensible that the Knights would observe his unimaginable darkish facet energy and serve him. The important thing distinction between the Sith and the Knights of Ren in Star Wars is revealed of their names. The Sith Lords rule over the darkish facet of the Drive within the Star Wars saga whereas the Knights of Ren serve the darkish facet.