Crimson Reign explains why the Knights of Ren fought against the Sith

Warning: This article contains spoilers for Crimson Reign #4.

The Knights of Ren have joined forces with Qi’ra and Crimson Dawn in the fight against the Sith and the Empire. This is an arguably unexpected turn of events as the Knights of Ren serve Palpatine and the Sith many years later in The Rise of Skywalker.

Crimson Reign #4 explains why the Knights of Ren are fighting against the Sith in the time period between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi.

Some of the Knights of Ren believe that they have an unspoken understanding with the Sith to not interfere with each other. However, the leader of the Knights of Ren–who is referred to as Ren–recognizes that there is no understanding.

The Sith have been busy dealing with more overt threats like the Jedi, the Nightsisters, and now the Rebellion. The Knights of Ren have not been enough of a threat for the Empire to deal with them. Yet, Ren believes it is only a matter of time until the Sith turn their eye toward the Knights of Ren and seek to destroy them. Instead of waiting, Ren chooses to strike the Sith first.

Qi’ra promises the Knights of Ren that if they work with her, they can destroy the Sith, and the Knights of Ren can get glory, safety from the Sith, and create their own kingdom in the galaxy.

In return, Qi’ra asks that the Knights of Ren break into Darth Vader’s castle on Mustafar and steal a valuable key. While the Knights of Ren successfully break in and escape with the key, they come face-to-face with Vader himself.

Ren duels Vader and is easily outmatched. Vader quickly overpowers and injures Ren and Ren has to literally jump out of Vader´s castle to escape. The Knights of Ren have now made themselves more of a priority target for the Sith.

It will be interesting to see how their story progresses given what fans know about their future. Fans know the Knights of Ren and Qi’ra are not the ones to defeat the Sith and the Empire.

Also, while some of the individuals in the group change, the Knights of Ren still exist during the sequel trilogy era. Their inevitable failure to destroy the Sith does not mean the end of their order.

Instead, the Knights of Ren will be destroyed when Ben Solo forsakes his identity as Kylo Ren and kills his former comrades during the Battle of Exegol.

The Knights of Ren will hopefully continue to be fleshed out further in Crimson Reign and in The Hidden Empire, which is the final series in Charles Soule’s trilogy of Qi’ra comics.

In Crimson Reign #4, both Qi’ra and Darth Vader allude to how the Knights of Ren used to be more formidable and respected. It would be interesting to learn about the group even earlier in the timeline. Just as the Knights of Ren change a great deal between Crimson Reign and The Rise of Skywalker, it would be intriguing to see how they changed in the years prior to Crimson Reign.

Crimson Reign #5 is scheduled to release on June 22, 2022.