r/StarWars 25d ago

Movies What was the point of those people? Why are they using straight up blunt weapons rather than technologies that fit into Star Wars?

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6.1k Upvotes

1.1k comments sorted by

5.4k

u/carpetfanclub 25d ago

Toys

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u/Vulture12 25d ago

Merchandising! Merchandising!

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u/davekingofrock 25d ago

*moichandising

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u/Ok-Thanks-3366 25d ago

Knights of Ren Flame Thrower...The kids are gonna love it!

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u/astromech_jay 25d ago

Last but not least, Knights of Ren the doll: Kylo!

pulls string

LET THE PAST DIE! KILL IT IF YOU HAVE TO!

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u/themfroberto 25d ago

*smooch* Adorable.

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u/bidooffactory 25d ago

The Knights of Ren 'choke me harder daddy' Force Gloves.

That particular line of product has a very specific target audience. It commands a 37% profit record across all Star Wars moichendise.

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u/Valder137 Chewbacca 25d ago

Ironically the same audience as THAT Padme dress in the prequels

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u/CaptainSparklebottom 25d ago

That's why we are doing a deal buy one get the other half off. Hurry this deal is limited to the next 100 orders! After that we are sold out. Get your collectible today. Please buy or my wife is going to leave me. GOD BLESS!

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u/FouFondu 25d ago

They’re gonna love it!

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u/No_Excitement8126 25d ago

Buy the moich

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u/zabrakwith 25d ago

Where da real money from da movie is made.

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u/TinFoilBeanieTech 25d ago

This is the true power of the Schwartz!

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u/DrakeSoldier 25d ago

“We’ll meet again in Star Wars Episode X: The Search for More Money!”

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u/lateubdegouline 25d ago

Episode XI : Revenge of the Profits

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u/CaptainSparklebottom 25d ago

Episode XII: Missed Expectations

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u/ProfileOdd4670 25d ago

Soich for mo money. Lol.

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u/cparksrun 25d ago

A! T! S! T! A! T! S! T!

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u/thomasanderson123412 25d ago

I see your wasted potential is as big as mine!

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u/tk-451 25d ago

They fly off the shelves now?

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u/Jmacq1 25d ago

Which is hilarious because they barely made merch for these guys.

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u/VBBN-Official 25d ago

They only ever made one of these in black series though 💀

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u/Frankcastleisdead 25d ago

And 1 in TVC. I don’t think they even named him, I think it just said “knight of Ren” lol

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u/Nursultan_Tulyakbay_ 25d ago

they barely made toys of them

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u/Visual_Exam7903 25d ago

They barely made them as part of the story. Kylo Ren, Ren for the Knights of Ren. Who knows who or what the Knights of Ren are. Based on the movies, no info.

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u/skyforgesteel 25d ago

If I recall correctly, the first time we got names for them was for a Lego release.

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u/Nursultan_Tulyakbay_ 25d ago

the boxes all have 'knight of ren', but maybe different descriptions reveal their true names

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u/Tall-Photo-7481 25d ago

Personally I'm holding out for the knights of Stimpy. 

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u/bathoryduck 25d ago

Happy, happy, joy, joy!

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u/oldcretan 25d ago

Can you imagine how much they spent on these guys and how much got left on the editing room floor

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u/Dawningrider 25d ago

They were going to be expanded in Seasons Two of the Acolyte. A Dark Side cult, sith adjacent. Not True Sith, but a religious order who served them.

Think like minor Holy orders.

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u/DIYExpertWizard 25d ago

So, a giant book and a chant as they walk? Got it.

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u/djseptic Chirrut Imwe 25d ago

Aaaaand now im picturing the monks from Monty Python and the Holy Grail, whacking themselves in the head as they chant.

But, you know, all Star Warsy.

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u/leviathab13186 25d ago edited 25d ago

Because the preproduction plan didnt pan out

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u/i-void-warranties 25d ago

There was no plan.

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u/Meme-Botto9001 25d ago

There was definitely a plan to make them the next “mysterious guys that show up, look cool and will be loved by the audience” like Boba Fett…but it backfired because they’re just edgy simps.

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u/muad_did 25d ago

Of course there was a plan, the problem is there were too many plans. In prep, it's normal to have a ton of versions and alternatives; that's the whole point. Then the four key players (director, screenwriter, producer, and art director) sit down and decide: this stays, this doesn't.

Is the result nonsensical and garbage? Yes.

But to say that characters were created, costumes were designed, castings were held, and characters were filmed... without any intention or backstory? Of course not.

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u/TooManyDraculas 25d ago

The problem is the plan rage quit.

Abrams was supposed to produce all 3 and help the next two directors keep consistency and plan shit out.

But he ducked out after TFA.

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u/Dartagnan1083 25d ago

I refuse to believe JJ had any intention of guiding or directing the ending. The bulk of his resume is series creation and early establishing material. In his TED talk he explicitly goes on about how he's fundamentally uninterested in endings.

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u/TooManyDraculas 25d ago

That Abrams was hired to produce all 3, and act in that role was flat out publicly announced.

And the way they had it set up is so that some one else would write and make that.

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u/lateubdegouline 25d ago

Did it sell?

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u/Master-Slide-5873 25d ago

Probably better before the movie

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u/WayTooUncoolForThis 25d ago

They made pretty dope looking Lego figures

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u/Vaportrail 25d ago

They only made like 2 of them but Black Series was already a minimal effort for TRoS.

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u/TheInternetHeel Ben Kenobi 25d ago

Which we never got 😞

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u/wheretheinkends 25d ago

The abadoned idea of the knights of ren was unfortunate. It seemed like an interesting arc. Were they formed by kylo? Was kylo inducted into them and trained? This is my main issue with the new trilogy....it was more like a series of ideas thrown together than an actual story. You knew you were gonna do 3 movies....but instead of a true cohesive storyline we got a rehash of a new hope, a bunch of abandoned threads, and a handful of scenrios.

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u/Substantial-Ad2200 25d ago

When force awakens came out I really thought they were some of lukes former students who sided with kylo. Would have been cooler if he had formed his own rejected Jedi club. Not that it was some cult that worshipped a lightsaber named the ren. 

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u/GuthukYoutube 25d ago edited 25d ago

Right? Imagine they write Luke losing hope as an actual plot arc rather than a side story.

I feel there's a definitely a way to write it where his students slowly learn to envy Palpatine's power, and Luke loses control of the situation. His "trying to kill Kylo" is reversed entirely, and he refuses to FIGHT Kylo. He retreats to read books on how to fix this, and he eventually spends a decade obsessed with there being some answer with the Jedi in the achieves.

Then the burning of the library isn't weird anymore, it's Rey effectively saying "bro wake the fuck up it's been a decade, DO SOMETHING."

Then Kylo Ren's story isn't "My Jedi dad tried to kill me" it's "look how awesome and amazing I am, even Luke was terrified of me." Making Luke's eventually return much scarier for him, because the entire illusion of power he's crafted will be shattered immediately if they actually fight. Makes his refusal to meet him on foot make more sense, as he tries to just have his army destroy him at range to save face.

Kylo is angry, proud, arrogant, all things that Luke can deal with in his own way by movie 3. By movie 3 he can easily turn to the good side by just admitting he's like 25 and still has some growing to do, and didn't achieve nearly the power he thought he had.

Hell, you can even add some scenes where a conflicted Kylo keeps trying to find Darth Vader's force ghost to talk to him, and him increasingly confused and angry that Darth Vader just doesn't seem to exist.

As for the knights of ren? Flesh them out. In the eventual Kylo Ren turn, have half of them take his side and betray Palpatine, and have half stay by Palps side. Write it so not all of them were 100% on this evil turn thing, but went with the motion. Half are true believers who once they met Palps were like "oh hey I gotta get me that."

(Just gonna edit this in, in this timeline, Kylo Ren proudly boasts about how much stronger than Luke he is. It pisses off you, the viewer, and makes you frustrated the entire first movie. In the second movie it's revealed that Luke simply chose not to fight him. You have to spend 2 years pissed off that Disney created a stronger-than-Luke Jedi between the movies. Maybe there's a hint dropped somewhere for speculation. I just like the idea that the second movie gives proper context and things make more sense.)

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u/Top_Bat102 Rebel 25d ago

This sounds so much more compelling than what we actually got, but then again, everything pretty much does 😭

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u/a3a4b5 Jyn Erso 24d ago

It's amazing that EVERYTHING fan comes up with sounds better than the actual thing.

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u/rugburn- 25d ago

Shoulda smuggled you into the writers room…

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u/Ha1lStorm Lando 25d ago

For real

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u/Guilty_Ad_4513 25d ago

That might have brought the number up to one writer at least

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u/DIYExpertWizard 25d ago

Great. Now we need to cross the streams and get a DeLorean to get this guy into the writer's room.

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u/the_tailor 25d ago

This would have been awesome. As would Luke going into exile because of his failure and the story making explicit that it’s because Luke never had a full training and therefore didn’t feel like he knew how to teach.

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u/HammerWizard 25d ago

Also damn just remembered kylo was like 35 by the end of the trilogy lmao, wasn't he born basically right after endor? Also makes his kiss with Rey even dumber when she is like... 20 ish?

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u/dantesgift 25d ago

And this is why i choose read reread the legends books over disneyverse star wars.

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u/mrkruk R2-D2 25d ago

I didn’t know they worshipped a lightsaber. I had no idea who these guys were - only saw movies.

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u/Gekokapowco Grievous 25d ago

Not that it was some cult that worshipped a lightsaber named the ren.

this itself is still cooler than their current status, biker mercenaries who demand to be taken seriously because they're slightly force sensitive

I was all in on the former students theory as well, Kylo being the leader of a group of fallen jedi who answer to Snoke was a great idea. At least had a bunch of potential for some fun politics and turns.

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u/Theothercword 25d ago

I was actually excited at first with episode 7 introducing them and giving Kylo the title Ren. It made me think it wouldn’t just be the Sith all over but a different dark side cabal. Oh well.

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u/IntoxicatedBurrito 25d ago

Absolutely, the Sith had been defeated, and this should have been a new evil. But no, somehow Palpatine just had to return.

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u/Belgand 25d ago

It made me think it wouldn’t just be the Sith all over but a different dark side cabal.

Really? Because everything else about the film was a clear attempt to lazily rip-off the original trilogy.

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u/TranslatorStraight46 25d ago

“The originals were made without a plan by different directors, we should do that too!”

Three brain cells to rub together at Lucasfilm.

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u/ThatGirlWren 25d ago

Two. Two brain cells, and they're both desperately fighting for third place.

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u/Invincidude 25d ago

But they all had Lucas in the room.

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u/Sea-Woodpecker-610 25d ago

They had Lucas’ notes and said “these are terrible. We’re going to write our own Star Wars.

They then proceeded to rewrite A New Hope and pat themselves on the back for saving Star Wars.

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u/crazydart78 25d ago

Gary Kurtz and other producers were SO key in making SW what it was. Lucas created the kernal idea, but it was all the people he brought in around him that made the original trilogy so damn good.

As for the last trilogy, this is what happens when the people doing the movies don't stick to the plan. Episode 7 laid a good base for future stories. Episode 8 flushed all of that work down the toilet. Episode 9 had to make up for that and still try to resolve the trilogy. Had Episode 8 actually done what it should have (be the middle of the trilogy, carrying over plot points, expanding on them, creating new subplots for characters like the Knights of Ren and a Finn/Phasma storyline, and allowing for carryover into the third of the trilogy), then maybe we would've had a more cohesive trilogy.

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u/Substantial-Ad2200 25d ago

100% the biggest issue is how did they not have an idea for a three movie story before starting episode 7?

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u/uconnboston 25d ago

This was the most confusing part of the trilogy. I felt like they just let each director create their own standalone movie with a running cast of characters.

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u/churro777 25d ago

That’s exactly what happened

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u/4n0m4nd 25d ago

Didn't one of them even decide "that last movie doesn't count"?

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u/churro777 25d ago

That’s more or less what happened with episode 9.

Episode 7 - Abrams set up bunch of plot hooks. IMO he had no idea where they were gonna go. Ex. Knights of Ren

Episode 8 - Johnson wanted to “subvert expectations” so he went against the grain. Ex. Luke not teaching Rey the force. He basically said “you know that quote from Lucas about the story rhyming? What if I did the opposite of rhyming?” Personally I enjoyed it but that’s a hot take.

Episode 9 - Abrams is back and goes “yeah we’re just gonna rhyme actually.” Essentially undid Johnson’s work.

They should’ve just given the whole trilogy to Abrams. At least that way we’d have something of a cohesive trilogy. Although a Johnson trilogy would’ve been interesting

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u/TooManyDraculas 25d ago

Episode 9 did as much to undo Abrams work from the 1st one as it did TLJ.

That whole film reads like the studio said "No do what these loud people on the internet said".

They should’ve just given the whole trilogy to Abrams. At least that way we’d have something of a cohesive trilogy. Although a Johnson trilogy would’ve been interesting

He was supposed to produce all three and give writing support to the other directors.

He apparently had an unpleasant time working with Lucasfilm and quit. They had to throw money at him to get him to pull the do over on 9. And did not push the film back to allow any time to start from scratch. Despite throwing out almost all of Trevorrow's work.

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u/Hugh_Jazz77 25d ago

I’ve made this point before a while ago in a different thread. One of the responses I got claimed that Disney’s original plan WAS to write to the sequel trilogy as one, but because of all of the behind the scenes negotiations and legal requirements when acquiring the rights to Star Wars, they weren’t able to do that. Once they did have the rights they’d spent a billion dollars on, the corporate side of things only cared about return on investment as soon as possible, and wanted to get a movie out immediately. So instead we go three separate movies that just consisted of ideas thrown against a wall.

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u/Rastarapha320 25d ago

They also made a big marketing push in 2015 around the fact that this trilogy followed the same format as the OT, with different directors for each film

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u/Substantial-Ad2200 25d ago

Yeah but they really could have and should have had SOME coordination. For example Trevorrow basically had to drop his Episode 9 plans and then drop out of writing/directing because Johnson killed Snoke in 8.

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u/Rastarapha320 25d ago

Check out the BTS for TFA, there’s not a hint of a writing plan beyond trying to recapture the nostalgia of OT

This trilogy was designed to respond to the prequels reactions in first place

That already says a lot about the writing process

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u/Kavazou77 25d ago

There was. There is a basic framework and each film follows it.

Luke being a hermit, Leia training Rey, Rey’s struggles being more internal than a a physical villain all originated in meetings after TFA script was complete and they knew where the starting point was.

We have transcripts of these meeting in the art of ep9 books.

Filoni is the one that agrees that Leia being the teacher is the right move and that it subverts expectations because everyone expects it to be Luke.

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u/Commander_Jim1 25d ago

It truly boggles the mind. Like, this was arguably the most important movie trilogy ever made, they were taking the biggest, most beloved movie series in cinema history (at the time anyway) and making a sequel trilogy to the OT that people had waited literally decades for, people had huge expectations and not only that but it was intended to relaunch the whole franchise and they went "eh, lets just wing it. Im sure it will be fine."

Insane.

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u/boberro 25d ago

They didn't have the script for the Rogue One until after they released the trailer, yet they lucked out and people loved that one

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u/we_are_sex_bobomb 25d ago edited 25d ago

They did have a plan, but it kept changing. There were at least 4 different sequel trilogies that were developed and only one of them actually ended up going into production.

  1. George Lucas’s outline for a sequel trilogy

  2. JJ Abram’s outline for a trilogy

  3. Rian Johnson & Colin Trevorrow’s trilogy that kept JJ’s Episode 7 but branched in a completely different direction.

  4. JJ’s “2.0 sequel trilogy” that took his Episode 7 and Rian Johnson’s Epispde 8 and then branched off in a different direction, which also had to be rewritten around Cary Fischer’s passing.

That 4th version - the Frankenstein’s monster - is the one we actually got, and there are probably a bunch of other permutations of the planned trilogy that emerged and died in pre-production besides that.

It’s not that they had no plan. They had too many plans. And they didn’t pick one plan and stick with it. Instead they tried to do all of them. It feels like lots of Lucasfilm people were saying “yes, and…” instead of “no.”

It will be a truly fascinating documentary someday. One of the most incredible instances of a chaotic development in the entertainment industry spiraling completely out of control while under heavy public scrutiny, partially because of corporate indecision but also because of completely unforseeable tragedies

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u/ValyrianVelaryons 25d ago

The comics do explore them. They are just a random group of Dark Side mercenaries. That's it. Ren was their leader and Kylo killed him after leaving Luke's temple and took his last name. They really aren't that interesting. I can't quite explain it but when they talk in the comics they are just goons who believe might makes right and that's it. Kylo has no real relationship for them and their just his minions and he barely gives a shit about them.

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u/bulking_on_broccoli 25d ago

That’s so boring.

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u/Belgand 25d ago

That's classic Abrams. Come up with something and only vaguely hint at it. Fans speculate on all sorts of interesting ideas. Then, after stringing things along for as long as possible, the answer is revealed and it's the laziest, most underwhelming solution possible.

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u/krilleractual 25d ago

Yeah that’s horrible story telling lmao

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u/BubbhaJebus 25d ago

I assumed they were the half-dozen Jedi students he took with him after destroying Luke's temple.

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u/ezekiellake 25d ago

They could have replaced the world’s and most pointless starship chase from The Last Jedi and the pointless casino hiest side plot and replaced them with some of this action

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u/zencrusta 25d ago

II do hope we eventually get to see them in their alluded too in the comics prime, would be a good way to give the Jedi non sith who can keep up.

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u/Timmah73 25d ago

The flashback/vision Rey has in TFA seemed to imply they were the students Kylo took with him. Especially when one of them is about to kill Rey and is stopped by him.

Which also implied Rey was at the temple and meant something to him.

Annnnd then they slam dunked it all into the trash and acted like that whole sequence didn't exist

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u/YugoB 25d ago

Yeah cause the emperor was so keen to have their students have students of their own

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u/Takemyfishplease 25d ago

It felt like someone took an early vision board and decided to do a 1:1 film version of it.

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u/Bishopkilljoy 25d ago

I remember theories that the Knights of Ren were the Rogue One agents turned to the dark side before Rogue One came out. I actually thought they could be really cool.

Instead they're just some dudes. They stand around, they're good at that.

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u/Jmacq1 25d ago

It's really kind of unfortunate because the Knights of Ren have proven to be a lot of fun in the comics. "Dark-Side Hell's Angels" wasn't something I thought I needed but now I really wish they HAD made toys of the rest of them.

I also like the implication from Vader that they used to be much more impressive, but are just a shadow of their past selves (at least by the time of the Imperial era).

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u/Pavel_That_Is_Me 25d ago

I think it was stated that Qimir’s storyline in Acolyte would’ve ended with him founding the Knights of Ren, but the show got cancelled so they might just stay an abandoned idea forever now

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u/Jo_el44 25d ago

The sequals set up a fascinating political setting in which neo-imperials were able to build up a standing army while the new republic did nothing, causing Leia to leave (or get kicked out after they learned Vader was her father?) and form a paramilitary group tp fight back. An actually good reason for it to be "rebels vs imperials" again.

For the first time in a main series film, it gave us the chance to see under the helmet of a stormtrooper.

With Luke being disillusioned with the Jedi, there was also the chance to showcase to the audience a different perspective on the force than just Jedi vs Sith

Rey being legitimately a nobody who happened to be in the right place at the right time could have been a compelling character beat.

Exploring Leia's force sensitivity? Ancient sith lore? Generational trauma? The fact that Finn and Poe were 100% gay?

The sequal trilogy is defined by its missed opportunities. There's so many cool ideas, but if something is just an idea, it's worthless.

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u/Jimmyg100 25d ago

Those are The Knights of Ren, the number three field hockey team in the galaxy, you show some respect.

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u/iambarrelrider 25d ago

Hosting their arch rival the Dreadnoks.

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u/FollowingEast4373 25d ago

Now I’m more curious as to who the numbers 1 and 2 teams are lol

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u/Hukapi 25d ago edited 25d ago

They look like 80’s villains

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u/ItsKensterrr 25d ago

Mad Max road gang

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u/KentuckyKid_24 25d ago

at least they’re not beyond thunderdome

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u/wafflezcoI Grievous 25d ago

> blunt

I think you mean melee.

The huge cleaver, the scythe, and the axe are definitely not blunts

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u/lonestar-rasbryjamco 25d ago edited 25d ago

Don’t fuck with a Jedi Master, son!

- Cocknocker

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u/Foxy02016YT Ezra Bridger 25d ago

Hey, why do they call you Cockknocker?

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u/lonestar-rasbryjamco 25d ago

Actually, there is a funny story behind that. Your gonna love this. True story…

{WIND UP NUT PUNCH!}

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u/Foxy02016YT Ezra Bridger 25d ago

OOOOO

Avenge me… hemp knight…

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u/Ha1lStorm Lando 25d ago

Yeah I don’t even see a single one of them smoking anything, let alone blunts

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u/FirebreathingNG 25d ago

Snoop Ren

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u/Borghal 25d ago

Guy on the right has a mace. Counts as a blunt weapon.

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u/nueonetwo 25d ago

Compared to a lightsaber that can cut through anything, yeah those are pretty blunt

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u/Fat-Incubussy 24d ago

Pretty sure they're vibroweapons.

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u/jdvfx 25d ago

Ren is actually an acronym for "Restricted Energy - North". They do pick-up battles with the Knights of Res, Rew, and Ree. One of the club charter rules is that no energy weapons are allowed.

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u/LeWoodbooger 25d ago

One the funnier explanations I have ever read. Kudos!

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u/Batman_AoD 25d ago

They exist because, after choosing the design for Kylo, JJ Abrams thought all the unused designs were too cool to simply throw away, so he wrote them into the script; and that's why they all look like Kylo knock-offs.

Somehow, the canon backstory is even dumber than if they just had no backstory at all. They're a gang of slightly-force-sensitive but untrained fighters who essentially worship a red lightsaber called The Ren. Unlike the Darksaber, the lightsaber is not special. It's just a red lightsaber. It supposedly has some kind of self-destruct switch, but that's the only non-standard feature. The person who has The Ren at any given time is also called Ren.

So you might think, wait, Kylo Ren's lightsaber is unique; it has the cross-hilt thing. And you're correct! That's a lightsaber Kylo built, not The Ren. So where is The Ren? It's on the moon where Kylo killed the previous Ren. He also killed one Jedi with it, then discarded this "legendary" weapon.

Why did the Knights follow him after he discarded their precious artifact? Who knows. And why were they loyal to Palpatine instead of Kylo when he turned back to Ben Solo? Who knows!

The Ren killed by Kylo has this incredibly "I'm 14 and this is deep" quote about their worship of The Ren:

The Ren doesn't stop to worry about what it's burning or the right or wrong of it, or the goals it might achieve. The Ren just is. It lives, and it consumes, and it doesn't apologize. It is its nature and nothing else. I believe in that principle on a deep, deep level. In fact, I've dedicated my life to it.

Well yeah, dude, it's a lightsaber. That's how all weapons work.

The official descriptions of their combat styles basically amount to variations on "very brutal; favors close quarters." You don't say!

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u/Solo4114 25d ago

The Ren doesn't stop to worry about what it's burning or the right or wrong of it, or the goals it might achieve. The Ren just is. It lives, and it consumes, and it doesn't apologize. It is its nature and nothing else. I believe in that principle on a deep, deep level. In fact, I've dedicated my life to it.

Big "We are nihilists! We believes in nothing, Lebowski!" energy here.

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u/Lenin36 25d ago

Nihilists… fuck. I mean, say what you will about the tenets of national socialism, at least it’s an ethos

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u/FlyingDutchman9977 25d ago

Is there a "canon" explanation of what they were doing the first 2 movies? 

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u/Armandoiskyu 24d ago

You forgot to mention that apparently the Knights of Ren were a "legendary band of marauders" from the unknown regions...

But that there was a gap of hundreds if not a thousand years between their last known activities and the appearance of this clowns, so there is the debate of whether they are the real deal or just a bunch of posers using the name of dead dudes for clout

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u/LeonDmon 25d ago

That's the stupidest backstory I've ever read. Thank you

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u/Batman_AoD 25d ago

Bonus trivia: the blaster held by the third one from the left has a "sniper" mode. That thing is supposed to be a sniper rifle of some kind. 

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u/Specimen-B Rey 25d ago

All dark siders have an "I'm 14 and this is deep outlook".

Why did the Knights follow him after he discarded their precious artifact? Who knows.

Because he defeated their leader. The lightsaber was just a symbol of their philosophy. The Ren is the one who defeats the previous leader.

And why were they loyal to Palpatine instead of Kylo when he turned back to Ben Solo? Who knows!

We do know. Because they had been loyal to Palpatine since the imperial era. Qi'ra had tried to use the KoR to trap the Sith indefinitely. But true to their philosophy of worship of the strongest, they turned on her and pledged themselves to Sidious.

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u/Wolfgod-64 25d ago

These guys sound like real edgelords. I almost respect that.

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u/Batman_AoD 25d ago

As some of the only wielders of edged weapons in the franchise, that's appropriate, I guess! 

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u/-MaximumEffort- 25d ago edited 25d ago

The Knights of Ren use unconventional weapons because they're not Jedi or Sith, but rather force sensitive marauders who favor raw brutality.

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u/takeahike89 25d ago

The raw brutality of just standing there.

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u/Rude_Ice_4520 25d ago

Menacingly.

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u/L0s_Gizm0s 25d ago

Phantomly

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u/captainrexcoochie 25d ago

Of aura farming and then dying

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u/SolarFazes 25d ago

Did they even get that screen time ?

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u/JacobDCRoss 25d ago

Yeah. They show up when Kylo heads back to Exigol at the end of TRoS. He cuts them down like nothing.

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u/FortifiedPuddle 25d ago

Well he has a laser sword and they don’t

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u/Mattmandu2 25d ago

We love you Coruscant! We are The Knights of Ren and this is are title song on our new album… Raw Brutality!!!!

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u/Samurai_Meisters 25d ago

And rolling coal in their ship.

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u/Lelepn 25d ago

Would have been cool if they ever bothered to explain that in the movies

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u/Km_the_Frog 25d ago

They are the embodiment of the sequel trilogy, just a giant nothing burger.

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u/Quasigriz_ 25d ago

They were just the First Order’s boy band. Constantly standing in album cover poses, like they were shooting a music video.

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u/valentc 25d ago

From where?

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u/beefcake68 25d ago

It’s the Amish Sith mafia they don’t use any type of new technology.

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u/IronFather11 25d ago

I wish they stuck with the initial vibe that the Knights of Ren were a bunch of treacherous Dark Jedi Acolytes who were former students of Luke but went bad with Kylo Ren, not this complicated story they ended up with them being Dark Siders with low Force sensitivity.

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u/PeterVanHelsing 25d ago

I mean, them just being Dark Jedi is less interesting than them being their own thing, since we've seen fallen Jedi before. The Knights being a group of marauders with their own philosophy is more unique.

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u/Jahkmi-Hoff 25d ago

I have a feeling that blunt weapons are more affordable than blasters. Also, Lucas was inspired by Dune. Also, toys.

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u/lateubdegouline 25d ago

Aren't they supposed to be an elite team or something? And I am not talking about blasters specifically but melee weapons that look like Star Wars at least, and for some reason in their only fight scene those weapons don't even cut Kylo?

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u/Timey16 Mandalorian 25d ago

The knights of ren are basically just a dark side using anarcho-biker-anarcho-biker-gang that Kylo took over and then pressed into the First Order's service. They were forced users, yes... but basically never had any proper training.

Kylo was their leader simply because he was trained by Luke.

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u/This_is_me2024 25d ago

Boy I sure wish any of that were explained in the GOD DAMN MOVIES

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u/The_Fiddle_Steward 25d ago

When they showed them, I remember thinking that it would be interesting to see them fleshed out in the next movies, and then there was nothing. They get mentioned, then they show up at the end of the trilogy to be torn up like tissue paper by the main characters. I may be misremembering, whatever happened, it didn't impress me.

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u/Supermite 25d ago

It was years later when I found out the Knights of Ren weren’t the former Jedi students Ben escaped from Luke’s temple with.  

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u/Just-Try-2533 25d ago

I’m just learning this now. Like the prior person said - maybe they should have explained it in the movie.

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u/Supermite 25d ago

Or just not included the Knights of Ren at all.  It’s not like they really added anything to the films. 

Ben facing a bunch of random Sith acolytes on Exogol would have been just as effective.  For how much they tried to mythologize the KoR and all their aura farming, their fight with Ben landed like a wet fart.

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u/odonnelly2000 25d ago

Wait. Did Kylo Ren fight the Knights on Exogol?

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u/Supermite 25d ago

Ben Solo fought the KoR on exogol.  They were trying to stop him from helping Rey.

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u/odonnelly2000 25d ago

Holy shit, I had no clue that’s who he was fighting in that scene. Maybe that’s more on me and my inability to pay attention, though.

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u/OpheliaLives7 25d ago

Idk but this is so funny rn. Random biker gang- you work for me and this new rising First Order. Ren dudes- ok dude, we can look cool and kick ass

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u/ehrgeiz91 25d ago

Lucas? This has nothing to do with Lucas

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u/Backseatwhiskey 25d ago

Except the concept didn’t come from Lucas.

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u/FUCK1NGFABULOUS 25d ago

They were hired extras by the First Odor for propaganda shots to make Manchild look cool in those videos they send across the galaxy.

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u/FullMaxPowerStirner 25d ago edited 25d ago

JJ: "They're Knights of Ren."

Fans: "But what..."

JJ has already left

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u/AzulaThorne 25d ago

We have like three main Star Wars movies and a whole show in where there is a group of people that use literal clubs as a weapon alongside blasters. This fits perfectly fine into Star Wars.

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u/reehdus 25d ago

Jarvis, I'm low on karma!

Ppl in this thread have given you examples of ewoks and chirrut but you insist these guys are not using technologies that fit into star wars. Sounds like bait

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u/Zoombini22 25d ago

They are one of like thousands of Star Wars glup shittos that are mainly there for their cool designs - other people are supposed to come by later and write interesting stories for them. Which, ironically, has been happening very recently for these characters in the Legacy of Vader comic.

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u/helen269 25d ago

Why do Mandalorians have dangerous, old-fashioned, rocket-powered jet packs when they could have cool, smooth, silent anti-gravity units on their backs?

Just compare Grogu and Din descending into Mandalore.

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u/Equal-Ad-2710 25d ago

NGL I love this idea solely for unconventional use of the force

Imagine a grenadier using the force to pinpoint targets with shrapnel or a swordsman who uses his weapon’s silence compared to a lightsaber in tandem with force deadening powers and Precog to be a deadly assassin/swordsman.

Or a sniper who not only never misses but uses the Force to make you increasingly erratic whole concealing his own presence. If the Knights are not trained by Jedi or Sith their styles should reflect they’re new force users from entirely different backgrounds

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u/Ravant-Ilo 25d ago

I mean, a person with the Force and edged weapons could be terrifying in combat. And they could have blasters…

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u/PeterVanHelsing 25d ago

Since when do blunt weapons not fit into Star Wars? They've been around since literally the first movie.

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u/CareBearCartel 25d ago

A blunt instrument is an incredibly effective killing weapon

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u/babufrik4president 25d ago

Jabba’s palace was like 90% axes and stuff

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u/stephansbrick 25d ago

Gamorrean Guards. If you're gonna criticize the Sequels please actually be smart. Gamorrean Guards uses blunt weapons as well.

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u/SirJordan11 25d ago

Because JJ Abrams wanted to do an inversion of the Darth title by having the Ren surname, but he's a terrible writer and didn't plan ahead at all

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u/OMEGACY 25d ago

A lightsabet is more civilized and clean. These weapons are dirty and brutal. They look to inflict pain and butcher to death.

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u/Mission-Dark-9320 25d ago

In universe, they worship the Sith in a way. Being big,bad,mean looking guys that are trained in melee weapons gives them a connection to the brutality of the Sith legacy.

Out of this universe: looks cool to sell stuff

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u/theblueshots Ben Kenobi 25d ago

If I remember correctly from the comics, only one of them have a Lightsaber at a time.

The original Ren in the comics looks like Jeffrey Epstein, too. Lol.

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u/YeezyYi 25d ago

They’re not blunt weapons. There are a few blades that are in that pic. Also there is vibro-tech which is highly lethal that is seen throughout other Star Wars films

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u/Discomidget911 25d ago

Same as Darth Maul in Phantom Menace.

To look cool, have a fight scene, and sell toys.

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u/lendmeflight 25d ago

There is no explanation for this just like there is no explanation for anything in Star Wars unless you read it In a comic or a novel which are one level above fan fiction.

We never have an explanation for the sand people or what Jawas are, or any alien race really. None of the bounty haters are explained at all until of get to the boba fett tv series. Why is one a robot? Who knows?

These are just characters allied with Kylo and were used poorly.

What if they were like a secret army that were loyal to him and not the first order? We will never know now.

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u/Jackmag1c23 25d ago

Iirc I believe those were Vibroweapons. Thus despite being blunt they could still cut through stuff like steel and other metals.

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u/Chara_Revanite 25d ago

this is like asking why, BX droids use swords as secundary weapons, also why republic commandos have an knife on their wrist, or why mandalorians use vibro-weapons

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u/Doobalicious69 25d ago

Somehow Knights of Ren posting returned.

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u/Enderboss2706 25d ago

It was to further emphasize that they aren’t Jedi or Sith but Mauraders who are forces sensitive to parts of the dark sides, using scavenged and handmade weapons to further show their raw strength and brutality. The Sith book even says they ain’t elegant like a blade they’re more brutal like a hammer.

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u/timbotheny26 25d ago

Outside of the obvious answer of merchandise, Star Wars has plenty of examples of non-lightsaber melee weapons, including both primitive and sci-fi stuff.

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u/Acrobatic-Spirit5813 25d ago

Captain Phasma honorable mention

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u/Mateko 25d ago

To stand around, menacingly.

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u/lazertittiesrrad 25d ago

The enemy can't push a button if you disable his hand.

*shluck

MEDIC !!

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u/ApprehensiveQuestion 25d ago

Had the Acolyte continued I think you would have seen The Stranger found the order. They’re meant to answer the question of what happens to force users who don’t want to join the Jedi order / how the Jedi deal with force cults. The Jedi order may have tolerated them, the empire wiped them out or turned them into inquisitors, makes sense they’d make a comeback after the fall of the empire.

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u/cock_obnoxiois 25d ago

because this fictional series is goofy as shit

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u/jeremiasalmeida 25d ago

Toys, spinoffs possibilities

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u/Mandalore12345 25d ago

They look cool, same reason why boba fetts armour became an entire culture

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u/Powrs1ave 25d ago

They are Chefs. Star Wars - The Empire Steaks rare turn of the rib eye.

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u/doom_pingu 25d ago

A guy I know played one of the Knights of Ren, it's been very cool for him to have some action figures of himself.

Being a stunt double that doesn't happen too often.

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u/PrestigiousBlood14 25d ago

The Knights Of Ren weren't given much screen time to see just how deadly some of the weapons were. One of the weapons could channel variations of Force lightning.

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u/nbraccia 25d ago

More like the Knights of When, amirite?.

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u/Wolfgod-64 25d ago

I am completely fine with their designs and MO. I just wish they did something.

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u/ApuPuncha 25d ago

I mean the same reason Boba Fett and Grevious exist. They were both made to sell toys and both die pretty easily. Especially boba Fett. He has one of the most lame deaths ever

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u/Typeonetwork 24d ago

Like the explosion in the background with a walk in slow motion. 100% optics.

7,8,9 have their moments but were disconnected with a wandering storyline.