Is This The Origin Of The Knights Of Ren?

Here at /Film, most of us are more than casual fans of Star Wars. In addition to watching the movies, we try to absorb anything and everything regarding the Star Wars universe, and that includes the trilogy of books that began just before The Force Awakens was released in 2015. Chuck Wendig began the book series with Aftermath, continued with Aftermath: Life Debt and concluded with Aftermath: Empire's End, which just hit shelves a few days ago.

Even though Aftermath: Empire's End has only been on shelves for a few days, many fans have already devoured it, and they've found some interesting tidbits in addition to the main plot, which fills in the gaps between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens (including details on what characters like Lando Calrissian and Jar Jar Binks have been up to). Throughout the books, many believe there are hints as to the origins of the Knights of Ren, the dark side organization mentioned by Supreme Leader Snoke in The Force Awakens. Find out what new details Aftermath: Empire's End offers on that front after the jump.

Star Wars Explained dives into the new details of the Knights of Ren origins in this video:

For those who haven't heard about these details on the Knights of Ren before, fans believe that their origins come from a group referred to in the Aftermath books as the Acolytes of the Beyond. They're dark side fanatics like Kylo Ren who worship Darth Vader and are obsessed with obtaining Sith artifacts by any means necessary. This includes earning their masks, which are said to have the power to gather darkness, in addition to being a way of honoring Darth Vader.

There are far more details about the previous mentions of the Acolytes of the Beyond in the Aftermath series, collected in the above video, and if you're a Star Wars nut, I recommend watching it so you get the full story. It doesn't spoil any plot points in Aftermath: Empire's End, so if you plan on reading that book, you don't have to worry about ruining it.

It should be noted that there has been no confirmation that the Acolytes of the Beyond end up becoming the Knights of Ren. But as the video speculates, there do seem to be a lot of similarities between how the group is described, the apparent motivations of Kylo Ren as illustrated in The Force Awakens, and the appearance of the masked group of dark side fanatics that we see in Rey's Force vision. It appears Aftermath: Empire's End doesn't give us any additional, definitive links between the two groups, but perhaps that's something that we'll learn more about in Star Wars: The Last Jedi or whatever books are released before and after the movie hits theaters.