The Knights of Ren have factored into enough Star Wars: Episode IX rumors and reports for their return to actually sound fairly plausible, and according to one recent piece of alleged intel, there’s a reason why this formidable group has been absent for most of the Star Wars Sequel Trilogy.
Making Star Wars reports of a new threat that emerges from “The Beyond” and reveals itself to Kylo Ren, and while the details don’t go much further than that, one of the site’s sources also claimed that “it was really important that the Knights of Ren have returned from The Beyond.” Moreover, the leak mentions that the danger from The Beyond will be a motivating factor in the messy relationship between Rey and Kylo, which only figures seeing how this pair’s dynamic is pretty much the emotional center of the Star Wars saga right now.
Needless to say, these claims should be taken with the usual grain of salt, but even if the info turns out to be legit, it’s still unclear what exactly the report could be referring to, and how this new threat could factor into the overarching story of the Sequel Trilogy. The conclusion of The Last Jedi certainly seemed to suggest that the First Order would still be the main villains in the sequel, and J.J. Abrams is rarely one to break from tradition. Still, throwing a fresh source of danger into the mix would certainly be one way of preventing the film from feeling like a retread of Return of the Jedi.
As it stands, official plot details for Star Wars: Episode IX remain close to non-existent, but we’ll find out if this recent report has it right when the film hits theaters on December 20th, 2019.