Assassination of an Inner Rim warlord

Between 28 ABY and 34 ABY,^[2] the Knights of Ren, led by Kylo Ren, assassinated an Inner Rim warlord. Kylo Ren had secretly been directed to perform the mission by the First Order military junta and its Supreme Leader, Snoke, who arrived with First Order forces once the assassination was complete. Snoke convinced Ren to abandon the Knights and ordered his legion of First Order stormtroopers to fire on the Knights, forcing them to flee and leaving them without a leader.^[1]

In 34 ABY,^[3] the Force-sensitive scavenger Rey had a vision of the assassination when she grabbed the Skywalker lightsaber in Takodana Castle on the planet Takodana.^[4] Later that year,^[5] Cardo and the Knights explained the assassination and the state the First Order and Kylo Ren had left them in to their new leader Tava Ren after a failed mission on the planet Vandor.^[1]

Prelude

A new master

Following the destruction of the Jedi Temple, Ben Solo began his descent to the dark side and seeked out Snoke, a mysterious force wielder that recommended him to join the Knights of Ren as his first step on that path. Meeting Ren, the current leader of the knights, Ben was allowed to join them on their next mission as an opportunity for Ben to prove if he was worthy of joining them.^[6][7]

Helping the knights during their mission on the Minemoon of Mimban, Ben was surprised by the arrival of Tai and Voe, his former Jedi comrades, who had come to avenge the death of Hennix. While his former friend Tai tried to reason with Ben, he was quickly killed by Ren, leading a grief-stricken Ben to engage in a duel with the knight, killing Ren along with his former comrade Voe, falling to the dark side in the process. Fulfilling the requirement of "a good death" and having eliminated the former master of the knights, Ben gained leadership of the knights and adopted the alias of Kylo Ren.^[8][1]

The ensuing years

In the years following Kylo Ren's take over, the knights enjoyed a time filled with glory and victories, being able to take whatever they wanted as Ren proved to be more than capable of taking any life that threatened their goals. As time went on however, Kylo's mentality seemed to change, something that the knights took note of, seeing that he began to isolate himself a lot more from the rest of his knights to the point where he began talking to himself or to someone the other knights couldn't hear. The darkness that grew within Ren eventually began to scare even the knights, who usually reveled in it.^[1]

Following this change on his demeanor, Kylo started to bring his knights on multiple missions that went beyond the robberies or heists they used to do. These new missions had a purpose, with the knights feeling now like a task force that was being aimed at particular targets. In reality, Kylo Ren by this point had joined the First Order junta under the leadership of Supreme Leader Snoke, who was responsible for the recent missions the Knights of Ren were tasked with. Despite their doubts and questions regarding who was really pulling the strings, the knights wouldn't dare to ask Kylo anything as they believed it to be a death sentence.^[1]

The mission

Carrying the assassination

Supreme Leader Snoke eventually tasked Ren and his knights to assassinate an Inner Rim warlord. Traveling to his stronghold, the Knights of Ren were able to successfully root him out which soon lead to a chase. One of the warlord's men shot a missile at the knights, but Kylo was able to launch it back to them using the force. Despite the warlord and his people putting up a good fight, it ultimatly was pointless, as the knights prove victorious and the warlord was promptly stabbed in the back by Ren's lightsaber.^[1]

Revelations and betrayal

Soon after finishing their mission, Kylo felt a presence through the force, which was the arrival of Supreme Leader Snoke and the First Order. Surrounded by a legion of stormtroopers and his Praetorian Guard, the Supreme Leader told Kylo that it was time to officially join the First Order and leave his knights behind, saying that they should no longer be in neither of their presence. Vicrul threatened Snoke for his insults, but he was quickly electrocuted and thrown back by the Supreme Leader's force lightning.^[1]

Ren not only was quick to disown the knights, but even asked Snoke if he should kill them, to which the Supreme Leader answered by ordering his stormtroopers to blast them, thinking they were beneath Ren. The knights fought against Snoke's death squad of stormtroopers but quickly realized that they wouldn't be able to win as Vicrul was still injured and they lacked the fire power. Instead, the knights decided to flee the battle and, despite being chased by the First Order, managed to escape their own assassination attempt.^[1]

Aftermath

The new Ren

Following their betrayal, the Knights of Ren took a job as muscle for the gang leader Bedat, shaking down shopkeepers for protection money. One day, the knights made a mistake during a mission and killed a person they weren't supposed to, leading Bedat to lock them up and prepare them for execution.^[9]

However, the knights were rescued by one of Bedat's enforcers, who offered to free them in exchange for leading them. While the knights were happy to accept this offer, they mentioned that she needed a good death to join their ranks and lead them, the woman followed suit by murdering Bedat and his people, which allowed her to take control of the knights as Tava Ren.^[9]

Visions and remembrance

In 34 ABY,^[3] as Kylo Ren had continue to take an active role within the First Order, eventually leading to an all-out war between the junta and the Resistance movement, a Force-sensitive scavenger named Rey had a vision of the assassination when she grabbed the Skywalker lightsaber in Takodana Castle on the planet Takodana.^[4]

Later that year, Kylo had assassinated Supreme Leader Snoke and taken over the First Order, having completely forgotten about his knights.^[10] Following a failed mission on the planet Vandor, Tava Ren questioned her knights, to which Cardo answered by telling her about the assassination, Kylo Ren's betrayal and the First Order. This explanation motivated Tava Ren to confront Kylo.^[9]

Behind the scenes

The assassiantion was first seen in Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens as a vision of Rey after touching the Skywalker lightsaber.^[4] The details of the assassination and their aftermath were first revealed in the eight issue of the comic book series Star Wars: Legacy of Vader, which also doubles as an explanation as to why the Knights of Ren weren't present alongside Kylo during the events of the film.^[1]

Appearances

• Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens (First appearance) (Vision to Rey)
• Star Wars: The Force Awakens novelization (and audiobook) (Vision to Rey)
• Star Wars: The Force Awakens: A Junior Novel (and audiobook) (Vision to Rey)
• Star Wars: The Force Awakens Graphic Novel Adaptation (Vision to Rey)
• The Force Awakens: Rey's Story (and audiobook) (Vision to Rey)
• The Force Awakens Adaptation 4 (Vision to Rey)
• Legacy of Vader 8 (In flashback(s))

Non-canon appearances

• LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens (Vision to Rey)

Notes and references