by: Jay Carlson
This week, J.J. Abrams dropped some big pieces of news concerning Kylo Ren, the villain that’s had us all transfixed since we first saw that cross guard lightsaber spark to life. In the article that was run by Entertainment Weekly, Abrams divulged that Kylo Ren is not his given name, “He is a character who came to the name Kylo Ren when he joined a group called the Knights of Ren.”
This is a very interesting piece of information. Who are the Knights of Ren? What do they stand for? Are they affiliated with the Sith? While I can’t provide you with those details, I can give you a look at how the Knights of Ren might appear in J.J. Abrams first chapter in the Sequel Trilogy when it drops on December 18th.
These pieces of concept art certainly look like refined versions of Kylo Ren. If you think the villain himself looks like an amalgam of the images above and Darth Vader, it’s with good reason. EW’s article describes Kylo Ren as “Vader obsessive” with Abrams elaborating, “The movie explains the origins of the mask and where it’s from, but the design was meant to be a nod to the Vader mask,[Ren] is well aware of what’s come before, and that’s very much a part of the story of the film.”
The Knights of Ren that Abrams referred to sound very similar to The Clan or The Seven that Making Star Wars has written about previously HERE.
The pieces above as well as the ones below are images that were created early on and I believe to be versions of Kylo Ren that were evolving to the final design that we now know. My source tells me that some of these designs could have been re-appropriated and used as the Knights of Ren. If that’s the case it could very well have been used in the scene that MSW described in their piece.
I love that with every new piece of information that Abrams lets out into the world it expands the tapestry of The Force Awakens and makes us ask even more questions. He’s like a conductor and all we can do is hang on and take the ride.
indierevolver.com 
“He’s like a conductor and all we can do is hang on and take the ride.”
More like he’s a hack director hired by Disney to be a pair of safe hands that launches their rebranded franchise by sticking the OT in a Cuisinart and spreading the remains all over his fan fiction.
Obviously that’s your opinion, but I’ve loved everything I’ve seen so far.
Remember Darth Vader had to wear the mask because of he needed it to breathe and the rest of his outfit because of his burns and missing bottom of his legs. Why are this guy or these guys wearing masks? What are they hiding? For protection! A light-saber would currently right thru it. Just saying.
Why then did Boba Fett, or any of the Stormtroopers wear what they wore? Kinda late to the game to be asking questions like that, aren’t ya?
I dig it.
We’ve missed you, buddy!
lol I always peek at the site every other day or so. I just comment on what I find interesting.