Six years after The Rise of Skywalker, the Star Wars franchise has created yet another confusing plot hole with Emperor Palpatine and the Knights of Ren. The group of dark side warriors once led by Kylo Ren, we finally know the reason for their absence in most of the sequel trilogy. However, a new point of confusion has since arisen.

In Marvel’s new Legacy of Vader #8, set between Episodes VIII and IX, the Knights of Ren reveal where they were during the first two sequel movies. Likewise, Legacy of Vader is also revealing how the Knights rejoined Kylo, before serving Palpatine by The Rise of Skywalker’s end. However, the Knights’ service to Palpatine has now become even more confusing.

Palpatine Had No Respect For The Knights Of Ren… So Why Did He Depend On Them?

Beyond a brief sH๏τ of the warriors in Rey’s Force Awakens vision, the Knights of Ren did not make their full debut until The Rise of Skywalker.

While this was confusing for quite some time, we now know that it was because Supreme Leader Snoke ordered Kylo Ren to abandon the Knights once the First Order was ready to emerge as a new galactic power.

As such, it now makes sense why Kylo regained the Knights once he became the new Supreme Leader following Snoke’s murder. However, Snoke’s dismissal of the Knights and their value is pretty noteworthy. After all, Snoke was nothing more than a proxy for the resurrected Emperor Palpatine himself.

Even during the Galactic Civil War, when the Knights were led by a man known only as “Ren”, Palpatine displayed very little respect for the Knights, seeing them as lesser, inferior wielders of the dark side compared to the Dark Lords of the Sith.

This new issue reinforces that lack of respect, making it even more bewildering why Palpatine would then employ the Knights of Ren to serve as his bodyguards by The Rise of Skywalker’s end. It’s one thing to see the Knights as tools rather than contemporaries, but another thing entirely to depend on them for protection considering how he obviously felt.

The Dark Side Was Already On The Brink Of Defeat

Ultimately, the only real solution that makes sense (beyond Lucasfilm not having any better ideas for the underutilized Knights of Ren), is that Palpatine himself didn’t have a better option. Palpatine was effectively reduced to employing the Knights into his service.

It’s not a perfect explanation, considering Palpatine had the entire Sith Eternal cult. That said, it’s at least some sort of reasoning, hinging on the idea that the dark side was on its last legs with Palpatine’s resurrection and the Final Order being a “last gasp” attempt to make the darkness a dominant galactic force once more.

Star Wars: Legacy of Vader #8 is on sale now from Marvel Comics.