Rian Johnson Says He Didn't Use The Knights of Ren in THE LAST JEDI Because He Would have Killed Them Off

A lot of fans have been wondering why Rian Johnson didn't include The Knights of Ren in Star Wars: The Last Jedi. This group of evil warriors led by Kylo were set up by J.J. Abrams in The Force Awakens, and many people feel that it was a waste not to use them in the second chapter of this new trilogy. I'd love to know what their place is in the story, but that's just going to have to wait for Episode IX. 

Johnson has offered up an explanation of why The Knights of Ren weren't used in his film and I'm sure the explanation won't make some fans happy. He basically says that if he did use them, he would have had Kylo kill them off. While appearing on the Empire podcast, the filmmaker said:

"I guess I could’ve used them in place of the Praetorian guards but then it would feel like wasting them because all those guards had to die. And if Kylo had some kind of connection to them it would’ve added a complication that wouldn’t have helped the scene… Truth is, I just didn’t see a place for them in the movie."

So there you have it. The scene that Johnson is referring to is the one where he and Rey temporarily teamed up to epically take out the Praetorian guard. If that's the only place that Johnson felt that he could have used The Knights of Ren, I'm glad he didn't use them! I'd like to get some kind of history and action out of them before they are killed off!

We still have one more film in the trilogy to go and I'm sure that J.J. Abrams will use The Knights of Ren. In the process, I hope that he answers all the questions that have arisen over the course of the first two films!