Knight of Ren? Rey's Other Parents? 'Last Jedi' Director Has Answers

Everybody remember the Knights of Ren? They were your favorite mysterious characters from Star Wars: The Force Awakens, but they didn’t show up in The Last Jedi at all. But, the director of Episode VIII, Rian Johnson, has explained why. Plus, he’s also talking about why Rey’s parents turned out to be drunk losers.

Despite endless fan theories about the identity of Kylo Ren’s posse of bad-asses, the specific identities of the Knights of Ren weren’t even remotely hinted at in The Last Jedi. And now, Johnson says that’s because he was worried he would just have had to kill them off right away.

“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,” Johnson told the The Empire Film Podcast on Tuesday. “And if Kylo had some kind of connection to them it would’ve added a complication that wouldn’t have helped the scene.”

Johnson also has thoughts about why he choose to have Rey’s parents be drunk nobodies who ditched her because they were broke. While he admits to making a “list” of possible candidates for different parents, he explained why he arrived at the final choice like this: “I like the idea that we’re breaking out from the notion that the Force is just this genetic thing, that you have to be tied to someone to [have it].”

So, if you’ve got beef with Temiri Blagg, AKA, the Star Wars Broom Boy, then keep in mind it’s connected to Johnson’s decision about Rey’s parents. Basically, anyone can access the Force because the Force is everywhere.

Read Next: Will Solo: A Star Wars Story Be Too Nostalgic? What Does That Even Mean?