Star Wars: Snoke and Kylo Ren AREN'T Sith - But Sure Act Like They Are

WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for director Rian Johnson's Star Wars: The Last Jedi, in theaters now.

When explaining the antagonists of the new Star Wars trilogy, J.J. Abrams told audiences not to think of them as Sith, because they aren't. He explained that Kylo Ren served under Supreme Leader Snoke, the mysterious and powerful figure leading the First Order and pulling Ren ever deeper into the dark side.

However, after The Force Awakens and more recently, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, the similarities between Snoke, Kylo Ren and the Sith are too abundant to ignore, and not just because they both wield red lightsabers and constantly attempt to oppress the galaxy. It forces us to take a good look at the Sith as well as Snoke and Kylo Ren so we can figure out what their differences are.

What Are The Sith?

Let's start with the Sith. What are they exactly? Film fans are familiar with the name as the one given to the Jedi Order's polar opposite. Where the Jedi draw their power from patience, compassion and discipline, the Sith draw theirs from passion, strength and power itself. While the films don't explore the Sith as a whole as much as we'd like, the origins and history of the Sith are detailed elsewhere in Star Wars comic books and novels.

In the new canon, the order of the Sith was established when several Jedi failed to resist the Dark Side and the lure of its power. They created a new ideology and went on to fight the Jedi Order in a multitude of brutal wars over the course of thousands of years. They were weakening more and more until eventually, on the verge of complete annihilation, they strengthened themselves through the Rule of Two, which dictated that at any given time, there can only be two Sith lords: a master and an apprentice. This allowed them to exist in secret, beneath the notice of the expanding Jedi Order, which is how Darth Sidious was able to gain power without resistance. However, it's also the reason why the Sith order effectively ended when Darth Sidious and Darth Vader met their respective ends.

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How Are Snoke And Kylo Not Sith?

Then the new film trilogy began and we were given two figures, both powerful in the Force but neither one of them Sith... according to J.J. Abrams. Instead, Snoke appoints Ben Solo as a "master of the Knights of Ren." This order still adheres to a few recognizable aspects of Sith ideology but the new order of Force wielders is clearly something else. For one thing, neither Snoke nor Kylo Ren bear the title of "Darth" as the Sith lords did.

We're given hints of another distinguishing fact in the new trilogy's films. Rey's vision in The Force Awakens, coupled with the truth of Ben Solo's fall (which was almost entirely Luke's fault!) in The Last Jedi, leads us to believe that the Knights of Ren are made up of Force-users. Not just any Force-users; former students of Luke Skywalker.

Assuming that Snoke himself was training them all in the ways of the Dark Side, just as he had been doing with Kylo Ren, he would have done so in conflict with the Rule of Two, which implies that either he was terrible at being a Sith lord... or more likely that he didn't fully believe in the ways of the Sith. In fact, further evidencing Snoke's non-compliance with Sith ideology is the Star Wars Character Encyclopaedia, which tells us that Snoke encouraged Kylo Ren to learn from both old Jedi teachings as well as the Sith, which is something a true Sith would likely never do. They abhorred everything about the Jedi and found nothing but weakness in their teachings.

They Sure Act Like They Are

Despite those little differences, to fans of the films and casual moviegoers-- who can only compare the new trilogy to the old ones-- Snoke and Kylo Ren are, for all intents and purposes, just a Sith master and his apprentice, respectively.

We've been shown next to nothing about the Knights of Ren so their actual significance other than as evidence to distinguish these new villains from the Sith order, in the grand scheme of things is questionable. Even their journeys through the dark side are identical. In The Last Jedi, Kylo Ren kills Snoke and takes his place as Supreme Leader as the apprentice should do, according to the Sith's Rule of Two.

Despite all the similarities to the Sith, the new trilogy seems to be taking its antagonists in a different direction. At one point in The Last Jedi, Kylo Ren makes it a point to express his desire for the old world to end. He wants nothing more to do with the Jedi, the Sith, the Empire or the Rebellion. He wants to create a new world. We're just going to have to wait and see if he actually takes a different path through the dark side, avoids the teachings of the Sith and brings us and the Star Wars universe something new to fear.

In theaters now, director Rian Johnson’s The Last Jedi stars Daisy Ridley as Rey, John Boyega as Finn, Oscar Isaac as Poe Dameron, Adam Driver as Kylo Ren, Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker, Carrie Fisher as Leia Organa, Andy Serkis as Supreme Leader Snoke, Domhnall Gleeson as General Hux, Kelly Marie Tran as Rose Tico and Laura Dern as Vice Admiral Amilyn Holdo.