Crimson Dawn & Knights of Ren Form An Evil Rebellion Against the Sith

The criminal underworld of the Star Wars galaxy is forming a second Rebel Alliance to take down the Sith in a preview for Crimson Reign #1. The upcoming Marvel Comics miniseries brings together some of the toughest scoundrels in the saga, including Lady Qi’ra from SOLO: A Star Wars Story, Darth Maul’s Crimson Dawn, the Knights of Ren and the Sith assassin Ochi of Bestoon.

Crimson Reign is set between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. It follows on the heels of the recently-concluded comics crossover event, War of the Bounty Hunters. It is the second part of a planned trilogy focused on Qi’ra and Crimson Dawn, the crime syndicate created by Maul following the failed Siege of Mandalore during the Clone Wars. In War of the Bounty Hunters, Crimson Dawn returns after years in hiding and steals the frozen carbonite body of Han Solo. This sets off a massive conflict that draws in the Empire, the Rebels, the Hutts, the galaxy’s toughest bounty hunters and other criminal organizations, who are all determined to get their hands on Solo. This trilogy will conclude with Hidden Empire in 2022.

New preview images for Crimson Reign #1 have been released on the official Star Wars website. The miniseries is written by Charles Soule and illustrated by Steven Cummings, with a cover by Lenil Francis Yu. The issue starts after the fall of the Empire in a setting that looks a lot like Luke Skywalker’s hut from The Last Jedi. Two unseen characters are looking at a Holocron, which is then activated and plays a recording from someone calling themselves “the Archivist.” The Archivist begins recounting the life of Qi’ra, and then the issue jumps back in time to directly after the end of War of the Bounty Hunters #5. Qi’ra addresses an assembled alliance of criminals including Crimson Dawn, the Knights of Ren, the assassins Deathstick and Ochi, bounty hunter Chanath Cha and her group the Orphans, and the Archivist. Qi’ra outlines why the Sith must be destroyed, telling the group, “They must die…so the galaxy can live.” Check out the preview pages below:

This alliance of criminals represents an interesting mirror to the Rebel Alliance most Star Wars fans are familiar with. Much like the Rebellion, this group is made up of outlaws who see Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader’s grip on the galaxy as a bad thing and want to take them down. However, while the Rebellion’s motives for taking down the Empire are mostly altruistic, the same can probably not be said of Qi’ra. It is clear that she views the pyramid-like structure of power in the galaxy as a hindrance to her and Crimson Dawn having more power for themselves, and that she wants to eliminate Palpatine to benefit herself. The exact goals of the other groups is currently unknown, but it’s worth pointing out that Ochi is a Sith assassin who worked for Vader during the War of the Bounty Hunters, and the Knights of Ren would later fall under the control of Kylo Ren and Palpatine (in the form of Snoke).

Recent Star Wars comics have focused on bridging the gaps between movies in all three trilogies as well as the two Star Wars Story films. It may turn out that this second Rebel Alliance of scum and villainy play an as-yet-unknown role in the fall of the Empire. Fans will have to see how Crimson Dawn’s battle against the Sith plays into the larger Star Wars sage when Crimson Reign #1 releases on December 1, 2021.