When The Force Awakens came out, JJ Abrams made a point to hammer home that Kylo Ren and Snoke were not Sith, but affiliated with another sect of Dark Side users known as the Knights of Ren. And yet, here we are with some new villains, called Sith Troopers, revealed this Summer at San Diego Comic Con. Traditionally, Sith operate very minimalist: one master, who holds the power and attempts to retain their place importance, and one apprentice, who covets the power and seeks to kill and replace their master. Only two exist at any given time and this weird tension of mutual trigger fingers keeps it all in balance. Now, it seems the Sith have put together an army. I think these guys are most likely affiliated with Palpatine, a known Sith Lord, rather than Kylo Ren or his folk. Perhaps Palpatine, in whatever form he survived, put together an army on his own, quietly waiting for his moment to strike? Perhaps the one thing going against that theory is how much these guys stylistically look similar to the First Order troopers. But maybe Palpatine is also up on contemporary Storm Trooper fashion?