STAR WARS Legacy of the Force: Imperial Knight Masters Sigel Dare, Antares Draco and Ganner Krieg

Presenting Imperial Knight Masters Antares Draco, Sigel Dare and Ganner Krieg from STAR WARS Legacy of the Force.

Imperial Knights are an order of Force Sensitive Jedi that served the Empire-in-Exile (Formerly known as the Fel Empire) - a long, long time ago after Luke Skywalker had become one with the Force. They were formerly known as the Knights of the Empire till Darth Krayt's One Sith Empire came to power and kicked them out.

They were founded because Jagged Fel - squeeze of Jaina Solo - thought that it would really be great if the  Imperial Remnant had Jedi Knights.

In essence, Imperial Knights are trained Jedi who instead of being loyal to the ways of the Force, swear fealty to the Emperor of the Empire BUT with the clause "As long as he serves the Light Side of the Force." Because of this they were rejected by the Jedi Order and considered "Gray Jedi" - or Jedi who rejected the Dark Side of the Force but did whatever was necessary to bring "Order and Peace to the Galaxy" (Very Anakin Skywalker, but think of them a bunch of Qui Gon Jinns who "Do what they must" with or without the council's permission).

With the fall of the One Sith Empire and the rise of the Galactic Federation Triumvirate led by Admiral Gar Stazi, Jedi Master K'Kruhk and Imperial Knight and heir to the Fel Empire, Empress Marasiah Fel, the Imperial Knights remain separate from the Jedi Order, but now consider them allies - for now.



Imperial Knight Armor

Imperial Knight Armor is made from the same material that Darth Vader used - except it's crimson and black instead of all black and bears the Imperial seal on the left shoulder plate. The armor is integrated with a rare metallic compound called Phrik that is resistant (Not invulnerable) to lightsaber attacks much like Beskar (Mandalorian Armor) is.

The highlight however of the armor is the right gauntlet which bears the Fel Empire seal which is made of Cortosis - a very rare material that causes a feedback loop in lightsabers and shuts them down - surprisingly unbeknownst to most Jedi who lose their blades this way is that you just have to turn in back on.

Here's the Imperial Knight Armor in comparison to the Rebel Commando armor worn by Deena Shan and Luke Skywalker - although Imperial Knight Armor is more reminiscent of Imperial Guard Armor than anything else.

Imperial Knight Lightsabers

Imperial Knight Lightsabers are pretty much standard lightsabers, but because they are more Martial than Jedi, most of the "personalization" has been removed.

Imperial Knights have to build their own lightsabers in the same tradition that Jedi Knights do, but stick to a standard gray cylinder with black piping and a synthetic crystal that emits a white - not silver - blade - although there seem to be a plethora of orange and blue blades that sometimes pop up.

Also, Imperial Knight Lightsabers are not immune to the Imperial Knight's Cortosis embedded gauntlets - which probably explains why in our very first photo above,  Antares Draco and Ganner Kreig both hold their Lightsabers with their left hand, leaving their right hands free to block.

Antares Draco and Ganner Kreig

Hasbro has only released three Imperial Knights as of this writing. Antares Draco and Ganner Kreig were part of a Comic Book 2-pack that is quite common and is available on Amazon for anywhere between US$ 14.50 to US$ 18.37 (PhP 609 to PhP 767 plus shipping - around PhP 500 though per piece on Ebay.ph of PhP 1,000 for both sealed).

Antares Draco has a very nice distinguishing scar that runs down the left side of his face. Antares Draco learned the ways of the force through Fel Empire Emperor Roan Fel himself and believed the Imperial Knights to be better than both the Jedi and the Sith. He fought at the side of Emperor Fel when they were forced to abandon Coruscant to the One-Sith Empire, fought to retake the Empire-in-Exile's stronghold, Bastion and served his emperor well in various missions to over-throw the One-Sith Empire including an unsanctioned mission to rescue Marasaiah Fel - his lover - where he first met bounty-hunter Cade Skywalker. The rescue mission pissed off Roan Fel who disapproved of the danger of the mission and Antares Draco was forced to try to win back the favor of the emperor in order to marry Marasaiah.

While accompanying Emperor Roan Fel to a hidden Jedi Temple for peace talks, they were attacked by the One-Sith Empire and Marasaiah was again captured by the One-Sith.  Antares Draco mounted a rescue attempt which succeeded but resulted in his capture. He broke under the tender care of Darth Havok and revealed the location of the hidden Jedi Temple.

He was given as a gift to Cade Skywalker who then betrayed the One-Sith and the two led in the defense of the Jedi Temple.

A unified move to destroy the One-Sith on Coruscant followed where Antares Draco felt Emperor Roan Fel fall to the Dark Side as he was about to release a fatal virus into Coruscant that would kill everyone. In the ensuing duel, Anares Draco slew Emperor Roan Fel.

The Antares Draco figure is a very nicely detailed figure with very decent articulation for a STAR WARS figure - though I wish he could do a split for better pose-ability. Still he can dual wield his lightsaber and is pose-able enough to be used in duels.

The only thing I don't like about the Antares Draco figure is the fact that he looks like an idiot with his hood up and the cape isn't as pose-able as I would like it to be. In fact the cape is almost vestigial.

Not much can be said about Ganner Kreig other than he's the level-headed Imperial Knight Master - and therefore no one's sidekick - who usually accompanied his brash and arrogant friend Antares Draco. 

The good news about Ganner Kreig is that he's just as flexible and pose-able as Antares Draco but looks waaay waaay better with his hood up.

Sigel Dare

I'm not really sure why Sigel Dare was chosen to be made by Hasbro - other than it would be nice to have the three Imperial Knights that were depicted on the cover of Dark Horse comic book (See the reference picture above) - because in the grand scheme of things, Sigel Dare is a minor character. It would have been far more fulfilling to have made Emeperor Roan Fel or his daughter Marasaiah Fel.

Sigel Dare is an Imperial Knight who shares the arrogance of Antares Draco and disdain for other Force users. She's quoted as answering the question "Jedi?" with "Better! We're Imperial Knights!"  and "We are Imperial Knights! We do our duty by the Emperor and by the Force - no matter the cost."

However, Sigel Dare comes part of one of the rarest and most expensive STAR WARS Comic 2-packs in the market because she's paired with - of all people - Darth Krayt (Again we don't know why as the two did not even duel in the final battle on Coruscant where Sigel Dare was injured and unable to continue the hunt for Darth Krayt).  The Darth Krayt/Sigel Dare Comic Book 2-pack is worth US$79.99 on Amazon (Approx PhP 3,359 plus shipping)

Sigel Dare's articulation is decent but her make-up leaves much to be desired as she has too much eye-liner. Also she tends to appear a bit stocky and short. She also does not have the half-skirt that the other two Imperial Knights have and her cape is shorter.

The three are a definite must have if you're a STAR WARS Legacy of the Force fan. I'd love for and I'm definitely looking forward to Hasbro to make more Imperial Knights.