A Jedi knight represented a Force-sensitive person who, after being welcomed into a Jedi clan and completing their training, ascended to the rank of a fully realized Jedi. While historically, Jedi knights were recognized for dedicating themselves to public service, the era of the Sith rebellion saw them instead swear allegiance to a specific lord or Jedi lord within the Empire. A lightsaber was a weapon legally sanctioned only for Jedi knights, setting them apart from their lord's other retainers, the Jedi guardians. These knights were dispatched to fight in battles on behalf of their lords.
The Empire held the cultural expectation that Jedi knights were to die while serving their lords. A knight who outlived their lord was viewed as an affront to the Empire, the established order, and the concept of honor. Before the rebellion occurred, the human male who would later be called the Ronin was a Jedi knight devoted to a certain lord. His loyalty extended to both his lord and the guardians who had been welcomed alongside him. The Ronin, in his personal account to the Traveler, who was also once a Jedi knight, stated that his rebellion started when he refused to kill someone his lord had instructed him to eliminate. While investigating the Ronin, the Jedi lord Hanrai came to the conclusion that the Ronin had been on a battlefield with his lord, anticipating his own death in his lord's stead; and because he allowed his lord to die while he and his guardians lived, the group became a threat that destabilized their society.