Palpatine Underestimated Darth Vader in 1 Huge Way, Foreshadowing His Return of the Jedi Defeat

Summary Darth Vader deceives Palpatine by stealing his kyberite from Exegol, proving his skill in deception despite Palpatine's belief otherwise.

Vader successfully steals Palpatine's kyberite by using a decoy, setting the stage for Palpatine's ultimate defeat, as the success of this mission proves that Vader can surprise Palpatine.

Palpatine underestimated Vader's deception skills twice, leading to his downfall in Return of the Jedi.

Warning: Contains SPOILERS for Star Wars: Darth Vader #46! Emperor Palpatine’s ultimate defeat in Return of the Jedi is one of the most epic moments in Star Wars history, as it was the climactic moment of the original trilogy that not only featured the defeat of the series’ villain, but the redemption of Darth Vader himself. The reason Palpatine died is that he underestimated Darth Vader, though interestingly enough, that wasn’t the first time Vader defeated Palpatine due to the Emperor underestimating him, with an earlier conflict effectively foreshadowing Palpatine’s Return of the Jedi death.

In Star Wars: Darth Vader #46 by Greg Pak and Raffaele Ienco, Darth Vader storms Exegol with his Schism Imperial - a group of Imperials who are working to have Darth Vader overthrow Emperor Palpatine. They traveled to the homeworld of the Sith Eternal to steal Palpatine’s reserve of red kyberite. Palpatine was using the kyber to fuel the planet-destroying ships fans saw in Rise of Skywalker, and Vader wanted it for himself and his Schism Imperial to complete a weapon capable of rivaling Palpatine’s power.

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When Vader and the Schism arrived at Exegol, they were attacked by the Sith Eternal, as these members of Palpatine’s dark side cult committed their entire lives to serving their master - and that includes protecting the kyber. When they saw Vader, the Sith Eternal warriors attacked him with everything they had, and in the end, they destroyed the invader. However, the ‘Darth Vader’ the Sith Eternal were fighting was a droid disguised as Vader, and the real Sith Lord snuck into the kyber chamber and took it for himself.

Emperor Palpatine Underestimated How Skilled Darth Vader is at Deception

Emperor Palpatine made it clear in a previous Star Wars comic book issue (Star Wars: Darth Vader #44) that he thought Darth Vader couldn’t deceive anyone but himself. The reason this was the case is that Darth Vader deliberately never used deception as a weapon in combat, as he wanted his enemies at their strongest and most prepared when he defeated them in order to further prove his own unparalleled power.

Darth Vader believed deception was a weapon used only by the weak, and that the strong didn’t need tricks or lies to attain victory. Palpatine knew this about his apprentice, which is why he believed Darth Vader was bad at deception - he never did it, therefore he wasn’t skilled at deceiving people (including and especially Palpatine himself). However, as readers saw in Star Wars: Darth Vader #46, Palpatine was proven wrong, which led to Darth Vader’s victory in stealing his master’s kyber on Exegol.

Darth Vader’s Exegol Heist Laid the Groundwork for Palpatine’s Undoing

Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi

Emperor Palpatine didn’t think Darth Vader could use deception so proficiently, which left his top secret base of operations and his most prized possession completely vulnerable. Palpatine thought that if Vader ever did try to invade Exegol, he’d do so with brute force, and would be overpowered by the Sith Eternal. The last thing Palpatine thought Vader would do is sneak into the kyber chamber while deploying a decoy, as such a move would previously be considered cowardly to the Dark Lord. And yet, that’s exactly what Darth Vader did.

Just as Darth Vader surprised Palpatine during the Exegol heist, Vader also shocked his master by turning on him at the end of Episode VI. The Emperor thought he had Vader totally under his thumb in Return of the Jedi, just like he thought Darth Vader would never use deception to steal his kyber, and in both cases, Emperor Palpatine was wrong, and suffered defeat as a result.

Star Wars: Darth Vader #46 by Marvel Comics is available now.