Darth Vader's Latest Attack Explains Why Palpatine's Rise of Skywalker Plan Took 30 Years to Pull Off

Warning! This post contains SPOILERS for Darth Vader #46

Summary Vader attacks Exegol before Return of the Jedi, seeking a final strike against Palpatine.

Vader has amassed new sources of power, including his own droid army and anti-Palpatine allies to help him wreak havoc during his Exegol assault.

Vader's destruction of Exegol's Kyber Temple and the Sith Eternal may help explain the delays in Palpatine's resurrection plans following his death.

Darth Vader's newest attack in the Star Wars canon may explain why Palpatine's resurrection and plan to reclaim the galaxy took so long following his death in Return of the Jedi. Having previously shown his apprentice only a taste of his true power on his hidden Sith world of Exegol, Darth Vader is now seeking to strike his Sith master one last time between the events of Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. To that end, the Sith apprentice is hoping to hit Palpatine where it hurts most.

Seeking to replace the perceived chaos of Palpatine with his own brand of order, Darth Vader has amassed vast quantities of power outside his master's influence. This includes his very own droid army, forcing Rebel cyborgs into his service against their will, allying himself with the secret anti-Palaptine cabal of officers known as the Schism Imperial, and more. As such, the new Darth Vader #46 by Greg Pak and Raffaele Ienco sees the Dark Lord of the Sith bringing all of his new power to bear on Exegol itself, seeking to burn all of his master's secrets to the ground.

Taking on several of Palpatine's dark servants known as the Sith Eternal and genetic monstrosities created by his master, Darth Vader unleashes an all-out war against Palpatine's hidden Sith world located in the Unknown Regions.

Darth Vader Attacked Exegol Before Return of the Jedi

A Final Strike Against His Sith Master

Even though Palpatine was well aware his apprentice was gathering power against him, the Emperor allowed Vader to continue with his betrayal all the same. After all, this was the way of the Sith where apprentices were expected to try and kill their masters, just as Palpatine had done with his own master Darth Plagueis. However, Palpatine might not have expected Vader to go after Exegol instead of trying to face him directly.

That said, it's already known by readers that Vader's ongoing attack won't be as successful as he might hope. After all, Return of the Jedi sees the Dark Lord quite subservient to his master and telling his son Luke that it's useless to resist his master's power in the dark side. As such, this implies that Palpatine will soon put his apprentice in his place in future issues, especially in the aftermath of the havoc Vader is currently wreaking on Exegol and the Sith Eternal.

Vader Killed Several Of Palpatine's Sith Eternal Cultists

Did This Delay Palpatine's Resurrection Plans?

Vader's "Razing of Exegol" may be a significant reason why Palpatine's resurrection and massive fleet of Star Destroyers known as the Final Order didn't come to fruition until three decades had passed after Return of the Jedi. After all, the Dark Lord destroyed Exegol's Kyber Temple full of corrupted red kyber in this new issue. The resulting shockwave also saw multiple Sith Eternal cultists being slain.

This large mound of red kyber was likely going to be used for the Final Order's mounted planet-killing weapons as seen in Rise of Skywalker. As such, it would make sense if took time for Palaptine's surviving cultists to regain their numbers and continue their work, both on the fleet and Project Necromancer (creating a clone body for Palpatine). At any rate, it's very exciting that the new Darth Vader #46 is only the first part of this new arc, the implication being that Darth Vader's "Razing of Exegol" has only just begun in the Star Wars timeline.

Darth Vader #46 is available now from Marvel Comics