Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker might’ve brought Emperor Palpatine back to life, but it didn’t have a lot of time to actually explain how that was possible. But, you know, we’ve spent so long thinking about the mystery of the villain’s resurrection that we haven’t even considered another massive plot hole. That being how the heck did Palpatine construct a huge fleet of Death Star-alike Star Destroyers without the galaxy noticing?
Well, in comes The Visual Dictionary to help us out. Given how many dangling questions there are after Episode IX, the tie-in book has proven to be invaluable in better understanding the movie’s plot. As previously reported, it goes some way to elaborating on Palpatine’s resurrection. For one, the Dictionary reveals that the Sith Eternal, the hooded zealots seen occupying Darth Sidious’ temple on Exegol, retrieved his corpse from the Death Star II and brought him back via “technology and the occult.”
The book likewise explains how the fleet of the Final Order – as Palpatine dubs his new organization – were built. And, once again, the enigmatic Sith Eternal are the key. It’s clarified that the Star Destroyers are all-new constructions, officially labelled Xyston-class ships. They were built by shipwrights, engineers and slaves forced to work on them by the Sith Eternal, hidden away on the secret planet of Exegol.
As for how they got the parts to make the Destroyers, it just so happens that many of the Sith Eternal are prominent board members of the Sienar-Jaemus and Kuat-Entralla shipyards. This is a fascinating revelation, as it tells us that these Sith loyalists aren’t just creepy folks who permanently dwell on Exegol, but are affluent and important members of society. Rich guys turning out be to evil? What a twist!
Obviously, there are still a lot more details that need filling in, but that’s for future comics, books and maybe even movies and TV shows to deal with. For now, at least, this is another of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker‘s many narrative gaps that’s been partially plugged.
