In Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, there are a lot of things that don’t really make a whole lot of sense to fans of the Skywalker Saga that had been running for over four decades. There were just a lot of odd choices in ending the saga that many had come to love, but one of the main aspects that raised many eyebrows was the Sith planet, Exegol.
Exegol served as the big location for the final fight and confrontation. But Exegol’s premise didn’t make a whole lot of sense throughout the movie, especially as it seemed to become easier and easier to find, defeating the main difficulties the characters faced in finding it.
How Did Everyone Else Get There So Easily?
The biggest issue with this planet is how everyone got there so easily at the end of the movie. At the beginning of Episode IX, it shows Kylo Ren traversing Mustafar in order to find the ancient Sith Wayfinder. It is later mentioned that it took him a month to actually find the planet he was looking for, proving that it was extremely well hidden. The journey is also not an easy one, they had to travel through intense space to get there. The next person to travel there is Rey, and while she doesn’t get there easily, it definitely takes her but a few moments. The main cast of the Resistance just have a bumpy ride, and by the time the bulk of ships that come with Lando arrive (none of which have the Wayfinder but simply followed Rey’s coordinates), they all just seem to hyperspace in with ease.
Why Did It Take So Long For Everyone To Fall Out Of The Sky?
In one of the major climactic scenes of the movie, Palpatine does his big force lightning move (that deafens the crowd) and shocks all of the ships in the sky, causing them each to lose power. This scene is pretty big, as it shows most of the Resistance fighters struggling with their ships as they descend towards land. But it seems like no one actually dies from this. After he uses the lightning, Rey stares up at the sky and towards her falling friends. She connects with the Jedi who gives her strength to carry on and she finally gets back up to continue fighting. The ships then get their power back with Palpatine distracted. But in between these two moments, a lot of the ships should have fallen out of the sky, or some people at least should have died by crashing into others.
Another Super Laser
It seems like the Star Wars franchise is absolutely obsessed with super lasers, especially the sequel trilogy that has some kind of new iteration of them in every other movie. In Exegol, it is revealed that each of the vast number of created Star Destroyers has a Death Star super laser attached to go around and spread utter chaos in the galaxy.
This idea seems way, way overpowered, which isn’t utilized at all in the movie. They use the super laser once or twice to kill a few pilots, but that laser is strong enough to destroy entire planets, so why does it seem so weak? They destroyed Kijimi but that was about all the damage they seemed to do, though each ship was equipped with their own.
What About The First Order?
Another big question that many fans have about the fight on Exegol is about the First Order. The troops on this Sith planet aren’t a part of the First Order army and are their own separate thing entirely. So after Rey and the Resistance defeat the Emperor and his troops, shouldn’t the First Order still be around to attack? Kylo Ren may have abandoned them, Hux may have been caught as a spy and killed, and Phasma may be no more, but what about all of the other troopers and First Order officers? At the end of The Last Jedi, it is seen that the First Order is a powerhouse spread wide and strong across the galaxy, vastly outnumbering the Resistance. The Emperor only called upon Pryde and his own ship, so it seems like there has to be way more of the First Order across the galaxy at the end of the film.
What Did The Troopers Do That Whole Time?
Another funny thought is the idea of the Sith troopers just idly waiting by all those years as the Emperor regained his strength and executed his master plan. It was mentioned that they had been building the fleet for years, since the fall of the second Death Star, so what did a normal day for Sith troopers look like when they were just waiting around for Rey to realize she was a Palpatine? It just seems odd to be in such a barren location, waiting all that time. The Sith troopers, though cool looking, seemed pretty useless and no more special than regular Stormtroopers, so how did Palpatine pick them?
Always One Flaw In The System
In all honesty, Palpatine should know better by now. After the events of both Death Stars and even the light within Darth Vader and Kylo Ren, he seems to always choose flawed items that end up leading to his destruction. The Death Stars had a spot to shoot that would make it explode. Vader had a soft spot in his heart for his child. Kylo Ren had a soft spot in his heart for his mother. And the Exegol fleet had a soft spot for power at their communications tower and later on the one Star Destroyer that all the Resistance targeted.
Unknown Region
The fact that Exegol is in an unknown region of the galaxy is also pretty bizarre, considering there is so much space travel with hyperspace jumps and even free-flying.
It also seems like the idea of Exegol was known about. The characters knew it was a Sith planet, so if it was well known by the old Jedi then why did the Jedi never seek it out to prevent any issues? It is known by fans that before the rise of Darth Sidious, it was widely thought that the Sith no longer existed and was merely a myth. But that still doesn’t explain why they wouldn’t know about it, or at least look in.
Sith Wayfinder
It is no secret that the sequel trilogy was a fan of MacGuffins as it uses this literary device a number of times throughout the three movies. First with the map that BB-8 and R2-D2 have hidden, then with Luke’s lightsaber, and now again with the Sith Wayfinder. What makes so many fans angry about this is the fact that this item wasn’t a Holocron, which is a canon item that many fans were hoping to see in the movie. Instead, they get this Wayfinder that hasn’t been mentioned in the lore yet that is needed to find the Sith planet.
Where Was The Surface?
Since fans only really got to see the battle in Exegol’s atmosphere, it makes it a bit odd to picture the planet itself. Rey and Ben land on this platform that looks like a floating castle in which the Emperor resides, but that doesn’t really seem like the surface of the planet itself. Fans don’t really know how this planet looks other than by the sky, as it also isn’t seen as the ships are flying into its orbit. Though the last hour of the movie takes place here, this planet is still a huge mystery.
Who Were All Those Hooded Figures?
In the final showdown between Rey, Ben, and Palpatine, a number of hooded figures take the stands of the ritual hall to welcome back the lord of the Sith once he claims Rey’s body as his new vessel. They aren’t ever really explained either. So who are these people? They obviously have an association with the Sith and Palpatine but if there are this many people supporting the Sith, surely they will become problems once again in the future. And how did they all get there? Did they fly just before Rey arrived or had they been waiting there like Palpatine and the Sith troopers?
