Star Wars: Darth Vader Sheds Light on The Rise of Skywalker's Sith Wayfinder

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker was tasked with not only concluding the sequel trilogy of Star Wars films, but also bringing the entire Skywalker Saga to an end, resulting in a complicated narrative that left audiences with some lingering questions. Early on in the film, Kylo Ren finds a Sith Wayfinder on Mustafar, leading to the discovery of Emperor Palpatine on Exegol. Following the release of the film, fans also learned about how the opening scene originally featured a creature known as the "Eye of Webbish Bog," with the latest issue of Star Wars: Darth Vader from Marvel Comics shedding light on these mysteries.

WARNING: Spoilers below for Star Wars: Darth Vader #8

The current arc of the book sees Vader critically injured on Mustafar, with Palpatine sending the deadly bounty hunter Ochi of Bestoon to attempt to vanquish Vader. Despite being severely wounded, the Sith Lord manages to piece together some impromptu appendages, travelling deeper into the catacombs of Mustafar. While there, the Eye of Webbish Bog emerges from the lava, forcing Vader to confront some of his darkest memories, ultimately being rewarded for efforts with the Sith Wayfinder.

With previous issues of the series hinting at Ochi knowing that Palpatine is spending time in the furthest reaches of the galaxy orchestrating his potential revival after death, it would seem that this current arc of the series is directly setting the stage for what fans saw in The Rise of Skywalker. However, we likely shouldn't expect too many answers about the Wayfinder, as Vader appeared oblivious to Palpatine's potential return when he defeated him in Star Wars: Return of the Jedi.

As far as why these details and the Eye of Webbish Bog didn't make the final cut of the film, creature and special make-up effects creative supervisor Neal Scanlan detailed that the sequence was likely cut due to its complex backstory.

"I think it maybe was too lengthy an explanation for something that [director J.J. Abrams] was able to explain in the movie much quicker, eventually," Scanlan confirmed with Collider earlier this year. "J.J.'s movies move very quickly don't they, and it was all part of Kylo Ren's journey and I think he just felt that there was too much time being spent on something which he explained much quicker. So that's all it was, really. Run time is always my biggest fear on any movie. So much of what we do, so much of what we shoot — and I'm sure this is the same for every department — you invest so much time and love in it and you hope it'll make the final cut, but it doesn't always do that because the movie would be four hours long. Which would be great!"

Stay tuned for details on Star Wars: Darth Vader.

Were you glad to see the Sith Wayfinder show up? Let us know in the comments below or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter to talk all things Star Wars and horror!