Star Wars Sith Tech Theory May Explain Major Rise of Skywalker Palpatine Plot Hole

The Star Wars Skywalker Saga continuity is something of a convoluted mess, and The Rise of Skywalker finale did nothing to make it better. In fact, Rise of Skywalker introduced a handful of important new Star Wars developments that were barely explained in the film – let alone explained in terms of the larger franchise continuity. One of the most confusing elements of Rise of Skywalker’s story was no doubt the return of a cloned Emperor Palpatine, and the existence of his Final Order space armada. Now, a new Star Wars fan theory is highlighting an aspect of Sith technology that may explain how the Final Order was created!

Warning – Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker SPOILERS Follow!

Star Wars fans are still having major debates about The Rise of Skywalker’s entire premise about a Palpatine Clone surviving on Planet Exogol, and creating the biggest space armada ever, beneath the icy surface of the planet. The level of planning and raw materials involved with that is hard to justify happening in secret – as is the sheer level of personnel needed to operate the fleet and fill the Sith temple where Palpatine’s clone held court. So, just focusing on one of those massive gaps in storyline logic: How did Palpatine obtain the raw materials required to make the Final Order, and get it all into production? As one fan theory argues, the Emperor could’ve used one of the Sith’s ancient pieces of technology: the Star Forge.

Reddit user Luy22 posts the following theory about Exogol and the Star Forge:

“Hear me out here my dudes: the enormous pyramid/ziggurate structure on Exogol was a Star Forge. Or Exogol itself was a frozen-over Star Forge. idk if it explains what that thing was or why the ships were under the ice, but…”

The Star Forge is no longer canon, but in the non-official storylines, it was a massive shipyard that functioned as a fully-automated war machine. The Star Forge used a combination of power from nearby stars and the Force, to make endless supplies of ships, droids, vehicles, and other materials for the war machine. Since the forge used the Force as part of its power source, it was eventually corrupted by the dark side, and fell into the control of the Sith (as seen in the Knights of the Old Republic games).

Exogol’s Star Forge would be a good explanation of how the Final Order was created. As noted, it isn’t in the official canon, but does seem to fit the narrative knots created by The Rise of Skywalker. What do you think?

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is now streaming on Disney+.