Warning! This post contains SPOILERS for Star Wars: Legacy of Vader #10

Star Wars remarkably just revealed a secret new form taken by Emperor Palpatine…before the events of Rise of Skywalker. While Darth Sidious was infamously resurrected for Episode IX, it’s now been revealed that he secretly appeared before Kylo Ren, well before Rise of Skywalker’s opening scene featuring the dark duo.

As seen in Marvel’s ongoing and canonical Legacy of Vader series, the new Legacy of Vader #10 sees Kylo Ren seeking to unlock Darth Vader’s vault located within his Mustafar fortress. In order to do so, Kylo Ren is encouraged by Vader’s former servant Vaneé to use his grandfather’s meditation chamber, resulting in a major journey throughout the cosmic Force.

Although it begins with a shocking encounter between Kylo Ren and several Force ghosts like Luke Skywalker, this major vision darkly ends with Emperor Palpatine himself (albeit in a form we’ve never seen before).

Star Wars Reveals New Encounter Between Palpatine And Kylo Ren (Before Rise of Skywalker)

After meditating on his uncle and successfully seeking Luke out in the netherworld with other Force ghosts, Kylo Ren is pulled back to a far darker scene.

Emerging from a dark swamp, a cloaked figure ignites a crimson lightsaber, telling Kylo Ren that he must be “reminded” of his destiny with the dark side, as his visit to the netherworld was apparently the result of Ben reaching out to the light.

Not only does this likely set up Kylo Ren’s future redemption in Rise of Skywalker, but also the return of the resurrected Palpatine, who’s undoubtedly this cloaked figure seeking to punish and re-center Ren back in the dark.

After all, Ben Solo was Palpatine’s key pawn long before the sequel era, having used Snoke as his proxy. It makes sense that he’d want to make sure he remained in darkness.

This further fulfills Palpatine’s line to Kylo Ren on Exegol, using his own voice but also Darth Vader and Snoke’s: “I have been every voice you’ve ever heard inside your head.” Likewise, this “reminder” through pain darkly mirrors Palpatine’s past teachings to Darth Vader, like when his apprentice similarly became unbalanced in the dark side following The Empire Strikes Back.

Palpatine’s New Form Keeps His Identity Hidden From Kylo Ren

Despite this being a dark new form for Palpatine and a new encounter preceding Kylo Ren finding the resurrected Emperor physically on Exegol, it doesn’t break canon. This is because Palpatine’s face is intentionally hidden from Kylo Ren under this cloak, maintaining Rise of Skywalker’s opening scene and Palpatine’s full debut once the First Order’s Supreme Leader finds him.

At the same time, this new Palpatine scene and form in Legacy of Vader help flesh out and develop Ben Solo’s overall arc in some very exciting ways, well beyond what we got in the movies.

Seeing as how this issue ends with Kylo exiting the chamber with very real wounds and being placed in one of his grandfather’s bacta tanks, it’s going to be fascinating to see how this new Star Wars series continues.

Star Wars: Legacy of Vader #10 is on sale now from Marvel Comics.