The Battle of Exegol may have been the climactic battle of the Skywalker saga, but it was riddled with holes. We witnessed a clear defeat of Palpatine’s forces, but in a ramshackle way. Reviewing the dynamics of the battle reveals several problems and inconsistencies, starting with the composition of the Sith Fleet.
The Battle of Exegol, the Sith Fleet, and the Resistance
Recently, we wrote about how the Sith fleet was constructed. Although the building of this fleet was possible, the Battle of Exegol itself doesn’t make sense because of the basis of the Imperial fleet.
This video delves into how illogical it was that the Emperor wouldn’t want to change or improve the design of the Star Destroyers. Instead, we assume that Sidous just made the ship design larger and “put a gun on it.” This lack of innovation is a leading reason why the battle seems off.
So too is the oddity of having every ship equipped with “a super weapon.” Every ship is the same, no variation, and should have been able to destroy anything in its path. Just why the Star Destroyers couldn’t activate their shields in Exegol’s atmosphere is puzzling too.
Relatedly, the Starkiller Base technology didn’t make sense either because this weapon should have completely staunched the Resistance. Both the first and last sequels draw on shaky premises for their weaponry and fleet.
The second layer of reasoning for why this battle is not quite right relates to the enormity of the Resistance fleet. Poe’s squadron facing certain destruction at the beginning of this scene makes sense, but the sheer size of Lando’s fleet seems way out of proportion. The fleet takes up the entire spatial background, cluttered together like a jumbled jigsaw puzzle.
Putting this scene in the context of the book Star Wars Resistance Reborn, we can see how preposterous a fleet of this size was. This book provides the basis for how the Resistance was scattered and struggled to gain allies. The premise was that “the shadow of the First Order” loomed heavily and “the bravery to face the darkness” lay “scattered and isolated.”
It would have been a monumental, Force-awakening challenge to summon a fleet like audiences saw. This disconnection also resonates with the idea that the Resistance was “a small, unauthorized splinter group” that became smaller after the Starkiller Base was destroyed.
Although we may explain this discrepancy by citing how the Resistance summoned a Citizen’s Fleet, it seems like they overcame this challenge quite readily, even magically. As this video rhetorically asks, “Where were all these ships and rebels and reinforcements” in the first two movies? The Last Jedi, in particular, made us think that the Resistance only had a scant few followers left.
Other Problems with the Battle
As we can see in another video on this topic, the “unimaginable amount” of TIE Daggers should have ended the battle quickly, even without the Star Destroyers. Likewise, the feasibility of Poe’s landing force on the Star Destroyer is problematic. On that note, the landing party took on a rather comical look as it rode across the hull.
The Exegol landing team rides on Orbaks after Finn sensed that the navigation signal was coming from the command ship, the Steadfast. The idea that the Sith Eternal needed this signal at all is a problem, but the cavalry charge against the Sith troopers seemed like it would be inadequate against them.
Among the issues this list conveys about Exegol, two are particularly relevant to the inconsistencies of the battle. The first is how we don’t see any Resistance ships crashing when Palpatine used his Force lightning. The second is the lack of First Order officers and troops. We are left wondering what happened to them and how they could have turned the tide of the battle.
The second point is quite the quandary, given that the Battle of Exegol was supposed to be “the decisive final battle in the war between the First Order and the Resistance.” Instead, we had the Citizens Fleet facing off against the Sith Eternal, who couldn’t manage to operate their doomsday weaponry. In this battle, we don’t even have the correct protagonists and antagonists.
In this associated video, we can see how the Sith troopers were flawed in their design. They were meant to be part of the Final Order, but correspond with the First Order trooper, without the red color. Or, we may see them more “as an evolution of the First Order stormtrooper design,” including their more muscular build, but they were supposed to be part of the Sith Eternal and Sidious’s Contingency.
The Battle of Exegol Doesn’t Make Sense
From the Sith fleet to Sith troopers, we can identify multiple problems and inconsistencies that make the Battle of Exegol unconvincing. The Resistance to the Citizen’s fleet likewise adds to the issues with this battle, as do the dynamics for the landing team on the Steadfast.