© LucasfilmIn the latest issue of Star Wars: Darth Vader, it's revealed that Luke Skywalker's severed hand ended up on Exegol.
Star Wars has been filling in some gaps from the original trilogy in its current comic book series, but we never thought that Luke Skywalker's severed hand would get a look in.
The final issue of the 'Into the Fire' arc of the Star Wars: Darth Vader comic book series by Greg Pak and Raffaele Ienco brings us back to Exegol. In the timeline, this is actually the earliest visit to the planet as the series is set just after The Empire Strikes Back.
This particular story has seen Palpatine challenge his apprentice Darth Vader, leaving him stranded on Mustafar and sending Sith assassin Ochi of Bestoon after him. Vader survived all challenges and headed to Exegol to find out Palpatine's secrets in the last issue, and the new issue kicks off with a confrontation between the two.
Palpatine survives Vader's onslaught and soon lures him into the temple on Exegol and through the laboratory that we saw briefly in The Rise of Skywalker. It was where Palpatine made Snoke and we see several failed Snoke bodies surrounding Vader.
What's of most interest though is that Vader also spots a severed right hand in one of the tanks as Palpatine talks about how he can "make anything". Could that be Luke's right hand that Vader himself severed on Cloud City?
© Marvel ComicsLuke Skywalker's hand in Star Wars: Darth Vader
Now, it's worth noting that we have no confirmation that it really is Luke's hand, and there are a lot of severed hands in the Star Wars universe, so it could really be anybody's. Maybe Palpatine just picked a random one up in the galaxy to help in his experiments.
It could even be Vader's own right hand from when Count Dooku chopped off Anakin Skywalker's right arm in Attack of the Clones. However, that was more of a full arm and would mean Palpatine would have to chop it down to get just the hand, which sounds like a lot of unnecessary work on his part.
The focus on the hand in the comic means that it has to hold some significance, so it leaves only Luke and Anakin as the main contenders for the hand's previous owner.
© LucasfilmLuke Skywalker in Empire Strikes Back gets his hand cut off
One thing's for sure, it confirms that Palpatine was working on his 'life after death' plan long before his demise in Return of the Jedi. It's a bit of a retcon, but it shows that he was working on cloning bodies and maybe even used the hand to create Snoke, meaning there's a DNA connection between Luke and Snoke.
And if Palpatine also used the hand to create his failed clones, then Rey - as the daughter of one of Palpatine's failed clones - would have some Skywalker blood in her and be a true combo of both Skywalker and Palpatine.
© amazon.co.ukStar Wars: Darth Vader by Greg Pak Vol. 2
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The same would be true if it was actually Anakin's hand, of course. Considering the comic book takes place just after The Empire Strikes Back, it might be too tight of a turnaround for Palpatine to pop to Cloud City, pick up Luke's hand from the trash, and head back to Exegol.
But if anybody can do it, it's an evil Sith lord who isn't even stopped by death.
The entire Star Wars Skywalker Saga is available to watch on Disney+. You can also own the Saga on DVD, Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD.
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