12 Stars Wars Mysteries STILL Not Answered After Rise Of Skywalker
6. What Was The Point Of The Starkiller Base?
Now, this may seem like a complaint about a plot-hole, but let's give the First Order and Palpatine the benefit of the doubt here and suggest there was more to this one than meets the eye. Still, it needed an answer.
If Palpatine was able to build an entire fleet of Star Destroyers equipped with planet-destroying weaponry (how he kept that secret is anyone's guess, but that's exactly why he had his new evil lair in the uncharted areas of space), why exactly did he have the First Order bother developing the Starkiller Base?
Was the whole First Order ruse just empty posturing to keep the Resistance busy? If it was, that feels like an incredibly clever part of Palpatine's plan that deserved some actual acknowledgement. If not then why didn't Palpatine sneakily just give the First Order a couple of his shifts through Snoke without having to give away his presence?