Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker left us with a lot of unanswered questions, though the introduction of a character called Ochi of Bestoon really baffled fans. The Sith assassin came completely out of nowhere, and we'd learn Luke Skywalker once teamed up with Lando Calrissian to try and find Darth Vader's Sith Wayfinder in a bid to locate Exegol, crossing paths with Ochi in the process.
This summer, Lucasfilm will release a new novel, Star Wars: Shadow of the Sith, elaborating on that mission and what Luke knew of Exegol before the planet was introduced in Episode IX.
In a lengthy excerpt shared on StarWars.com, the Jedi finds himself having a vision of the planet where he's confronted by a group of mysterious wraiths. After being overcome, a Force Ghost steps in to help, but it's not Luke's old mentor Ben Kenobi; instead, it's the returning (young) Anakin Skywalker!
Here's a sneak peek at what happens:
Nine blades against one. Luke didn’t like the odds, but he braced himself nonetheless.
The wraiths attacked, nine shadow-blades held by shadow-arms cutting down at speed —
And that was when a new light appeared. Not the white flash of lightning, or the wraith blades as they were lit by the unholy light. Not the green glow of Luke’s lightsaber, illuminating the ashy ground like a green flashlight.
No, this light was pale blue. It shimmered in the air, streaking a little it swept down, throwing the attackers off in one smooth movement.
It was a lightsaber, the blade blue and strong, the hilt —
The hilt was transparent, nothing but a blue glow, held in a transparent blue hand.
Luke fell backward, onto his elbows, and gasped at the pain in his joints and also in sheer surprise at the sight before him.
Standing between himself and the wraiths was another figure—a man in flowing pale robes, his back to Luke, his head hidden under a voluminous hood. The entire figure glowed like soft electricity, bright in this world of endless night. When the lightning flashed, Luke could see the nine solid wraiths through the form of the man who stood between them and their quarry.
Luke’s mind raced as he tried to identify the spirit of the Force who had arrived to protect him.
“Ben?”
No, it wasn’t Ben… the robe, the man’s form, was —
The spectral being lifted his lightsaber, holding it high above his head, the blade parallel to the ground.
For the first time, the wraiths seemed to take note of their enemy. They backed away, nine forms huddling together, blades lowered. They were screaming from their blank bandaged faces, although Luke wasn’t sure whether it was a real sound or just an echo inside his head. It was hard to concentrate on what he was seeing, the way the Force reverberated around the figure in blue. His entire vision seemed to buckle around him.
The wraiths continued to back away, and then they vanished, their shadow-shapes evaporating into dust that spun away on the last eddy of the dying wind.
For a moment, all was still.
Then the blue figure turned around, his lightsaber extinguished.
Luke pushed himself up onto his elbows. He blinked.
It couldn’t be.
It couldn’t be.
The blue figure lifted his hood back to reveal the strong, sharp face of a young man, his gaze intense beneath a furrowed brow that was bisected by straight, vertical scar. His thick hair was shoulder-length and had a slight wave to it.
Anakin Skywalker reached out his hand.
Luke took it, and everything went white.