Wayfinders were ancient pieces of technology created by both the Jedi and Sith as a means of navigating challenging stretches of space. They were created through the study of the brains of purrgil, space-faring megafauna who could travel through hyperspace by biological means. Both religions chose to imbue their wayfinders with the Force, requiring a Force-user to activate the wayfinder, so that secrecy and safety was ensured. Jedi star compasses were designed similarly to wayfinders.
The ancient Sith discovered ways to navigate the anomalies of the Galactic Barrier to find worlds in the Unknown Regions to serve as staging grounds or temples, but their methods were lost to time, with routes only left in the Sith wayfinders.
In 35 ABY, Kylo Ren came into the possession of Darth Vader's Sith wayfinder after his assault on Mustafar. Days later, Rey used Sith inscriptions on Ochi's blade to track a second wayfinder to the wreckage of the DS-2 Death Star II Mobile Battle Station upon Kef Bir, the ocean moon of Endor. In the Emperor's personal vault in the ruins of the throne room, Rey found the wayfinder. While in this chamber, she confronted a vision of herself, yet corrupted and mangled by the dark side. Rey obtained the wayfinder from a hovering position in a cut out portion of a pillar, with green light shimmering around it.
Upon exiting the chamber, Kylo Ren stole the second wayfinder from Rey in the throne room and destroyed it, claiming that the only way that Rey would reach Exegol would be with him. However, after defeating Kylo Ren in a duel, Rey came into possession of the other wayfinder Ren took from Mustafar when she stole Kylo Ren's TIE whisper. After burning the ship on Ahch-To, Rey discovered the other wayfinder in the wreckage of the ship and use the wayfinder to travel to Exegol in Luke's X-wing starfighter while transmitting the coordinates to the Resistance so they can defeat the First Order, the Sith Eternal, and Darth Sidious once and for all.
Both of these Sith wayfinders would lead to Exegol, the hidden world of the Sith located in the Unknown Regions.
Wayfinders, once activated, had the ability to connect to technology and flight systems as the method of navigation. The wayfinders appeared multiple times in the ancient Jedi texts, making the wayfinders themselves thousands of years old.
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