Warning: spoilers ahead for Darth Vader #9!
In recent issues of Marvel Comics' Darth Vader series from Greg Pak and Raffaele Ienco, it's become more and more evident that the Dark Lord of the Sith and his journey to the Sith world of Exegol was much more perilous than it was for his future grandson Kylo Ren. In the Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Ren was able to obtain the Sith Wayfinder with minimal resistance, and navigate to the Sith world with relative ease. In comparison, Vader has had to endure intense dangers and threats on his own journey, set just after Empire Strikes Back, and all before he's even reached the planet itself. As a result, the question needs to be asked: did Darth Vader inadvertently remove major threats from Kylo Ren's path?
Having been dumped on Mustafar (where Anakin truly became Darth Vader), the wayward Sith apprentice has been punished by his master Darth Sidious for his rogue behavior digging into the truth behind the death of his wife, leaving him unable to access the Dark Side. With his armor damaged by his master, Vader was forced to rebuild new limbs from discarded battle droid parts, all while evading and fighting off the Sith assassin Ochi of Bestoon, who was hired by the Emperor himself to kill Vader. So far, Vader has been up to his master's test, but Darth Vader #9 saw Ochi team up with the Droid Crush Pirates to hunt Vader down on the lava world.
Previously, Vader came face to face with the mysterious Eye of Webbish Bog, which eventually granted him the Sith Wayfinder. After Vader secured the Wayfinder with the promise that it will lead him to his master's secrets, he then destroyed all of the pirates. He takes Ochi hostage, forcing him to decode and install the Wayfinder into the navigation system of Vader's ship. Taking Ochi with him, Vader is determined to uncover his master's secrets and get his revenge, no matter what obstacles are before him, including the giant tentacled monster seen at the end of the issue, whose red nebula can't be traversed using a hyperdrive.
Obviously, Kylo Ren never had to to deal with these horrific monsters, but is that just because Vader cleared the way? The Eye of Webbish Bog was included in a deleted scene from Episode IX as a challenge for Ren, and while the fate of the Red Horror monster from issue 9 hasn't yet been revealed, Vader has already confirmed it possesses unique qualities which make it impossible to bypass. In Ren's journey, the Sith Wayfinder simply allowed him to navigate the solar storms and black holes riddling the Unknown Regions of space where Exegol resides.
Between the Eye of Webbish Bog, the Red Horror, and any other threats that lie ahead, Vader's journey has been much more of a gauntlet than Ren's was, likely exactly because Darth Vader happened to remove certain obstacles from Kylo Ren's path years beforehand. It seems that in all of his worship of his grandfather's helmet, Ben Solo neglected to thank his grandfather for the biggest favor his evil ancestor actually performed.