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Behind Zakkul's recent attacks, many see the hand of Sith Emperor Vitiate. Indeed, their coordination with the events of Ziost is disturbing. Some are already proclaiming that the Immortal Emperor Valkorion is just a new avatar of the former master of Dromund Kaas. So, both on the side of the Republic and the Sith Empire, we wonder. This Zakkul Empire did not happen in a few days. It took years, even centuries. If Vitiate is truly Valkorion, why would he have set up a second empire competing with the one he already ruled?
For the inhabitants of Zakkul, this is obvious. Vitiate / Valkorion couldn't trust the Sith. By being one himself, he can only know how much their dogma is focused on betrayal. They are unreliable. Thus, he would have used them as screens, a spear and a shield that would protect his true creation. His "chosen people". Who would rule the galaxy when everything else was destroyed, including the Sith Empire. Thus, the Emperor would be much more Valkorion than Vitiate and his true plans will soon be demonstrated.
However, this first theory cannot be completely satisfactory. She ignores Vitiate's Sith side, his lust for power and his manipulative skills. If we study the structure of other Sith in the Empire, and even some high ranking military officers, many developed paramilitary and mercenary troops to complement the soldiers assigned to them by their superiors and the Dark Council. Special troops who are thus more devoted to their person and not tied to orders given to them by other sources. Zakkul could play this role for Vitiate: a fallback base to take refuge in when all is lost and he can no longer rely on his main army of the Sith Empire.
Laboratory theory can also be advanced. One of the two empires would thus develop certain technologies and cultures, a societal group with its best and its worst elements. Their common leader would thus only have to transpose the most interesting of the results obtained (but not the researchers) into his real project. It remains to be determined who is who. And there, between the preserved and the highlighted, the problem becomes again the same as for the two previous theories.
Another theory which has been mentioned several times is that according to which Vitiate is not the founder of the Empire of Zakkul. It doesn't matter whether he was the real Valkorion or later took possession of his body. The Sith would have discovered a powerful regime and territory that he could not have absorbed by the Force. There are other instances in the history of the Sith Empire, such as the Chiss Ancestry or more recently the Republic itself. He would therefore have settled inside to observe its evolution. Without a plan at this point, just waiting to see if he would need it.
All these theories unfortunately come up against the same problem. We must try to penetrate the thought of the Sith Emperor Vitiate. However, he has already shown that he is a master manipulator, rarely revealing more than part of what he plans to achieve soon. He surrounds himself with a whole set of secrets, some of which have absolutely nothing to do with each other. Untangling this ball is very difficult, maybe even impossible. He is certainly the only one who really knows what the balance is between these theories, or even if there is any other. Only a direct confrontation with Valkorion would allow us to know more. And even...
