Prior to the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the image of Darth Vader's burned helmet emerged as one of the movie's most intriguing and exciting pieces of imagery. Unfortunately, it proved to be something of a non-factor across the course of this sequel trilogy, though we later learned Kylo Ren was using it to communicate with his grandfather.
The Rise of Skywalker revealed the voice Ben Solo was hearing actually belonged to Emperor Palpatine as he manipulated Anakin Skywalker's grandson from afar for his own nefarious means. However, the mystery behind how Kylo recovered the charred remains of Vader's suit on Endor has never been revealed.
Well, until now.
To celebrate the 40th anniversary of Return of the Jedi, forty storytellers have been assembled to re-create iconic moments from the film with a collection of short stories in Return of the Jedi: From A Certain Point of View.
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Among the Star Wars stories set to be included is one titled "The Steadfast Soldier" by Adam Christopher. In that, he'll depict the moment Richard E. Grant's Allegiant General Pryde learned of the Empire's defeat on Endor.
As you can see below (via SFFGazette.com), the book's editor has strongly hinted Pryde will come across Vader's funeral pyre. We're assuming he takes the helmet as a means of reminding his fellow Imperials what the Rebels did to their leaders prior to these remnants becoming The First Order.
Why Pryde wasn't introduced on screen until The Rise of Skywalker, it's safe to assume he eventually delivered the helmet either to Supreme Leader Snoke or gifted it to Kylo Ren as a means of earning his trust.
Maybe that's something the current post-Return of the Jedi stories being told by Lucasfilm will one day explore. Time will tell!