Emperor Palpatine Returns:
The Final Order has ended as Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker finally brings about an end, and yet a new beginning to the Star Wars franchise. Disney could either continue the franchise with the new setups that were placed throughout the movie, or they could start fresh new projects. We’re pretty sure that the future has been planned already. Nevertheless, let’s talk about the present. Let’s talk about the return of the one true Star Wars Villain who has plagued the franchise for 9 whole Episodes – Emperor Sheev Palpatine aka Darth Sidious.
The following article contains heavy Spoilers for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. You’ve been warned.
Back in Star Wars: Episode VI, Darth Vader killed Emperor Palpatine to save Luke Skywalker. But he has made a surprising return in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. Moreover, the film reveals that it was him who had been pulling the strings behind the scenes all along.
The movie begins with a vague explanation upon how Emperor Palpatine returns to the Skywalker Saga once more. It didn’t go too deep into the explanation of the return as it smartly uses the same lines from Star Wars Canon. In Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, Palpatine told Anakin about the Sith Lord Darth Plagueis the Wise, who was killed by his apprentice (Palpatine himself). Here’s what he said:
“Darth Plagueis was a Dark Lord of the Sith, so powerful and so wise he could use the Force to influence the midi-chlorians to create life. … He had such a knowledge of the dark side that he could even keep the ones he cared about from dying. The dark side of the Force is a pathway to many abilities some consider to be unnatural.
He became so powerful … the only thing he was afraid of was losing his power, which eventually, of course, he did. Unfortunately, he taught his apprentice everything he knew, then his apprentice killed him in his sleep. Plagueis never saw it coming. It’s ironic he could save others from death but not himself.”
As Kylo Ren reaches the Secret Sith planet Exogol via a Wayfinder, Darth Sidious tells Ren that “The dark side of the Force is a pathway to many abilities some consider to be unnatural.” He tells him that he has also died before and returned due to the unnatural powers of the Dark Side. And then, the film teases that his body was cloned. We see his body supported by a machine which was probably helping him stay alive until his plans come to fruition.
The Sith Lord was manipulating Kylo Ren right from the very beginning when Ren was training under Luke Skywalker. He reveals that he created Snoke and he has been every voice (Snoke & Darth Vader) in the head of Ben Solo aka Kylo Ren. Palpatine’s motivations were directly tied in with the lineage of Rey. He wanted Kylo Ren to bring Rey to him.
That’s because he wanted to die at the hands of Rey, his granddaughter. That way, he and all the Sith who were living within him could transfer into Rey’s body, and she’d ultimately become the one true ruler of the entire Galaxy. She’d be the one true Sith on the Throne of Exogol. But the ending was obviously quite different what Palpatine had planned. Rey ended up killing all the Sith once and for all because she struck at Palpatine with the power of all the Jedi within her.
Directed by J.J. Abrams, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker stars Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Lupita Nyong’o, Domhnall Gleeson, Kelly Marie Tran, Joonas Suotamo, and Billie Lourd. Joining the cast of Episode IX are Naomi Ackie and Richard E. Grant. They are joined by veteran Star Wars actors Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, and Billy Dee Williams, who will reprise his role as Lando Calrissian.
