One of the most hotly debated things to come out of Star Wars Celebration was the return of Emperor Palpatine in the teaser for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. Though we only really got a laugh, a lot of people are scratching their heads over how the emperor will be making his way to the next movie. Star Wars guru Alex Damon (of the Star Wars Explained channel) goes through some possible in-canon explanations:
While a clone or robot Palpatine seems predictable enough, I'm hoping that Lucasfilm gives us an explanation that no one sees coming in the film. We know that Dark Side users have the ability to ‘curse' items thanks to the comics, but I'm hoping something entirely new comes out of TROS.
My personal theory would be that Palpatine would find new life in a Force vision from Rey a la The Force Awakens. Maybe Rey goes into the remnants of the old Death Star and touches Palpatine's throne, this triggers a vision which will have her in the throne room with Luke fighting Vader.
Imagine the collective gasp if Palpatine in the vision then begins to look at Rey and start talking to her. This could be a testament to how powerful Palpatine really was, and it doesn't make use of any cheap revival tropes like clones or robot doubles.
For now, all we can really do is wait. Catch Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker in theaters Dec. 20.
See Also: Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Rumors Suggest Han Solo's Return
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