Star Wars: J.J. Abrams Almost Included Palpatine's Cloning Backstory in The Force Awakens

In case you missed it, the novelization of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker has revealed just how Emperor Palpatine survived the events in Return of the Jedi: He didn't. Instead, the Palpatine that appeared in the film was actually a clone that still possessed the Sith Lord's greed for power. However, it looks like this little detail was supposed to be confirmed early on in the sequel trilogy. J.J. Abrams reportedly wanted to introduce the whole clone backstory in The Force Awakens.

The revelation comes from The Rise of Skywalker visual effects supervisor Roger Guyett, who spoke to Cinefex about Abrams' original plans for Ian McDiarmid's character (via Imgur).

"Ian was such a major part of the original films," Guyett said. "J.J. wanted to bring him back to reveal that Palpatine wasn't completely destroyed in [The Force Awakens]."

Interestingly, Guyett shared some of the details that have only recently been revealed in the novelization of The Rise of Skywalker.

"[Palpatine] created a clone of himself and, with the help of Sith loyalists, rebuilt himself to a fragmented and unstable state. When Kylo meets him, Palpatine is not fully formed, and he relies on tubes and mechanics, moving around this Sith laboratory on a mechanism that Kevin Jenkins designed. He has the spirit of the Sith, but he's trapped inside a body that's incomplete," Guyett said.

It sounds like Abrams had been planning the whole Palpatine clone thing right from the start. We're not sure why the idea was not used in The Force Awakens but that would have ensured that the Emperor would play a huge role throughout the sequel trilogy. Nevertheless, it's good that this mystery has finally been solved.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker will be available on digital on March 17 and in Blu-ray, DVD and Ultra 4K HD on March 31.

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