How Star Wars Media Is Explaining Palpatine’s Return
The Rise of Skywalker
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One of the oft-criticized elements of the Skywalker Saga finale, The Rise of Skywalker (2019), was the sudden reappearance of Sith Lord Darth Sidious/Emperor Palpatine, who was hurled down the reactor of the second Death Star by Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader in Return of the Jedi. The Rise of Skywalker hinted at and made some oblique references to how Palpatine might have returned to life, showing tanks full of apparent Snoke clones on Exegol. Resistance member Beaumont Kin offered several possible suggestions about how Palpatine might have returned, including “dark science,” cloning, and “secrets only the Sith knew.”
The novelization more explicitly confirmed that cloning was involved in Palpatine’s return. Also, Revenge of the Sith featured Palpatine/Darth Sidious tempting Anakin with the promise of being able to save Padme and discussing his own master, Darth Plagueis, conducting experiments in an attempt to achieve immortality, secrets Palpatine claimed to solely possess after murdering Plagueis. Some fans, however, have focused on Poe Dameron’s infamous response, “Somehow Palpatine returned” and treated it as another example of why they felt the film was poorly written and planned.
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Perhaps owing to the criticism about Palpatine’s return in The Rise of Skywalker, Lucasfilm has been attempting to better explain Palpatine’s re-emergence in The Rise of Skywalker through several of its more recent projects, including the expanded novelization of The Rise of Skywalker, the 2022 canon novel, Shadow of the Sith by Adam Christopher, the D+ series, The Mandalorian and, more recently, the post-The Clone Wars series, The Bad Batch.
The Mandalorian (2019-Present)
The Mandalorian
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From the very beginning of the D+ series, The Mandalorian, set during the New Republic era, the Empire, led by Moff Gideon, was pursuing Mandalorian Din Djarin’s Force-sensitive foundling, Grogu, for his apparent goal of obtaining his blood, ostensibly for him and Gideon’s assistant, Dr. Pershing, to create Force-sensitive clones. In the Second season, Din and his allies infiltrated an imperial outpost on Nevarro, where they found cloning tanks filled with Snoke-looking beings, which were later destroyed when the facility was destroyed. In Season 3, Din and the other Mandalorians found and destroyed a whole room filled with clones of Moff Gideon in an installation on Mandalore.
The Rise of Skywalker Expanded Novelization (2020)
In addition to featuring several scenes not featured in the film, the expanded novelization of the film of the same name, written by Rae Carson, more explicitly confirms that Palpatine, as featured in the film, is a clone and that Rey is connected to him through her father, who was a failed Palpatine clone who was useless to Palpatine due to him not being Force-sensitive.
The Bad Batch (2021-2024)
The Bad Batch
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Following right on the heels of Revenge of the Sith and The Clone Wars, the D+ series, The Bad Batch, explored the immediate aftermath of the end of the Clone Wars and, more specifically, a ragtag group of special clones, Clone Force 99 (aka The Bad Batch) whose members (mostly) did not succumb to Order 66. A new (female) clone of Jango Fett, Omega, was introduced and joined Clone Force 99 when they refused to serve Palpatine’s Empire and escaped from Kamino. After the Empire laid waste to Tipoca City on Kamino at the end of the first season of the series, a new cloning research facility was introduced, known as Mount Tantiss (inspired by the cloning facility featured in the original Thrawn Trilogy).
Omega was later captured and brought there by the Empire to be studied for a top-secret project known as “Project Necromancer,” which was intended to help Emperor Palpatine realize his goal of immortality by creating Force-sensitive clones. It is later revealed that Omega, despite being a clone, has a high Midi-chlorian count (aka “M-Count”), making her a top target of the Empire. Although she was returned to custody after escaping once, Clone Force 99 ultimately located and destroyed the facility and rescued Omega in the series finale.
Shadow of the Sith (2022)
Shadow of the Sith
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In this canon novel set during the New Republic Era, Luke and Lando began investigating the rise of a new Sith menace known as the Sith Eternal on Exegol together, something alluded to in The Rise of Skywalker. Additionally, the novel features a much younger Rey and her parents, Dathan and Miramir fleeing Palpatine and his Jedi hunter, Ochi of Bestoon. In the process, it is revealed that Rey’s father, Dathan, was a genetic clone or “strand cast” of Palpatine, however, since he was not Force-sensitive, it left Palpatine unable to transfer his spirit to his body.
It is unknown whether future Star Wars media will continue to expand further on Palpatine’s existence in The Rise of Skywalker, however, the newer material released since the film does better help establish and explain Palpatine’s existence in the film.
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Source(s): Wookiepedia
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