Star Wars Reveals The Real Plan Palpatine Had For Rey In ‘Rise Of Skywalker’
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker closed out the Skywalker Saga on the big screen, and reception to the grand finale was mixed at best. However, the film did feature the return of Ian McDiarmid as the dreaded Emperor Palpatine. It also provided fans a somewhat twist answer to the question of Rey’s lineage. Instead of being a Skywalker, Kenobi, or Solo, it was revealed that Rey was Palpatine’s granddaughter.
Along with the family ties, it was revealed that part of Palpatine’s extensive plan was to lure Rey to the dark side and continue the Sith lifecycle. That is an oversimplification of the plan but, fortunately, a new book is giving a full explanation of Palpatine’s plan.
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The Lucasfilm Star Wars tie-in book, Secrets of the Sith, is a book written by Marc Sumerak from the perspective of Palpatine himself. Along with giving an extensive look at the Clone War and his time ruling the Empire, it also goes in-depth on his plans during the sequel trilogy. The book reveals that Rey actually wasn’t his original choice to take his place. Originally, Palpatine wanted Ben Solo to be the one to host his Force presence. That is why he went through such great lengths to bring him to, and keep him in, the dark side. Rey was not left out of his plan, however. When Ben became “all the Sith,” he would rule the galaxy, and Palpatine intended for Rey to rule alongside him as Empress. Although, it seems to imply that Palpatine hardly considered the two equals.
Nonetheless, it would have allowed the Sith to flourish and thrive while also seemingly continuing to adhere to the Rule of Two. It is likely Palpatine modified this plan during the events of the film when he undoubtedly sensed Ben Solo returning to the light side of the Force. This would without a doubt make him change his plans for the host at the last minute and, ironically enough, this could have been what caused the plan to fall apart. Regardless, the book goes on to seemingly confirm some theories about scenes in the movie. It suggests that the vision Rey had of herself turned to the dark side was a projection, sent by Palpatine himself, to show Rey a glimpse into the future that he wanted.
The Emperor was forced to change his plan, rather last minute. Fortunately, adapting to plans has always been one of Palpatine’s strongest skills. Presumably, when Ben Solo returned to the light side, Palpatine was able to sense it, and adjusted his plan to focus on Rey becoming his host. Obviously, Palpatine’s plan failed. Perhaps the pull of the light side was too strong, or maybe he was unable to see a future where his own granddaughter would turn against him. Either way, he was unable to create a new plan fast enough to keep him from being destroyed.
It should be noted that Palpatine basically plotted out the entire sequel trilogy. Not to mention that he had been manipulating governments and running shadow operations for years before he became the Emperor. It may be debatable if he was the most powerful Sith, but he is without a doubt the smartest Sith. He had a plan for every scenario, and he had a contingency plan in case anything went wrong. Every setback was an opportunity for him, and he successfully played both sides of a war. It is amazing the number of plans within plans he had to orchestrate every galactic event. He even planned for his own death. However, in the end, all the plans in the world couldn’t help him beat the people standing together.
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Source: Screen Rant