Thanks to the novelization ofStar Wars: The Rise of Skywalkerwe now know that the mysteriousreturn of the villainous Emperor Palpatinewas thanks to cloning, and that the version that appears in the finale of the Skywalker saga was, in fact, a clone. Though it already seems strange that this detail was left out of the movie, things have gotten even stranger still, as it has now emerged that an early version of the script included this detail, providing clarity for Palpatine’s resurrection.
This was confirmed by actor, andEmperor Palpatine himself Ian McDiarmid, during his recent panel appearance at this year’s C2E2 in Chicago.
“At one point, the script had the line - in that first scene, with Adam [Driver who plays Kylo Ren] - when he says, “You’re a clone.” And I said, in that original script, which is no longer with us, “More than a clone. Less than a man.””
Honestly, it is difficult to understand why this was left out, as it solves theunexplained return of Palpatine(despite being thrown down an endless shaft at the end ofReturn of the Jedi) with a couple of simple lines of dialogue. Perhaps director JJ Abrams and co-writer Chris Terrio wanted to keep his return a mystery, but why? Since the release ofThe Rise of Skywalkerthere have been many criticisms of the movie, with the Palpatine plot hole being one of the main ones, and from this, we now know it was very easily avoided.
The marketing kept Palpatine something of a mystery leading up to the release of the movie, with trailers and posters not even revealing him in his full physical state. Although his unmistakable narration and cackle were present in the later trailers. Fans expected to be given more details regarding how he was able to return, but instead were left with nothing at all other than fan theories and speculation.
Admittedly, not everyone was thrilled tosee the Sith Master again, though Abrams did justify it by emphasizing that he was a significant figure in previous films, so it made sense that he also factored in this last chapter. Abrams may be right about this, but offering no explanation came across as lazy and half-backed to many, ultimately lessening any impact that the character’s return could have had.
InThe Rise of Skywalker, Kylo Ren ventures into Exegol thanks to the Sith Wayfinder he found on Mustafar. He then finds Palpatine, who, of course, has been awaiting his arrival. The Sith Lord, looking very the worse for wear, then proposes a partnership between himself and Kylo Ren, revealing that Supreme Leader Snoke had been a clone all along that Palpatine had been using as a puppet in order to influence events. From this, many had fans had theorized that either this Palpatine or the one killed by Darth Vader inReturn of the Jedi, was a clone.
The novelization has now confirmed what exactly happened behind the scenes to bring Palpatine back from dead, and whilst there is no known reason why Abrams decided to leave this out of the movie, it is safe to assume that there will be many fans who think this was the wrong decision. This comes to us fromC2E2 Chicago.
