Featured Image Credit: Lucasfilm
Topics: Star Wars
Star Wars fans are roasting Emperor Palpatine’s return, for reasons I won’t argue against.
Even though Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker came out nearly six years ago, fans are still completely baffled by the revelation that Palpatine somehow returned.
I mean, the dude was thrown kicking and screaming into a large shaft that was seemingly endless, and was then blown up moments later after the Rebels destroyed the second Death Star. That’s not something you can just come back from.
Still, as the famous words foretold: “Somehow, Palpatine returned”. And return he did.
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“Realistically, how TF did Emperor Palpatine/Darth Sidious survive this?” wrote one user on Reddit, posting the scene from Return of the Jedi where Vader throws Palpatine down the shaft.
“The Dark Side of the Force is a pathway to many abilities some writers consider to be...convenient,” wrote the top comment in the post.
“The ancient Sith power of P’lot Armor,” another wrote.
“More importantly, they really needed a better railing there. That can't be OSHA compliant,” joked another user.
In the film, it’s sort-of explained that he did indeed die at the end of Return of the Jedi, but his spirit transferred to a new body that was cloned from his original. It’s a bit of a silly explanation, but it is what it is.
This is elaborated more in the novelisation and other books that have been released since The Rise of Skywalker came out, explaining that Sidious researched immortality for most of his life, and desperate sought ways to cheat death.
I can’t help but feel this does a disservice to the end of Return of the Jedi though.
It was always cool to see Vader kill Palps, and then die himself to ensure the end of the Sith. It seemed weird to just bring them back for the sequels.