Star Wars shows us moment Palpatine cheated death, but fans are more confused than ever

I wholeheartedly adore Star Wars, but I’m well aware that the franchise has its faults.

Let’s face it, the sharp writing of Andor and Rogue One are not the common norm.

The main film series is a tale of two halves; you have brilliance in The Empire Strikes Back and nonsense in the way of The Rise of Skywalker.

“Somehow, Palpatine returned,” is a prime example.

Palpatine’s storyline is infuriating. You see, I really like the prequel trilogy because I can forgive a few cringe lines of dialogue.

Overall, the narrative is engaging and convincing. It explores Palpatine’s rise to power while the original trilogy charts his downfall.

There was just no need to bring Palpatine back. With General Hux, Captain Phasma, Snoke, and Kylo Ren in the mix, the sequel trilogy was hardly lacking in options of ‘big bads’.

One of the main issues with bringing back Palpatine concerns the gap between Return of the Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker.

Yes, we know The Rise of Skywalker’s Palpatine was a clone, but how did the Palpatine who toppled off the second Death Star at the hands of Vader then become a clone on Exegol?

Who else is devastated that Andor has drawn to a close?

So according to Star Wars’ canon lore, whilst falling down the shafts of the Death Star, Palpatine called on the power of the Dark Side to transfer his consciousness elsewhere.

It’s assumed that he’d prepared his clones ahead of time for this very eventuality with his consciousness taking host within one.

What I’m not entirely sure of is why, if the transfer was successful when the time came, Snoke (a failed clone) was made use of?

The existence of Snoke signifies a period of trial and error but if Palpatine didn’t transfer his consciousness until he was actually dying, then that leaves a few plot holes, surely?

And then why did he vaporise instead of, well, just slamming into the bottom of the shaft?

Most Star Wars fans just laughed off the inconsistencies: “Somehow, he returned,” joked Reddit user TheLordGremlin.

I hope that when the new Star Wars trilogy emerges, it’s a tad more consistent in its storytelling.