Ever since the first trailer revealed his return, fans have been wondering exactly how Emperor Palpatine will fit into Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. Will he end up having a mere cameo, or will a big ol’ retcon reveal that he’s had a major role in the Sequel Trilogy all along? This particular fan theory suggests the latter and specifically, that Darth Sidious has been pulling the strings of the First Order the whole time.
Reddit user LtAldoYoung18 has run with the idea that Palpatine likely returns via the form of a Force ghost and has come up with the theory that perhaps the uber-villain has been whispering in Snoke’s ear since before The Force Awakens, using him as his puppet to recreate his Empire and to continue the work he failed to complete when Darth Vader threw him to his death.
“Years before the second war between the Rebel Alliance and the Galactic Empire, The spirit of Sidious haunted Snoke his whole life,” writes the Reddit user. “He chose Snoke so that he would finish the job that Palpatine could never do. He trained Snoke to do what he did when he was the in control of the Galactic Empire. When Snoke took control, he was overthrown by Kylo Ren the same way Sidious was overthrown by Darth Vader, it’s like a cycle that started over and ended the same way.”
It wouldn’t actually be a bad twist to reveal that Snoke’s been subservient to Palpatine all along. After all, despite Andy Serkis’ best efforts, fans have never really seen Snoke as much more than a stand-in for Sidious, with The Last Jedi destroying his credibility as a big bad by having Kylo Ren unceremoniously chop him in half. Obviously, this set the stage for Ben Solo himself to become the central antagonist in Episode IX, but bringing Palpatine back in this way would up the ante.
It’s also worth mentioning that director J.J. Abrams has promised that his movie won’t just tie up this current trilogy but the Skywalker saga as a whole, with creator George Lucas even being consulted to ensure the story was on the right track. Does this mean there could be some truth to the above theory? That’s up to you to decide, but we’ll find out for sure when Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker arrives on December 20th.