There’s been endless speculation about how Emperor Palpatine fits into Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker ever since the villain’s unmistakable laugh was heard at the end of the first trailer. The second preview then featured a sinister voiceover from Ian McDiarmid, confirming that Palpatine would fill some kind of manipulative, puppet-master role in the storyline. And if our intel is correct, we may now know the Emperor’s true motivations in Episode IX (spoilers to follow).
Sources close to WGTC – the same ones who told us Marvel was developing a She-Hulk show, and that Ewan McGregor was returning as Obi-Wan, both of which have since been confirmed – have explained to us exactly how Palpatine slots into Rise of Skywalker. It’ll apparently be revealed that he never died in Return of the Jedi after all and has been in hiding all this time, recuperating from his fall and rebuilding his army. By the time of Rise, he’ll have amassed a dangerous legion of red Stormtroopers – the Sith troopers that’ve previously been revealed.
Now, here’s the really interesting part. Palpatine will then go to Kylo Ren and get him to try and bring Rey to the Dark Side. The reason why he’s doing this? It’s because Daisy Ridley’s heroine is actually his granddaughter and he wants her to be his latest apprentice in his never-ending quest to conquer the galaxy.
Rey’s heritage is another heavily-theorized point going into the trilogy-closer, so it would be neat if both mysteries were tied together. Also, fans have always discussed who Rey’s parents could be, but we’ve never considered that it might be her grandfather who’s the key relative instead. There’s been some talk about a possible connection between the two since the second trailer revealed that shot of “Dark Rey,” as well, so does this mean Palpatine succeeds in his aim of corrupting his granddaughter?
It could be, but either way, all will be revealed when Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker finally hits cinemas on December 20th.