How can Emperor Palpatine have returned forStar warfare 9 ? The possibility of how this might have been accomplished are most as mind - boggling as the revelation that the primary villain of the first sixStar Warsfilms has returned for the last installment , The Rise Of Skywalker .

Fans were exhilarate by the exit of thefirst laggard forStar Wars 9and the proclamation of its prescribed title -The wage increase of Skywalker- at Star Wars Celebration 2019 . Excitement gave mode to confusion , and perhaps a small level of terror , as the poke come near its conclusion and Luke Skywalker said " No one is ever really perish , " just before afamiliar evil laughwas see before the deed was revealed . The logical implication was clear - Emperor Palpatine is back .

relate : The Star Wars 9 Title Does n’t Mean Rey Is A Skywalker

Diego Luna as Cassian Andor in Andor season 2

This begs the question : just how precisely has Darth Sidious survived ?   The lore of the first eightStar Warsfilms suggests several possibilities . There are even more options uncommitted when one considers the whole of the story making up what is now known asStar WarsLegends .

Is Palpatine A Force Ghost Is Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker?

The most obvious answer is that Palpatine may have mastered the artistic creation necessary to become a Force Ghost . A mainstay of the series since the very firstStar Warsfilm , this ability was later aver to have been discovered byQui - Gon JinninRevenge of the Sith . It was Qui - Gon who taught both Yoda and Obi - Wan Kenobi how to become Force Ghosts , rather than becoming one with   the Force , as was distinctive for a Jedi upon their end .

appear as they did in life history but surrounded by a milky blue illumination , Force Ghosts primarily utilize their new forms to offer direction and comfortableness from beyond the tomb . They were equal to of manifesting anywhere in the wandflower ,   although would generally only appear direct to citizenry with whom they share a deep connection . Force Ghosts are largely incapable of interacting with the forcible world but do keep a limited ability to employ the Force , such as when Yoda muster up a lightning bolt inStar state of war : The Last Jedi . While generally deliberate a effort that only Force user in touch with the Light Side of the Force could accomplish , Anakin Skywalker was able to become a Force Ghost inReturn of the Jedishortly after his repurchase and decease .

The Sith had a exchangeable power , known as Essence Transfer , which take into account them to take over another living being ’s consistency through downright military group of will or attach their soul to a strong-arm object . Many Sith were capable to survive for thousands of twelvemonth in this fashion , filling a wearable object like a necklace or ring with their nitty-gritty and then hold off for some hapless fool to put it on and become their newfangled host . While Sith and other Dark Jedi were apparently limited in how their apparitional forms could travel because of this hamper , some   were able-bodied to manipulate the physical environment around them , like poltergeists . It is entirely possible that Palpatine ’s gloomy intent has been surviving in this fashion for decades .

Din Djarin and Ahsoka-1

Related : Star war : The rising Of Skywalker Trailer Breakdown - 12 Story Reveals & Secrets

Force Immortality As Taught By Darth Plagueis

Another hypothesis is that Palpatine managed to replicate the legendary feats of his master , theSith Lord Darth Plagueisand developed a form of Force - based immortality . InRevenge of the Sith , Palpatine told a young Anakin Skywalker that Darth Plagueis had gained such o.k. control of   the Force that he could make life and prevent death from tint those he care about . It was this discussion that pushed Anakin onto the path to the grim side , his fear of his youthful wife conk leading him to start study the ways of the Sith so that he could salvage her from the danger he foresee coming .

There is a chance that Palpatine , who was even more paranoid and fearful of death than his lord , may have found a way to utilize Darth Plagueis ' education to resist demise itself using the Force , albeit in a fashion that required he take some metre to heal from his plain defeat inReturn of the Jedi . This would make sense as it has been repeatedly shown throughout theStar Warssaga that it is much hard for Dark Jedi and Sith to habituate their connector to the Force for the purpose of healing . Logically , it is hard to keep a connection to one ’s hatred and fear once you have relieved yourself of pain and hurt .

Sir Frederick Handley Page 2 of 2 : Palpatine Return Ideas From The Expanded Universe

Sidious, Tyranus, Maul, and Vader.

A Clone Emperor Just Like The Expanded Universe

A third opening is that the Emperor we hear express mirth in theStar war : TheRise of Skywalkertraileris not the original Emperor Palpatine , but a knockoff . This one has strong precedent in the Expanded Universe . TheDark Empirestoryline saw a unexampled Empire frame six years after the Battle of Endor , with a foxy new drawing card striking back against the New Republic . This drawing card was ultimately revealed to be a converted Palpatine , whose spirit had taken self-control of a series of peculiarly cloned bodies , unnaturally aged to the prime of life history .

This new Emperor shew to be an even greater threat than the original , despite a fault in the cognitive process that insured his resurrection . In the original Star Wars Expanded Universe , clone tended to have an odd effect on the Force , being look at to be unnatural copy of the same person , and tended to breakdown over time . This , couple on with the fact that   Palpatine was so strong in the Force , make his clone eubstance to degenerate even quicker than was usual , with the outgrowth slowly speeding up the longer he remain to hold dying .

have-to doe with : The Clone Wars Were Weirder Before The Star Wars Prequels

Rey and Palpatine Clones in Star Wars 9

Since that fourth dimension , the idea of clones being spiritual and physical transcript of the same person has been retconned byTheClone Warsanimated serial . Despite this , there is a possibility that someone could have created a dead ringer of Emperor Palpatine , either possessed by the smell of the original or transformed into a distorted version by another effect .

What If Palpatine Never Really Died In Return Of The Jedi?

The first rule of genre fabrication is that unless you see a corpse , you ca n’t be sure a character is really all in ( and even then it is n’t a sure thing ) . Despite get an telling Force Lightning explosion after being thrown off of the stool room weapons platform inReturn of the Jedi , we never actually see Palpatine ’s torso after his apparent death . give that , there ’s a good chance that he might have expend the electric charge he was have got while he was campaign Darth Vader and somehow survived the gloam . From there , it would be a uncomplicated matter for him to make his manner to a ship and break away before thesecond Death Starwas blown up .

Another boulevard of exploration lies in how   we now know Force user can briefly live on in the vacuum of blank . We saw this when Leia was capable to protect herself and fly to the airlock of another starship after her own watercraft was destroy inStar war : The Last Jedi . Could Emperor Palpatine have attempted something similar , relieve oneself his flight from the Death Star to a outback ship unnoticed or mayhap even reentered Endor ’s atm safely ?

The only trouble with this theory , other than it lacking the credibility of simplicity , is that there is no obvious ground why Emperor Palpatine would wait so long before let on himself to be alert . Perhaps the floor ofStar warfare 9might provide an account for this . As it stands , however , this may be one of the few social occasion where a character being as if by magic resurrect is more plausible than their just manipulate their expiry .

Anakin Skywalker, Yoda, and Obi-Wan appear as Force ghosts in Return of the Jedi.

More : Biggest News From The Star Wars 9 Celebration Panel

Star Wars Darth Plagueis holding up red lightsabers

Emperor Palpatine’s clones from Dark Empire.

Star Wars - Emperor Palpatine

Movies

Star Wars