Ever since we heard that unmistakable laughter at the end of the trailer for Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker… … we’ve been stunned that Emperor Palpatine is returning for the conclusion of the Skywalker Saga. More than a few fans, however, are less stunned than peeved. They want to know why on Earth director J.J. Abrams and co-writer Chris Terrio would bring back a Big Bad who has supposedly been dead for more than 30 years. Could they simply not think of any other way to raise the stakes of the sequel’s story? What kind of narrative gymnastics will Rise of Skywalker have to engage in to make this plot development make sense? How, exactly, can this even happen? Palpatine is a central figure in both the original and prequel trilogies. He starts as a Sith Lord in disguise serving as a senator in the Galactic Republic, where he engineers the rise of the Empire. He successfully turns Anakin Skywalker to the Dark Side of the Force and nearly achieves complete dominance over the galaxy. It’s ultimately his rage at his inability to turn Anakin’s son Luke to the Dark Side that’s his undoing. At the conclusion of Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, Palpatine attempts to manipulate Luke into killing his father, Anakin, a.k.a. Darth Vader. But the plan fails. When Luke refuses to fight, Palpatine attempts to simply kill the young Jedi, assaulting him with Force lightning as Vader watches. But Vader turns
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