Star Wars: Episode 9 – The Rise of Skywalker brought Emperor Palpatine back as a clone, something Star Wars Legends did decades prior. The Rise of Skywalker did not make it a priority to explain the Emperor’s survival; after all, his death seemed absolute in Star Wars: Episode 6 – Return of the Jedi. However, reveals from the film’s novelization have since confirmed that Palpatine was in an artificial clone body. This idea is actually not new, first occurring in Star Wars: Dark Empire.
Though it was implied, the film didn’t address Palpatine’s reemergence head on. Cloning was alluded to on screen, but never made official until recently. The novelization of Rise of Skywalker confirmed his consciousness was in fact occupying a different body and his disciples had been working on such technology at his facility on Exegol. Though altered, the basis of this story calls back to a Star Wars Legends plot line.
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Star Wars Legends refers to the expanded universe series that populated much of Star Wars media after the end of the original trilogy and before the prequel trilogy was released. The non-canon Star Wars: Dark Empire comic first proposed a clone emperor back in 1991.
In Star Wars: Dark Empire, six years after Return of the Jedi, the Imperial remnants are rallying around a new leader. Now a seasoned Jedi, Luke Skywalker seeks to find out who is responsible. He travels to the planet Byss, a world enveloped in Dark Side energy. To his surprise, he comes face to face with a youthful clone of Emperor Palpatine. In his lair reside endless bodies, waiting to be activated. Whenever necessary, he transfers his consciousness from one being to another. The Dark Side has effectively granted him immortality.
The comic rendition is not so different from its The Rise of Skywalker counterpart. Both versions of Palpatine plan to rule the galaxy, destroying their opposition. In the comic, Palpatine has created a fleet of ships called World Devastators, which are capable of destroying entire planets in one fell swoop. They are not unlike the vaguely explained Sith Fleet in Rise of Skywalker. Understanding his growing power, he takes Luke on as his apprentice, bribing him with the ability to command of the World Devastators. This is also eerily similar to the deal he strikes with Kylo Ren in the film. In the comic, the Rebel Alliance mounts an attack to stop the fleet. Palpatine manifests a Force Storm to destroy their ships, just as he does to the Resistance in the finale of episode 9, instead using Force Lightning.
Whether or not borrowing from Star Wars Legends was the better for this movie is subjective. Perhaps the The Rise of Skywalker‘s creative team thought this was the best course to take, but the concept of the Emperor being a clone has proven divisive. At the very least, the idea is not original, as the parallels between Star Wars: Dark Empire and The Rise of Skywalker cannot be ignored.
