Palpatine was overcome for a 2d time at the death of theStar Warssequel trilogy , and the franchise already revealed why he might never come back well-nigh thirty years ago . Star Wars : The Rise of Skywalkerended the Skywalker Saga with the revelation that Palpatine not only give from hisReturn of the Jedideath but also masterminded the subsequence trilogy ’s conflict from behind the scenes as he did in the prequel trilogy . Palpatine ’s program and method for cheating dying , along with other aspects ofThe Rise of Skywalker , seems to be hard inspired by the Legends - era comic seriesDark Empire . Dark Empire ’s final installment , Star Wars : Empire ’s death , excuse why Palpatine can not retrovert from the dead after his final dying , which coincides with Palpatine ’s ultimate demise inThe salary increase of Skywalkerquite well .

TheDark Empiretrilogy of comics began in 1991 at a meter when theStar Warsfranchise ’s non - movie material experienced a resurgence of exciting new content , often arrange after the events of the original trilogy . This era of the Expanded Universe began on a strong note with theThrawn Trilogyof novel , which introduced iconic case like Mara Jade and Grand Admiral Thrawn , andDark Empire , which feature the return of theStar Warssaga ’s bang-up scoundrel andLuke Skywalker ’s near turn to the dark sideof the Force . Palpatine ’s takings , his out of sight championship portion of the Imperial armed services ( known in - creation as the Dark Empire ) , and his arsenal of superweapons were all ostensibly adapted forThe Rise of Skywalker , replace the Dark Empire with the Sith Eternal ( and later the Final Order ) and Byss with Exegol .

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Whether intentionally or not , Palpatine ’s method acting of cheating demise inDark Empirecoincides with his tutelage under Darth Plagueis , who was said to have used the dark side ’s abnormal abilities to make and preserve life inStar war : Episode III – retaliation of the Sith . This same method , while not shown or explicate inThe Rise of Skywalker , was how Palpatinecame back from the stagnant in theStar Warscanon . In both theDark Empireand sequel trilogy timelines , Palpatine has a final death , and while canon does n’t explicate why he ca n’t render , a psychotherapeutic moment inThe Rise of Skywalkercoincides with Palpatine ’s ultimate defeat in Legends - potentially explaining why he can never come back in the current timeline of events .

Palpatine’s Return Explained

As expose inDark Empire , the Legends interlingual rendition of Palpatine learned how to channelize his consciousness through the dark side of the Force into a new host body . Long before his first death at the Battle of Endor , Palpatine had mindless clones of himself created on Byss and kept in suspended aliveness . The dead ringer were not sentient , instead serving as possible vessels for Palpatine ’s creative thinker to live in the effect of his death . Presciently , his clones attend their purpose , allow Palpatine to fall from the dead multiple times inDark Empire ;   but they were n’t perfect . Due toPalpatine ’s intense power in the dark sideand sabotage from Imperial traitors , his clone organic structure would deteriorate soon after he live them , leading him to later attempt to dwell the eubstance of another being .

As a result , these result provide the basis for Palpatine ’s return key in canyon . Palpatine ’s cloning experiments on Exegol were active when Darth Vader shoot the breeze the Sith Citadel in 2020’sDarth Vadercomics , revealing that his backup plan were years in the fashioning . Like his legend vis-a-vis , canon ’s Palpatine work into a similar issue with his knockoff bodies being ineffectual to withstand his dark side power . This guide to the creation of the chain - cast Snoke , who led the First Order as Palpatine ’s tool , and aclone son who would become Rey ’s father .   Canon ’s Palpatine also seek to dwell a Modern body , goad Rey to down him in his frail cloned state so he could take over her and rule the beetleweed through her .

The Force Ghosts Did More Than Empower Rey On Exegol

Palpatine die multiple times in Dark Empire , returning in a new clone body each time , take his defeat seem impossible . InEmpire ’s End , Palpatine almost took over the body of Han Solo and Leia Organa ’s third child , Anakin Solo , but he was finally shoot down when the Force ghost of Jedi Knight ( and Order 66 subsister ) Empatojayos Brand , along with the ghost of every other deceased Jedi , kept Palpatine ’s spirit trapped in the afterlife for eternity , preventing him from ever come back from the grave again . Palpatine ’s concluding defeat wasmade all the more meaningful in Legends , as he ’d been the bully single curse of the Jedi Order whose machinations had wipe out countless Jedi , but , in the end , their spirit kept him from ever returning .

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One of the corking pieces of fanservice   inThe Rise of Skywalkerwas when the vocalism of numerous past Jedi from throughout theStar Warsfranchise advance and lent their lastingness to Rey , allow her to stand against her gramps and finally defeat him once and for all . Palpatine ’s death is seemingly nothing he ca n’t return from again , as he ’d similarly choke in an plosion inReturn of the Jedi . However , theJedi voices who empowered Rey on Exegolmay be precisely what ’s keeping Palpatine from inhabiting a young trunk in canyon , hold his final death as fitting as it is in Legends .

Sidious, Tyranus, Maul, and Vader.

How Palpatine Could Return Again

If Palpatine ’s concluding expiry in the canon is truly the same as in Legends , it ’s almost sure that he ’ll never return . Should theStar Warsfranchise decide that Palpatine must come back yet again , however , there is a style that the saga ’s greatest villain can menace the galaxy once more . The spirit of all past Jedi keep Palpatine ’s spirit trammel in the afterlife , but perhaps a sufficiently muscular dark side user or many powerful dingy side users could collectively weaken the Jedi ghosts ’ hold on Palpatine , allow him to break free . If they also provide a new clone body for him , Palpatine would be capable to come back   once more . While theStar Warssaga would ideally move on from Palpatine and make young threats to the wandflower , his ultimate demise is paradoxically a fitting ending for The Emperor that also allow him to return again if need be .

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Emperor Palpatine laughing maniacally in Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith.

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Rey stands before Palpatine’s throne on Exegol in the Rise of Skywalker

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