Summary

Emperor Palpatinereturned to canon inStar Wars : The Rise of Skywalker , but age sooner , he was resurrect in theStar WarsLegends timeline . The originalStar WarsExpanded Universe of volume , comics , video games , etc . was declared non - canyon and rebranded as " legend , " giving Disney and Lucasfilm freedom to differentiate new news report set afterReturn of the Jedi . This made it surprising when the sequel trilogy revealed thatPalpatine outlast his patent death and was the truthful mastermind of the First Order , tell through a story that was undeniably similar to his return in Legends .

Despite the same introductory assumption in each persistence , Palpatine ’s return inThe Rise of Skywalkerwas not exactly the same as the original Expanded Universe . Some remainder added depth to theStar Warstimelineor were interesting changes , while others bruise the subsequence trilogy and Palpatine ’s graphic symbol . However , this provides an chance to liken and counterpoint the strengths and weaknesses of each fib , analyzing how the writers tackle the same finish . review the approach of canon and Legends evidence which rendering of Palpatine ’s return was a effective plus to theStar Warssaga .

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Liam Neeson as Qui-Gon Jinn from Star Wars The Phantom Menace, Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker from Star Wars A New Hope, Daisy Ridley as Rey from Star Wars The Force Awakens

Palpatine’s Legends Resurrection Explained

Emperor Palpatine was initially resurrected in the six - number laughable seriesStar war : Dark Empireby Tom Veitch and Cam Kennedy , set six days afterReturn of the Jedi . As the New Republic crumbles under attacks from the Imperial Remnant , Luke Skywalker travel to the world of Byss in the galaxy ’s Deep Core to discover who is moderate this Dark Empire . He is appalled to learn that Palpatine survived his apparent death by transfer his spirit into a clone body , something he had done many times before as the dark side consumed his physical form .

Knowing that kill Palpatine is impossible , Luke decides to link up the dismal side and become Palpatine ’s apprentice , believing he can stop the glowering side from within . However , Luke come dangerously close to being lost , and Palpatine ’s World Devastators lay waste to planet across the galaxy . Luke is confronted by Leia Organa , take to a lightsaber affaire d’honneur between the Skywalker twin , and Luke break free of Palpatine ’s grip . Although the Emperor is on the face of it killed , Palpatine returns inStar war : Dark Empire IIandStar Wars : Empire ’s Endbefore finally being defeated for good .

Star Wars : Dark Empirewas adapt into an audio dramatic play in 1994 and featured Billy Dee Williams reprising his role as Lando Calrissian .

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Dark Empire’sbold storytelling selection , unique watercolor nontextual matter , and wallop on the franchise give it a mixed bequest . Alongside Timothy Zahn’sStar Wars : heritor to the Empire , Dark Empirehelped launch the modern Expanded Universe in 1991 , keeping theStar Warssaga alive and thriving . However , the decision to resurrect Palpatine was highly controversial among fans , especially after the prequel trilogy established that Anakin Skywalker was prophesized to destroy the Sith . Dark Empirewas declared non - canon with the relaxation of the EU in 2014 to make elbow room for the continuation trilogy , only for one entry to tell a standardized story .

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Rise Of Skywalker Borrowed From Legends, But Told A Different Tale

Cast

While Palpatine ’s resurrection in canyon was handled differently than Legends , Star Wars : The Rise of Skywalkerhas several similarity toDark Empire . Kylo Ren travels to Exegol in the Unknown Regions to rule Palpatine , just as Luke did in Legends , where he finds a fortress with a similar design to the World Devastators inDark Empire . Despite mean to kill Palpatine , Kylo Ren reluctantly unite him after pull in the extent of his power , althoughThe Rise of Skywalkeronly speck at Palpatine cheating death through cloning . LikeDark Empire ’s World Devastators , the Final Order fleet can eliminate major planet .

In theDark Empiretrilogy , Palpatine seeks to transfer his spirit into young Anakin Solo , the third child of Han Solo and Leia Organa , and he wants to channelise his spirit into his granddaughter , Rey , inThe Rise of Skywalker .

apart from exchangeable plotlines and visuals , Palpatine ’s primary goal inThe Rise of Skywalkeris the same as inDark Empire : to find a suitable horde . In theDark Empiretrilogy , Palpatine seeks to remove his spirit into young Anakin Solo , the third tyke of Han Solo and Leia Organa , and he wants to transfer his spirit into his granddaughter , Rey , inThe Rise of Skywalker . Both effort chair to Palpatine ’s concluding dying , goading the heroes into killing him so he can transfer his spirit , only for the spirits of past Jedi to help vote out him .

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Of course , The Rise of Skywalkerdiverges fromDark Empirein many ways , specially in its timeline . Palpatine return after a few years in legend , while he played the tenacious game in canyon , command the First Order from the shadows as he prepared the Final Order on Exegol . He drove Luke , Han , and Leia apart by seduce Ben Solo to the dark side through Snoke , destroying Luke ’s Jedi Order . Palpatine also has less projection screen time inThe ascent of Skywalkercompared to his role inDark Empireand is n’t furbish up to full power until his confrontation with Rey and Ben .

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Which Version Of Palpatine’s Resurrection Was Better?

Dark EmpireandThe Rise of Skywalkerhave their respective enduringness and weaknessesin how the writer handle Palpatine ’s resurrection . Dark Empirewas daring in its execution , with heavily saturated color and outlandish visuals like nothing seen before , and it was willing to have Luke Skywalker turn to the dark side . However , this mean that it did n’t always feel like it accommodate into theStar Warsuniverse , and how the characters were written sometimes mull over that . The Rise of Skywalkeraimed to be a more traditionalStar Warsadventure , though its deficiency of originality often had it repeating well - worn plotlines .

Ultimately , Palpatine ’s resurrection was better inDark Empirethan inThe Rise of Skywalkerbecause it was a full flesh - out story . The continuation trilogy hold back until the last movie to let out Palpatine was alive , meaning the explanation for his return and his kinship with Rey had to be hurry . The scavenger hunting to retrieve Palpatine took worthful time from move over the character proper covert time to make up for his last - bit Resurrection of Christ . Had Palpatine returned inStar Wars : The Force AwakensorStar Wars : The Last Jedi , there would have been time for his account to be told properly .

Palpatine ’s return was explained in greater detail in the novelizationStar warfare : The Rise of Skywalker- Expanded Editionby Rae Carson .

Left side: Ian McDiarmid as Emperor Palpatine in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, raising his arms in front of a red background; Right side: An illustration of Emperor Palpatine on the cover of Star Wars: Dark Empire, raising his arms with a fleet of Imperial Star Destroyers in the background.

Custom Image by Nathaniel Roark

Dark Empire , meanwhile , knew that Palpatine would be the primary villain from the beginning and structure its narrative accordingly . The first issue is able-bodied to hint at the Dark Empire ’s mysterious drawing card before uncover Palpatine ’s identity in the second topic , which has prison term to explain how the Emperor survived . Dark Empirealso has the advantage of being a comic book trilogy , with 14 entire issue providing more time than a trilogy of picture . Palpatine ’s homecoming may be similar inStar Warscanon and Legends , butDark Empireremains superscript .

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Star Wars Dark Empire Palpatine Rise of Skywalker clone

Movies

Emperor Palpatine/Darth Sidious

Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker