The Rise of Skywalker - What Role Could Palpatine Have?

The Rise of Skywalker - What Role Could Palpatine Have?

Perhaps the biggest reveal from the first teaser for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker and perhaps the entirety of Star Wars Celebration was the fact that Emperor Palpatine will return in the last film of the Skywalker saga. But what does this mean for the film? What kind of a role is he going to have in the upcoming film?

It's important to note that none of the footage or the interviews seemed to indicate that Palpatine was actually alive. In a world were ghosts do exist, it's entirely possible that Sheev will be returning, but from the spiritual/ghost world, not as a physical reincarnation. While we don't know that the Sith have the power to return as Force Ghosts, JJ could introduce a whole slew of new Sith powers if he so chose, and it could be retconned that Sith can appear as a Force Ghost of some sort. Maybe he will be haunting Kylo the entire film.

But then again, it seems like Palpatine will really have a more substantial role than just a ghost. Let's look back at Revenge of the Sith. Sidious tells Anakin about the story of Darth Plagueis the Wise, who was able to defeat death allegedly, but was killed by his apprentice. It is alluded to that his apprentice was actually Palpatine himself. BUT, what if Palpatine actually was able to unlock the secret to eternal life before he killed his master. Perhaps that is how he's able to survive. 

There's the other possibility that he simply survived the fall down the elevator shaft and got into a fighter, leaving the Death Star before it exploded, where he bided his time in the Outer Rim. I would not be surprised in the slightest if it was revealed that Palpatine and Snoke were associated in some way, whether it was a master, apprentice relationship or something of the sort.

But what does all this imply for the story? Let's just assume that he's going to be alive in some capacity in a physical form. There is the possibility that he and Kylo go after Rey, but I personally don't believe that's the case. I think what would be more narratively interesting was if he was the binding force that temporarily brought Kylo and Rey together to fight a greater evil. 

The higher-ups at Lucasfilm have been saying that this film will wrap the entire saga together, and I presume that this includes the maligned prequel trilogy. So it would be very, very interesting if Palpatine really was the "big-bad" of all NINE films rather the first six. 

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker hits theaters on December 20th, 2019.