It’s been 79 days since the release of J.J. Abrams’ Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. The film received mixed reactions with many criticising its severe lack of explanations and the humungous Sarlacc Pit where the plot lunged into.
One of the many things that irked fans was the return of Palpatine. The Emperor. Darth Sidious. In the six films prior to Disney’s 2015 revival, the hideous visage and ghastly cackle had been a dark thorn in the Force’s side. When the Force awakened, he sat it out, and when The Last Jedi came, absent, he was. But, nonetheless, he was back to wreak havoc in the ninth instalment of the Skywalker saga. OK.
BUT JUST HOW THE HECK DID SHEEV PALPATINE RETURN AFTER PLUNGING AND GOING “BOOM“ INTO TINY SITH BITS – we didn’t see that happen, but you get my drift – AT THE END OF 1983’s RETURN OF THE JEDI?!
Earlier this week, the official The Rise of Skywalker novelisation was released at Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo (C2E2). Subsequently, excerpts from the book began surfacing online. The revelation soon came that The Emperor was indeed a clone and he was rotting in the said body because it could not contain his Spirit.
At the very same event, long-time Palpatine actor Ian McDiarmid commented on the exclusion of the scene from the final product. Here’s what he said (via ScreenRant):
At one point, the script had the line – in that first scene, with Adam [Driver who plays Kylo Ren] – when he says, ‘You’re a clone.’ And I said, in that original script, which is no longer with us, “More than a clone. Less than a man.
Having knowledge of this really pushes my buttons as the film could have simply patched up its biggest plot hole, arguably, with a couple of expository lines. Sure, the hokey-Snokeys in pickle jars could have been THE clue. However, if ambiguity was what the filmmakers were going for, it failed miserably due to how choppy and half-cooked the rest of the narrative turned out to be.
What do you think about this post-release reveal? Does it clear up some head-scratching questions you may have initially had? Leave your cackles in the comments.
