Star Wars: The Last Jedi, did. In an effort to further connect the sequels to the original trilogy, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker brought back one of the saga’s biggest villains and connected his story to that of the sequels’ hero and a mysterious new villain.
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker followed the Resistance’s efforts to stop the First Order’s plans to form a new Empire while also racing against the clock to find out Emperor Palpatine’s whereabouts, as they discovered that he didn’t die decades ago. Meanwhile, Rey’s journey to discover where she came from continued, as did Kylo Ren’s inner struggles. Palpatine being alive was just the beginning of a chain of revelations that The Rise of Skywalker brought, as Rey turned out to be his granddaughter and Snoke wasn’t a real being, instead being a creation of Palpatine tasked with molding Kylo Ren into an heir worthy of inheriting the Sith legacy.
Thanks to Palpatine’s return, retconned Star Wars: The Last Jedi, where it was revealed that her parents were “nobodies”, but being a Palpatine isn’t being a “nobody”. With all these revelations, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker ended up having four Palpatines, all with different purposes and stories, and not all of them were as evil as the Emperor. Here are all four Palpatines in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
Emperor Palpatine
Order 66, turned Anakin Skywalker to the dark side of the force, and turned him into his apprentice, now under the name of Darth Vader. Palpatine ultimately managed to reorganize the Republic into the Galactic Empire, making way for an era of fear and darkness in the galaxy. Palpatine was believed to have died at the end of Star Wars: Return of the Jedi after Vader threw him off a ledge down the Death Star’s reactor shaft. Palpatine managed to reach Vader with Force lightning and severely injured the redeemed apprentice, who died shortly after.
However, death wasn’t the end for Palpatine, and he had a backup plan in case Vader betrayed him (as he did with his master, Darth Plagueis). After his supposed death at the Death Star, and through unnatural dark side abilities, The Rise of Skywalker, he unveiled the Final Order, a massive fleet of Star Destroyers. He also tried to trick Rey into killing him so his spirit could onto her, but she refused and ed forces with Kylo Ren. The Emperor was ultimately destroyed (for real this time) and with him the Sith and the Sith Eternal.
Supreme Leader Snoke
Star Wars: The Force Awakens, where it was revealed that he was Kylo Ren’s master and ruler of the First Order. During his reign, there was a new generation of stormtroopers trained from birth and the production of a new line of Star Destroyers. The Force Awakens didn’t give him enough screen time for the audience to get to know him, and Kylo Ren killed him in Star Wars: The Last Jedi after he told his apprentice to kill Rey and fulfill his destiny. The Rise of Skywalker answered all questions about Snoke’s backstory by revealing he was a creation of Palpatine, with the purpose of serving as a proxy ruler of the First Order and manipulating Kylo Ren. Basically, he was an extension of Palpatine.
Rey’s Father
When The Rise of Skywalker revealed that Palpatine was Rey’s grandfather, Star Wars fans were confused as to why he, one of the cruelest people in the galaxy, had children (and when, too). It was later explained that, just like Snoke, Rey’s father was a bioengineered strandcast created by the Sith Eternal, but as he didn’t have Palpatine’s connection to the Force, he was deemed a failure, but Palpatine let him live so he could continue the Palpatine bloodline. Rey’s father grew up and formed a family, but he was forced to escape with his wife and child and settled on the desert planet of Jakku. As Rey inherited Palpatine’s powers, the Emperor ordered Ochi to find and bring her to Exegol, and in order to protect her, Rey’s parents left her on Jakku, selling her to Unkar Plutt to hide her from her grandfather. Sadly, Ochi captured them, and as they refused to reveal Rey’s whereabouts, he killed them, as commanded by Palpatine.
Rey
The mystery around Rey’s backstory was finally solved in ghosts of the past Jedi and the lightsabers of Anakin and Leia, Rey was able to deflect Palpatine’s Force lightning back onto him, and just like he declared himself as all of the Sith, she declared herself as all of the Jedi embodied, destroying the Emperor for good.
After the defeat of Palpatine and the Sith Eternal, Rey traveled to Tatooine to lay Leia and Anakin’s lightsabers to rest, revealing her own yellow lightsaber. When a local woman asked for her name, Rey replied “Rey Skywalker”, putting an end to the Palpatine line and marking a new beginning in her life. With all this in mind, Palpatine was the biggest presence in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker and the sequel trilogy in general, though it could have been managed better, as his return, actions, and legacy ended up being quite messy and nonsensical, leaving it to other canon media to explain what the films failed to.
