Palpatine is an iconic villain of the Star Wars saga, and Ian McDiarmid is arguably one of the best actors to ever be in Star Wars. But will we see him again? More importantly, what are the chances of some mention or scene involving Palpatine in Episode IX? Let’s discuss.

A recent episode of Colider Jedi Council discusses the possibility of Palpatine being in Episode IX in some capacity. They don’t necessarily say that it will happen, but that “rumors swirl that the iconic villain will return.” Some of the theories are that Palps will just be mentioned, or revealed as having a greater role in the history of Snoke or maybe even Rey. Let’s discuss some pros and cons about this possibility, and what scenarios are most likely to work if done.

The Pros of a Palpatine Return

Palpatine/Darth Sidious/The Emperor is the big bad guy throughout the first six films of the Skywalker saga. It has been said that JJ will unite the saga in Episode IX, and perhaps a callback of some type to the head bad guy would help tie everything together. This might work best as a mention of how Palpatine played a role in the creation of the First Order. Other obvious pros are if there is some sort of footage of Palps, and maybe some dialogue that really harkens back to the prequels or the OT in a good way, and give some Star Wars feels. This could work under some conditions, and could backfire drastically in others.

The Cons of a Palpatine Return

The major problem of a Palpatine return, and the main reason why I don’t expect him to be alive or to come back as a clone is that this undermines the sacrifice of Anakin/Vader in Return of the Jedi. The whole point of all that “chosen one” prophecy stuff is that Anakin would destroy the Sith. So if it turns out that the main Sith was back, it would potentially retcon some of the most significant events of the saga. As mentioned by Dorina in the Collider video, having Palpatine coming back may be “lazy storytelling” and she has a point. Palpatine is old news, and using him to explain Snoke or Rey may come across as either trying to pander to fans, or just trying to explain things away with the same old villain. It’s like in the old Inspector Gadget series with all the crimes ending up being linked to the The Claw. No surprise there. A new villain might be better at this point.

How it could work

First things first, if Palpatine is on screen, it should be Ian McDiarmid. As Ian said himself, he doesn’t want anyone else to play the character on screen. Another actor or CGI at this point would be bad given that the CGI is still not 100% perfect and it would be a shame to not use such a good actor. With that said, I think there are only a couple ways where actual footage would work. First is an old hologram, where Palpatine explains something that provides some cool backstory. Consider Obi Wan’s or Luminara Unduli’s hologram in Star Wars Rebels. These examples serve to move the plot forward, harken back in a cool way, and don’t feel like a major retcon. We’ve discussed many times over about Palpatine seeking the source of the dark side “beyond the edges of our map” as discussed in the Aftermath books. Maybe we’ll see a hologram footage of Palps explaining this, and how it connects to Snoke? I wouldn’t have any problem with that, and if done right it could be a really cool way to provide more exposition of the events that connect ROTJ to TFA.

Another possibility is the connection to Vader’s castle. The Vader comics have recently revealed something that we have speculated about very recently–that Vader’s castle may have more secrets related to the giant “tuning fork” tower above it. The comics suggest some sort of time travel or portal akin to what we saw in Rebels, for Vader to go back to see Padme. I speculated that the Dwartii symbols on Snoke’s ring may actually lead someone like Kylo Ren to Vader’s castle. Bringing this into the main saga would be very risky, and could actually backfire. If they found a way to do it right, it could be a way for someone to at least see Palpatine through some sort of Force-portal like what Ezra entered. I’m doubtful of this given the risks, but if they go this route I hope this is only used to see into the past and not travel there.

Personally, I have been a fan of many Rey theories over the years, including the Palpaine theory. I’m not saying they will go with that at this point, and I doubt it. But if Palpatine had some role, possibly related to something he set in motion years before, such as issuing the orders to Iden Versio or someone who ended up being Rey’s parents, then it could work. For example, all we know from Battlefront II that Iden Versio and Del Meeko fell in love and left the Empire on Jakuu. They could have ended up being the “filthy junk traders” that Kylo talked about. They could be connected to Palpatine through Imperial orders to Version, like the linked Battlefront video above. Theare several ways they could make that work and not sound forced. A good way this could happen is with some of the Emperors “messengers” seen in BFII (pictured above). Not sure how these would work on the big screen, but if they do some sort of CGI Palps, this would be the way to do it because the expectation that they would look and act like a real person. It’s also a way for Palps to come back without being a ghost or clone. So either a hologram, or a recovered messenger droid (are those things droids?) with Palpatine’s face could work, if done the right way.

So what do you think? Could it work or would it be a major mistake? Leave your comments below.

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