I’m so tired. Your eyes do not deceive you, that title is 100% not clickbait.

It’s been a few months since the ninth film in the Skywalker saga made its debut in theatres, and fans everywhere continue to discuss the ramifications of the story on the greater franchise. For one, The Rise of Skywalker effectively undid the “Rey is no one” story laid out in The Last Jedi, making her the granddaughter of Emperor Palpatine.

Ever since that reveal came to light, fans have wondered how and when Palpatine had the time to father a son, who in turn would escape his clutch and meet Rey’s eventual mother. Well, as it turns out, he didn’t father anyone. In fact, Palpatine’s son, who is Rey’s father, isn’t his son at all. HE’S ANOTHER PALPATINE CLONE.

Much like how it plays out in the film, the Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker novel contains the scene where Rey stalls during Palpatine’s Sith Ritual (where Adam Driver’s Ben Solo/Kylo Ren is rushing to help her). Only this time, it goes deeper than what was shown on screen. Rey then experiences a vision of her grandfather’s life after his fall in Return of the Jedi.

You see, when Vader threw Palpatine down the shaft, he apparently thrusted his consciousness into another body. However, the transfer wasn’t perfect, and Palpatine’s sith cohorts began work on engineering a new vessel to house Sheev’s soul. One of these attempts was described as a “powerless failure,” who then escaped the hands of his grandfather, met a girl, and together, conceived Rey.

So… yeah. Rey’s father isn’t actually Palpatine’s son. He’s a defective clone who doesn’t have the force so Sheev cast him aside, and the dude escaped and found love.

Palpatine’s role in The Rise of Skywalker has received a considerable amount of criticism, mostly because of how it undoes Vader’s arc, and for his return not being given a proper explanation. With The Rise of Skywalker novel, many questions fans have regarding Palpatine’s presence in the story are being answered.

With all that being said, it is cool to think that Palpatine had a clone who was able to escape Exegol and lead a life for quite some time. It is up there with the most outlandish and downright crazy Star Wars story points, but, a cool thought nonetheless.