Back at the launch of the first trailer for “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker,” Lucasfilm revealed that Ian McDiarmid’s Emperor Palpatine character would appear in the new film despite said character’s on-screen death three decades before in the timeline.

Since then many have been wondering about his role and how large a part he will play in the new film opening in December. This week the film’s leading lady Daisy Ridley revealed to IGN this week that Palpatine’s return isn’t just a brief cameo and his part is very important to the film overall:

“He’s the biggest baddie in Star Wars history. Now that we’ve done the story, I’m like, it couldn’t have happened any other way. It had to be that. But he’s very instrumental to the plot of the film. It’s not just like he appears again; it’s all explained.”

Co-star Kelly Marie Tran added that his storyline has a tie to her favorite “Star Wars” theme, that of redemption. “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” is scheduled to hit cinemas on December 20th.