Star Wars’ Most Blood-Boiling Twist To Date Is the Single Most Infuriating Moment in Cinematic History

Star Wars is one of the most beloved and influential media franchises in history, encompassing movies, TV shows, novels, comic books, video games, and merchandise. Created by George Lucas, it began in 1977 with the groundbreaking film Star Wars (later subtitled A New Hope). As one of the oldest global pop culture phenomena, Star Wars is often credited with pioneering modern fandom culture.

It does not come as a surprise that this fandom is quite passionate just like any other. So, every time the plot or character of a movie or show appears undercooked, the fan backlash is enough to make the maker rethink their decisions. Cue: The backlash against the series The Acolyte led to its cancelation earlier this year. The return of Emperor Palpatine in 2019’s The Rise of Skywalker also led to a lot of backlash.

Emperor Palpatine’s return in The Rise of Skywalker was a shock

Ian McDiarmid’s Emperor Palpatine, also known as Darth Sidious, is the overarching villain in the original Star Wars trilogy films. Although Darth Vader is the more popular antagonist in those films, it is ultimately Emperor Palpatine who turns out to be the mastermind.

In the prequel trilogy, Palpatine manipulates Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen), lures him to the dark side, and transforms him into Darth Vader. In the last installment of the sequel trilogy, Return of the Jedi, Palpatine apparently dies when Vader (David Prowse) throws him down a reactor shaft aboard Death Star II, where he is consumed by a massive explosion of energy.

This is why when the Emperor suddenly returned, fans were absolutely shocked. There was little to no explanation given about how he was able to come back from his apparent death. All that was known at the beginning of the movie was that he was back.

So, Kylo Ren tracks Palpatine down to Exegol. However, once again, Sidious was unable to explain how he survived the fall into the reactor or how he spent decades undetected. He only provides a brief explanation, revealing that Snoke was more than a cloned puppet through which he communicated.

His return blindsided the audience because it was not hinted at in the previous films of the sequel trilogy. It also undermines Anakin Skywalker’s redemption as he defeats Palpatine in Return of the Jedi, fulfilling the prophecy of the Chosen One by bringing balance to the Force. The revelation that Rey (Daisy Ridley) is the daughter of Palpatine also contradicted the message of The Last Jedi, which emphasized that anyone could be powerful, regardless of lineage.

What is the explanation for Emperor Palpatine’s return?

The entire storyline of Palpatine’s return was crammed into a single film, leaving no time for proper buildup, exploration, or consequences. If it had been right, there would not have been the mass outrage that it elicited.

That said, there are a few canon explanations regarding his return. One is that he was the apprentice who betrayed Darth Plagueis, a powerful Sith Lord who had achieved mastery over life and death, by murdering him in his sleep. Although Plagueis died, it was implied that his methods of cheating death persisted. So, Sidious might have cheated death when Anakin apparently killed him.

Another explanation is that he achieved immortality through cloning. So, when he was pushed into the shaft, he might have transferred his spirit from his dead body to his clone which he had hidden away. Now, this could not have been possible if it was not for the fact that he had huge power in the Dark Side of the Force. However, this power also came with a huge downside; he (his alone) appeared zombie-like in The Rise of Skywalker because his power had caused it to decay.

The Star Wars films are available for streaming on Disney+.