Two Years Ago, Star Wars Secretly Revealed Palpatine’s Return Was WAY Darker Than We Thought

Emperor Palpatine dishonest loss of life was one of the vital chilling elements of the Star Wars sequels, however I just lately realized his return was a lot darker than most of us thought. The crew behind Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker went out of their solution to actually make Palpatine a “Phantom Emperor,” a ghoulish monster rotting away within the deepest depths of a darkish fortress. His laboratory was riddled with different unsettling experiments for example how tousled Exegol was.

I assumed this was as darkish as Palpatine may get, at the least till I revisited among the latest Star Wars TV shows. One line of dialogue reveals a facet of Palpatine’s return I hadn’t considered earlier than, most likely as a result of I had all the time analyzed it via the lens of the original Star Wars Expanded Universe. After prying into the lore surrounding Exegol, I do not assume I am going to ever take a look at Palpatine within the sequels the identical manner once more.

I’ve All the time (Wrongly) Assumed That Palpatine’s Canon Return Was The Similar As Legends

It is related however appears to have one key distinction

I feel the most important cause I by no means realized how darkish Palpatine’s return was in canon is that I assumed it was just like how he got here again within the Expanded Universe, now often known as “Legends.” In Star Wars: Darkish Empire by Tom Veitch and Cam Kennedy, Palpatine revealed he was alive and waged conflict on the New Republic. He advised Luke Skywalker he cheated loss of life by transferring his spirit right into a clone physique.

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Which Did Palpatine’s Return Better – Star Wars Canon Or Legends?

The unique Star Wars Expanded Universe and the present canon each revived Palpatine, however which model of his resurrection was dealt with higher?

Palpatine even revealed that this wasn’t the primary time he had used this system, because the physique that was destroyed on the second Demise Star was additionally a clone. As a result of Palpatine had perfected the cloning course of and immediately transferred his spirit in Legends, I’ve all the time imagined he did the identical factor within the new Disney canon. Nonetheless, one element caught out to me throughout a latest rewatch, suggesting this might not be the case.

Palpatine’s “Mission Necromancer” Wasn’t Full In The Mandalorian Season 3

The Imperial Remnant hadn’t but delivered any outcomes

The Mandalorian season 3, episode 7 “Chapter 23: The Spies” confirmed that the Imperial Remnant was engaged on one thing referred to as “Project Necromancer.” All that was recognized was that it had one thing to do with cloning, and since Moff Gideon was additionally making an attempt to create Pressure-sensitive clones of himself, many followers theorized that this was an early try to clone Palpatine. This assumption was all however confirmed within the third and closing season of Star Wars: The Unhealthy Batch.

Shortly after the beginning of the Empire, Palpatine ordered his cloners at Mount Tantiss to start work on Mission Necromancer. Though a Palpatine clone was by no means clearly seen, the scientists have been trying “M-count replication,” which means they wished the clone to have sufficient midi-chlorians to make the physique Pressure-sensitive. It is arduous to consider that this may very well be something however Palpatine’s early try to create a clone vessel for himself.

Nonetheless, I lastly realized one thing about The Mandalorian season 3… Mission Necromancer wasn’t prepared but. Captain Pellaeon particularly stated that Commandant Hux nonetheless wanted time to ship on the undertaking, and for the reason that present is about greater than 5 years after Return of the Jedi, this might imply Palpatine did not instantly switch his spirit when he died. This led me to contemplate the horrifying chance of the place Palpatine was if not in a lone physique.

Palpatine’s Spirit Should Have Spent Years In Star Wars’ Model Of Hell

He needed to be introduced again from the world of the useless

If Palpatine did not switch his spirit to a clone physique proper after he was destroyed, then he might have spent a number of years in Chaos, the Star Wars equal of hell. Based on Star Wars: Darkish Legends by George Mann and Grant Griffin, Exegol was a vergence the place the boundary between life and the Netherworld of the Pressure was unnaturally skinny. That is doubtless one cause Palpatine made Exegol his secret lair, particularly if he was planning to cheat loss of life.

PURCHASE STAR WARS: DARK LEGENDS

I assume I should not be stunned that this was all the time a part of one thing referred to as “Mission Necromancer.” In spite of everything, a necromancer is somebody who conjures the spirits of the useless, and Palpatine himself was well-versed in Sith alchemy. Possibly I assumed that Palpatine already had a flawed clone that he hoped Mission Necromancer would enhance on, however I by no means thought-about that it could have been all he had at that time.

If Palpatine did spend years in Chaos earlier than being resurrected, this provides fully new context to a few of his phrases and actions. He wasn’t exaggerating when he advised Kylo Ren he had died earlier than, and maybe this explains how he appeared a lot extra highly effective even earlier than he absorbed the vitality of the Pressure dyad. It makes Emperor Palpatine‘s destiny even darker and provides extra weight to the ultimate chapter of the Star Wars Skywalker Saga.