Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker
Just whenStar Warsfans had given up on being excited to see J.J. Abrams wrap up up Disney ’s continuation trilogy ( and the trilogy of trilogies that is the Skywalker saga ) withThe Rise of Skywalker , Emperor Palpatine could be heard cackle on the first teaser trailer .
Fans were still skeptical that Abrams and co. could attract it off , but there ’s no denying that this made for an impressive marketing thaumaturgy . Suddenly , the excitement was back on . Now that the movie ’s been released , the Emperor ’s much - anticipated return has been judged as kind of so - so . Here are 5 Things About Palpatine ’s Return That Worked ( And 5 That Did n’t ) .
Worked: Ian McDiarmid’s performance
As always , Ian McDiarmid played Emperor Palpatine bright inThe Rise of Skywalker . This was never really a concern becauseStar Warsfans cognise he would nail it . The acting legend has played Palpatine since the original trilogy , and his functioning – from the eerie campiness of his line bringing to his snarling , menacing interpreter – has never failed to capture the joyous essence that make the graphic symbol so great .
Some of the storey decisions inThe rising of Skywalkermight have meet it safe , but McDiarmid managed to breathe new life into Palpatine for one last movie , tying the whole Skywalker saga together in a somewhat awkward fashion .
Didn’t work: No explanation for his survival
In the month leading upThe hike of Skywalker ’s release , Star Warsfans wonder how the pic was rifle to explain Palpatine ’s endurance following his supposed dying on the second Death Star . As it turn out , the moving-picture show did n’t explain it at all .
When Kylo Ren threatens to stamp out Palpatine , he tell , “ I have died before . ” This is the closest thing we get to an explanation of how the Emperor survived the fall inReturn of the Jedi . He just shows up , awake and well – albeit hooked up to a elephantine mechanically skillful Stephen Crane and with an even more zombified appearing – without any account .
Worked: The Snoke reveal
Ever since Marvel declare that therealMandarin would be making his MCU unveiling in the upcomingShang - Chimovie , fans have been hoping that , in a little bit of meta - comment , the motion-picture show will commence with the Mandarin executingIron Man 3 ’s Trevor Slatteryto let the audience know that the disappointing villain is conk and the actually intimidating one has make it .
The Rise of Skywalkerdid something exchangeable with Snoke . In the film ’s first step moments , the sequel trilogy ’s Palpatine rip - off was shrugged off as one of Palpatine ’s own creations . The ad valorem tax of gunk containing Snoke bodies were peculiarly worrisome .
Didn’t work: It undoes the victory in Return of the Jedi
The big downside of bringing back Palpatine inThe lift of Skywalkerwasundoing the near - perfect terminate ofReturn of the Jedi . Anakin Skywalker was defile by Palpatine , finally becoming the Sith Lord Darth Vader to do the Emperor ’s bidding . It was only meet that killing the Emperor to save his Logos , Luke , would be the key to Anakin ’s repurchase .
But according toThe Rise of Skywalker , the Emperor endure being throw into the nuclear reactor core shaft and get along back to create the First Order a couple of tenner subsequently . This undoes the Rebels ’ triumph inReturn of the Jedi .
Worked: Shooting Force lightning up at the warring ships
Some fans were let down that Exegol was created to be the Sith planet inThe Rise of Skywalker , feel that it should ’ve been Korriban from the Expanded Universe . But there ’s no deny that Emperor Palpatine shooting Force lighting into the sky of Exegol , shutting down the engines and navigation systems of all the Resistance ships in conflict with his fleet of Star Destroyers was an awe - inspiring sight .
J.J. Abrams had to step up Palpatine ’s abilities fromReturn of the Jedi . Since take aback Luke Skywalker with his Force lightning , he ’s gained enough power to use it against a sky full of war ship .
Didn’t work: His zombified appearance
AlthoughThe Rise of Skywalkerdoesn’t explicitly explain Palpatine ’s selection , it is hint that he died and came back to life . In the movie , Rey and Kylo Ren each , at separate fourth dimension , employ the Force to bring each other back to living , and Palpatine has sort of an undead appearance , suggesting that he died and then used the Force from beyond the grave to revive his forcible form and return to work havoc on the galaxy .
The Emperor had a frightening enough appearance already without being turn into a zombie , and inclose such a conception intoStar Warsfelt like overkill .
Worked: It tied the sequel trilogy closer to the rest of the saga
Until Palpatine showed up to attach the prequel , original , and sequel trilogy together , the sequel trilogy felt pretty out of place in the saga ’s timeline . Making three movies that follow on fromReturn of the Jedi ’s perfect ending was pretty misguided , and the focus on characters with no connecter to the Skywalker bloodline made Disney ’s heavy selling of this trilogy as the next point in the Skywalker saga seem a little redundant .
At the very least , the return of Palpatine made the sequel trilogy more substantive to the saga . He ’d been the baddie of the first two trilogy , somaking him the puppet - master copy behind the third oneseemed about right .
Didn’t work: Proposing the Final Order
The political theory of the First Order has never been very clean . InThe Rise of Skywalker , we see the First Order ’s officer kicking down the door of residences and terrorise regular people . This is the close we ’ve number to seeing the event that the First Order has actually had on the Galax urceolata . BothThe Force AwakensandThe Last Jedineglected to show this .
The First Order is quite clearly just a shallow rip - off of the Empire , soThe Rise of Skywalkershould’ve moved off from this mistily defined governing body and just focused on the characters . Instead , Palpatine suggested “ the Final Order ” before the First Order had even really gotten started .
Worked: Rey being revealed as the Emperor’s granddaughter
J.J. Abrams set up Rey ’s parentage as a widely discussed topic of fan debate inThe Force Awakens . Then , withThe Last Jedi , Rian Johnson did n’t seem interested in indulgingwild theory like Rey being a Skywalker , or Obi - Wan ’s granddaughter , and rather just revealed her parents to be “ nobodies . ” This was pretty interesting because it tied into the idea that anyone can be the hero – they do n’t need to have a limited lineage – but it still disappoint fans , who wanted a grand reveal .
There was no style that such a reveal was go to be 100 % satisfying after years of speculation , but there were worsened directions to take than the Palpatine twist . It yield Palpatine a key use in the trilogy ’s makeup , it explained Rey ’s immense Force abilities , and it established Rey as the saga ’s most crucial Jedi .
Didn’t work: It clearly wasn’t planned
In retrospect , if Disney had n’t been as determined to release a Modern chapter in theStar Warssaga every two years , and allow three years between each movie ( as was the typesetter’s case with the original and prequel trilogies ) , then the sequel trilogy could ’ve been planned better , with one steer originative visual sensation .
J.J. Abrams and Rian Johnson clearly had very dissimilar ideas about where to take this story and these character . If just one of them had been in bursting charge , with more time to press out the kink in each installment , then we ’d have a more cohesive trilogy . The revelations about Palpatine inThe Rise of Skywalkerare somewhat square , but they intelligibly were n’t planned from the starting line .
NEXT : Star warfare : 10 Greatest Emperor Palpatine Moments
