A Single Change Could've Fixed Palpatine's Return In Star Wars Episode IX

Summary:

• The resurrection of Emperor Palpatine actually happened in the old Star Wars canon, but it was quite controversial
• Somehow, Episode IX managed to make this story even worse by providing very little detail
• Making the plot about preventing the ritual would have solved many of the movie's problems

The infamous sudden return of Emperor Palpatine in Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker, which has become a meme over the years, caused a massive backlash from fans who considered this out-of-nowhere plot twist one of the worst aspects of the film.

To be fair, a similar scenario was used more than once in the old Legends canon, where the Dark Lord of the Sith transferred his mind into clones that were secretly created in case of his untimely death.

Although this storyline was also quite controversial and not every fan appreciated such a twist for exactly the same reason as in the new canon, because it made the finale of Episode VI much less meaningful, at least Legends provided an actual explanation for his resurrection.

Episode IX Somehow Made The Emperor's Resurrection Even Worse

The biggest problem with Episode IX was that it basically copied the idea, but to learn that the Emperor transferred his consciousness into a cloned body, you have to read the additional material to the movie, while it should have been shown on the big screen.

Moreover, as mentioned above, the idea was already quite controversial back then, and using it again led to exactly the same problems, so the excuse that "Legends did it too" doesn't make the twist any better.

It's no secret that the decision to bring back the franchise's biggest villain was only made because the writers were desperately trying to quell the backlash from the many questionable choices Rian Johnson made in Episode VIII that didn't sit well with many fans.

But there was a way to both preserve the basis of the movie's story and make it much more organic without showing Palpatine at the very beginning of the film with absolutely no explanation.

The Movie Should Have Been About Preventing Palpatine's Return

What if, instead of directly opposing the already resurrected Emperor, Rey and others were actually trying to prevent it from happening in the first place?

After Supreme Leader Snoke was killed during the events of Episode VIII, the First Order was in the midst of a crisis, so trying to bring back the Emperor would have been the last resort for the Sith Cultists (who were present in the background of Episode IX, but for some reason played absolutely no part in the story).

Instead of the corny "a dyad in the Force" story and Rey and Kylo simply fighting Palpatine, it would have been much more exciting to see them racing against time to stop the ritual before it was too late.

This would also have preserved the positive aspects of having Palpatine in the movie, as it maintains his image as a villain who always has a plan, even in case of his own death, and seeing Ian McDiarmid reprise the role at the end of the movie would have been much more interesting.

Some of the problems caused by the Emperor's resurrection would have been solved as well, because Snoke wouldn't have been turned into a meaningless puppet, with his death being a totally unforeseen turn of events.

The finale of Episode VI would also have remained a huge victory for the heroes, as bringing the Emperor back from the grave would have been a much more difficult task instead of happening completely off-screen.

Unfortunately, the writers took the easy way out and simply copied the plot from Legends, giving it even less thought this time around, much to the disappointment of fans.