Did You Ever Hear The Tragedy Of Darth Plagueis The Wise?
In a surprise move, after all our theorizing, Rise of Skywalker doesn’t offer a definitive explanation for how Palpatine is back, after falling to his doom in Return of the Jedi. It does offer a few suggestions, though, so fans can work it out themselves. For one, Dominic Monaghan’s Resistance member speaks of the legends of “dark magic” or the possibility of “cloning” being involved. But the Emperor himself might provide the true answer to Kylo Ren, with a well-placed quote.
When questioned how he can be alive, the Emperor tells Ren: “The Dark Side is a path to many abilities some consider unnatural.” Any Star Wars fan worth their salt will recognize this as a direct lift from the famed “Darth Plagueis” scene from Revenge of the Sith. In that sequence, then Chancellor Palpatine tells Anakin Skywalker of the Sith Lord who was able to master death…until he was murdered by his apprentice.
Fans have long speculated that Sidious was said apprentice and the use of this quote appears to be a nod to that theory, hinting that he resurrected himself thanks to the dark powers he learned from Plagueis.