The Dead Speak!
The fact that Emperor Palpatine was alive again in Rise of Skywalker wasn’t a surprise, seeing as that’s been the backbone of the movie’s marketing. What was a surprise, though, was how soon this fact is revealed. In the first line of the opening crawl, no less!
It was widely assumed that Darth Sidious’ return would be a major plot point, so to have this happen off-screen, with the villain revealed to have made his resurrection known to the galaxy in a mysterious broadcast – heard only by Fortnite players – came completely out of left field. Honestly, as did the rather cringe first line of the crawl – “The Dead Speak!”
It’s also left unsaid exactly how Palpatine found a way back to the land of the living, which is a bit of a surprise after fans have spent the last year furiously trying to work it out. There is at least a hint at how he could have achieved his resurrection in the form of a neat callback, though.
Snoke Is A Clone
Supreme Leader Snoke was killed off in The Last Jedi, which left fans frustrated that we never got to learn the origins of the First Order bigwig. Despite his death, though, Rise kicks off with a major revelation about him: he’s a clone.
When Kylo Ren tracks Palpatine down to Exegol, the Emperor tells him he’s the one who’s really been pulling Ren’s strings, doing an impersonation of Snoke’s voice to prove it. A couple of lifeless copies of Snoke can then be glimpsed in some kind of glass incubator, confirming that he was just a creation of Palp’s that he controlled (which We Got This Covered told you well before the movie came out). This was presumably done so that he could keep the fact of his survival a secret until he was ready to unleash his Final Order fleet onto the galaxy.
Fans have been saying that Snoke is just a clone of Palpatine ever since The Force Awakens, so it’s a smart and very meta move to make this literally the case. Now the mystery surrounding him and the similarities with the Emperor in previous films aren’t flaws but rather, hints at his true nature.