Though last weekend’s D23 expo brought us quite a bit of promotional material for the upcoming Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, fans were still left with a number of unanswered questions about J.J. Abrams’ upcoming trilogy-closer, and many of them understandably revolve around the long-awaited return of Emperor Palpatine.
At the moment, we still have a lot to learn about old Sheev’s role in Episode IX, though Daisy Ridley has already promised us that his presence is integral to the film’s plot, with the actress saying the following last week:
“He’s the biggest baddie in Star Wars history. Now that we’ve done the story, I’m like, it couldn’t have happened any other way. It had to be that. But he’s very instrumental to the plot of the film. It’s not just like he appears again; it’s all explained.”
And though details on how exactly he’s back and what role he’ll play in the story are being kept tightly under wraps, there’ve been rumors going around for a while that he’ll actually have some kind of connection to Rey and now, we know what that is. Before we go any further, though, we’ll warn you that spoilers will follow from here on out.
Still with us? Good, because We Got This Covered has heard from our sources that Emperor Palpatine will be revealed to be none other than Rey’s grandfather in the movie. From what we understand, she’ll first learn about this through Kylo, before the Emperor confirms it himself later on.
Now, who exactly Rey’s parents are still remains unclear, but given that this is the same source who told us back in May that Ewan McGregor was returning as Obi-Wan, we’ve got no reason to doubt them. Not to mention that this would make for a pretty interesting and exciting twist in the film, even if it does raise a lot more questions.
Thankfully, though, our journey of speculation and agonizing wait will soon reach its end, as Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker blasts into cinemas on December 20th.