Star Wars Revealed 30 Years Ago Why Palpatine May Never Return

screenrant.com:

Palpatine was defeated for a second time at the end of the Star Wars sequel trilogy, and the franchise already revealed why he might never come back nearly thirty years ago. Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker ended the Skywalker Saga with the revelation that Palpatine not only returned from his Return of the Jedi death but also masterminded the sequel trilogy’s conflict from behind the scenes as he did in the prequel trilogy. Palpatine’s plan and method for cheating death, along with other aspects of The Rise of Skywalker, appears to be heavily inspired by the Legends-era comic series Dark Empire. Dark Empire’s final installment, Star Wars: Empire's End, explains why Palpatine cannot return from the dead after his final death, which coincides with Palpatine’s ultimate demise in The Rise of Skywalker quite well.

The Dark Empire trilogy of comics began in 1991 at a time when the Star Wars franchise’s non-movie material experienced a resurgence of exciting new content, often set after the events of the original trilogy. This era of the Expanded Universe began on a strong note with the Thrawn Trilogy of novels, which introduced iconic characters like Mara Jade and Grand Admiral Thrawn, and Dark Empire, which featured the return of the Star Wars saga’s greatest villain and Luke Skywalker’s near turn to the dark side of the Force. Palpatine’s return, his hidden backup portion of the Imperial military (known in-universe as the Dark Empire), and his arsenal of superweapons were all seemingly adapted for The Rise of Skywalker, replacing the Dark Empire with the Sith Eternal (and later the Final Order) and Byss with Exegol.

Related: Why Palpatine's Clone Return Was Better In Legends Than Rise of Skywalker

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