Whilst we all survived the absolute surface level disaster that was The Rise of Skywalker it has now been revealed that it was a Palpatine clone at the end of the movie. Not the original.
Palpatine Clone Revealed in Upcoming Novel
In a leak from an upcoming novel for The Rise of Skywalker it seems as thou just like in the old canon, Palpatine is a clone.
This was hinted at during the movie as we see all the clones of Snoke in the tubes. Whilst Palpatine being a clone was quite a common assumption of many fans it has finally been confirmed as true.
The body is actually a clone body inhabiting the dark side spirit of Darth Sidious. A spirit that it can’t fully handle or deal with.
Actor Ian McDiarmid who plays Palpatine told Insert Coin at Comic-Con Brussels.
“The cloning thing? Yes. Well, of course, there were all sorts of explanations for why I might return but it’s interesting because, I think I can reveal something now.
At one point the script had the line in that first scene with [Kylo Ren actor] Adam [Driver], when he says, ‘You’re a clone,’ and I said, in that original script, which is no longer with us, ‘More than a clone. Less than a man.’
Which seemed, to me, to sum him up, really.
Because we know the camera has already snaked past the clone tank in which there are various versions of Snoke, that you probably noticed.”
“So Snoke was a clone, Palpatine was responsible for everything,”
McDiarmid continued:
“He made everything, in one way or another. Talk about power.
If you think back, and I’m sure you will, to watch them in the correct sequence, that’s threaded throughout all of the movies, is that sense of evil.
In a sense, when everyone commits a bad act, it’s because of this character, this influence.
Either in public or pervasively in private.”
I must confess I did have a little sarcastic smirk across my face when McDiarmid was explaining Palpatine to be this almighty being.
An almighty being that didn’t pose any such threat in The Rise of Skywalker as he had his clone ass handed to him on a plate.
Whilst this was a weaker Palpatine surely the force contained within would prevail at the sacrifice of the host. Nope, even the all so almighty force within Palpatine had its ass handed to it.
But let’s not fall down the many deep holes that littered The Rise of Skywalker.
Overall
We’re yet to understand why Palpatine looked so messed up. If he was a clone he was certainly an early messed up one. Perhaps not his stronger self?
But this is where Star Wars has dipped in quality over the years. Theories are being left to fans to assume outcomes because of lazy writing that doesn’t explain much of anything to us as an audience anymore.
Even now with the release of the book, there are still many questions to be asked.
The film didn’t make it obvious that Palpatine was in fact a clone. This just seems like a very lazily written afterthought to tie up loose ends that the finale left hanging.
Also, look at him! All that budget and he still looked like that!
Speaking of bad CGI in movies take a look at our Top 10 CGI disasters article.
