10 Parts Of Star Wars Legends That Became Canon

Disney chose to revive Palpatine in 2019's The Rise of Skywalker, but this was certainly not the first time the Sith Lord rose from the grave.

In 1991, the comic book line Star Wars: Dark Empire released, which told the story of how Palpatine tried to reconquer the galaxy six years after his 'death' on the Second Death Star. The comic book revealed that the Emperor had survived the events of Return of the Jedi through cloning, and was now commanding a fleet of World Devastators to beat the galaxy into submission.

The Rise of Skywalker happily borrowed concepts and ideas from these comic books, with the Sith Lord inhabiting a clone body and readying a fleet of planet-killing Star Destroyers, which all had Death Star lasers, in an attempt to retake his galactic throne. Much like the comic book, the film also sees the Emperor trying to possess a younger, more capable body, though The Rise of Skywalker swaps out Han and Leia's unborn son, Anakin Solo, for Rey. The idea of Palpatine surviving past Return of the Jedi was rather controversial then, and it is definitely still very controversial now.