11 Powerful Movie Deaths Devalued By The Sequels

Why this entry is at the top of this list is mainly due to the ripple effect the film has on those that come before it. Once the elusive ruler of the Galactic Empire, now a decrepit, festering evil in a far-flung corner of the galaxy, Emperor Palpatine has (somehow) returned from the dead.

Yes, the film practically ignores the question of how the Emperor survived being thrown hundreds of feet down a reactor shaft by Darth Vader in Return of the Jedi, instead assuming we're all okay with it and carrying swiftly on. What it does answer, however, is something we'd all have rather it hadn't. Palpatine has been the puppet master behind the First Order the whole time - quite literally in the case of Snoke, who is revealed to have just been a genetically grown body with Palpatine's consciousness.

What this means is that Palpatine's existence not only devalues his own decades-old death scene, but it also drags several majorly important characters down with him. Darth Vader, for sacrificing his life to save his son; Snoke, who could have been a character of formidable power and significance instead of a mere shell; and Luke Skywalker, who is revered for saving the galaxy when, in reality, Palpatine's survival shows he didn't achieve much at all.

The modern Star Wars trilogy is free to contradict itself all it likes. But when it starts retroactively tainting the originals? That's where the line has to be drawn.