Star Wars: 10 Things You Might Not Know About Emperor Palpatine
3. His Canon Son Was A Clone
A topic that was long debated by fans after the release of the Force Awakens in 2015, it was finally revealed in 2019’s the Rise of Skywalker that Rey is the granddaughter of the Emperor, making her a Palpatine. This reveal was divisive with Star Wars fans, who desperately searched for answers regarding who the Dark Lord of the Sith had a child with to eventually go on and create Rey.
The details are never shown in the film, however her parents are briefly seen in a flashback sequence leaving Rey on Jakku and later being killed by the Sith assassin Ochi. While details surrounding Rey’s mother have yet to be revealed, the novelisation of the film, ‘Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker: Expanded Edition,’ reveals more information about Rey’s father.
The novelisation states that he is not directly the son of the Emperor, but instead a clone, having a similar relationship as Boba Fett does with his ‘father’ Jango. Sidious was disgusted with his ‘son,’ however, as he was not Force sensitive, but permitted his son to live on Exegol with him purely so that he may one day father a worthy heir to the Palpatine bloodline. This heir would ultimately be Rey herself.