STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER Novelization Reveals Whether Emperor Palpatine Was A Clone

The novelization for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker has started finding its way into stores, and the opening few pages reveal what the deal with Emperor Palpatine was in the Skywalker Saga finale...

By JoshWilding - Mar 01, 2020 06:03 AM EST

Filed Under: Star Wars

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker failed to answer a long list of unanswered questions from both previous movies and this finale, with some of the biggest relating to Emperor Palpatine's return. That came completely out of the blue, and we were never told whether he had somehow escaped the Death Star II or if his spirit was inhabiting his corpse.

Well, the recently released novelization for the movie confirms that he was, in fact, a clone!

In an excerpt from the book which has been doing the rounds online, Kylo Ren's with Darth Vader's former Master is described in detail. "All the vials were empty of liquid save one, which was nearly depleted. Kylo peered closer. He'd seen this apparatus before, too, when he'd studied the Clone Wars as a boy."

"The liquid flowing into the living nightmare before him," it continues, "was fighting a losing battle to sustain the Emperor's putrid flesh." The next paragraph adds that, "Kylo could feel in his very bones that this clone body sheltered the Emperor's actual spirit. It was an imperfect vessel, though, unable to contain his immense power. It couldn't last much longer."

So, there you have it. The Palpatine we met in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker was the villain's original spirit inside a cloned body that wasn't strong enough to hold the evil within. If those Matt Smith rumours were correct, perhaps an earlier plan was to put him inside a much younger cloned body?

We may never know, but at least we now have one answer about the divisive release...

Check out some amazing concept art from Colin Trevorrow's
Duel of the Fates by hitting the "Next" button below!

A disguised BB-8 infiltrates the First Order shipyard on a Kuat moon.

The orbital ring that delivers ore to the Kuat shipyard.

Stormtroopers walk among a migrant worker village on Kuat.

Rey, Finn, and Poe fight their way to the Eclipse Star Destroyer.

The crew detonates the orbital ring and steal an Eclipse Star Destroyer from the Kuat docking bay.

On Moraband, Wommels treat a near-death Kylo.

Leia at the Resistance base on Korilev.

Kylo gets a new mask.

With the Knights of Ren hot on their tail, Poe pushes the Falcon into lightspeed and crashes it into the ice planet of Wavett.

The crew, stranded on Wavett, sit around a campfire.

The docking array on Bonadan.

Razer Sails docked on Bonadan.

"Chewie grabs this Knight of Ren, throws him into the air, and shoots him out of the sky like a clay pigeon."

Kylo approaches the Sith temple on Remnicore.

Kylo and his droid navigate Remnicore.

Kylo sucks the life force from a tree.

New Resistance ship.

Finn is captured and imprisoned in a work camp on Coruscant.

TIE fighters chase the Falcon through the Coruscant citadel.

BB-8 flees from oncoming fire.

Stormtroopers fight against Coruscant citizens.

Kylo inside a cave on Remnicore, as Tor Valum describes it, a "vergence in the force"

Rey gazes at the temple of Mortis.

Rey and Kylo face off at the peak of the temple of Mortis.

"Rey lays on the stone slab still injured. Light fills up the space around her. Particles of energy floating up. She rises with the energy. The light engulfs the frame until we reach a place beyond what we know. The Astral Plane. Yoda, Luke, and Obi Wan appear before her. Rey: "Is this death?" Obi-Wan: "In this place, there is no such thing as death." Yoda reveals Rey succeeded were they failed. Luke: "You choose to embrace the dark side and the light. To find the balance within."

They offer Rey a choice to stay in the comfort of the Astral Plane or to return to the living where she will experience both love/loss. The spirits fade. Obi-Wan: "You are a Jedi, Rey Solana, but you will not be the last."

"Finn reads a story to the young kids and they ask if they really think Rey is gone. Finn believes she’s alive because of the force. Poe and Chewie are flying and they find a beacon on a planet. Rey is alive, on the Wavett planet, pulling the Falcon out of the icy water."

On Modesta, BB-8 sees a familiar face.

Rey arrives to train a new generation of Jedi.

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80 Comments

1 2

Nightwing1015 - 3/1/2020, 6:15 AM

So....it was a clone but the "essence" of Palpatine was just put into it?

What utter nonsense. Star Wars used to have some sort of consistent logic to it. But not anymore, those days are long gone

Nightwing1015 - 3/1/2020, 6:16 AM

SW writer Timothy Zahn on the problem with bringing back the Emperor:

GhostDog - 3/1/2020, 6:19 AM

Spock0Clock - 3/1/2020, 6:24 AM

I like clone Emperors. Come at me.

bkmeijer2 - 3/1/2020, 6:47 AM

Ah yes, and so the expanded material explaining stuff that should've been in the movie from the start begins

rabid - 3/1/2020, 7:20 AM

It would have taken three seconds of screen time to make that clear.

RageDriver2401 - 3/1/2020, 7:24 AM

So apparently Jim Lee (at C2E2) called the DC universe "the DCEU" and said that the Batman is a soft reboot within the universe. Don't quote me on this (looking at you, Josh), it's all over twitter.

tmp3 - 3/1/2020, 8:00 AM

@RageDriver2401 - Soft reboot Superman next, and get a director who understands the character

RageDriver2401 - 3/1/2020, 8:07 AM

@tmp3 - I honestly wouldn't mind if they kept Cavill. In fact I want him to stay.

tmp3 - 3/1/2020, 8:15 AM

@RageDriver2401 - I'm fine with Cavill, it's just that Snyder's take forgot so much of what defines the character. Especially if Clark Kent remains dead

RageDriver2401 - 3/1/2020, 8:24 AM

@tmp3 - I'm more than willing to ignore the events of BvS and JL and start from the end of MoS again.

L0RDbuckethead - 3/1/2020, 2:55 PM

@RageDriver2401 - Abrams Superman incoming.

1 2

STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER Novelization Reveals Whether Emperor Palpatine Was A Clone

The novelization for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker has started finding its way into stores, and the opening few pages reveal what the deal with Emperor Palpatine was in the Skywalker Saga finale...

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