Star Wars' Ian McDiarmid says Palpatine clone reveal was originally in Rise of Skywalker

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker left many fans with more questions than answers regarding the return of The Emperor – or Emperor Palpatine, as some insist on calling him.

Aside from the vague mention of 'dark science' and 'cloning', it wasn't fully explained how the Sith Lord managed to come back after being thrown down the Death Star's reactor shaft by Darth Vader in Return of the Jedi.

Well, the man himself – or at least the actor who plays him – Ian McDiarmid has now confirmed that The Emperor was indeed a clone of himself, and that this was made abundantly clear in an older version of the script.

Related: Star Wars confirms how Palpatine returned in The Rise of Skywalker

Speaking at Comic Con Brussels, he said: "There were all sorts of explanations for why I might return, but – I think I can reveal something – at one point the script had the line in that first scene with 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."

So there you have it. Just one tiny piece of dialogue that could have cleared up all the confusion.

Related: Star Wars novel fills a Kylo Ren mystery from The Rise of Skywalker

On whether he had any knowledge of Palpatine's backstory going into the film, McDiarmid added: "It's so interesting because neither JJ [Abrams] nor George Lucas have really concerned themselves with the backstory of this character.

"I didn't mind because I could have my own ideas," he continued. "As far as thinking what happened previously, that mind kept alive somehow. You probably noticed a few tubes coming out of his body early on.

"And also he was able to be as commanding, obviously, as he had been, because look at that army! He made that."

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is available to pre-order on DVD, Blu-ray and 4K now.

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Chris Edwards

Chris Edwards is a freelance news writer at Digital Spy.