Star Wars theory further explains the whole Palpatine clone malarkey in Rise of Skywalker

Since Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker came out in cinemas, we've learned a lot about how Emperor Palpatine, aka Darth Sidious, reared his ugly head in Episode IX. Most recently, we've discovered that the Palpatine we saw on screen was, in fact, a cloned body in which his consciousness was housed.

We also learned that the clone we saw in The Rise of Skywalker wasn't the first attempt at transferring Palpatine's consciousness into a human form. There were many failed attempts, including the clone that would be deemed his 'son' and would further the bloodline in more 'natural' methods (*cough cough*).

There have been many theories to explain the plot holes that have popped up in the wake of the movie's debut. Disney has helped to fill those, too, by releasing its own Visual Dictionary and a novelisation of The Rise of Skywalker, which expands on moments both in the movie and left out altogether.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

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Despite this, fans are still desperate to find a connecting thread between the disparate events of the contemporary Star Wars saga. And thus, a new theory about Palpatine, and the history of the Sith, was formed.

The inspiration for the theory comes from Reddit, and we've expanded on some parts of it while ignoring others. This comes with the full caveat that we know none of this is true or canon, even if it makes more sense than the movie seemed to.

The theory posits that much like Palpatine sought to transfer himself and all the Sith that came before into Rey by getting her to kill him, this has already happened many times over. And, this was the plan that Darth Sidious, aka Palpatine, had all along for Anakin.

If he could get Anakin to kill him, Anakin would become the vehicle for all the Sith that came before. But Anakin messes this up by being a general jerk and getting defeated by Obi-Wan Kenobi.

But, we hear you cry, Anakin did eventually kill Palpatine. He threw him down the reactor shaft of the Death Star, so why didn't the Sith all flow into Darth Vader?

Because just as Darth Vader killed Palpatine, Palpatine killed him; he zaps Vader with his force lightning. Now we know it's pedantic to argue the timing of all this, but remember that it is this very kind of distinction that allowed Rey to kill Palpatine and not become possessed by generations of Sith lords.

With Palpatine's physical form not quite dead but on the brink, he's transported to Exegol by the Sith Eternal and the cloning process begins. But we know from the novelisation of The Rise of Skywalker that this cloning process failed pretty terribly.

Setting aside the real-world problems with cloning, in the Star Wars universe it's a commonplace trope and the fact that Palpatine was making clones shouldn't have come as a surprise to anyone. It was revealed in The Rise of Skywalker that Snoke himself was a clone, one of many.

But why would Palpatine's clones fail? Because they couldn't handle the generations upon generations of Sith Lords' consciousnesses, much like your computer with too many tabs open.

The one that survived, which would become Palpatine's son (and Rey's father), was so disappointingly ordinary that Palpatine couldn't even look at him. So obviously he wasn't going to pick this guy to take over as the omnipotent Lord of the Sith.

Knowing that he'd have to wait for a natural heir to the Sith to come around, Palpatine's soul had to jump from clone to clone, supported by all that machinery. Star Ian McDiarmid even confirmed it, saying: "[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." Between this and the novelisation's explanation that "Kylo could feel in his very bones that this clone body sheltered the Emperor's actual spirit," Palpatine was going through clones at an extraordinary rate, his 'spirit' using up all the bandwidth of the clone's physical form.

Like the novels and comics, fans are trying to find a way to make everything make sense, chronologically, logically, and canonically. Most importantly, why clones (and Palpatine at all) were suddenly reintroduced in The Rise of Skywalker when the series seemed like it was setting Kylo Ren up to be the big bad.

The truth of the matter is JJ Abrams thought Palpatine was a good villain and wanted him back in the fold. Frustratingly, it's as simple as that. Everything else is retrofitting.

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

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Gabriella Geisinger

Gabriella Geisinger is a freelance film critic and journalist, with a focus on J-drama & film, and the Japanese production industry. She was previously Locations Editor at Screen International and Deputy Movies Editor at Digital Spy. Her writing can also befound in Curzon, 1883, and more. A born and raised New Yorker, she loves coffee and the colour black, obviously.