Snoke could then reveal that he is Darth Plagueis. The Dark Lord of the Sith could have said something about how Kylo is not the first apprentice to kill him, but like Darth Sidious before him, he too has failed because he has conquered death. It would have been a shocking moment, and then, through a bit of expository dialogue, Snoke could have finally revealed his true identity. Only this time, he finds his master Snoke once again in the land of the living. What if Kylo Ren was again haunted by that voice in his head that guided so much of his turn to the Dark Side throughout his life? Perhaps, like in The Rise of Skywalker, Kylo Ren went on a quest to seek out the truth. But what if the film started differently? In the beginning of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Emperor Palpatine quickly returns and Supreme Leader Kylo Ren’s rule is immediately in jeopardy. So how would that have worked? Well at the end of The Last Jedi, Kylo Ren is seemingly the big bad in the galaxy, fully turned to the Dark Side with no one to stand in his way. Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker used Emperor Palpatine to accomplish this, but the same could have been achieved with Snoke returning as Darth Plagueis. That’s what Emperor Palpatine provides, the evil that will bring out the light in Ben Solo and act as a conduit to his redemption. Sure, it’s entirely possible a writer could have come up with a way for Kylo Ren to be both the big bad in The Rise of Skywalker and still end the film with his redemption, but it would have been difficult. Hux is the only other real villain in the Sequel Trilogy at that point, and he was essentially a punching bag in The Last Jedi, so it would be hard to take him seriously as a threat after that. That’s fine and actually interesting, but if the plan is ultimately to redeem this character, it makes things rather complicated. At the end of The Last Jedi, Snoke is dead and Kylo Ren is essentially the main villain in the galaxy. The real reason I think that Emperor Palpatine was brought back is the reason put forth by Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker’s co-writer Chris Terrio: they wanted to redeem Kylo Ren and that was much trickier to do following Snoke’s death in Star Wars: The Last Jedi. If there was a plan, it definitely wasn’t one that was communicated and enforced across the three films. If you believe that, or that there was even a real plan for this trilogy to begin with, I’ve got some nice lakeside property on Alderaan to sell you. However, it has also been said that bringing back Emperor Palpatine in the Sequel Trilogy was always part of the plan. And it’s cool to think that like so many great villains, even when you think you’ve defeated him, you really haven’t. The macro idea that this is all one nine-episode story and Darth Sidious is the overarching villain throughout makes thematic sense. Let’s be honest, a lot has been said about why Emperor Palpatine was brought back in the final film of the Sequel Trilogy following his apparent death in Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi, and there are good points. Before we get into how bringing back Snoke and making him Darth Plagueis would have worked, it’s worth digging into why Palpatine was brought back and the ways in which that did and didn’t work in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
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