In the Star Wars universe, dead doesn't always mean dead.
Thanks to the series' complicated canon, there are plenty of ways that this lightning-slinging
villain could have come back from the grave - or, possibly, escaped death entirely.
Here's how we know Palpatine is coming back for Episode 9.
"Soon I'll be dead — and you with me."
In Star Wars, just because you fell into a seemingly bottomless pit doesn't mean that
you died.
Luke jumped off of a platform in Cloud City, and despite the fact that he only had one
hand, ended up just fine.
In the Legends timeline, also known as the old Expanded Universe, Boba Fett climbed out
of the Sarlacc pit and went on to cause even more trouble.
According to Samuel L. Jzackson, even Mace Windu might still be alive.
"I'm not dead.
Jedis can fall incredibly high distances and not die."
According to Jackson, George Lucas has even co-signed that theory.
Heck, look at what happened with Darth Maul.
At the end of The Phantom Menace, Obi-Wan Kenobi cut Maul in half and then sent him
careening down a reactor shaft.
Somehow, it didn't stick.
Despite missing half of his body, Maul rescued himself using the Force, got himself a set
of mechanical legs, and went on to become a major thorn in the galaxy's side.
In The Clone Wars, Maul united the galaxy's underworld and took over the planet Mandalore.
He then went on to make an appearance in Solo as the head of the Crimson Dawn crime syndicate.
And he'd probably still be kicking around in the sequel trilogy if he hadn't challenged
Obi-Wan Kenobi to an ill-advised rematch in Rebels.
Characters like Maul and Boba Fett went on to have robust story arcs after their on-screen
deaths, even if their ends looked pretty decisive at the time.
We're not even mentioning Yoda, Obi-Wan, Qui-Gon, Anakin, and all the other Jedi who came back
as ghosts.
If you don't think the Emperor is a big enough deal to warrant that kind of second life treatment,
think again.
"You will find that it is you who are mistaken."
In Revenge of the Sith, Palpatine finally exposes himself as a Sith lord and tries to
sway Anakin away from the light.
He does so by making a promise, claiming that the dark side can grant talented Sith immortality,
and even bring people back from the dead.
As Palpatine explains, a Sith Lord known as Darth Plagueis once figured out how to manipulate
midi-chlorians using the Force, unlocking the secrets of life itself.
Using his powers, Plagueis was able to keep his loved ones alive, supernaturally prolong
his own life, and even create new living beings from scratch like Anakin.
"The dark side of the force is a pathway to many abilities some consider to be unnatural."
Unfortunately, Plagueis made one mistake: he taught his apprentice everything he knew.
Once Plagueis' second-in-command learned all of his master's secrets, he killed Plagueis
while the elder Sith was sleeping, becoming the new Dark Lord.
And who was that apprentice?
Why, Palpatine, of course.
We know from Revenge of the Sith and some Star Wars comics that he knew all of Plagueis'
tricks, including creating new life.
"There was no father.."
Since we've already seen Palpatine use his powers to create new life, then it follows
that he'd have the power to cheat death.
If Palpatine used his knowledge to escape death at the hands of his own apprentice,
it wouldn't be too much of a stretch.
You remember how Maul and Boba Fett came back to life in the old Expanded Universe?
Palpatine did that too.
In Dark Empire, a series published by Dark Horse Comics in the early '90s, the Emperor
returns about five years after Return of the Jedi by transferring his consciousness into
a clone body.
In fact, as Luke Skywalker comes to learn, Palpatine created an entire stockpile of clones
that he can jump between as he sees fit.
That makes destroying Palpatine near impossible - if you kill one clone, he'll just use another
one - which turns out to be enough to make a despairing Luke submit to the dark side.
When Disney bought Lucasfilm in 2012, it wiped the slate clean for the Expanded Universe,
Palpatine's resurrection included.
But the new Star Wars canon hasn't shied away from incorporating old Legends material when
it makes sense.
And of course, Star Wars is already lousy with clones, meaning it wouldn't take a lot
to get audiences to buy in.
Would it be cool?
Well, maybe.
But is it possible?
You better believe it.
"An old friend has learned the path to immortality."
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