'Star Wars 9' trailer 3 leaks may confirm a major Emperor Palpatine rumor
To paraphrase Han Solo: "It's true. Kylo, the Emperor. All of it. It's all true."
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is still a couple of months away, but as the movie approaches, so does the debut of another trailer. While it’s unclear exactly when the next trailer will arrive, a fresh new leak could confirm two major spoilers regarding Emperor Palpatine’s return.
There have been quite a few leaks detailing how Emperor Sheev Palpatine might return in Episode IX, one of which indicated that Kylo Ren would cross paths with him early on in the film and play a key role in Palps’ resurrection. Making Star Wars, a relatively reputable source for Star Wars leaks, dropped a new video that offers a few Palpatine-related nuggets from the upcoming trailer that bring the previous puzzle pieces together. Let’s break it down.
Possible spoilers ahead for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
Kylo Ren will be just as shocked as fans are when Palps shows up.
MSW editor Jason Ward revealed that a scene from the third and final Star Wars: Episode IX trailer will showcase Kylo and Palpatine’s meeting, confirming not one, but two leaks about the former emperor’s role in the film at once. In the trailer, Kylo happens upon an old man who is ultimately revealed to be none other than Sheev Palpatine. The villain presumably appears in a “cross-vertical med chair that he’s strapped into.” When Kylo tries to kill him with a lightsaber, Palps “laughs at Kylo Ren and he proclaims that he’s Darth Sidious.” Whoa.
Now, how does this tie in with previous leaks? Well, it wasn’t that long ago that MSW dropped some info indicating that Kylo would find Emperor Palpatine within the first 20 minutes of the film, and the same spoilers were backed up by Reddit leaker u/JediPaxis. As the details went, Kylo may have been in search of the source of Supreme Leader Snoke’s power following his death in The Last Jedi. While traipsing through the galaxy, he discovers that Palpatine might still be alive somehow but is in relative disbelief. It’s on this journey, however, that Kylo supposedly encounters Palpatine for the first time.
This fits right into the new MSW trailer leak, though the trailer presumably won’t reveal when the scene takes place. However, trailer scenes are never in the right order anyway, and it makes sense for the Kylo/Palps meetup to happen in the first act of the film. After all, Sidious needs time to enact his plan, right? There can’t be buildup to his downfall if he doesn’t appear until halfway through Episode IX.
Palpatine probably won't be fully human in 'Rise of Skywalker'.
Additionally, the new info lends credence to the idea that Kylo will agree to do Palpatine’s bidding, leading to his ultimate plan to use Kylo and Rey to siphon Force energy and return to full power.
In another leak from MSW, it was revealed that actor Ian McDiarmid shot a scene for The Rise of Skywalker that involved a mechanical arm and Palps’ attachment to a host of “mechanical stuff.” That sure sounds like the same description from the trailer, doesn’t it? So it seems Palps might have found a way to survive the Death Star explosion in Return of the Jedi after all. And though not much else was revealed about the trailer (except that Sheev gets the last word), the description of his return is terrifying enough on its own.
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker hits theaters December 20, 2019.
