Ian McDiarmid Defends Emperor's Return in 'Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker'

“Somehow, Palpatine returned.” This line has become the ultimate Star Wars meme—a humorous yet pointed jab at the controversial resurrection of the Emperor in *The Rise of Skywalker*. Many fans were less than thrilled with the idea of bringing back Sheev Palpatine via a convoluted clone plotline after his seemingly definitive demise in *Return of the Jedi*. But how did Ian McDiarmid, the actor who has embodied the character for over four decades, feel about the fan reaction?

In a recent interview with Variety, timed with the theatrical re-release of *Revenge of the Sith*—which has enjoyed impressive box office numbers—McDiarmid dismissed the criticism. He stood by the decision to bring the Emperor back, stating confidently, “Mine and Palpatine’s logic was entirely reasonable.”

He elaborated: “It seemed entirely probable that Palpatine had a plan B. Even though he was very, very badly damaged, he would be able to piece himself together in some form. When I realized I had this sort of astral wheelchair, that was even better. I can’t tell you how much fun it was working with the four guys who whisked me around the studio. Daisy [Ridley] was more concerned about that than anything else. And then, of course, we had to create another makeup look—which turned out to be even more grotesque than the previous one.”

When asked specifically about the backlash surrounding the Emperor’s return, McDiarmid responded with a calm detachment: “Well, there’s always something, isn’t there? I don’t read that stuff, and I’m not online. It only reaches me if someone mentions it. I thought there might be a bit of a fuss about bringing him back. But as I said, mine and Palpatine’s logic was entirely reasonable. This man, who was horribly maimed, must have considered that such a fate could befall him again—and so he needed a Plan B. I loved the whole idea that he would come back even more powerful than before. Of course, this time, he had to be utterly destroyed. So I think he’s dead—for good.

The Rise of Skywalker offers only a vague explanation for how Palpatine managed to claw his way back from oblivion. When Kylo Ren encounters him early in the film, the Emperor appears as a resurrected—if somewhat frail—version of his former self, suggesting he didn’t actually survive his fall down the reactor shaft in *Return of the Jedi*. Yet, death hardly slowed him down. As McDiarmid noted, Palpatine had clearly anticipated this scenario and put contingencies into place.

The movie leans heavily on the infamous quote from *Revenge of the Sith*, where Palpatine cryptically tells Anakin, “The Dark Side of the Force is a pathway to many abilities that some would consider to be... unnatural.” In context, it serves as the flimsy yet undeniably dramatic justification for his return: ancient Sith sorcery.

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While it seems unlikely that the core *Star Wars* fanbase will ever fully accept Palpatine’s comeback in The Rise of Skywalker, preferring instead to pretend it never happened, it remains to be seen whether future films will follow suit or retcon the story entirely. In November, reports surfaced indicating that Daisy Ridley’s Rey Skywalker is set to appear in multiple upcoming *Star Wars* films, cementing her role as the galaxy's most valuable cinematic asset.

Ridley is already confirmed to reprise her role in the sequel directed by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, which will explore Rey’s journey as she seeks to rebuild the Jedi Order roughly fifteen years after the events of The Rise of Skywalker.