Emperor Palpatine’s return in the finale Star Wars the film has been criticized for years, but looking back, there is actually precedent for this return in one specific place. Star Wars has long been a series full of parallels and poetry in its narrative. In George Lucas’s original six films, the poetic structure of events is incredibly clear, with deliberate callbacks and subtler parallels.
In the most recent Star Wars films, whether some fans liked it or not, this tradition continued. Luke Skywalker’s death poetically parallels that of Obi-Wan Kenobi. THE Millennium FalcaoExegol’s arrival parallels his arrival at the Death Star in A New Hope. In this same line, the death and return of Emperor Palpatine mirrors in many ways the death and return of Darth Maul in Star Wars: Episode I – The phantom menace and Star Wars: The Clone Wars.
Darth Maul’s death mirrors Palpatine’s
Fallen Sith resurrected
For years, the public has noticed the many parallels between The phantom menace and Return of the Jedi. Within George Lucas’s vision of Star WarsThey were the first and last film and, therefore, they had many similarities. The greatest achievement of these parallels is that the Battle of Naboo and the Battle of Endor are similar in almost every way. A ground battle made up of natives of the planet, a space battle where a ship flies to a large space station, a crew infiltrates a facility, and a lightsaber duel ending in the “death” of a Sith.
At the end of the Battles of Naboo and Endor, a Sith is specifically plunged into a bottomless abyss, believed to be completely dead. After this defeat, in both films, a young Jedi Knight cradles his dying father figure, in a scene that is almost exactly the same in terms of layout, just reversed, as one is the beginning and the other is the end. In the following years, Palpatine and Maul suffered a similar fate beyond this “death”.
Somehow Darth Maul returned
The Clone Wars bring Maul back
Years after his death, The Clone Wars brought Darth Maul back by revealing that his bisection and fall were not as deadly as they seemed at first glance. Maul returned, initially with spider-like robotic legs, then with more normal legs, and returned to the galactic playing field seeking revenge against Obi-Wan Kenobi and even Palpatine. This return from the dead was unprecedented, but it happened because of his Sith rageand how this dark side power gave him the strength to survive being cut in half and falling at terminal speed.
Overall, Maul’s return from the dead didn’t make much more sense than Palpatine’s return. After all, Palpatine wasn’t cut in half before his descent. Lucas simply loved the character he created in Darth Maul and wanted to bring him back. The benefits of this shouldn’t be ignored either, as Maul’s characterization and storyline in The Clone Wars and later Rebels are some of the best and coolest in animation Star Wars galaxy has to offer.
Darth Maul’s Resurrection Makes Palpatine Even Better
Both fallen Sith returned from their pits
After Maul’s return from the dead, the image of the fallen Sith at the end of the parallel battle changed somewhat. Maul’s death was no longer final, as Palpatine’s was supposed to be by Lucas. Thus, Palpatine’s return, whether in the 1990s Dark Empire comics by Tom Veitch and Cam Kennedy or JJ Abrams Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalkerrestores this parallel in a way. Both Sith fall and both return with little explanation, seeking revenge on the forces that felled them.
Yes, both stories have their holes. Whenever a character is brought back from the dead, this happens, and nowhere is this clearer than in Palpatine’s seemingly improvised resurrection in the sequel trilogy for his final film. As evidenced by Maul, however, Star Wars has always been built on these types of storytelling decisions. “Cool” trumps logic in most scenarios, and since Palpatine’s return, many fascinating stories have been told involving him.
The Mandalorian and Star Wars: The Bad Batch have increased Palpatine’s efforts to create Force-sensitive clones. Novel by Adam Christopher Shadow of the Sith it deals with Palpatine’s return and Exegol’s influence during the New Republic era as well. Star Wars has a long history of finding interesting storytelling holes and redefining established stories with these new stories. Now, the story of Palpatine’s resurrection is not only a new story, but it connects to a key parallel that George Lucas originally wove Star Wars with The phantom menace.