Six Years Later, Star Wars Is Still Fixing The Rise of Skywalker’s Biggest Mistake

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Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker feels more focused on correcting perceived errors from previous films than on continuing the story naturally. Instead of developing the ideas presented in Star Wars: The Last Jedi, it drastically changes direction. While Kylo Ren initially pursues a powerful artifact to strengthen his control, the film quickly shifts focus, sidelining him to introduce a new, established villain with a history of crushing uprisings.

In the last film of the Skywalker Saga, Emperor Palpatine unexpectedly returns. He’s been secretly building a massive fleet called the Final Order on the planet Exegol and reveals to Kylo Ren that he was the one controlling Supreme Leader Snoke. He then tries to draw Rey to him after she discovers they are related – she’s essentially his granddaughter. This is especially surprising because Palpatine was seemingly defeated in Return of the Jedi when Darth Vader threw him into a reactor shaft. Despite this, Lucasfilm has been working to explain how his return is possible.

Star Wars Is Trying to Drop the “Somehow” From Palpatine’s Return

The Star Wars universe quickly addressed lingering questions with The Mandalorian. The show centers on a bounty hunter who becomes the caretaker of a mysterious creature, nicknamed “the Child,” that the remnants of the Empire desperately want to capture. Through their adventures, the bounty hunter encounters Moff Gideon, who is revealed to be leading a top-secret cloning project. Gideon intends to use the Child’s unique abilities to artificially create others sensitive to the Force, which the bounty hunter strongly opposes. After a multi-season conflict, Gideon appears to be defeated on Mandalore at the end of Season 3, but he isn’t the last of the Imperial forces still operating in the galaxy.

The new trailer for The Mandalorian & Grogu shows Din Djarin and Grogu battling Imperial stormtroopers and remnants of the Empire once more. While it’s not yet clear what the Empire wants, Grogu is likely central to their plans. The trailer hints they may be continuing Project Necromancer, the sinister program that played a key role in the Star Wars: The Bad Batch series. In that show, Omega, a clone with Force abilities, was captured by the Empire, and Clone Force 99 had to rescue her. Though they succeeded, they weren’t able to completely stop Project Necromancer, suggesting it will likely cause trouble again soon.

It’s Time for Star Wars to Give Up on Palpatine

Before Gideon and his forces are defeated, he meets with the Shadow Council to discuss the growing threat of the Mandalorians. Their main disagreement is whether to wait for Grand Admiral Thrawn to return. Brendol Hux, in charge of the cloning program, is eager to bring the Emperor back quickly, but Thrawn’s recent return – as seen in Star Wars: Ahsoka – likely means he’ll want to take control of the situation before any plans move forward.

Lucasfilm seems to be missing a key opportunity: letting go of Thrawn’s established backstory could actually make him a more compelling villain. While he was once a top advisor to the Emperor, focusing on his potential to independently seize control of the galaxy would be a much stronger narrative. This story could be explored in future seasons of Ahsoka or in a larger crossover event connecting all the Disney+ Star Wars shows. As Kylo Ren famously said, sometimes it’s best to simply leave the past behind.

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2025-12-22 18:43