I still need to get through the video, but UNPOPULAR OPINION from me: I don’t think it’s all THAT complicated and I’m actually fine with Palpatine coming back. The rise of so many different villains both in the EU and canon post-Endor meant that there was always gonna be some challenge to the peace so Anakin’s actions didn’t ultimately guarantee a forever peace. Anakin’s actions were NOT DIMINISHED but the were still important. It was ultimately to save Luke. But they did give the galaxy a chance to come back. Palpatine’s return was hinted in trailers BEFORE the supposed Fortnite reveal. And even then, he has Sith ways of manifesting back that are even shown IN THE FILMS! (But someone is probably just gonna scream “DOES NOT MATTER THEY BUTCHERED STAR WARS AND JJ DESERVES TO DIE” anyways, because it’s the Star Wars fanbase.) And even then, it’s a great follow-up. It solidifies Palpatine as a dark entity rising in the shadows to strike back at the galaxy, and he remains formidable across TROS.

I can’t lie I don’t think I ever expected to hear “the rise of skywalker is the my second favorite Star Wars movie” in my life

One of the biggest problems of epIX in my opinion was the lack of set up in previous episodes. It is objectively true that that is a flaw. But, 1 of the best things abt epIX (and SW as a whole) is how it changes with added context. Ever since the Mandalorian came out back in 2019, it started to become more and more clear that the Empire was preparing for Palpatine's return for quite some time now. And that he manipulated them as well. And, as of now, I think that Palpatine returning is 1 of the coolest things in the timeline and the "somehow" part of "Somehow Palpatine returned" speaks great volumes abt the success of his plans (as no one knew how they worked).

Really optimistic video, as someone who has never hated the sequels but also never really *loved* them, I've definitely noticed excessive hate online for them. While they may not live up to everyone's standards, that's just how movies go, and I know people felt that same way when the Prequels came out as well. Some people love these movies, and some hate them, that's just how it is. You can wish for them to be better, but at the end of the day they're set and stone and there's no reason to go after people who enjoy them for what they are. While I didn't love ROS, I admire how much you adore it and that honestly makes me really happy to see. Great video :)

Honestly, it’s no surprise to me that the guy who was pursuing the secret of living forever would have a contingency plan in case any part of his plans were thwarted. Quite frankly, I’m just happy to have a clearer explanation, as they didn’t make it completely clear in the movie. Thanks for making this video! 🙂 Keep loving Star Wars, and may The Force be with you. 😄

As someone who enjoyed the sequel trilogy, I just knew through the kaminoian technology and even other sith secrets palpatine “somehow” lived on. I mean one of his biggest goals was finding some form of immortality so of course he used every source he would find to live forever. With Mandalorian and bad batch it just confirms how Palpatine was able to live on in Exegol and slowly rebuild his empire with fanatics like Pryde of the original empire and the children of Exegol raised to follow him

TROS needed an extended cut, felt like I was watching the Cliff Notes version of a movie.

Revenge of the Sith: "Darth Plagueis was a Dark Lord of the Sith, so powerfull and so wise that he could influence the Midi-Chlorians to create life...He had such a knowlege of the dark side, that he could even keep the ones he cared about...from dying." Revenge of the Sith/Rise of Skywalker: "The dark side of the Force is a pathway to many abilities some considered to be unnatural." Rise of Skywalker: "Dark science, cloning, secrets only the Sith knew" Rise of Skywalker: "I have died before...kill me and my spirit will pass into you, as all the Sith live in me. You will be Empress. We will be one." That is enough bits and pieces to have a vague understanding of his ressurection. Now with The Bad Batch and The Mandalorian introducing Project Necromancer, things start adding up pretty well. Lets not forget we also had a entire Clone Wars Arc about imortality for Jedi vs Sith. That being the Yoda Journey in Season 6. That has always been a major theme in Star Wars. And lets not pretend that George Lucas didn't ressurected Darth Maul out of nowhere either.

That is... An impressive movie ranking. I'm gonna lose sleep over this one

We are Twitter mutuals but I haven't been on that account in years. Was not expecting to see you when I clicked on this video lol

Great video! I loved Palpatine's return, both in concept and execution, because it underscored a key theme of Star Wars - that the Sith, drawing their power from darkness and fear but also consumed by their own fear of losing that power and facing oblivion, would desperately seek to cling to their life and their power by the most terrible and unnatural means (Maul's survival also falls in line with this). But despite their twisted efforts, the only true path to immortality in Star Wars is through the Light Side - selflessness and mastery of those darker impulses, love and willing sacrifice, and living on not for one's own power but for others. We see this idea play out in every trilogy - Originals, Prequels, and Sequels, and other stories as well. That thematic idea alone would have been enough for me, but the logistical explanations that followed both within the movie itself and subsequent storytelling all make perfect sense to me. I believe it all tracks beautifully within the larger narrative and thematic tapestry of Star Wars. It also does not undercut the idea of Anakin's sacrifice for me either, for exactly the reasons you outlined. Furthermore, while I enjoyed the Legends story of Palpatine's return in Dark Empire as well, I think the Canon version of the same concept has been executed far better, and more comfortably aligns with the core ideas of the Saga.

Also the Dark Empire series in Legends.

"Did you ever hear the tragety of Darth Plageius the Wise?"

I'm happy to have found a sequel defender like you.

I’m a fan of The Rise of Skywalker for all the things you pointed out. Thanks for the video!

You have a ps5?

I’m honestly one of those people who honestly thinks that Palpatine returning makes a decent amount of sense. I mean, let’s be real here: Sheev literally had 50,000 back-up plans, so it’s unsurprising he would’ve had a plan for his return in the event he died. I do think it could’ve been executed a whole lot better, but I do believe that it can work.

It calls *Bad Writing.* That’s how Palpatine returned.

How did Darth Maul ( somehow) return?

Awesome video dude, finally someone who’s more positive about The Sequel Trilogy and am glad to find someone like you! I also subscribe to your KZfaq channel!

Mad respect for sharing your unpopular thoughts on this. It’s cool to see someone explain why they like something that’s widely disliked, and not make the opposing view sound evil.

Love this video! You explain everything perfectly. TROS is my favourite, so nice to see some good faith discussion.

After seeing that clip again from the Battlefront II 2017 campaign of that creepy Palpatine message, I gotta say I find it baffling and hilarious that a lot of folks thought "Somehow Palpatine returned..." came out of nowhere, when in reality the clues were blatantly obvious and always there imo. Again, from the creepy Palpatine hologram in the Battefront II 2017, that music cue for the Emperor in The Last Jedi when Snoke is torturing Rey, along with so many other hints, it seems to me like the "PALPATINE'S RETURN WAS NEVER PLANNED YOU GUYZ!!!" argument that's been pervasive for so long never should've gotten a foothold in the first place. Similar to your disclaimer, I'm not here to change anybody's mind. People can like what they like with Star Wars and that's fine. I just wish it was possible to enjoy something in Star Wars without all the relentless negativity, in-fighting, and personal attacks. Keep up the great work man, I really appreciate you and your perspective!

See but the issue is that the majority of movie goers aren’t familiar with all the light novels, and animated shows lore tidbits. Given that, it makes palpatine’s return really feel like an ass pull. Not only that but the fact that the sequel trilogy turned me who had been a huge Star Wars fan for almost 20 years; to a person who couldn’t care less about anything Star Wars related coming out whatsoever, is quite telling in my opinion.

You know what, this video has me completely turned around on this movie. I wasn't a huge fan before but now I can definitely see it's merits.

I'm on board simply because you have the guts to announce to the world that Rise is your 2nd favorite. Bold, and I'm here for that kind of positivity.

I liked that we first found out that he returned in the Fortnite live event

*Bad writing. You're welcome..*

Great video! In my personal opinion, I just didn’t like that he returned, because I felt like it ruined Anakin‘s character arc

Defending the sequels, that takes some stones. Nice take though and whilst I don't agree on all of your points it was well explained. It did make me think a lot about context though. When Ep 4 was released there was so much left unexplained in the universe and it was cool! We could ponder things like "Who was the senate?" or "What's Spice and what's Kessel like?" People speculated and wondered and talked new stories were told. You can't launch a franchise like that now without the inevitable backlash. Rebel Moon being a case in point. Even existing franchises suffer with people being unable to suspend any disbelief. Space wizards with laser swords is fine, but bombs that 'drop' in space is too much?

Honestly? Palp’s plan isn’t really that complicated… Emperor of the galaxy that orchestrated the downfall of a thousand year galactic government and primordial rival in the Jedi Order would bank everything on whether or not Luke would turn on Vader and succeed him as his new apprentice? Did he really not have any kind of backdoor or contingency? For a man like Palpatine, the idea of having such a backup plan is *hardly* a shock. So there’s the “why” aspect cleared up Palpatine having an incomplete clone body that he transfers his essence between works because they have explicit drawbacks - he’s not just back again like Maul or something, he has to scheme and plot to regain his proper form. Essence transfer itself is also pretty mundane as far as sci fi goes, not a stretch for a powerful Sith Lord to pull off, esp when there’s some who got close to cracking literal immortality. So that’s the “how” cleared up. Overall it’s a plot twist I think isn’t actually that bad. Poe’s line just looks AWFUL when you suck it out of its in-scene context and push it as the film’s lone explanation, but the movie itself shows you what went down fine enough all on its lonesome.

Respect, though its not my favorite movie I enjoy still TROS (dare I say I enjoy all star wars movies shocker) and seeing this actually made my day instead of all the crap most of the fandom comes with. You earned yourself a new sub

Good video! I’m mostly OK with the explanation given for his return (although it could have been better within the actual film), but I do wish they had just gone a different direction entirely instead of bringing him back in the first place.

Somehow, Palpatine’s return makes more sense. You just need more context. -CVGWJames

Really good content. I like your explanations and your willingness to be open-minded about these kinds of things.

I can definitely understand it. But I wish the films were more cohesive

Palpatine returning was cool, I just wish that The Last Jedi actually set that up better, and that Luke didn't die in TLJ, and that Rey didn't just somehow overpower Palpatine due to plot armor and stuff like that

The movies suck.

ur just wokewashed. ever since disney took starwars they destoyed it. same with wokehammer and woke of the ring series( not saying the universe there cus that still good just the show that owned NONE of the rights for what they said they wanted to do) and the witcher.

Woof, this is a trash take

You really don’t have any problem with palpatine coming back despite, that fact destroys anakins legacy?

I was going to watch this video, but then this "subject" said Rise of Skywalker was his second favorite movie, and that was it. Dislike and close the video.