Star Wars 9 trailer and title reveal PALPATINE is alive? Is THIS how the Emperor returns?

Sheev Palpatine was last seen shrieking as he plunged into the core of the Death Star. He was one of the most powerful Sith of all time but surely nobody could survive that? So why does it very much look like the man also known as Darth Sidious will be making a menacing return in Star Wars 9? The trailer ended with a terrifying Palpatine moment before Ian McDiarmid himself stepped on stage at Star Wars Celebration.

Unless Lucasfilm and Disney are trolling fans even more than before, the evil master manipulator is making his grand return at the end of the Skywalker saga.

During the presentation at Star Wars Celebration, JJ Abrams said: “This movie is about the new generation and what they’ve inherited the light and the dark and asking the questions as they face the greatest evil, ‘Are they ready?'”

Don’t forget, Palpatine was lurking behind everything in the Prequel Trilogy and was clearly behind everything in the Original Trilogy. Are fans about to discover he has still been pulling all the strings behind Snoke, Kylo Ren and even Rey and Luke?

There are six major ways he could be back and one of them was already shown on screen in a major Star Wars game last year.

Palpatine option 1: A promo release for the EA game Star Wars Battlefront 2 showed scenes after the destruction of the Death Star as Palpatine appears before Admiral Versio and his daughter Iden. It was some sort of suits and hologram with a message that appears pre-recorded in the case of an emergency, but the apparition clearly appeared to identify the Admiral, implying some form of consciousness.

Palpatine option 2: The new trilogy has already opened the doors for Force ghosts after Yoda’s appearance and Luke is strongly expected to follow suit. Could Palpatine still be interfering from the other side?

Palpatine option 3: Recent comics have shows some Sith were able to store their spirit or consciousness in inanimate objects, like Lord Momin and his mask, which could then possess unwitting victims and bring the Sith back to life. The chilling cackle sounded exactly like Palpatine, though, which would rule out him taking over another body and voice.

Palpatine option 4: Episodes 7 and 8 have already used memories and Forceback visions to show events from the past. Will Palpatine appear in one of these?

Palpatine option 5: Recent leaks have described scenes with Kylo Ren or Rey viewing holograms with old recordings of Palpatine leaving instructions for his followers.

Palpatine option 6: The Sith was so powerful he managed to survive the fall and has been rebuilding his strength and secretly manipulating events from the shadows. Darth Maul survived being cut in two and falling down a similar shaft, so his master should be more than capable of doing the same.