Star Wars 9 Rise of Skywalker trailer: Horrifying C-3PO Anakin twist

The Rise of Skywalker promises some huge twists and major shocks. Fans already know Emperor Palpatine is back, but why? The heavy breathing of Darth Vader was heard at the end of the new footage which debuted earlier this month at the Disney D23 Expo. Rey was shown looking like a Sith with an ignited double-ended red lightsaber. What is going on? And then one of the most true and trusted of all Star Wars heroes was show looking terrifyngly like he has also gone to the Dark Side.

Fans were left gobsmacked when C-3PO flashed up in a new scene with gleaming red eyes.

Is this a dream or nightmare sequence, as many suspect the ‘evil Rey’ one was? Or is it possible this is somehow the work of the droid’s creator? Remember C-3PO was built by Anakin. Is he somehow connected to the return of his master?

One outlandish theory even suggests that Palpatine hasn’t just been possessing Dark side acolytes, he has also somehow been able to possess droids.

Or perhaps this isn’t C-3PO at all, but a popular evil version introduced in the canon comics.

Could this actually be 0-0-0, also known as Triple Zero, first introduced in the Star Wars comic Darth Vader 3: Vader, Part III?

He shares his counterpart’s snarky attitude and one-liners but also has a terrifyingly casual approach to killing and torture. 

In the comic, just after the Battle of Yavin, rogue archaeologist Chelli Aphra steals the dangerous Triple Zero’s personality matrix, which had been developed centuries before but judged too dangerous – and inserted it into a 3P0 protocol droid. 

Triple Zero soon came into contact with Darth Vader… 

Aprha was an agent of Darth Vader and so they all star together in the comic series before Aprha fell out of favor and took her terrifying droid with her. 

Triple Zero later became a crime lord on Son-tuul.

Just imagine if Rise of Skywalker confronts C-3Po with his evil twin…