The first two trilogies of the Star Wars franchise made it clear that it was telling the story of one family: the Skywalkers. Those films chronicled the rise and fall of Anakin Skywalker and ended with his redemption by his son, Luke. And through the first two movies in the sequel trilogy, it seemed like the focus would remain on the surviving members of the Skywalker family, Leia and Kylo Ren.
However, the events of The Rise Of Skywalker put that idea into question when Palpatine returned from the dead. Most Star Wars fans thought that they had seen the last of the Sith Lord, but his return in the final film in the Skywalker Saga effectively re-framed the entire franchise as his.
PALPATINE'S TRUE ROLE
While the Dark Lord of the Sith no doubt played a significant role throughout the first two trilogies, his involvement in setting the events in the saga is often understated. In the prequels, audiences could see Palpatine make moves to gain Anakin's trust before manipulating him into becoming Darth Vader and wiping out most of the Jedi Order. The original trilogy showed Palpatine, who was now Emperor, attempting to maintain his power with the creation of the two Death Stars, all the while continuing to manipulate Darth Vader to recruit another Skywalker to join the Sith. At the end of the trilogy, though, Palpatine would meet his end after Darth Vader threw him down a maintenance shaft -- or so we thought.
During the opening scenes of The Rise Of Skywalker, it was revealed that Supreme Leader Snoke was actually a clone created and controlled by Palpatine. Snoke had been manipulating and directing Kylo Ren's actions throughout the events of The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi. Another shocking reveal was that Rey, who up until that point, was said to have come from unknown origins, was actually Palpatine's granddaughter. With these revelations, it can be said that while he only revealed his physical form in The Rise Of Skywalker, Palpatine was far more involved in the sequel trilogy than first thought.
THE SKYWALKERS FAILED
With the way that the original trilogy ended, most fans would have assumed that the Empire was taken down once and for all. This all changed in The Force Awakens when it was revealed that not only did the Empire find a way to rebuild themselves as the First Order, but the New Republic, which Leia had a huge part in forming, was weak. It was so fragile, in fact, that it took only one attack from the First Order's Starkiller weapon to wipe out the entire galactic government.
Not only was Leia's New Republic a failure, but so was Luke Skywalker's new Jedi Order. Before The Force Awakens, Luke, who sensed the Dark Side in his nephew, Ben Solo, considered killing the boy to eliminate the threat. This set off a chain of events that led to the destruction of Luke's new Jedi Temple and the killing of his remaining pupils. Ben Solo would later go on to become Kylo Ren, leading the First Order while under the command of Supreme Leader Snoke. Of course, Snoke was a clone of Palpatine, thus the only offspring of the Skywalker family was manipulated into becoming a mass murderer under the Sith Lord's control.
THE SKYWALKER LEGACY
To add fuel to the idea of Star Wars really being Palpatine's story, he posthumously hijacks the Skywalker legacy through his own granddaughter. At the end of The Rise of Skywalker, Rey is asked what her surname is, to which she replies "Skywalker". While the intention of this was to pay tribute to her mentors by adopting their name, it does not take away from the glaring irony that the direct descendant of one of the deadliest Sith Lords in the galaxy is now the leader of the future generations of Jedi.
While Anakin was meant to be the Chosen One who would destroy the Sith and bring balance back to the Force, in the end, it was Palpatine's own granddaughter, Rey, who ends the Sith. Rey may be using the Skywalker name, but ultimately, Star Wars has become the story of the Palpatine family.
Directed and co-written by J.J. Abrams, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker stars Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Lupita Nyong'o, Domhnall Gleeson, Kelly Marie Tran, Joonas Suotamo, Billie Lourd, Keri Russell, Anthony Daniels, Mark Hamill, Billy Dee Williams and Carrie Fisher, with Naomi Ackie and Richard E. Grant. The film is available now on Digital HD, and March 31 on Blu-ray and 4K UHD.