What The Emperor’s Laugh at the End of the Star Wars: Episode IX Trailer Could Mean, Along With Force Ghosts and Sidious Clones

The first teaser for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker ends with a familiar laugh, and one that could mean big things for the franchise’s canon. If you haven’t seen the trailer, it closes out with the chuckle of Emperor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid), suggesting that Darth Sidious himself is back in some capacity in the new movie.

But how could that be? After all, Palpatine has been dead since the events of Return of the Jedi, which takes place thirty years before the events of The Last Jedi. There are two main possibilities here, one of which would pull something previously established in the expanded universe (now non-canon and referred to as “Legends”) back into canon.

Before we get into the two possibilities, we have to be clear: there’s nothing that suggests this is a fake-out at this point. McDiarmid’s voice directly mirrors Luke’s in the beginning of the teaser, and Mark Hamill is confirmed to be appearing in the film. Also, at the Chicago Star Wars Celebration panel where the trailer premiered, McDiarmid appeared on stage after the reveal to confirm he is reprising his role in the movie.

FORCE GHOST?

The answer that will seem most immediately probable is that Palpatine is back as a Force Ghost. One would imagine that’s how Luke will appear, and with Luke’s voice starting the trailer, Palpatine’s finishing it would seem to suggest some kind of mirror there. Force Ghosts have been a big part of Star Wars film lore with Yoda, Obi-Wan, and Anakin famously appearing at the end of Return of the Jedi.

That said, Dark Side practitioners have only become Force Ghosts in some capacity in the Legends (i.e. no longer canon) material. Becoming a Force Ghost is mentioned by Star Wars: The Clone Wars’ series finale “Sacrifice” as a discipline unknown to the Sith. Dark Side Force Ghosts are possible in the Legends Universe, but it seems less likely that JJ Abrams will pull that fact back into canon than the other one. Speaking of that other one…

SIDIOUS CLONES

Yep, it seems likely that we’re getting more clones. Again, this is Legends material, but after his death, Palpatine remained a regular villain of the Star Wars universe for some time. He was able to do this through his mastery of an ancient Force ability, which allowed him to transfer his spirit into one of the clone bodies he had stored in preparation on the Core World of Byss, where Palpatine lived. This allowed Palpatine to live beyond the destruction of the second Death Star and continue to guide the Empire, until he was finally dragged permanently back into the Force about eight years after the events of Return of the Jedi.

There are a couple of reasons that this seems more likely than the Force Ghost option. First, as I said before, canon actively claims that the Sith are unaware of the process of becoming a Force Ghost. On the other hand, the idea of jumping from body to body thematically fits the Emperor more effectively as a counterpart to the Jedi’s spiritual essences. It suggests that the Sith are more focused on the material world, and are less “divine” than the Light Side.

But more specifically, it ties everything together. Director JJ Abrams said in a recent interview that The Rise of Skywalker will have to serve multiple purposes, resolving the new trilogy as well as resolving the nine film Skywalker saga as a whole. If Palpatine is returning — and we now know he is — one of the big themes surrounding him has always involved his cloning. Abrams loves nostalgia; even those not familiar with his other work would know that from The Force Awakens. The opportunity to tie everything together in one film that puts the final stamp on the original trilogy (Luke and Leia), the prequels (Palpatine, the Clone Wars), and the new series (Rey, Kylo, Finn, and Poe) seems to tempting for him to pass up.

Of course, we’ll learn the truth of the matter when Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker opens on December 20th.