Anna Daniels
During Palpatine’s 30-plus years in hiding on Exegol, he came up with a rather convoluted plan for taking over the galaxy, and we wouldn’t blame you if you can’t figure out exactly what it is — especially since Palpatine keeps seeming to contradict himself. Long before the beginning of The Force Awakens, Palpatine was responsible for the creation of Snoke (who turned out to be a clone, although of whom, we still don’t know), whom he maneuvered into a position of power as Supreme Leader of the First Order. All of Snoke’s orders in the first two films actually came from Palpatine, as he attempted to position the First Order to take over the galaxy.
While Palpatine was secretly shaping the First Order, he was also constantly searching for his granddaughter, Rey, whom he considered his heir. He sent out bounty hunters to find her, but their efforts failed. He didn’t know where she was until she started her Force training under Luke Skywalker. He then tasked Kylo Ren with finding and killing her, but he never intended for Ren to succeed, hoping that his efforts would instead propel Rey to lean further into the Dark Side of the Force, preparing her to take over for Palpatine as Empress. Once Rey faced him on Exegol, Palpatine tempted her to strike him down and take his place, just as he once taunted Luke Skywalker, saying that killing him would then transfer his spirit to her — along with all the Sith who had come before — and they would all rule over the galaxy as one.
Written by: Looper
