The return of Emperor Palpatine in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker ended up dividing fans, though there's really no reason why his resurrection shouldn't have been one of this franchise's most exciting, epic moments. Unfortunately, it was all a bit too convoluted, and with no answers about how Palpatine returned or Snoke's role beyond being a clone, there was a lot of frustration.
Tie-in material would later explain that the villain had been plotting a contingency plan for years, attempting to make himself a new body that would help ensure he'd live forever. When Darth Vader threw his former Master to his "death," Palpatine transferred his essence into a waiting clone, but neither that nor those that followed were able to contain his Sith powers.
Adam Christopher's new novel Shadow of the Sith reveals more about how active Palpatine was during those years, appearing before Sith bounty hunter Ochi of Bestoon as a "Force Ghost," demanding he finds his granddaughter on the off chance she has the connection to the Force her cloned father did not.
What compels Ochi to embark on this mission? The villain, who we learn once clashed with Mace Windu, is looking to make himself "whole" again, and the only way he can do that is by finding Exegol. It appears he's hoping for a new cloned body to replace the one he has (he's kept alive with cybernetic implants), and that salvation is what Palpatine promises.
We learn Exegols' Sith Eternals are religious zealots who have long done the bidding of their Dark Side masters. It's actually established that both the Emperor and Darth Vader visited the planet on numerous occasions in the past, so we're sure there are more stories to be told during that time too.
This group is one with a lot of history, anyway, as the Sith Eternals are shown chanting the names of Sith "heroes" like Darths Plagueis, Revan, Noctyss, Sanguis, Kakon, Voord, and Shaa.
Some fans might have hoped for more from this book - we're guessing Snoke's story is being saved for elsewhere - but there are a lot of intriguing smaller reveals to unpack here that definitely help make sense of the Star Wars sequels. Palpatine clearly started plotting his revenge before the credits rolled on Return of the Jedi, so fingers crossed we learn more about that soon...