Emperor Palpatine actor Ian McDiarmid has hilariously addressed one of the biggest and most awkward questions Star Wars fans had after seeing The Rise of Skywalker. As seen in the final movie of the Skywalker saga, it was revealed that Rey was a descendant of Palpatine himself, the Emperor’s granddaughter who’d been hidden away on Jakku for many years. However, this also opened the door to a concept regarding Palaptine’s past which multitudes of fans would prefer to never think about…ever.
In an interview with Empire celebrating 25 years of the Star Wars prequels, Palpatine actor Ian Mcdiarmid gave his opinion about the Emperor and how he was able to have not only a granddaughter but also a son (Rey’s father). You can read the excerpt from Empire’s upcoming Star Wars issue here:
Just, don’t take the existence of Daisy Ridley’s Rey – revealed to be Palpatine’s granddaughter in
The Rise Of Skywalker
– as proof that the Emperor liked to… well…
do it
. “Please don’t pursue that line too vigorously,” says McDiarmid. “But yes, he does [have sex]. It’s a horrible idea to think of Palpatine having sex in any shape or form. But then, of course, perhaps he didn’t.”
No matter how you look at it, the existence of Rey as a Palaptine opens up the awkward and horrible possibility that the Emperor may have indeed done it and had sex to further his bloodline. However, the Star Wars canon has thankfully provided an alternate explanation, mercifully silencing the millions of voices that had suddenly cried out in terror thanks to this Rise of Skywalker plot point.
