Emperor Palpatine may have returned to the big screen in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, but the Star Wars comics beat the movies to the punch well over thirty years ago. Although no longer in official canon, one comic book sequel to the original trilogy was the first to bring the Emperor back as a clone.
Released in 1991, Star Wars: Dark Empire was one of the first comics produced by Dark Horse Comics after they acquired the license from Lucasfilm. Coming from the creative team of writer Tom Veitch and artist Cam Kennedy, Dark Empire would be followed by two sequels: Dark Empire II and Empire’s End (with artist Jim Baikie), effectively forming a trilogy on its own.
Released around the same period as Timothy Zahn’s Heir to the Empire, Dark Empire joined that best-selling novel as a new piece of Star Wars media at a time when the franchise had been dormant for some years.
“Somehow, Palpatine Has Returned”
Dark Empire Brought the Emperor Back Years Before Rise of Skywalker
It may be hard to believe now, but the Star Wars brand was about as dead as it gets in the late eighties and early nineties. Marvel Comics let their license to create comics expire after cancelling their Star Wars series in 1986. Known for acquiring licensed properties such as Aliens and Predator, Dark Horse Comics picked up the Star Wars comic license in 1991, with Dark Empire making waves as an official sequel to the Original Trilogy. The Dark Empire trilogy would introduce many concepts that the Sequel Trilogy would later explore, including a cloned version of Emperor Palpatine.
An earlier version of
Dark Empire
was actually pitched by Veitch and Kennedy to Marvel before they lost the
Star Wars
license in the eighties
Set six years after the events of Return of the Jedi, the story sees Luke Skywalker absorbed into a mysterious energy storm after sensing a disturbance in the Force. He then awakens onboard an Imperial prison ship, where Luke is shocked to discover a younger version of Palpatine. It turns out the Emperor was able to transfer his consciousness to a clone body before meeting his ultimate end on the second Death Star. Even worse for Luke, the cloned Palpatine warns the surviving Jedi that he can’t be killed, as he’ll simply transfer into another clone body if Luke strikes him down.
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In an even bigger twist, the cloned Palpatine offers Luke the chance to become his apprentice and learn the ways of the Dark Side of the Force. Seeing no other options, Luke hesitantly agrees, all the while strategizing on how best to prevent the Imperials from returning to power in the galaxy. Luke studies the Dark Side under Palpatine to better understand his father, and finds that while there is great power in the darkness, it also comes with a great sadness and fear that arises out of isolation; something that Luke notes he senses within Palpatine himself.
The Clone Palpatine in Dark Empire is Formidable
The Younger Version of the Emperor Can Duel Luke with Lightsabers
While there’s something to be said for the creepy, zombie-esque Palpatine clone seen in Rise of Skywalker, the cloned Emperor Palpatine in Dark Empire is a much more formidable opponent, as he poses a physical threat to Luke by being able to duel with a lightsaber. This was long before the Prequel Trilogy would show Palpatine’s skill with a lightsaber in Revenge of the Sith, so getting to see a younger version of the Emperor crossing lightsabers with Luke in Dark Empire was a rare treat for Star Wars fans.
The cloned Emperor Palpatine was popular enough to be turned into an action figure: first by Kenner in 1998, and later by Hasbro as a part of a two-pack with Luke in 2008
In addition to the clone version of Emperor Palpatine, the Dark Empire trilogy also included several ideas that would reappear during the Sequel Trilogy. The Dark Empire series was one of the first times Leia was seen wielding a lightsaber, where she used it to duel Luke himself while he was under the sway of Palpatine. A major plot point in Dark Empire also concerns Palpatine hiding away a portion of the Imperial army in secret within the Deep Core of the galaxy, which would later be echoed in Palpatine’s hidden Sith army in Exegol in Rise of Skywalker.
Of course, most of the Expanded Universe of Star Wars was rendered null-and-void following Lucasfilm’s acquisition by Disney in 2012. Although it’s now considered “Legends” and no longer in official continuity, it’s interesting to look back at the original cloned Emperor Palpatine seen in Star Wars: Dark Empire compared to the later version seen in The Rise of Skywalker.
The senator for Naboo, Palpatine rose to power and influence during the dying days of the Republic. In reality, his public persona was just a mask; he was really Darth Sidious, greatest of the Sith Lords, and he used his political skills and Machiavellian cunning to bring down both the Republic and the Jedi. Palpatine ruled his Galactic Empire for decades, until he was betrayed by his apprentice, Darth Vader. Even this wasn't enough to stop the Emperor, however, as he was resurrected by his followers - only to be defeated once again.
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