ST Ian McDiarmid (Plapy) in Episode IX

Not sure if this has been discussed here yet, but:

Is it possible that the blue energy that shot up from the reactor shaft Sheev was thrown into at the end of RotJ was actually his ghost? That blue energy passed through Vader's helmet in that scene. Does that mean the ghost is in Vader's burnt helmet? Is that why Kylo thinks he hears a voice coming out of that helmet in TFA?

Maybe Rey and company are going to the wreckage of that scene in the RoS trailer because she needs to be physically present there to do a forceback and witness the event for herself. Maybe that's how they figure out that the ghost is inside the helmet.

I would LOVE to see footage of that blue energy passing through Vader from a different angle, like the alternate angle of the ESB duel we were supposed to see in TFA. If the RoS trailer has proved anything, it's that JJ is open to repurposing rejected TFA concepts.

 

It mostly misses his helmet it appears as he is ducking down but I guess its possible. The force lightning goes through his helmet before he throws Palpatine down the shaft. I have a hunch that his spirit may have went directly to that source of the darkside in the unknown regions when he dies.

Also some of the blue energy at the end appears to be going back into the reactor after shooting up out of there.

 

Oh ok. Thank you for clearing that up.

 

The spirit going into the helmet would add up. the fact Kylo is talking to it as if something did at one time react back to him from the helmet.

 

Still hoping the whole talking-to-Vader's-helmet thing from Ben is more a one-way thing. Like he's not actually getting anything back from it, he just talks to it in a sort of abstract sense of communing with grandpa, a way to feel close to his ancestry past or whatever.

Guess it's not out of the question Palpatine could have put the force-whammy on the helmet though, they might have done the Momin thing recently as just a way of establishing the concept. Works really well there, not sure I'd want to see it here though.

 

That is my guess or maybe Palpatine messing with him. I will be really surprised looking over a lot of the stuff in the novels if Snoke wasn't actually Palpatine's spirit possessing some other body.

 

I truly dislike the notion of Snoke being a possession, spiritually, from Palpatine. At that point, might as well reveal true identity with in that 30+ year period. Snoke, just a nobody I would say. Palpatine manipulating from beyond so to say to some nefarious gain in IX make more sense from a McGuffin standpoint. Vader's helmet should be Vader. Blending Palpatine in Snoke or Vader's helmet does not drive the story IMO.

 

Not liking the Palpatine/Vader's helmet thing. What worries me is that it sounds plausible, in a way...but at the same time I just KNOW that this wasn't the plan from day one. Like, at all. It could be used to make sense of why Kylo spoke to the helmet, but I think it works better as Kylo just talking to something he feels wasn't just connected to his grandfather, but was actually his legacy. I mean, you think of Vader and the first thing that comes to mind for most people is his imposing appearance, and then his loud, iconic breathing sound. The helmet and face mask were a huge part of that. I like to think that's why Kylo latched onto it, not because it once spoke to him.

Maybe I'm being harsh. It is kinda cool when I think about it from a Palps point of view. It would be a great way of making him into the true and undisputed main antagonist of this ST. I just think (on the surface, anyway) the idea of his spirit latching onto Vader's helmet is just weird, though. Like something out of a fanfic.

 

You "just know" it wasn't the plan?

Neither of us know, but we've had the guy directing it say Palpatine coming back was. Given that, extrapolating that the Kylo/Vader/helmet stuff was a part of that from the start would make sense.

 

I feel like Kylo probably had a Force-back when he first touched Vader's helmet, just like Rey had a Force-back the first time she touched the Legacy Saber (and only the first time). I don't think that the helmet itself is possessed by anyone, but rather they both have force imprints left on them because they were used by the Chosen One. The legacy saber has a lightside imprint while the helmet probably has a darkside version. I wouldn't be surprised if Kylo saw a flash of Rey in his Force-back which is why he recognized her in TFA.

 

It seems hokey. And I doubt it was the original plan as JJ was never meant to return for episode IX. I'm not saying Palpatine wasn't always destined to return in some form, but I think personally it was never going to be in a large capacity. I think the perceived failure of The Last Jedi is what's prompted bringing Palpatine back as the overall big bad.

 

Yes, I never thought of that. I think that would be a better route to go down rather than the helmet being possessed.

 

Well, no. But that also doesn't mean it wasn't the plan.

We obviously don't know the full extent of what the original George/Arndt TFA was, but for all we know the "Palpatine's coming back in the third of the trilogy" idea pre-dates Abrams even getting the gig. Palpatine's return could be something George/Kathleen/Michael were kicking around, pre-Kasdan and pre-Abrams. All we have to go on is Abrams has said himself that Palpatine coming back in the third of the trilogy was the plan since working on TFA.

How that relates to the Ben/Vader's mask stuff could be anything, or nothing, but we know they had a general mental outline of where this was headed.

 

Palps reborn is the broom boy. I am 100% sure.

 

Palps being back doesn't necessarily mean he's the big-bad. After all, something was calling him from the UR, and he could feel waves radiating from it after the Jakku observatory found a route out there. His laughter in the teaser trailer could just be a miss-direction, like the TFA teaser trailers had us thinking that Finn might be the next Jedi candidate. I think we'll see him in some form but I don't think he's going to be the final big-boss.

 

I actually think it may have been after all. My avatar which is basically a lich/skeleton was considered evidently for Snoke's look at one time and he is basically something that was dug up from the grave there. Might make sense if Palpatine's spirit has to possess a dark side connected figure whether dead or alive.

 

If its a case between making him the big bad just like he was in the last 2 trilogies... or making someone new the big bad... i kinda think he will end up being the big bad.

Interestingly enough in a recent interview JJ really did seem surprised and relieved that Ian being on set wasn't leaked. he seem to for some reason believe it would get out at some point. so i kinda think it might be much bigger than say the yoda cameo in TLJ.

 

Yeah. It's not like we heard Yoda laugh at the end of the TLJ teaser.

That would've been pretty funny, though.

 

Indeed. I think Palps role is going to very small. His presence might be felt or hinted at through more of the film but I won't be surprised if Palps doesn't pop up until Kylo and Rey are in the wreckage of the Death Star and once the Death Star scene is over we won't see or hear of Palps for the rest of the movie.

I'm almost thinking of the Death Star wreckage scene is going to be like a spooky, haunted, carnival fun house type situation. Rey and Kylo will go in there looking for something and while they start fighting each other a bunch of spooky supernatural stuff related to the Emperor will happen but ultimately none of this is going to amount to Palpatine coming back to life in the flesh.

 

I wonder what happened to Plapy's lightsaber? Maybe they find that on the DS2.

 

I don't like the idea of Big Sid hiding out in Vader's helmet.I have a feeling we are gonna see he has a endless supply of clones.

 

I second this; I think--or at least, I hope--that it'll be a case of Palpatine's spirit being summoned out of desperation either by Kylo or the heroes. It might prove an important plot point but I don't think he'll dominate the whole movie.

 

I think it was Palps lightning that did that to the helmet but will have to look at that again to be sure.