Is there a worse line in cinema than, “Somehow, Palpatine returned”? Even Tommy Wiseau’s The Room has better dialogue and that’s saying something.

It’s a line that’s plagued the minds of Star Wars fans for years now, and while it’s never really explained how he returned, it’s somewhat implied in the films.

Basically, Palpatine in his endless wisdom probably knew at some point Darth Vader would betray him. After all, he purposefully designed Vader’s suit to restrict the Sith Lord’s power to a certain extent.

Of course, it didn’t matter in the end because instead of using the force or a lightsaber, Vader let gravity and a bit reactor do the work for him and threw Palpatine into one.

It’s implied that on the planet Exegol, Palpatine had scientists create clone bodies, one of which being Snoke, for him to pass his essence into on the event of his death, which he clearly did because he’s alive and well in the most recent film.

Why the film couldn’t just tell us that instead of saying it’s because of “dark magic” only the Sith know is beyond us, but those seem to be the facts.

Fans discussed the revelation on Reddit, and as you’d expect, the majority still believe it was a dumb attempt of raising the stakes after Star Wars: The Last Jedi upset such a large part of the fanbase.

One comment replying to a question about how he canonically survived simply read, “Somehow.”

Another sarcastically added, “The dark side of the force is a pathway to many abilities some consider to be unnatural.”

Novels and comics have attempted to shed more light on Palpatine’s grand plan, but regardless of how much new lore is thrown at it, it’s never going to be a good plot point, just a silly one.