"According to Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy, bringing Palpatine back for The Rise of Skywalker was always a part of the plan, though many Star Wars fans, myself included, fail to see how the villain's return was seeded in either The Force Awakens or The Last Jedi. To be blunt, dude just kind of shows up. No strings. No connective tissue. He simply kicks the door down and all but shouts "I'm back, bitches! Gaze in despair upon my mighty Final Order ... that I've somehow been building in secret all this time. Mwuahaha!" But I digress, otherwise we'll be here all day."