STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER Novelization Reveals That Rey's Father Was Actually A Failed Palpatine Clone

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker revealed that Emperor Palpatine had a son who went on to father Rey, but it turns out that there's a lot more to the story. 

Following the reveal that the villain transferred his consciousness into a broken clone body after Darth Vader threw him into the heart of the Death Star II at the end of Return of the Jedi, many fans have wondered how the deformed Palpatine managed to produce a child with a woman.

Well, he didn't. In The Rise of Skywalker's novelization, it's revealed that the "heretics of the Sith Eternal" spent years trying to create a new body for The Emperor, but none of them could hold his power. However, "One genetic strandcast lived. Thrived even. A not-quite-identical clone. His 'son.'"

"But he was a useless, powerful failure," the book continues. "Palpatine could not even bear to look upon such disappointing ordinariness. The boy's only worth would lay in continuing the bloodline through more natural methods."

This essentially means that Palpatine is both Rey's father and grandfather, and to say this movie keeps getting weirder would be an understatement. On the plus side, at least we now know that the decrepit Sith Master didn't impregnate some poor woman. However, it's still strange to think that he used his powerless, non-identical clone to create a child he could then hopefully possess. 

It feels like The Rise of Skywalker included at least three movies worth of content when it comes to Palpatine's return, but it was all shoehorned into an already very busy adventure.

What do you guys think?