What was Emperor Palpatine's plan in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, and what was he trying to accomplish with that strange Sith ritual? Palpatine's return was already revealed long before The Rise of Skywalker's release, triggering feverish speculation over how he cheated death in Return of the Jedi and what the villain had planned for the galaxy in the Star Wars sequel trilogy. A chunk of this story development takes place in The Rise of Skywalker's opening text crawl, which establishes Palpatine has emerged from the shadows and revealed himself to the galaxy, sending a wave of terror throughout.
While Palpatine's revival is dealt with early on, his actual intentions are left intentionally vague, gradually fed to the audience throughout the story. The wrinkled Sith unveils his grand scheme to Kylo Ren in The Rise of Skywalker's opening sequence, but viewers aren't privy to their conversation. By the final act, however, Rey has confronted Palpatine (now revealed as her grandfather in one of the most awkward family reunions this side of Christmas) and learned the full extent of his machinations, including the Emperor's plans for her, the galaxy and his continued existence in the mortal plane.
While some speculated that Palpatine might've actually planned his own "death" on Endor, that doesn't appear to be the case. Instead, the Emperor merely had a contingency to ensure his survival (and that of the Empire's) in case the worst should happen and an asthmatic in a black suit threw him down a big hole. While The Rise of Skywalker glosses over exactly how Palpatine survives, his backup plan involves hiding out on Exegol, the Sith homeworld, and watching over the construction of massive, deadly fleet of upgraded Star Destroyers.
From the shadows, Palpatine uses a genetically created figure (Snoke) to spark the First Order from the ashes of the Empire. The First Order ensure the Empire's legacy lives on until the new fleet and Palpatine himself are ready to emerge and seize definitive control of the galaxy once and for all, quelling any rebellion or resistance with their new compact Death Star technology.
While Palpatine's plan for the galaxy is fairly straightforward, his personal aims are a little more convoluted. Hidden on Exegol, the Emperor has been speaking and nurturing Kylo Ren both via Snoke and Darth Vader's mask. However, Palpatine doesn't actually value Kylo himself, the former Ben Solo is merely a tool to bring Palpatine and Rey together and to help tempt Rey towards the dark side. Once Rey is on Exegol and suitably conflicted, Kylo Ren has played his part in Palpatine's plan. But what does the Emperor have in mind for his granddaughter?
It's evident that Palpatine's physical form is in bad shape - he requires a new vessel, and a granddaughter powerful in the Force is just the solution. The Rise of Skywalker reveals that Palpatine's body is actually the collated mass of every past Sith in history, with each of his predecessors achieving immortality (of a sort) by living on inside a single Sith. The Rise of Skywalker begins with Palpatine luring Kylo Ren to Exegol and requesting he kill Rey, knowing that the boy will be unable to do so, and will lead her right to the Sith planet. The grand plan is to have Rey become the next in the Sith line, taking all of the spirits, Palpatine included, into her own body and sitting upon the Sith throne to rule over the galaxy with the Final Order at her command.
To achieve this, Rey must kill Palpatine in anger, which will allow the Emperor and all of his Sith friends to take residence in Rey's body via a long-held ritual passed down from master to apprentice. Doing so will give rise to Empress Palpatine, and the Sith lineage will continue beyond The Rise of Skywalker. When Rey and a redeemed Ben Solo continue to resist Palpatine's Plan A, however, Palpatine accidentally discovers that he can use the power of their Force dyad to renew his own body, negating the need to possess Rey. From this point on, the Emperor is solely concerned with killing the powerful duo of Rey and Ben Solo to prevent them interfering in his conquest.
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