Does Star Wars Villain Emperor Palpatine Have Sex? Ian McDiarmid Has An Answer, Somehow

Prior to “The Rise of Skywalker,” Rey’s parentage was a mystery, as she had been abandoned as a child. In “Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) claimed that Rey’s parents were nobodies and that she has no legacy. There were, however, several deleted scenes in “Rise of Skywalker” that would have explained the connection between Palpatine and Rey’s father, a character named Dathan. It seems that when Palpatine was plummeting to his death at the end of “Return of the Jedi,” he had the presence of mind to magically project his consciousness into a strand of cloned DNA, many lightyears away. Dathan, then, was kinda sorta Dathan’s father. Dathan then had a child — Rey — in the usual way, passing on some of Palpatine’s DNA.

But that version of the story isn’t in the final cut of “Rise of Skywalker,” and most audiences are still back with the idea that Palpatine had a human sexual partner whom he impregnated directly. When asked about if Palpatine has sex, McDiarmid was frank:

“Please don’t pursue that line too vigorously, but yes, he does. It’s a horrible idea to think of Palpatine having sex in any shape or form.”

McDiarmid’s aversion to Palpatine sex isn’t merely because of his age — people over the age of 60 should pursue whatever zesty, healthy sex lives that they want — but is more likely because of his monstrous nature. In “Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith,” Palpatine seemed to “overload” on his Force Lightning powers, mutating his face and making him pale and puffy. Perhaps that, added to a lifespan of over a century, leads people to picture Palpatine’s sex life to be unattractive.