Did you know that Emperor Palpatine didn”t die at the end of “Return of the Jedi”? In the original Expanded Universe lore, the Emperor could not be killed by a mere betrayal by his apprentice. One anticipated since the moment Anakin Skywalker pledged himself to the Dark Side.
No. Originally Palpatine had an endless supply of clone bodies waiting for him to transfer his essence/soul into upon death.
While all that was wiped away when Disney merged the Star Wars storylines, parts of the process remained canon. In “Revenge of the Sith,” Palpatine lays down some Sith mythology about Darth Plagueis and his ability to save others from death through midichlorian manipulation.
It”s only a hop and skip from that to “manipulate the Force to live forever.” Which makes this reveal in DARTH VADER #5 all the more interesting.
Housed on the Space Whales, Palpatine has been a busy man. Cylo-V has been leading research into new and interesting ways to protect the Emperor. Including but not limited to a type of resurrection, it seems.
The begs the question: Just how dead IS Palpatine (and Vader) by the time “The Force Awakens” begins?