I was actually thinking of removing Palpatine completely, and having the Death Star Destroyers be built by Kylo. Here’s my planned plot outline:
-Rewrite the opening crawl to establish that Kylo is using a group of Sith cultists on the planet Exegol to build an unstoppable fleet of Star Destroyers, each with the power to destroy an entire planet. The Resistance has found out about this, and has begun searching for a legendary Sith Wayfinder which could lead to Exegol.
-Begin the movie with Rey’s training. Kylo communes with Vader’s helmet, and Rey and Kylo have a shared vision. Rey talks with Leia about how she’s been having trouble concentrating recently.
-After Rey’s training, cut to the heroes embarking for Pasaana. Most of the opening has been cut, since they already know where the Wayfinder is in this version. Lando’s conversation with the heroes tells us all we need to know.
-The events on Pasaana and Kijimi proceed as normal, with minor trims to remove discussion of Palpatine’s return.
-Cut Rey saying she recognizes Ochi’s ship. Rey’s parents are still nobody drunkards in this version.
-Cut the Force Bond lightsaber duel completely, since most of the conversation revolves around how Rey’s parents weren’t actually nobodies.
-Remove all dialog from Rey and Kylo’s meeting in the hangar, until Kylo takes his mask off. Rey isn’t a Palpatine in this version.
-The events on Endor proceed as normal, with minor trims to remove discussion of Palpatine’s return and Rey Palpatine.
-After the heroes learn about Leia’s death, cut to a Star Destroyer destroying Kijimi. The one-two punch of those scenes being together is really powerful.
-The events on the Resistance base and Luke’s island proceed as normal, with minor trims to remove discussion of Palpatine’s return and Rey Palpatine.
-Restructure the final battle to focus on the Resistance, removing all scenes of Rey between her guiding the Resistance to Exegol and her X-Wing escaping the final battle safely.
-Move Kylo’s redemption to after the victory celebration and before Rey’s return to Tatooine. There are now two final scenes for each member of the Force Dyad, and Kylo’s fate is left ambiguous.
That’s my planned plot structure for a potential edit that removes Palpatine. It might not be possible, but it’s the only way this movie could be salvaged in my opinion.