idir_hh said:
According to this page from the novisation The Emperor in TROS was (eyeroll) a clone.
https://i.redd.it/kqcgrp5r0wj41.jpg

I would’ve preferred no Palpatine at all – but I quite enjoyed the Dark Empire graphic novels.

From Wikipedia:

Following the release of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker in 2019, several critics interpreted the circumstances of Palpatine’s return as amounting to a tribute to Dark Empire. The film’s novelization reveals that Palpatine returned using a clone body, much like his return in the comic.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_Empire#Impact