Post #1341437

From watching the film and reading the visual guide, you get the impression that Palpatine was rebuilt and stiched together, hence the need for the huge robotic arm for his every move. The cloning was in relation to Snoke, Palpatine being a clone was only added later on in the novelisation. (although in the original script as per Ian himself, Palpatine explicitly said that he was a clone, but that was changed around to a vague reference to the darkside.)