In my opinion, the idea of Palpatine returning is something that had to be addressed if they want to move on from these characters. Clones and cloning have been a part of Star Wars from the beginning. Obi-Wan mentions the Clone Wars when we first meet him. In a universe with cloning, whenever an evil mastermind is destroyed, it isn’t gong to take long for the idea of a clone to be mentioned. Especially if that mastermind has previously mentioned extending life and is strong with the Dark Side. Even the old expanded universe novels had clones of Palpatine.

The Rise of Skywalker isn’t perfect. No movie is. But if you look past the flaws and focus on the good time, I think it’s a lot of fun. It’s probably the last time we’ll see Luke, Leia, Han, and Lando. At least portrayed by the original actors. It was really great to see them again.