Sherlock I completely agree with your assessment in regards to the logic behind it all, but specifically more about the transfer crap for me. Fortunately, I think … it isn’t explained in the movie about “Strike me down with hate and that allows me to transfer” as that is explained outside of the movie (Please correct me if I am wrong). By the movie’s logic, Palpy can transfer … mostly by being struck down by someone (though he somehow transfer from DSII … just don’t think too hard on it.)
Please remind me, but the whole exegol scene with Rey there doesn’t have Palp mention/explaining/talking about the transfer to Rey? If it isn’t mentioned at all at that point, then for Rey’s knowledge and understanding, Palp is saying “You strike me down by this ritual, then you get to have the throne … AKA you kill the boss you take over …” and not “You strike me down by this ritual, I/we/sith will utterly possess you and you get the throne as MeWeSith Lady” then Rey would have a reason to do it … since “I would be the boss, I can call off the destroyers.” That would make sense for her to decide/reason on why to do it, and we the audience are like “oh no, it’s a trap!”
He does mention transfer to Rey. “Your hatred, your anger, you want to kill me. That is what I want. You and I will be one.” So clearly hatred and anger are necessary for the process. Because we moved the rest of that line to Kylo at the beginning, it also makes it so that Rey believes that her spirit would be merged with his. And as I said previously, that is false, but also she might imagine that she would have some autonomy/control.
And axlanian, I only brought that up because in that moment Palpatine is defenseless. To quote Anakin, “It’s not the Jedi way” to kill somebody like that.