But if he was still clinging onto life through the offspring of the Skywalker’s, why would he even bother doing this with a random little girl, as well? She also cannot be called “a Palpatine” in this sequence of events. My goal going into this whole process was to preserve as much as possible about Ascendant while making her natural connection to Palpatine less dumb and not rely on as many hard retcons. Filling in the lingering questions in the saga such as why Kylo seemingly knows of a girl in TFA, why the Skywalkers all turned out so dark, and how Anakin was created are bonuses.
EDIT: BTW, Colin’s script of Episode IX was going to answer why he knew of a girl on Jakku. Apparently he would have killed her parents and left her there. Now, that doesn’t make sense timeline-wise, but it’s an indication that these seeds were planted in TFA in order for a suitable answer to be made.
Since we already have Nev’s dialogue for options #1 and #2 listed above, I’ll also share the dialogue below that we collaborated on for option #1 wherein the only hard retcon is the part Rey plays in the theme of Episode 8:
“I pushed you in the desert because I needed to see it… I needed you to see it… who you are. The dark side is your birthright, Rey…”
“You’re lying.”
“I’d never lie to you. Your parents were no one. Junk traders expecting a child they never wanted.”
“Don’t!”
“But no father of yours had any part in your conception.”
“I don’t want this!”
“…just like Vader.”
“No!”
“You’ve seen it, haven’t you? Your destiny.”
(Rey sees the vision of herself on the Sith throne)
“Luke saw the same fate in me. But you and I don’t want it.”
“Stop talking.”
“Why? I know you better than anyone else.”
(Cutaway to heroes capture)
“The Force showed me glimpses of a girl like you long before we first met. When we fought, in the forest, the power inside of you fully awakened. You didn’t reveal yourself to me alone… you were exposed to the Emperor… just as he’d intended.”
(Visions of Rey beating Kylo on Starkiller, falling into the dark cave, etc.)
“No!”
(A pedestal shatters and the mask of Vader falls to the ground)
“So that’s where you are.”
“Before you chose the Jedi, Palpatine wanted you alive."
“No…”
"I’ll come tell you why.”
“Rey… I know the rest of our story.”
“Tell me.”
"The Emperor influenced the Force itself into creating life. First my grandfather, and then you. You were his chosen heir. You… are rightfully a Palpatine.”
"The Emperor only wants us to fight each other, so his most worthy heir can claim the throne. But he hasn’t realized the strength of our connection, Rey… a bond, not of blood, but shared power in the Force. We’ll end him and the Sith, and create a new order, together…”
“What are you most afraid of?”
“Myself.”
“Because you’re a Palpatine. Leia knew you shared the same struggle as her.”
“She never told me. She still trained me.”
“Because she saw your spirit. Your heart. Rey… some things are stronger than blood. Confronting fear is the destiny of a Jedi…”
“She was quick to learn in our training. But Leia feared the darkness that had lived in our father, and lived on in us. She surrendered her saber to me and said that one day it would be picked up again…by someone with the strength to overcome that darkness.”