Bingowings said:
I don't think it's in the same league as the midichlorians as a proposed explanation.
Is the holy grail pseudo science?
Is the ark of the covenant?
It could be an ancient Sith artifact that Palpatine wanted to retrieve that the people of Naboo hold without remembering what it originally was for.
The observation that it's used as a symbol of peace could be because it was taken from an ancient Sith warrior when he was defeated but it's so long ago people have forgotten the specifics.
Sith lightning in general couldn't do that to him so even in the established storyline Palpatine himself has something 'odd' about him to end up with that look.
To clarify: I'm not saying that such an explination is equivocal to the midichlorians. It's nowhere near that level....i'm simply citing it as an example of why less is usually more in the realm of Space Fantasy and of Star Wars. It's not strictly about providing a scientific explanation and thus demystifying something....but also about overly explaining something and thus removing the mystery of it.
As a better comparison, I would liken it to having the prequels try and explain specifically why the cave on Dagobah has a strong connection to the darkside of the force. Such a thing is good fodder for the expanded universe....but within the context of the movies removes the mystery and the wonder of it. Keeping it vague makes it more interesting....
I think we all agree that the best explanation for Palpatine's appearance was the implicit idea of him being corrupted by the darkside over the years since his appearance in the prequels.....but GL tossed that out the window in EPIII and all but made it impossible for anyone to restore that. Perhaps wisely since, judging by the Mace and Palpatine fight, Mcdiarmid isn't quite as intimidating without the makeup.
Barring the ability to restore that....I don't feel it's necessary to explain specifically why/how Palpatine can hide his true appearance. I just think it needs to be clarified that he is hiding his true appearance and that the force lightning is incidental. Currently, I do believe that is the official explination anyway....but it's not well conveyed in the context of the film.