Bingowings said:
The ideal option would have been to continue Palpatine's physical decay from AOTC (something Lucas backtracked on causing a continuity error) so that he just looks the way he does in ROTJ because that process has just brought him there.
However seeing as Lucas thought his audience too stupid to fill in the blanks themselves and had to show Vader wearing a more perfect and less interesting version of his OT costume and have the wrinkly Emperor by his side he went down the route of having the Force lightning blowback explanation which is daft as neither Anakin,Mace, Yoda or Luke receive any facial warping from the full blast of direct Force lightning but Palpatine does on the rebound.
The transition effect is rubbish so I don't mind losing it on a technical level either.
The only problem it leaves is why doesn't Palpatine restore his false face and how does he explain it if he can't?
The obvious answer being he can't for some reason and he lies about being the victim of a Jedi assassination attempt and scarred.
Which then makes it seem to make as much sense that he is scarred.
In the end it all rests on the editors ability to pull the effect off because no form of tinkering (that I've read or seen) can make the scene make narrative sense thanks to Lucas.
This is one of the best arguments against the 'canon' explanation of Palpatine's face. In addition, what kind of Jedi assassination attempt leaves a man with a white, wrinkled face? It's absurd.
I prefer the idea of Palpatine closing himself away after he declares himself Emperor (normal appearance intact), immersing himself completely in the study of the dark side, and handing over governing duties to the likes of Tarkin and other Imperials. He gains his appearance through the degrading effect of the dark side as well as natural aging. This was a pre-PT EU idea. The general public never knows what he looks like as his appearance grows worse. This also fits in with the original conception of the Emperor in the Star Wars novel.
Unfortunately, this can't come to pass with the footage we have available. Kerr's idea might be the best we'll get. However, BobGarcia had attempted to have Palpatine's face melt as soon as he revealed himself to Mace Windu. It looked very promising.