/the-real-villain-in-episode-vii-and-viii-revealed/

I think that the writing team will have had to resort to something like this to make the trilogies meld together properly.

I can buy Sidious being part of the story in some form, especially if he's trying to enact his revenge on the Skywalker family after being betrayed by Anakin.

Not that I give any real credibility to the report, but it would be a shame and probably a mistake if Ian didn't return to portray whatever was left of Sidious - voice, motion capture, etc.

Can anyone remember when we got the first character descriptions / character names prior to Episode I?

"Robotic upgrades, like Vader? Red lightsaber? Fascination with Vader? That definitely sounds like it could be the evil emperor, doesn’t it?"



No, it sounds to me more like a potential neo-Nazi who is going to be a new villain. Going out of our way to try and connect it to the now very dead Emperor or the Inquisitors from a cartoon we've barely seen yet is just silly.

I'd be more inclined to guess that this is Max Von Sydow's character. Maybe he's a former Imperial who was close to Sidious and has been through hell and back, and is ready for revenge?
Or maybe it's a completely new character we will know absolutely nothing about until he appears on screen? Can't have that now, can we.

Well, to break it down even further...



Upgrades? Or being kept alive through neccessity? And surely in a galaxy where technology means people can have cybernetic parts fitted, then... anyone might have had cybernetic parts fitted. I don't get why that fact alone would narrow it down to Palpatine. Surely "robotic upgrades, like Vader" narrows it down to potentially everyone we have seen previously in a Star Wars movie, and everyone we have not yet seen?



What - Maul is back? Dooku is back? Vader himself is back? Or a new character has a red lightsaber?



Again, 2+2=5. Just because Palpatine showed interest in Anakin and his potential, doesn't mean he was "fascinated" by him in a general and continuous sense. He just wanted the best apprentice available. Was he not offering Luke the same job, dropping Vader like hot bricks, on the second Death Star there?


It's just all a step too far - dubious speculation based upon dubious speculation...