While the Star Wars universe has seen its fair share of villains, none have been as influential or diabolical on the state of the galaxy as the Sith lord Emperor Palpatine. His influence stretched from the galactic core all the way to the unknown regions, however, it was his influence in the bedroom that has the actor who brought the tyrannical emperor to life talking.
Ian McDiarmid, who has portrayed Emperor Palpatine in six of the nine Skywalker Saga Star Wars films, was speaking about his history in Star Wars with Empire Magazine in celebration of The Phantom Menace's 25th anniversary. The conversation eventually shifted to that of Palpatine's descendants, most notably being Daisy Ridley's Rey, and whether her existence was proof of some dalliances the Naboo Senator turned Galactic Emperor could have indulged in.
“Please don’t pursue that line too vigorously,” McDiarmid told the magazine. “But yes, he does [have sex]. It’s a horrible idea to think of Palpatine having sex in any shape or form. But then, of course, perhaps he didn’t.”
“Maybe it’s all to do with midi-chlorians – and don’t ask me what those are.”
The topic of sex is one rarely spoken about, or even hinted to, within the Star Wars universe, if it is discussed at all. The closest many of the films have come to even broaching that subject directly is showing Padme Amidala's pregnancy in Revenge of the Sith, but even then it is focused only on the pregnancy and the story to come for her children, Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa.
In the case of Palpatine and his offspring, though, the subject becomes even cloudier.
Palpatine's “son” Dathan is the product of what is referred to in the Star Wars universe as strand-cast cloning, a process which produces clones that mixed various genes to a base genetic template to produce more unique individuals rather than a direct clone. But while Dathan was born artificially, his daughter Rey would be born naturally out of Dathan's marriage to his wife Miramir.
It isn't to say Star Wars will never delve deeper into the topic of sex in the future, but it would likely occur in more mature material.
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