You may have had a question or two (or fifty) after watching Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. The significance of lightsaber colors, where Babu Frik ranked on a cuteness scale from one to Baby Yoda, and oh, yeah—how the hell Emperor Palpatine came back from the dead to torment Rey, who was his granddaughter, apparently.

Star Wars gave a very Westworld answer: He was a clone! Makes total sense. And Rey’s father, too, was a Palpatine clone, only the job was botched. There are some Star Wars novelizations that give some more details on this, but what about the movies? This week, a Reddit user went on a deep dive of the Skywalker Saga, hunting for any kind of precedence the films could’ve set for a Palpatine clone.

Turns out there are a handful of easter eggs buried throughout the series, dating all the way back to Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. Check out the full breakdown if you want to see every nod the films make, but here are some highlights.

Remember those creepy baby Snokes that were bred on the Sith planet Exegol? The Reddit user says that proves that the Sith had cloning technology:

Snoke. The presence of many 'pickle Snokes' in the holding tanks demonstrates two facts about the Sith cultists on Exegol. First, they have cloning technology advanced enough to make several replicas of the same individual. Secondly, it suggests they have resources far beyond what is shown in the film. That giant stone monument that floated above Palpatine’s chambers has to be used for something, after all.

There’s a generous reading of Palpatine’s “Look what you have made” quip in The Rise of Skywalker:

‘Look what you have made.’ This line is spoken by Palpatine just after he absorbs Rey and Ben’s life energy. Clones are obviously made, so this line justifies the claim that he is a clone. Palpatine is congratulating his faithful on how well they succeeded in resurrecting his body, by cloning. He himself had resigned to transferring his spirit (more on that later) to Rey in order to continue the Sith, but the unexpected nature of Ben and Rey’s force dyad allowed Palpatine to rejuvenate himself to his Episode VI appearance.

The user even found a line in Episode III that could be interpreted as a prophecy for Palpatine’s eventual cloning:

Episode III: “To cheat death is a power only one has achieved, but if we work together we can discover the secret.” I believe this line was the inspiration for Palpatine’s return (aside from the Tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise). It seems by Episode IX, Vader and his master were successful in discovering the secret, paying off the setup six movies prior, chronologically. Funnily enough, Vader cheated death too, but not as Vader, as Anakin Skywalker.

Feeling good with those explanations? Cool. We have another Palp-related investigation for you.