Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker didn't just reference a bunch of past Star Wars canon in its final installment, it also mentioned some things that were previously canon, but have gone into limbo since the Disney acquisition. Commonly referred to as the "Legends" canon (or the Expanded Universe, if you prefer), these stories have yet to be officially confirmed as part of the official narrative, and may not be by the time their characters or events are re-introduced.

Shows like Star Wars Rebels have done this in the past with popular Legends characters like Grand Admiral Thrawn, and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker did this in ways that were both glaring and subtle. For those that may have missed it, here are a handful of nods to Legends canon that were referenced in some way during Episode IX.

We still don't know exactly how Emperor Palpatine survived the events of Return of the Jedi in the official canon, but we can say that, in Legends, he actually didn't. Palpatine's physical body was destroyed, but his extreme dark connection to the Force allowed his spirit to travel to his contingency plan, which we'll get into in a bit. It looked like Palpatine still had his original body in The Rise of Skywalker, so it will be interesting to see how that happened should the story ever be told.

Remember how I said in Legends canon that Palpatine's body didn't survive Return of the Jedi? That wasn't a huge setback for the Emperor, as he had closely guarded clones stashed away that he could use provided his spirit could reach them. We're still not entirely sure on how Palpatine used the Snoke clones, though Snoke's extensive scarring could call back to the immense physical toll it took on a host Palpatine possessed. I mean, we can hope anyway, since who would willingly clone themselves to look like that?

In the Legends canon, Leia became a full-fledged Jedi Knight, but Luke only helped her with a part of her training. Leia then went on to study under the Barabel Saba Sebatyne, who was a Jedi Master in Legends continuity. Leia's three children did not get in the way of her training in Legends, though she did have fears about having children thinking her father's dark legacy was hereditary.

Perhaps the answer lies in Legends, in which Palpatine allegedly had a son by the name of Triclops. Triclops was a human mutant slave with three eyes, and the ability to overcome Palpatine's immense power. There was always a question of whether Triclops was a son of Palpatine through traditional means, or through Midi-chlorians. The short answer is it doesn't really matter now considering he's seemingly retconned, though the details behind his lineage could answer the questions we have behind Palpatine's canon son.

The reveal comes from the Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker visual novel, which shows different legions of Sith Troopers are named after former Sith Lords. Among those referenced is Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic's Darth Revan, as well as Darth Phobos and Desolous from Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. In fairness, we have no idea how connected these names are to the past characters. The names might be the only things that have been retained, or maybe the groundwork's been laid for an introduction that distances the characters from their past stories.

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