Why would the Emperor groom an apprentice if he had other plans?

Question

At the end of The Rise of Skywalker,

Darth Sidious reveals to Rey that he wants her to kill him so that his spirit can fuse with hers and she becomes the Empress of the Sith.

However, if it is true that this plan would work as stated, then why did he bother grooming an apprentice in the form of Kylo Ren? Even if he didn't know Rey had powers early on when she was only a child, at some point he becomes aware of it

through Snoke since Snoke was simply his puppet. Yet, instead of focusing on getting Rey to Exagol, he orders for her to be killed. Why would he do this when she is his best hope for himself (and the Sith) to live on? Or alternatively, why not have Kylo Ren kill him, inherit the Sith's powers, and become the new Emperor?

Answer 1

2 Reasons

1) Death isn't his primary goal.

Palpatine is a master manipulator and we shouldn't take every word he speaks as gospel. It may seem that he's eager for Rey to kill him but I don't think he really is and it certainly isn't his primary goal. His preferred course of action is the one he's executing when Rey shows up: raising his fleet and reassuming direct control of the galaxy.

When Kylo Ren fails to kill Rey and she shows up on Exegol unannounced, Palpatine moves to a "Plan B" - his best option given his weakened state - where he solidifies Rey's turn to the dark side by convincing her to strike him down in anger/hatred/revenge.

Having died once before, he's not afraid of doing it again as long as the Sith lives on, his name lives on, and his spirit lives on.

Also, it's hard to even say for certain he'd let Rey kill him if she tried. He gave a similar pitch to Luke in ROTJ in an attempt to turn him to the dark side knowing full well that Vader would step in and protect him. The point was getting Luke angry enough to strike him down and it could be his goal here too. While my gut tells me he was willing to die, it's entirely plausible he had a contingency plan if Rey had actually swung her saber.

His idea of a best case scenario is further hammered home when - once he realizes

Rey and Ren are a Dyad in the Force -

he sees an opportunity to fully restore his power and takes it. That way, he can resume his original plan of raising his fleet. His attempt to kill her here and his earlier attempt to send Kylo Ren to kill her are both incompatible with the idea that Rey's turn is his ultimate goal.

I think it's pretty clear that she was nothing more than a "Plan B".

2) Snoke and Ren are means to an end.

If his ultimate plan is his own return to power, it makes sense to involve others. While his body is being regenerated, Palpatine is vulnerable and he knows it. Using other powerful force users like Snoke and Kylo Ren to execute his will is a lot better than exposing himself directly. By operating in the shadows while his body is reconstructed, he's able to keep the attention off of him and on disposable pawns that can be replaced if defeated without affecting the assembly of his Final Order fleet.

Answer 2

I have no evidence for this but it seems simply that Kylo Ren was the insurance, the backup plan. There are two incredibly strong bloodlines in the Star Wars universe, Skywalker and Palpatine. Kylo Ren, aka Ben Solo, was a Skywalker thanks to Leia. Should he not be able to find Rey again he would be a good option to carry on the Sith line.

However, once Rey surfaces and is on the Jedi/light side, he has two choices to make:

1. Corrupt her to turn to the Dark Side/Sith
2. Kill her and let Kylo assume control because he's already well on his way to taking that goal

Kylo has shown himself to be a leader of the Dark side and is easy pickings for Sheev to use to continue the Sith. However, Rey has continually thought for the light and refused to corrupt and join the Dark. The best option in this case is to use Kylo to kill Rey and then let Kylo continue the Dark side.

He couldn't let just one of them live on because that would jeopardise the mission with the other fighting them to potentially destroy the Sith. He has worked hard to ensure its survival so passing the mantel when both are still around isn't an option.

Of course the plan changes later on when he realises they have a Force bond and he can use that to reinstate himself to power but that's a last minute change.

Answer 3

He's not necessarily wanting to fuse with Kylo Ren. In fact, based on the fact that

he tries to kill Kylo Ren in the same way his grandfather, Darth Vader, did to him

you could argue he's just wanting to get Kylo to do the work nobody else has been able to do (get Rey to Exegol), only to betray him once he had what he wanted.

The other argument against Kylo Ren being the true Sith successor was that Kylo had been somewhat wishy-washy on the Sith thing. Remember, he struggles in TFA with the "light side" (transcript)

KYLO REN: Forgive me. I feel it again. The pull to the light. Supreme Leader senses it. Show me again, the power of the darkness, and I will let nothing stand in our way. Show me, Grandfather, and I will finish what you started.

Palpatine would have known that Ben was somewhere still in there, just as Anakin was still somewhere in Darth Vader. We've kinda been down that path before in ROTJ, and it ended at the bottom of a reactor shaft.

Why would Snoke try to have Rey killed then?

Probably to further his own ambition. I mean, we're talking about the Sith/Dark Side here, which wasn't known for its loyalty

The Rule of Two ensured the relationship between a Sith Master and their apprentice was not one of trust; indeed, both the master and the apprentice constantly searched for any sign of weakness in the other, for a weak master deserved to be overthrown by their pupil, just as a weak pupil deserved to be replaced by a worthier, more powerful recruit. This philosophy was embraced by the Sith, who adopted it as a way to purify the weak and become stronger over time, since only an apprentice who had surpassed all previous Sith could take their master's place through honorable combat.