Thread:Red Chevalier/@comment-24097388-20200126015727/@comment-24097388-20200126044451

Well one, he did get killed, he just found a way to resurrect himself, which is why he tells Kylo Ren he's already been dead before (though how he did it remains unexplained). Two is because the film doesn't even try to hint the possibility that he may still be alive. The way how the film builds up his defeat and concludes itself afterwards clearly wants to tell us that this is the end for Palpatine. If this weren't the case, someone over there (whether it'd be JJ Abrams, or someone else) would have come out by now and play with the idea that Palpatine may be alive, but so far, no one hasn't done so. Another thing is that he intended to take over Rey's body by transferring his spirit once she striked him down. But once he actually gets killed, this doesn't happen.

Also, you have to keep in mind that when George Lucas originally made these movies, he obviously never intended on bringing Palpatine back. Even way before he sold the franchise to Disney and when Dark Empire was still a relevant story, he still believed that Palpatine was gone for good and the ROTJ was the conclusion to his saga. I know that's kind of irrelevant to bring up since George doesn't own Star Wars anymore, but that's practically the main reason why Palpatine's in the movie to begin with; he's just there.

As for your question, that's really a matter of how the story wants to tell itself. Shredder turned to be alive and well, despite falling into a garbage truck that crushed him, yet a collapsing pier was enough to kill him. Inconsistencies do tend to happen.