As I’m sure you have seen by now, Emperor Palpatine has recently suffered horrific injuries after being thrown into the Death Star’s reactor, which subsequently exploded and crashed into Kef Bir. I understand that many of you may have initially reacted with joy upon learning of the Emperor’s incident. This is understandable, as he has tried to kill many of you, but as Rebels, it is imperative we take the high road.

Earlier today, Luke, Leia, Han, and Chewbacca all sent their well wishes to Emperor Palpatine. We, in turn, must join them in their show of support for a man who hates them with all of his heart. It is time that we put aside politics and the fact that he wants us all dead, and come together and join in prayer to wish the Emperor a swift recovery.

We still believe strongly in our message of fighting for the future of the galaxy, but we are considering putting a halt to our current campaign so that the Emperor has a chance to fully regain his health. We would not want to seem insensitive by continuing our fight against the Empire’s quest to destroy planets and take over the galaxy while their leader is recovering. But we also most consider Emperor Palpatine has a family, and we want to let them know they have our full support in this troubling time.

While it might have seemed as if the Emperor should have taken preventive measures to avoid being killed by his apprentice, as he was very aware of the fact that Darth Plagueis was killed the same way and yet thought he would always just magically be fine, now is not the time to point fingers or suggest that he had it coming to him. Any suggestion that this is “karma” is distasteful. At the end of the day, he is still our Emperor, and those of us who have not been killed or incapacitated by his actions have the duty to send him prayers of recovery. After all, the Emperor is a human being, just like most of us. We must offer him the basic respect a human being deserves, even if he has spent his entire reign trying to end our movement and destroy our beliefs.

It is also not the time to point out the past actions of the Emperor and view this as some kind of retribution. While it was alarming how he used loopholes to remain in power after his term was up and then issued an order that caused the death of thousands — largely made up of the Jedi minority group — and furthermore was responsible for building two space stations with the capability to instantly destroy a planet, that is politics. In times of crisis, we must separate ourselves from politics and suddenly imagine that he is a good person. Emperor Palpatine is in a serious, life-threatening situation, and it’s time to put aside our differences and not gloat or wish any pain or suffering to him. Anything short of a full recovery so he can continue his fight against the will of the people will be a crushing disappointment to all of us.

On behalf of the entire Rebel Alliance, we wish you a full and speedy recovery, Emperor Palpatine. We hope to see you back on your feet, trying to kill us and the entire galaxy again as soon as possible.

Although you have to admit, if he somehow ends up coming back from this, it would be really, really stupid.