Palpatine's Appearance
I know the what the official Star Wars databank says, and it can still be left open to interpretation. Just because the lightning caused his face to change doesn't mean it physically deformed his facial tissue. I also don't care about what Pablo Hidalgo says, as this is still a secondary source. Rick McCallum said a few years back that Boba Fett was not going to be in Episode II, and was he correct? No. The lightning burning his tissue theory doesn't make any sense in accordance to the behavior previously exhibited by Force Lightning interacting with the human body. We've seen Palpatine use equally powerful Force Lightning on Luke, did that deform Luke? No. Dooku used Force Lightning on Anakin, did that deform Anakin? No. Just because the lightning was deflected doesn't make its effects on the human body any different. Seriously, why do you think his Sith eyes appeared along with the changes? Don't tell me the lightning caused those too... you're smarter than that. And does Force Lightning make your fingernails grow? Please.