CT Did people in the Imperial government and military care that Palpatine was a Sith?

Though he didn't advertise it, Palpatine did nothing to hide the fact that he was Darth Sidious, and anyone with eyes could see he was a Sith. He did try to spread the idea that the Force itself didn't exist, but when you have a guy with the title of Darth walking around with a red lightsaber who is calling you "Master," it's pretty obvious. Also, I've read that even people who had no Force sensitivity could feel the Dark Side oozing off the emperor when they were in his presence.

With that being said, did anyone have any strong feelings about it? I know that there was the revolt of Trachta, who believed that the Sith were unfit to rule the galaxy, but this view seemed to be very much the minority, with most Imperial officers having a fierce loyalty to Palpatine. How much do you think his Sith identity helped or hurt the opinions of his underlings towards him?

 

This subject was discussed recently in this thread. To summarise the points made there, and to add on, at first people probably didn't know he was Sith. When it became known, it was too late to do anything about it. He made everyone think that the Jedi were evil, that Dooku was on the side of the Jedi, and that they were behind the CIS and the war. Initially anyway, they saw Palpatine as a hero.

Though people knew that Palpatine and Vader were Force users, most were likely unfamiliar with the Sith. However, I assume a fair amount of people knew from history. As for the imperial officers being loyal, it was probably out of fear--someone is going to show a lot more loyalty to a Sith lord than to a regular person out of fear.

 

Human history would suggest that's it's not implausible that people would've blindly gone along with it. No doubt he had a few good, populist policy platforms which the ambivalent and apathetic would've bought into in the early stages.

 

I would argue that the public did not know.

 

Early on probably not, but what about when Vader was well known to be in the role of enforcer. Surely some people out there were familiar of the significance of the title Darth?

 

From the start of his reign he was making a lot of people rich and giving others (Officers included) a higher public standing....I suppose the best way to sum it up is with the old saying "don't bite the hand that feeds you".

I'm sure a lot of people knew there was something not quite right with their leader but while they thought they were on the winning team they were perpared the look the other way.

 

I always figured that in between ROTS and ANH, Palpatine filled the Empire with Sith sympathizers.

 

As military officers I assume they would have to study past armed conflicts, pretty much all of which have been the Republic vs the Sith. Since their apparent saviour was a Sith Lord I think they just went along with it. I don't think most of them knew though, it's not like he went by Sidious after the Empire was founded. I think only the highest ranked officers knew, other than that it was probably just a circulating rumor that the Emperor was a Sith.

 

I don't think the Jedi was all that popular with the general public in the first place. Padme didn't seem particularly enamored of them in "TPM".

 

They were known as "nosey" and "thought they owned everything".

 

And Palpatine had the trains running on time.

 

I know it's more Expanded Universe...but in the Book of Sith Palpatine basically admits that it would be foolish to destroy the Jedi only to replace them with the Sith, at least openly. By the time of A New Hope I think it's more common knowledge, at least in the Imperial hierarchy, that Palpatine is also a Force-User. Remember, we had a couple of coups that centered around some Imperials' dissatisfaction with a Sith-led government and wanted to see Sidious and Vader ousted. Palpatine wasn't exactly a high-profile figure after the Empire's ball started to get rolling so I'm sure rumor and gossip were also pretty prevalent...no telling what was swirling around.

 

Why should she. Her world was being enslaved and they were doing nothing to help.

 

Except for the droids.

 

One thing potentially worth keeping in mind is Palpatine had control over the media and most every other means of disseminating information legally outside of gossip from one person to another. While rumors are going to spread, they will also be constantly mutating so its difficult to sort the wheat from the chaff. Assuming that Palpatine is careful to not reveal overt displays of the force, who will know? He has Vader to be the heavy hand of his will. As to Vader, I'll use an analogy. Who here can give the name of the current commander of Delta Force? In a reasonably open society with an unfettered internet that's going to be a tough thing to come up with. Now, take away the internet and any kind of free media and what chance do you have to come up with that info? In the Imperial forces of tens if not hundreds of millions of personnel, I'd wager that a greater proportion of people in today's military have met that Delta Force commander than would have ever been in the same facility as Vader. If Palpatine didn't rub people's faces in his force powers, utilized his extensive intelligence apparatus to plant counter rumors to quash any widespread suspicion, and kept any media from reporting it I'd guess less than a handful would have ever suspected he was a force user unless he purposefully let them know.

 

I don't understand why. They were the most reliable institution.

 

Yeah but they musta been an economic drag to maintain, considering how big the galaxy is, they couldn't be everywhere (how many Jedi you think had a habit of popping up on rock like Tatooine on official council-sanctioned Jedi business, not these crazy side quests / random twists of fate / personal vendettas that seem to draw them there) and their influence would have been relatively small. By wiping out the Jedi Order, Palpy probably saved a bundle.

 

I doubt most people knew, and knowledge of the Sith may not have been that great by that time period either. So even if the average being in the galaxy heard he was Sith their reaction might be to shrug their shoulders.

 

Coruscant had 1 trilion sentients. A10000 strong Jedi order must had been really cheap

 

Yeah but how much did simply maintaining the Jedi Order cost? I'm assuming a lot.

 

I think it is pretty clear almost nobody cares

 

Opposed to running that planet? Minimal.

 

This is a difficult question. In Sidious' 'Book of Sith', he states that his true identity wouldn't be revealed to the masses 'until it was too late'. Take what interpretation of this you will. But with his glowing eyes and crooked figure, I couldn't imagine that anyone wouldn't find him the least bit odd.

 

The facial damage he put down to the "Jedi assassination attempt".

 

Well remembered. During his 'Empire Speech' where he dissolved the Republic, he stated that "the attempt on my life has made me scarred, and deformed".