PT An Essay on Palpatine/Sidious in ROTS

Using the Revenge of the Sith script, I thought I’d do some analysis regarding the character of Palpatine in Episode 3. There is a lot to the character, it is one of the strengths of the trilogy. Some parts I would have posted in some form before, but it’s largely new. I’ve tried not to repeat too much from my previous essay (on Anakin’s turn). I’m going through in (relevant) scene order, so forgive the quite random structure of this. The Script is in red.

Palpatine speaks differently when he and Anakin are alone. Onscreen in Ep3, before the reveal especially, when it is anyone besides Anakin he has a completely different personality.

OBI-WAN: (bows) “Chancellor.”
ANAKIN: “Are you all right?”
PALPATINE: (quietly) “Count Dooku.”
Notice Obi-Wan greets him formally as he has no personal feelings invested, where Anakin is quick to see if his friend is okay. Palpatine instantly diverts attention to Dooku. This both emphasises Palpatine’s helplessness in the eyes of the Jedi and makes Dooku a scapegoat for Sidious, but more importantly initiates Anakin’s Sith test against Dooku.
PALPATINE: “Get help! You're no match for him. He's a Sith Lord.” (Again playing innocent, this time to the fact that he knows Anakin is more than a match for Dooku. However, it further paints a picture for Anakin that the Sith are more powerful, something that plays into Anakin’s temptation to use the dark side in the film. It also reveals Palpatine’s genuine belief that Sith indeed are stronger, having told Maul similar in TPM - "They will be no match for you", and knowing Dooku has previously defeated the Jedi pair in AOTC. A lot of Palpatine dialogue falls under the description “true from a certain point of view”.)
OBI-WAN: “Chancellor Palpatine, Sith Lords are our speciality.” (Always loved the irony of this. Obi-Wan Kenobi (who killed Maul and trained Anakin), commenting to the Sith Master; on he and the future Sith apprentice’s chances against the current apprentice.)
OBI-WAN and ANAKIN throw off their cloaks and ignite their lightsabers.
COUNT DOOKU: “Your swords, please, gentlemen. We don't want to make a mess of things in front of the Chancellor.” (Slyly referencing that the fight is a display for Sidious to observe his potential apprentice. And perhaps, unbeknownst to Dooku, foreshadowing his own imminent demise.)
COUNT DOOKU: “I've been looking forward to this.” (Funny both that the Jedi are unaware of the extent of Sith planning behind the duel, and that Dooku won’t be quite so eager at the end of the fight.)
ANAKIN: “My powers have doubled since the last time we met, Count.”
COUNT DOOKU: “Good. Twice the pride, double the fall.” (A taunt foreshadowing Anakin’s fall from grace.)

On previous instruction from Palpatine, Dooku takes Obi-Wan out of the fight and coerces Anakin into tapping into his darker feelings.
Finally, in one last energized charge, ANAKIN cuts off COUNT DOOKU's hands. The Jedi catches the lightsaber as it drops from the severed Sith Lord's hand. COUNT DOOKU stumbles to the floor as ANAKIN puts the two lightsabers to his neck. PALPATINE is grinning as he watches COUNT DOOKU's defeat.
PALPATINE: “Good, Anakin, good. I knew you could do it. Kill him. Kill him now!” (As everyone watching catches on to, this is something Palpatine has been planning for Dooku for years.)
ANAKIN: “I shouldn't . . .”
PALPATINE: “Do it!!”
ANAKIN cuts off COUNT DOOKU's head. A huge EXPLOSION somewhere deep in the ship rattles everything.
ANAKIN: “... I couldn't stop myself.”
PALPATINE: “You did well, Anakin. He was too dangerous to be kept alive.” (Palpatine plays off how well he knows Anakin in basically every scene where they are alone. He gently encourages Anakin, reinforcing Anakin’s evil action here as a good thing, and knows Anakin deep down wanted the permission to kill Dooku. Despite Anakin’s hesitation, he loses the struggle with himself here, with Obi-Wan unconscious and conveniently only Palpatine to witness it. Palpatine’s logic that Dooku was “too dangerous” to spare isn’t much of a leap from how Anakin already sees it. It is a little more subtle than some of Palpatine’s later manipulation. Things will eventually progress to Anakin willingly joining Palpatine against the Jedi. For the moment though, Anakin is already almost officially next in line as a Sith apprentice. But Palpatine isn’t letting that slip.)


ANAKIN drops COUNT DOOKU's lightsaber, moving to PALPATINE.
ANAKIN: “Yes, but he was an unarmed prisoner.”
ANAKIN raises his hands toward PALPATINE, who is strapped in the Admiral's Chair. The Chancellor's restraints pop loose.
ANAKIN: (continuing) “I shouldn't have done that, Chancellor. It's not the Jedi way.” (Anakin’s ingrained beliefs as a Jedi show, and he isn’t abandoning them any time soon. Palpatine is a convincing enabler, putting things in a perspective that is hard to argue with. Anakin’s clarity regarding these Jedi ideals is of course further muddied later by Mace’s attempt to kill an “unarmed” Sith, Mace stating with similar logic to Palpatine, now about Palpatine, “He’s too dangerous to be left alive!”).
PALPATINE stands up, rubbing his wrists.
PALPATINE: “It is only natural. (Appealing to Anakin’s humanity.) He cut off your arm, and you wanted revenge. It wasn't the first time, Anakin. Remember what you told me about your mother and the Sand People. (Anakin trusted only Palpatine enough to confide this to him. Palpatine is a sympathetic ear that doesn’t judge, rather tells Anakin what he wants to hear.) Now, we must leave before more security droids arrive.”
The ship begins to list to one side. ANAKIN rushes over to OBI-WAN, lifts the control console from on top of him, and pulls him free. He kneels down and checks out his unconscious friend. PALPATINE heads for the elevators.
PALPATINE: (continuing) “Anakin, there is no time. We must get off the ship before it's too late.”
ANAKIN: “He seems to be all right. No broken bones, breathing's all right.”
PALPATINE: “Leave him, or we'll never make it.”
ANAKIN: “His fate will be the same as ours.” (Kind of silly that Palpatine thought Anakin would even consider leaving Obi-Wan, but he tests Anakin’s limits like this on more than one occasion.)

Once Obi-Wan is conscious, Palpatine doesn’t speak much. A quick example of Palpatine’s personality when Obi-Wan is present happens here, in the scripted version of the scene where the three are caught in ray-shields:
OBI-WAN: “I'm open to suggestions here.”
PALPATINE: “Why don't we let them take us to General Grievous. Perhaps with Count Dooku's demise, we can negotiate our release.”
The Jedi look at each other in disbelief.
ANAKIN: “I say . . . patience.”
OBI-WAN: “Patience?”

One last trivial thing about the Invisible Hand scenes;
When Anakin is piloting the remains of the ship back down to Coruscant, Palpatine swallows nervously. I had once thought he may be feigning fear, but it seems more that he is actually in a situation he hasn’t anticipated, one of few times in the film IMO. As grand as his plan is, he doesn’t seem as confident as the Jedi in this instance.




This scene when Palpatine is greeted back on Coruscant by Mace is pretty important. It is the first of recurring mentions of Grievous by Palpatine, which signify the progress of Palpatine’s plan over the course of the film, and how he plans the timing of certain events. I have to give credit to mikeximus for most of this observation.
The CHANCELLOR and his entourage approach MACE.
MACE WlNDU: “Chancellor Palpatine, what a welcome sight! Are you all right?” (Interestingly the same thing Anakin asked Palpatine.)
PALPATINE: “Yes, thanks to your two Jedi Knights. They killed Count Dooku, but General Grievous has escaped once again.” (Again shifting the blame to the deceased Dooku, and now to Grievous. Also note that he is telling the truth if taken at face value.)
MACE WlNDU: “General Grievous will run and hide as he always does. He is a coward.” (The TF were also referred to as cowards by Qui-Gon in TPM. Obi-Wan will later kill Grievous in combat, shifting the droid-control to the TF and other Separatist leaders, who Anakin will then kill in cold blood as Vader.)
PALPATINE: “That may be true, but with Count Dooku dead, he is the leader of the Droid Army, and I assure you, the Senate will vote to continue the war (Because they follow Palpatine like sheep) as long as Grievous is alive.”
MACE WlNDU: Then the Jedi Council will make finding Grievous our highest priority.”
Palpatine knows that when Grievous is dead, the Jedi will come ask Palpatine to return Emergency power to the Senate. He knows they don’t trust him. So he is fully aware that there will be a confrontation, likely involving Mace, later in the film, soon after Grievous dies. This dialogue sets up that it will happen. He is also keeping the Jedi busy, and unaware of the big picture, while he seduces Anakin. More on the Grievous references later.

ANAKIN is at the back of the crowd of SENATORS, talking with BAIL ORGANA. R2-D2 and C-3PO scoot along ahead of them.
BAIL ORGANA: “The end of Count Dooku will surely bring an end to this war, and an end to the Chancellor's draconian security measures.”
ANAKIN: “I wish that were so, but the fighting is going to continue until General Grievous is spare parts . . . The Chancellor is very clear about that.” (Just included this for it’s relevance to Palpatine timing the length of the war he himself began.)




A hologram of Darth Sidious appears.
GENERAL GRIEVOUS: “Yes, Lord Sidious.”
DARTH SlDIOUS: “General Grievous, I suggest you move the Separatist leaders to Mustafar.” (Another cog in Palp’s plan, moving the Separatists to a “hell” like location where they can be conveniently taken out by Vader later on. Grievous later relays the info to the Separatist leaders, and claims that they will be “safe” there.)
GENERAL GRIEVOUS: “It will be done, My Lord.”
DARTH SlDIOUS: “The end of the war is near, General.”
GENERAL GRIEVOUS: “But the loss of Count Dooku?”
DARTH SlDIOUS: “His death was a necessary loss. Soon I will have a new apprentice . . . one far younger and more powerful.”
Sidious tells the truth that the war will soon end, he just doesn’t tell Grievous he will be on the losing side! Sidious is shown to betray basically every ally in the films; Valorum in TPM (he expresses this betrayal in the TPM script after Palpatine and Padme call for a vote of no confidence in him), in AOTC Dooku mentions Gunray was betrayed by Sidious at the end of TPM, Dooku was just betrayed, Grievous will be too, and the Separatist leaders are betrayed on Mustafar as Sidious intended from the start. Even Vader becomes expendable at the end of ROTJ when The Emperor seeks a more powerful apprentice in Luke.




Anakin, seeking advice from Yoda on his nightmare, is told death is “a natural part of life”. He tells Anakin directly the ramifications of fearing loss, but it is only Palpatine, being sneakier about it, that tells Anakin exactly what he wants to hear, at the opera. Note Palpatine describes the darkside power to conquer death itself as “unnatural”, inverting Yoda’s teachings, and representing that Anakin in his desperation strays from the “gods” to the “devil” for any solution possible.




OBI-WAN: “You missed the report on the Outer Rim sieges.”
ANAKIN: “I'm sorry, I was held up. I have no excuse.”
OBI-WAN: “In short, they are going very well. Saleucami has fallen, and Master Vos has moved his troops to Boz Pity.” (This seems to demonstrate Obi-Wan is often quite formal with Anakin, talking about the mission, perhaps leaving Anakin longing for the more personal nature of his interactions with Palpatine. The Jedi generally demonstrate some stiltedness in the PT, I think intentionally partly foreshadowing of their downfall.)
ANAKIN: “What's wrong then?”
OBI-WAN: “The Senate is expected to vote more executive powers to the Chancellor today.
ANAKIN: Well, that can only mean less deliberating and more action. Is that bad? It will make it easier for us to end this war.” (The Republic has indeed, for some time, been handing power over to Palpatine voluntarily.)
OBI-WAN: “Anakin, be careful of your friend Palpatine.”
ANAKIN: “Be careful of what?”
OBI-WAN: “He has requested your presence.”
ANAKIN: “What for?”
OBI-WAN: “He would not say.”
ANAKIN: “He didn't inform the Jedi Council? That's unusual, isn't it?”
OBI-WAN: “All of this is unusual, and it's making me feel uneasy. You're probably aware that relations between the Council and the Chancellor are stressed.”
ANAKIN: “I know the Council has grown wary of the Chancellor's power, mine also for that matter. Aren't we all working together to save the Republic? Why all this distrust?”
OBI-WAN: “The Force grows dark, Anakin, and we are all affected by it. Be wary of your feelings.” (The scripted version of the film is essentially more political than the final cut. The plotting between the Jedi and Palpatine is more pronounced here, but part of it remains in the finished movie. Palpatine’s manipulation of Anakin, and the Jedi’s suspicion of Palpatine, comes into play more heavily earlier in the script.)

PALPATINE: “Anakin, this afternoon the Senate is going to call on me to take direct control of the Jedi Council.”
ANAKIN: “The Jedi will no longer report to the Senate?”
PALPATINE: “They will report to me . . . personally. The Senate is too unfocused to conduct a war. This will bring a quick end to things.” (An early indicator that things are becoming more centralised under Palpatine’s rule. The Senate grows powerless relative to Palpatine himself. The Jedi Order is losing some of their rights, yet the majority of the Senate happily supports this transition. Palpatine is also imposing himself on the Jedi; interfering to try and spark tension, and keep them where he wants them.)
ANAKIN: “I agree, but the Jedi Council may not see it that way.”
PALPATINE: “There are times when we must all endure adjustments to the constitution in the name of security.” (Phrased like everyone is on the same side. And security is a major rationalisation for the coming Empire, continuing into the OT.)
ANAKIN: “With all due respect, sir, the Council is in no mood for more constitutional amendments.”
PALPATINE: “Thank you, my friend, but in this case I have no choice . . . this war must be won.”
ANAKIN: “Everyone will agree on that.” (Something Anakin is technically on board with before he actually turns, and he eventually will not see much difference in the Jedi and Sith angle on ending the war, as obvious as the contrast may be to the audience.)
PALPATINE: “Anakin, I've known you since you were a small boy. I have advised you over the years when I could ... I am very proud of your accomplishments. You have won many battles the Jedi Council thought were lost . . . and you saved my life.” (Interestingly, Anakin saves the lives of his three main loyalties – Obi-Wan, Padme, Palpatine – multiple times over the PT. Although in Palpatine’s case, he obviously orchestrated the kidnapping he is referring to (it’s a testament to his ego that he set up the whole Battle of Coruscant just to further turning Anakin). It’s also one of many moments Palpatine plays on his (falsified) bond with Anakin. The pride in Anakin he displays here would be hard for Anakin to just completely rethink when Palpatine later reveals his true identity.) “I hope you trust me, Anakin.”
ANAKIN: “Of course.”
PALPATINE: “I need your help, son.” (Son? Coincidence or a reference to Anakin’s creation?)
ANAKIN: “What do you mean?”
PALPATINE: “I fear the Jedi. The Council keeps pushing for more control. They're shrouded in secrecy and obsessed with maintaining their autonomy . . . ideals. I find it simply incomprehensible in a democracy.” (Trying to paint the Jedi’s appropriately independent nature as anti-democratic.)
ANAKIN: “I can assure you that the Jedi are dedicated to the values of the Republic, sir.”
PALPATINE: “Nevertheless, their actions will speak more loudly than their words. (Arguably, Palpatine predicts the later “attempt on his life” by Mace in front of Anakin.) I'm depending on you.”
ANAKIN: “For what? I don't understand.”
PALPATINE: “To be the eyes, ears, and voice of the Republic . . .” (Possibly a metaphor for future suited Vader – electronic vision, “Lord Vader, can you hear me?”, plus James Earl Jones’s voice.)
ANAKIN thinks about this.
PALPATINE: (continuing) “Anakin . . . I'm appointing you to be my personal representative on the Jedi Council.”
ANAKIN: “Me? A Master? I am overwhelmed, sir, but the Council elects its own members. They will never accept this.”
PALPATINE: “I think they will . . . they need you more than you know.”
Very crucial moment, this is where Palpatine really takes it up a level.
- Firstly, as a direct representative of Palpatine, Anakin is his right-hand man, and one step closer to being Palpatine’s apprentice.
- Secondly, it drives a much intended wedge between Anakin/Palpatine and the Jedi, who are already rightfully suspicious. Psychologically, the Jedi are going to further see Anakin as not truly one of them, and Anakin will sense this, adding to his feeling of isolation.
- Thirdly, he is conveniently using Anakin to spy on his sworn enemy, and knows the Jedi will ask the same of Anakin in return – “I think they will (accept Anakin onto the Council)...”.
- And finally, even though he is asking Anakin to do exactly the same thing as the Jedi will from the other side, Palpatine’s actions comes across as generous and fatherly - seeming to grant Anakin Mastership - which he probably knew the Jedi wouldn’t give Anakin anyway. With the Jedi on the other hand, asking him to spy (through Obi-Wan) is seen as a betrayal and an insult. They appear colder than Palpatine, even though Palpatine is creating this situation on purpose, and the Jedi actually care about Anakin more than Palpatine does – OBI-WAN: “Anakin, I am on your side, I didn’t want to put you in this situation.”
Palpatine’s final line is quite ominous... “They need you... more than you know.” A hint at Palpatine’s true opinion... of course foreshadowing that the Jedi’s own chosen one will tragically become their greatest enemy. The musical transition to the Council spire scene is done perfectly.

YODA: “Allow this appointment lightly, the Council does not. Disturbing is this move by Chancellor Palpatine.”
ANAKIN: “I understand.”
MACE: “You are on this Council, but we do not grant you the rank of Master.”
Anakin reacts with anger.
ANAKIN: “What? ! How can you do this?? This is outrageous, it's unfair . . . I'm more powerful than any of you. How can you be on the Council and not be a Master?” (While not at all Jedi-like, Anakin’s anger here obviously partially stems from his past as a slave and a lack of recognition for his abilities, which Palpatine is capitalising on. Anakin never truly felt respected or fulfilled both as a slave and a Jedi, and his quest to liberate himself from the shackles of the Jedi ironically lead him to permanent enslavement to the Emperor.)
MACE: “Take a seat, young Skywalker.” (Tense.)
ANAKIN: “Forgive me, Master.”
ANAKIN goes and sits in one of the empty chairs. Everyone is embarrassed. KI-ADI-MUNDI WHO APPEARS AS A HOLOGRAM, speaks.
Kl-ADI-MUNDI: “We have surveyed all systems in the Republic, and have found no sign of General Grievous.”
YODA: “Hiding in the Outer Rim, Grievous is. The outlying systems, you must sweep.” (Perhaps this holds some relevance to the fact Dooku and Grievous were doing Palpatine’s dirty work in the Outer Rim, and the real internal threat – Sidious on Coruscant – has got the Jedi wasting their efforts looking outwards.)
OBI-WAN: “It may take some time . . . we do not have many ships to spare.”
MACE: “We cannot take ships from the front line.”
OBI-WAN: “And yet, it would be fatal for us to allow the droid armies to regroup.”
YODA: “Master Kenobi, our spies contact, you must, and then wait.”
Kl-ADI-MUNDI: “What about the droid attack on the Wookiees?”
MACE: “It is critical we send an attack group there, immediately!”
OBI-WAN: “He's right, that is a system we cannot afford to lose. It's the main navigation route for the southwestern quadrant.”
ANAKIN: “I know that system well. It would take us little time to drive the droids off that planet.”
MACE: “Skywalker, your assignment is here with the Chancellor, and Kenobi must find General Grievous.”(Bad move by the Council. Putting Anakin and Palpatine together, with Yoda and Obi-Wan on other planets.)
YODA: “Go, I will. Good relations with the Wookiees, I have.”
MACE: “It is settled then. Yoda will take a battalion of clones to reinforce the Wookiees on Kashyyyk. May the Force be with us all.”
ANAKIN is disappointed.
This scene has a very different context when viewed with the novelisation. Whether this meaning is still supposed to be there in the final film isn’t really clarified. Basically the Council has decided off-screen that they will send Yoda off-world to make the Jedi appear vulnerable, and tempt the Sith they believe is in Palpatine’s circle to make a move and come out of hiding. It technically works, but horribly backfires, as Anakin is turned to the dark side, Order 66 is executed, and Yoda isn’t there to help defend against the Jedi Temple raid led by Vader. The Council try to outplay Palpatine at his own game, but are outmatched. They just aren’t cut out for this type of thing like the Sith are.

The scene following Anakin’s first experience on the Council involves Anakin being assigned the aforementioned mission for Anakin to spy on his mentor Palpatine. I’ve pretty much covered the basic themes in it already. The scripted version is a bit longer than the final cut, but you get most of the information in it from watching the movie; Anakin’s anger at the Council and his divided loyalties, the Jedi Council not liking the Chancellor’s interference; “Anakin, our allegiance is to the Senate, not to its leader who has managed to stay in office long after his term has expired.”, and the Jedi taking advantage of Anakin’s friendship with Palpatine - which Anakin of course sees as treason. We also get the sense that Anakin listens to both Palpatine and Obi-Wan more trustingly than the Jedi Council generally, as Anakin is loyal more to people than principles. It will help set up his belief that Obi-Wan has betrayed him later in the film.




This deleted scene importantly demonstrates the majority of the Senate is now corrupted by Palpatine, and shows the spark of rebellion in some of the less weak-minded Senators.
BAIL ORGANA: “Now that he has control of the Jedi Council, the Chancellor has appointed Governors to oversee all star systems in the Republic.”
FANG ZAR: “When did this happen?”
BAIL ORGANA: “The decree was posted this morning.”
PADME: “Do you think he will dismantle the Senate?”
MON MOTHMA: “Why bother? As a practical matter, the Senate no longer exists.” (Referencing the fact that the Senate has gradually been willingly handing over it’s rights since Palpatine became Chancellor at the end of TPM. The Senate has no autonomy from Palpatine. By the end of the film the Imperial Senate is just a puppet to the Emperor. He finally officially disbands the Senate in ANH.)
GIDDEAN DANU: “The constitution is in shreds. Amendment after amendment . . . executive directives, sometimes a dozen in one day.” (The Republic is essentially already becoming an Empire in the background, Palpatine’s declaration later in the film is really just a formality, signifying he doesn’t have to pretend anymore.)
...
BAIL ORGANA: “It has become increasingly clear to many of us that the Chancellor has become an enemy of democracy.”
PADME: “I can't believe it has come to this! Chancellor Palpatine is one of my oldest advisors. He served as my Ambassador when I was Queen.”
GlDDEAN DANU: “Senator, I fear you underestimate the amount of corruption that has taken hold in the Senate.”
MON MOTHMA: “The Chancellor has played the Senators well. They know where the power lies, and they will do whatever it takes to share in it. Palpatine has become a dictator and we have helped him to do it.”




Some remnants of Padme’s part in starting the Rebellion occurs here.
ANAKIN: “Sometimes, I wonder what's happening to the Jedi Order . . . I think this war is destroying the principles of the Republic.” (Plays into Anakin wanting the war to end, he will later extinguish any resistance to the Empire as Vader in the name of “peace”. Also a display of his ideals and where his loyalties lie.)
PADME: “Have you ever considered that we may be on the wrong side?”
ANAKIN: (suspicious) “What do you mean?”
PADME: “What if the democracy we thought we were serving no longer exists, and the Republic has become the very evil we have been fighting to destroy?” (Padme says what the audience should be thinking. Padme, as a symbol of the Republic and representative of the good in Anakin, keeps him partially connected to his old self as he slides, but this moment is one that pushes them apart. This is a great example that she is the voice of reason that Anakin is listening less and less to as he falls.)
ANAKIN: “I don't believe that. And you're sounding like a Separatist!”
PADME: “Anakin, this war represents a failure to listen . . . Now, you're closer to the Chancellor than anyone. Please, please ask him to stop the fighting and let diplomacy resume.” (Kind of ironic that Anakin’s connection to Palpatine just leads him to do the opposite of what Padme would do, and in the interest of protecting her, no less.)
ANAKIN: (growing angry) “Don't ask me to do that, Padme. Make a motion in the Senate, where that kind of a request belongs! I'm not your errand boy. I'm not anyone's errand boy!”
PADME: “What is it?”
ANAKIN: “Nothing.”
PADME: “Don't do this . . . don't shut me out. Let me help you.”
ANAKIN: “You can't help me . . . I'm trying to help you.”
They look in each other's eyes.
ANAKIN: (continuing) “I sense . . . there are things you are not telling me.”
PADME is startled at this.
PADME: “I sense there are things you are not telling me.”
PADME smiles. ANAKIN is a little embarrassed.
PADME: (continuing) “Hold me . . . like you did by the lake on Naboo, so long ago . . . when there was nothing but our love ... No politics, no plotting ... no war.”
(Self-explanatory. Anyway, Naboo is a pretty symbolic recurring reference in the PT. Here the couple try to think back to a time where being there gave them the feeling that they were more free and more in love. Truth be told, the plotting and such had already started, but it is significant that on Naboo it didn’t feel that way. It is also referenced earlier when Padme talks of raising the baby in the Lake Country. Related is her one last attempt to get Anakin to run away with her (possibly to Naboo?) when confronting him on Mustafar.)
That was a little off-topic, but relevant to the bond between Anakin and his loved ones (mainly Padme and Obi-Wan) being eventually severed and replaced by Palpatine and the Empire.




I have discussed this next scene a lot over the years, so I won’t go into it completely. But it is a very important part of Anakin’s seduction. It’s written pretty well, IMO. I trimmed the script a little.
ANAKIN runs through the hallway and enters Palpatine's box, where the CHANCELLOR is sitting with Mas Amedda and Sly-Moore, watching the Man Calamari Ballet doing "Squid Lake."
ANAKIN: “You wanted to see me, Chancellor.”
PALPATINE: “Yes, Anakin! Come closer. I have good news. Our Clone Intelligence Units have discovered the location of General Grievous. He is hiding in the Utapau system.”
ANAKIN: “At last, we'll be able to capture that monster and end this war.”
(This is the second major Grievous reference involved in Palpatine’s plan (the first being the quote to Mace about the war continuing until Grievous is dead). He is betraying Grievous’s location to the Jedi, of course being personally in charge of Grievous himself, and has obviously decided now is the time to let the Jedi get closer to “victory”. He knows the Jedi will send someone to take him out, and knows it won’t be Anakin, as Anakin is busy caught between Palpatine and the Council.)
PALPATINE: “I would worry about the collective wisdom of the Council if they didn't select you for this assignment. You are the best choice by far.” (As usual, Palpatine looks supportive of Anakin for suggesting he leads the campaign, when he doesn’t even want Anakin to go. The Council sending Obi-Wan works out perfectly for Palpatine, as it places Anakin closer to Palpatine and away from the positive influence of Obi-Wan.)
PALPATINE: “Sit down, (to his aides) Leave us.” (The Emperor says “Leave us” on Luke’s arrival in ROTJ. Although when he says it to Luke, the touch seems less genuinely personal than when solely directed at his “friend” Anakin. Good indication of how Palpatine thinks, nevertheless.)
ANAKIN sits next to PALPATINE. The Chancellor leans over to him.
PALPATINE: (continuing) “Anakin, you know I'm not able to rely on the Jedi Council. If they haven't included you in their plot, they soon will.” (“You know.” Making Anakin feel he is naturally coming to this conclusion himself.)
ANAKIN: “I'm not sure I understand.”
PALPATINE: “You must sense what I have come to suspect . . . the Jedi Council want control of the Republic “. . . they're planning to betray me.”
ANAKIN: “I don't think . . .”
PALPATINE: “Anakin, search your feelings. You know, don't you?” (“You know” again.)
ANAKIN: “I know they don't trust you . . .”
PALPATINE: “Or the Senate . . . or the Republic . . . or democracy for that matter.” (Always makes me laugh. A little over the top and so hypocritical.)
ANAKIN: “I have to admit my trust in them has been shaken.”
PALPATINE: “Why? They asked you to do something that made you feel dishonest, didn't they?” (Great delivery from Ian. Like catching a child he has caught doing something wrong.)
ANAKIN doesn't say anything. He simply looks down.
PALPATINE: (continuing) “They asked you to spy on me, didn't they?”
ANAKIN: “I don't know ... I don't know what to say.”
PALPATINE: “Remember back to your early teachings Anakin. (Making Anakin draw on what he already knows.) "All those who gain power are afraid to lose it." Even the Jedi.” (MACE: “We must move quickly if the Jedi Order is to survive.”)
ANAKIN: “The Jedi use their power for good.” (I like this line. Partially because it shows Anakin really believes in what he does, yet he doesn’t deny they have a power that they must be responsible with.)
PALPATINE: “Good is a point of view, Anakin. The Sith and the Jedi are similar in almost every way, including their quest for greater power.” (The similarity is reflected in many ways in the six films that I won’t go into here.)
ANAKIN: “The Sith rely on their passion for their strength. They think inward, only about themselves.”
PALPATINE: “And the Jedi don't?”
ANAKIN: “The Jedi are selfless . . . they only care about others.” (Anakin is quite selfless in TPM, and gradually grows more selfish over the course of the PT. Even in ROTS he believes what he is doing is for Padme, but as he slides it becomes more and more about himself.)
PALPATINE smiles.
PALPATINE: “Or so you've been trained to believe. Why is it, then, that they have asked you to do something you feel is wrong?”
ANAKIN: “I'm not sure it's wrong.”
PALPATINE: “Have they asked you to betray the Jedi code? The Constitution? A friendship? Your own values? Think. Consider their motives. Keep your mind clear of assumptions. The fear of losing power is a weakness of both the Jedi and the Sith.”
ANAKIN is deep in thought. (The finished film differs from the script here, but I wanted to include that part. In the finished film Palpatine seems to sense he has reached Anakin’s limit on insulting the Jedi for the time being, so switches to a subject that will snare Anakin.)
PALPATINE: (continuing) “Did you ever hear the tragedy of Darth Plagueis "the wise"?” (Use of language that influences how Anakin sees the Sith in his subconscious; “Tragedy” and “The wise”.)
ANAKIN: “No.”
PALPATINE: “I thought not. It's not a story the Jedi would tell you. (Lol) It's a Sith legend. Darth Plagueis was a Dark Lord of the Sith, so powerful and so wise he could use the Force to influence the midi-chlorians to create life ... He had such a knowledge of the dark side that he could even keep the ones he cared about from dying.” (I’m undecided on whether the Sith caused Anakin’s creation.)
ANAKIN: “He could actually save people from death?”
PALPATINE: “The dark side of the Force is a pathway to many abilities some consider to be unnatural.” (Makes the Sith’s power seem near limitless, unrestrained, which appeals to Anakin. And gives Anakin the hope that Yoda’s advice – “Death is a natural part of life.” - may not be the only way to approach it.)
ANAKIN: “What happened to him?” (I like the boyishness in this delivery.)
PALPATINE: “He became so powerful . . . the only thing he was afraid of was losing his power, which eventually, of course, he did. Unfortunately, he taught his apprentice everything he knew (OBI-WAN: I have taught you everything I know.”), then his apprentice killed him in his sleep. (smiles) It's ironic he could save others from death, but not himself.” (Also foreshadows Palpatine’s own death at Anakin's hand in ROTJ.)
ANAKIN: “Is it possible to learn this power?”
PALPATINE: “Not from a Jedi.”
(Even before Anakin at all considers turning, you have this hint that he would delve into taboo powers if it meant he could keep Padme.)



YODA and various JEDI speak via hologram. The discussion includes OBI-WAN, MACE, AGEN KOLAR, YODA- KI-ADI-MUNDI and PLO KOON.
Kl-ADI-MUNDI: (holo) “Palpatine thinks General Grievous is on Utapau. We have had no reports of this from our agents.”
MACE: (holo) “How could the Chancellor have come by this information and we know nothing about it? We have had contact with Baron Papanoida and he said no one was there.”
ANAKIN: “A partial message was intercepted in a diplomatic packet from the Chairman of Utapau.”
YODA: “Act on this, we must. The capture of General Grievous will end this war. Quickly and decisively we should proceed.”
OBI-WAN: “Does everyone agree?”
All the JEDI concur.
ANAKIN: “The Chancellor has requested that I lead the campaign.”
They all look at ANAKIN a bit disturbed.
MACE: (a little peeved) “The Council will make up its own mind who is to go, not the Chancellor.”
Kl-ADI-MUNDI: “Yes, this decision is ours to make.”
ANAKIN is embarrassed and becomes sullen.
YODA: “A Master is needed, with more experience.”
MACE: “Given our resources, I recommend we send only one Jedi . . . Master Kenobi.”
ANAKIN: “He was not so successful the last time he met Grievous.”
OBI-WAN throws ANAKIN a dirty look.
ANAKIN: (continuing) “No offense, my Master, but I'm only stating a fact.”
OBI-WAN: “Oh no, you're quite right, but I do have the most experience with his ways of combat.”
YODA: Obi-Wan, my choice is.
Kl-ADI-MUNDI: “I concur. Master Kenobi should go.”
YODA: “I agree.”
All the JEDI concur.
MACE: “Very well. Council is adjourned.”
ANAKIN is angry.
Pretty self-explanatory with what I’ve already written. The Jedi think they are defying the Chancellor but they are doing exactly what he predicts. Anakin doesn’t look too confident when he presents the Chancellor’s request. You feel sorry for him at this stage.




The second of Padme’s deleted scenes occurs here. The most significant point I took from it is that the group wishing to form an “alliance” doesn’t know where the Jedi stand on everything regarding Palpatine. If they had involved the Jedi, and seen that they shared a similar view, maybe they collectively would have had more ammo against Palpatine’s claim the Jedi are traitors, and it wouldn’t have been as easy for him to declare himself Emperor.





Obi-Wan leaving for Utapau and he and Anakin’s warm farewell is the last time they speak as friends. Palpatine gets his wish with Obi-Wan gone. It is recurring that Obi-Wan is absent or unconscious when Anakin does key things that bring him closer to the dark side. He is a tether for Anakin that is sorely missing when Anakin pledges to the Sith.
Quite fitting that after wishing each other “May the force be with you” and saying goodbye, that Anakin’s thoughts turn to his appointment with the Chancellor (the concerned look at the end of the scene).





The Chancellor's Transport races through the city and heads for the Senate Office Building landing platform. Waiting on the landing platform is a LONE JEDI. The Transport lands, and CHANCELLOR PALPATINE emerges with FOUR ROYAL GUARDS and MAS AMEDDA. The FOUR ROYAL GUARDS move off in another direction as PALPATINE greets ANAKIN, who has been waiting for him.
PALPATINE: “Well, Anakin, did you see your friend off?”
ANAKIN: “He will soon have Grievous's head.”
PALPATINE: “We can only hope the Council didn't make a mistake.” (He’s counting on the Council making mistakes.)
ANAKIN: “The Council was very sure in its decision.”
They exit the landing platform.
...
PALPATINE: “There are rumors in the Senate about Master Kenobi. Many believe he is not fit for this assignment.”
ANAKIN: “Not fit? Why would anyone think that?”
PALPATINE: “They say his mind has become fogged by the influence of a certain female Senator.”
ANAKIN: “That's ridiculous. Who?!?”
PALPATINE: (slyly) “No one knows who she is ... only that she is a Senator.”
ANAKIN: “That's impossible. I would know.”
PALPATINE: “Sometimes the closest are the ones who cannot see.”
ANAKIN becomes worried.
PALPATINE: (continuing) “Idle Senate gossip is rarely true and never accurate. I'm sure your Master will do fine.”
Self-explanatory. Palpatine being a bastard, then feigning optimism with the last line, when the seed is already planted.




The sun is setting as the lights come on in the massive Senate Office Building. The sky is red.
PALPATINE listens to a delegation from the Senate, which includes PADME and five other Senators: NEE ALAVAR, FANG ZAR, MALEDEE, SWEITT CONCORKILL, and MON CALAMARI. ANAKIN stands to one side of PALPATINE.
PALPATINE: “I understand your reservations completely, Senator, and I assure you the appointment of Governors will in no way compete with the duties of the Senate.” (ANH reference – when the Imperial Senate is permanently dissolved the regional Governors take control. So this is a blatant lie.)
PADME: “May I take it then, that there will be no further amendments to the Constitution?”
PALPATINE: “I want this terrible conflict to end as much as you do, My Lady, and when it does I guarantee an immediate return to democracy . . .” (Why don’t I believe that. Also, he doesn’t directly say yes or no to the question.)
PADME: “You are pursuing a diplomatic solution to the war, then.”
PALPATINE: “You must trust me to do the right things, Senator. That is why I am here.”
FANGZAR: “But surely . . .”
The Chancellor turns on FANG ZAR.
PALPATINE: “I have said I will do what is right, that should be enough for your . . . committee.” (Palpatine stomping on Fang Zar’s objection is telling. I like the way he says “committee” almost like he is disgusted.)
PADME: “On behalf of the "delegation of two thousand," I thank you, Chancellor.” (Veiled anger.)
PALPATINE: “I thank you for bringing this to my attention, Senator.” (Pretty slimy.)
PADME gives ANAKIN a frustrated look, then turns and exits with the other FIVE SENATORS. PALPATINE turns to ANAKIN.
PALPATINE: (continuing) “Their sincerity is to be admired, although I sense there is more to their request than they are telling us.” (Pov truth.)
ANAKIN: “What do you mean?”
PALPATINE: “They are not to be trusted.”
ANAKIN: “Surely Senator Amidala can be trusted . . .”
PALPATINE: “These are unstable times for the Republic, Anakin. Some see instability as an opportunity. (Self-reference.) Senator Amidala is hiding something. I can see it in her eyes.” (Pov truth.)
ANAKIN: “I'm sure you're mistaken.”
PALPATINE: “I'm surprised your Jedi insights are not more sensitive to such things.” (Again appealing to Anakin’s own intuition, and thought process.)
ANAKIN: “I simply don't sense betrayal in Senator Amidala.”
PALPATINE studies ANAKIN carefully and gives him a skeptical look.
PALPATINE: “Yes, you do, but you don't seem to want to admit it. There is much conflict in you, Anakin.”




The plotting between The Jedi Council and Palpatine nears it’s climax now.
KI-ADI-MUNDI, ANAKIN, YODA, MACE, CLONE COMMANDER CODY, and AAYLA SECURA talk via holograms.
CLONE COMMANDER CODY: “Master Windu, may I interrupt? General Kenobi has made contact with General Grievous, and we have begun our attack.”
MACE WlNDU: “Thank you, Commander. Anakin, deliver this report to the Chancellor. His reaction will give us a clue to his intentions.” (This line can really be directed at the audience, as we know Grievous is integral to Palpatine’s plan, but the Jedi have no idea what Palpatine is really thinking. The writing regarding Palpatine is quite detailed like this.)
ANAKIN: “Yes, Master.”
ANAKIN leaves the room. COMMANDER CODY's hologram disappears.
MACE WINDU: “I sense a plot to destroy the Jedi. The dark side of the Force surrounds the Chancellor.” (Importantly, Mace waits for Anakin and the Clone commander to leave before revealing his concerns. It is no coincidence that Anakin and the Clones are the ones soon to turn on the Jedi. But more to the point, the Jedi are clearly leaving the chosen one out of the loop on crucial information, which Anakin senses, feeling detached and isolated from his Jedi brethren. Additionally, the quote references the fact that the Jedi have been suspecting the Sith Lord is in Palpatine’s circle, the idea it is actually Palpatine himself is something they are dreading in the back of their minds. A little later on discovering who he is... MACE: “Then our greatest fears have been realised.”)
Kl-ADI-MUNDI: “If he does not give up his emergency powers after the destruction of Grievous, then he should be removed from office.” (As Palpatine anticipated the Jedi would do.)
MACE WiNDU: “That could be a dangerous move ... the Jedi Council would have to take control of the Senate in order to secure a peaceful transition . . .”
Kl-ADI-MUNDI: “. . . and replace the Congress with Senators who are not filled with greed and corruption.” (Something that gives weight to Palpatine’s claims the Jedi want control, at least partially.)
YODA: “To a dark place this line of thought will carry us. Hmmmmm. . . . great care we must take.” (This is what Anakin really needed to hear. Demonstrates the obvious self-fulfilling prophecy that by keeping Anakin at a distance, they pushed him to the Sith.)

ANAKIN brings news to PALPATINE.
ANAKIN: “Chancellor, we have just received a report from Master Kenobi. He has engaged General Grievous.” (Anakin seems quite comfortable with Palpatine as he says this.)
PALPATINE: “We can only hope that Master Kenobi is up to the challenge.” (A seemingly innocent comment that actually holds great weight. It is the third of the major Grievous references by Palpatine. Now that Palpatine knows that Grievous has been engaged, he knows very well that Obi-Wan will succeed and that Grievous will soon be dead. Hence it is time to reveal his true identity to Anakin, timed perfectly to assure that Mace and co will soon be at his office. It is synchronised with Anakin’s seduction too. Additionally, the Jedi again look worse because Anakin unfortunately sees nothing sinister in Palpatine’s response.)
ANAKIN: “I should be there with him.” (And away from Sidious.)
PALPATINE: “It is upsetting to me to see that the Council doesn't seem to fully appreciate your talents. Don't you wonder why they won't make you a Jedi Master?” (While he is lying that he wanted Anakin to go, from a point of view it is indeed upsetting to Palpatine that Anakin is not reaching his full potential - as a Sith.)
ANAKIN: “I wish I knew. More and more I get the feeling that I am being excluded from the Council. I know there are things about the Force that they are not telling me.” (Supported by the last scene for example.)
PALPATINE: “They don't trust you, Anakin. They see your future. They know your power will be too strong to control. (Pov truth.) Anakin, you must break through the fog of lies the Jedi have created around you. (A fog Palpatine has only thickened.) Let me help you to know the subtleties of the Force.” (Appearing to offer Anakin a way to see deeper than a Jedi.)
They walk into the hallway.
ANAKIN: “How do you know the ways of the Force?”
PALPATINE: “My mentor taught me everything about the Force . . . even the nature of the dark side.”
They stop.
ANAKIN: “You know the dark side?!?”
PALPATINE: “Anakin, if one is to understand the great mystery, one must study all its aspects, not just the dogmatic, narrow view of the Jedi. If you wish to become a complete and wise leader, you must embrace a larger view of the Force. Be careful of the Jedi, Anakin. (pausing) They fear you. In time they will destroy you. Let me train you.”
ANAKIN: “I won't be a pawn in your political game. The Jedi are my family.” (Telling line.)
PALPATINE: “Only through me can you achieve a power greater than any Jedi. Learn to know the dark side of the Force, Anakin, and you will be able to save your wife from certain death.”
ANAKIN: “What did you say?”
PALPATINE: “Use my knowledge, I beg you . . .”
ANAKIN: “You're the Sith Lord!” (Not flat out stated by Palpatine, much like a lot of what Palpatine says to Anakin, but he was practically spelling it out.)
ANAKIN ignites his lightsaber.”
PALPATINE: “I know what has been troubling you . . . Listen to me. Don't continue to be a pawn of the Jedi Council! Ever since I've known you, you've been searching for a life greater than that of an ordinary Jedi . . . a life of significance, of conscience.”
ANAKIN: “You're wrong!”
PALPATINE: “Are you going to kill me?”
ANAKIN: “I would certainly like to.”
PALPATINE: “I know you would. I can feel your anger. It gives you focus, makes you stronger.”
ANAKIN raises his lightsaber to PALPATINE's throat. There is a tense moment, then ANAKIN relaxes, and then turns off his lightsaber.
ANAKIN: “I am going to turn you over to the Jedi Council.” (Still loyal to the Jedi for now. Although mostly sparing Palpatine because of what he can do for him, his attachment to Palpatine is still partially there despite the betrayal. It is a connection he has had for 13 years, he isn’t going to feel exactly the same as he would about just any Sith.)
PALPATINE: “Of course you should. But you're not sure of their intentions, are you? What if I am right and they are plotting to take over the Republic?”
ANAKIN: “I will quickly discover the truth of all this.” (Sadly he never truly does.)
PALPATINE: “You have great wisdom, Anakin. Know the power of the dark side. The power to save Padme.”
ANAKIN stares at him for a moment.
PALPATINE turns and moves to his office.
PALPATINE: “(continuing) I am not going anywhere. You have time to decide my fate. Perhaps you'll reconsider and help me rule the galaxy for the good of all . . .”
PALPATINE sits behind his desk.
(More direct than the final cut. Anakin’s rationale for (in any way) wanting to rule was made clearer in the novelisation.)

The end of the Grievous fight now happens, and Obi-Wan destroying Grievous right on cue.




MACE and the JEDI (AGEN KOLAR, KIT FISTO, AND SAESEE TIIN) are preparing to board a JEDI GUNSHIP to the CHANCELLOR's office. ANAKIN enters the hangar.
ANAKIN: “Master Windu, I must talk to you.”
MACE WiNDU: “What is it, Skywalker? We are in a hurry. We have just received word that Obi-Wan has destroyed General Grievous. We are on our way to make sure the Chancellor returns emergency powers back to the Senate.” (Lol - Palpatine could almost write the movie.)
ANAKIN: “He won't give up his power. I've just learned a terrible truth. I think Chancellor Palpatine is a Sith Lord.”
MACE WINDU: “A Sith Lord?”
ANAKIN: “Yes. The one we have been looking for.” (Exposition showing the Jedi have been actively searching, but to no avail. Palpatine had the perfect plan, and the dark side muddied their vision.)
MACE WINDU: “How do you know this?”
ANAKIN: “He knows the ways of the Force. He has been trained to use the dark side.”
MACE WINDU: “Are you sure?”
ANAKIN: “Absolutely.”
MACE WINDU: “Then our worst fears have been realized. We must move quickly if the Jedi Order is to survive.” (Just the Order? Not the state of the whole galaxy?)
ANAKIN: “Master, the Chancellor is very powerful. You will need my help if you are going to arrest him.” (Anakin sees the Sith as more powerful, and although he knows a Jedi shouldn’t want ultimate power, he has secretly been seeking more of it since at least AOTC. And of course, he wants Palpatine alive to pump him for information.)
MACE WINDU: “For your own good, stay out of this affair. I sense a great deal of confusion in you, young Skywalker. There is much fear that clouds your judgment.” (Very true.)
ANAKIN: “I must go, Master.”
MACE WINDU: “No. If what you told me is true, you will have gained my trust, but for now remain here. Wait for us in the Council Chamber until we return.” (Too late to start trusting Anakin.)
ANAKIN: “Yes, Master.”
ANAKIN watches as the JEDI leave in their ship.




There isn’t a lot I can add on these next scenes that isn’t present in what I’ve already written (here and on the “analysis of Anakin’s turn” thread). But this part of the script is crucial to the discussion, and I have some observations worth typing.

MACE arrives with THREE JEDI to arrest PALPATINE.
PALPATINE: “Master Windu. I take it General Grievous has been destroyed then. I must say, you're here sooner than expected.” (Or not. They are there by Palpatine’s design, and are giving Palpatine the perfect alibi.)
MACE WINDU: “In the name of the Galactic Senate of the Republic, you are under arrest, Chancellor.” (Important wording showing the Jedi are loyal to the Republic.)
MACE WINDU and the other JEDI ignite their lightsabers.
PALPATINE: “Are you threatening me, Master Jedi?”
MACE: “The Senate will decide your fate.”
PALPATINE: (burst of anger) “I am the Senate!” (He would be much less openly egocentric, if Mace had brought Anakin.)
MACE: “Not yet!”
PALPATINE stands, a laser sword appears out of his cloak sleeve, and he spins toward the JEDI.
PALPATINE: “It's treason, then.” (From a point of view.)
A close shot of PALPATINE as the fight begins. Close shots of THREE JEDI getting cut down by PALPATINE. PALPATINE and MACE continue to fight.
Jedi Master MACE WINDU and the Sith Lord fight their way down the hallway and into the main office area. PALPATINE is able to use the Force to slam MACE against the wall, but he recovers before the Chancellor can cut him down.
ANAKIN lands his speeder, jumps out, and runs down a long corridor toward the Chancellor's office.
In the heat of battle, MACE cuts the window behind the Chancellor's desk, and it crashes away. MACE is forced out onto the ledge, which is twenty stories up. They fight over the precipice. ANAKIN arrives to see PALPATINE and MACE fighting.
They stop as MACE forces PALPATINE to drop his sword. PALPATINE and MACE start yelling at each other.
MACE WINDU: “You are under arrest, My Lord.” (Love Mace’s sarcasm here.)
PALPATINE: “Anakin! I told you it would come to this. I was right. The Jedi are taking over.”
MACE WlNDU: “You old fool. The oppression of the Sith will never return. Your plot to regain control of the Republic is over . . . you have lost . . .” (Mace’s overconfidence.)
PALPATINE: “No! No! You will die!” (Premonition.)
PALPATINE raises his hands, and lightning bolts shoot out. They are blocked by MACE's lightsaber. PALPATINE is pushed back against the window sill.
PALPATINE: “He is a traitor, Anakin.”
MACE WlNDU: “He's the traitor. Stop him!” (Kind of the crux of the theme. The “greyness” created by the PT can be pretty intricately woven in the six films, but here is a simplified portrayal for Anakin (and the audience’s) benefit. Who is the traitor?)
PALPATINE: “Come to your senses, boy. The Jedi are in revolt. They will betray you, just as they betrayed me.” (The gradual decline in Anakin’s mental state and conscience over the course of the film, due to Palpatine’s influence and the dark side generally, will indeed lead to the rationalisation that Obi-Wan and Padme have betrayed him on Mustafar. But he betrayed them.)
MACE WlNDU: “Aarrrrggghhhhh . . .”
PALPATINE: “You are not one of them, Anakin. Don't let him kill me.” (Palpatine really took advantage of the fact Anakin never felt at home in the Order. Here Anakin doesn’t really feel completely Jedi or Sith, and the seeming moral equivalence of the two Orders now makes it an issue of which can serve him better personally.)
MACE WlNDU: “Aarrrrggghhhhh . . .”
PALPATINE: “I am your pathway to power. I have the power to save the one you love. You must choose. You must stop him.”
MACE WlNDU: “Don't listen to him, Anakin.” (Good advice. But not enough.)
PALPATINE: “Help me! Don't let him kill me. I can't hold on any longer. Ahhhhhhh . . . ahhhhhhh . . . ahhhhhhh . . .”
MACE pushes PALPATINE out to the edge of the ledge. As the Jedi moves closer, the bolts from Palpatine's hands begin to arch back on him. The Chancellor's face begins to twist and distort. His eyes become yellow as he struggles to intensify his powers.
PALPATINE: “I can't ... I give up. Help me. I am weak ... I am too weak. Don't kill me. I give up. I'm dying. I can't hold on any longer.”
MACE WlNDU: “You Sith disease. I am going to end this once and for all.” (Mace’s anger here is pretty relevant. Ironic that Anakin becomes much worse than Mace largely because of Mace’s hypocrisy here. Morally, Mace does have almost complete superiority over Palpatine, but it’s not black and white.)
ANAKIN: “You can't kill him, Master. He must stand trial.” (Anakin isn’t necessarily just thinking of Padme here – Anakin failed himself with Dooku, and thought the Jedi Order was better than that.)
MACE WlNDU: “He has too much control of the Senate and the Courts. He is too dangerous to be kept alive.” (While true, Mace is acting in the heat of the moment.)
PALPATINE: “I'm too weak. Don't kill me. Please.”
ANAKIN: “It is not the Jedi way . . . “ (This is the last time Anakin will object to a cold blooded killing before ROTJ.)
MACE raises his sword to kill the CHANCELLOR.
ANAKIN: (continuing) “He must live . . .”
PALPATINE: “Please don't, please don't . . .”
ANAKIN: “I need him . . .”
PALPATINE: “Please don't . . .”
ANAKIN: “NO!!!” Just as MACE is about to slash PALPATINE, ANAKIN steps in and cuts off the Jedi's hand holding the lightsaber.
As MACE stares at ANAKIN in shock, PALPATINE springs to life.
The full force of Palpatine's powerful Bolts blasts MACE. He attempts to deflect them with his one good hand, but the force is too great. As blue rays engulf his body, he is flung out the window and falls twenty stories to his death. No more screams. No more moans. PALPATINE lowers his arm.
PALPATINE: “Power! Unlimited power!” (I may be in the minority in thinking this scene is generally done really well.)
His face has changed into a horrible mask of evil. (From the novel: “And so the mask becomes the man.” I’m in the camp that this is just his real face, not lightning damage.) ANAKIN looks on in horror. PALPATINE cackles.
ANAKIN: “What have I done?” (This is a last cry-out from Anakin’s conscience before he subdues it.)
ANAKIN sits.
PALPATINE: “You are fulfilling your destiny, Anakin. Become my apprentice. Learn to use the dark side of the Force.”
ANAKIN: “I will do whatever you ask.” (Desperation, submission.)
PALPATINE: “Good.”
ANAKIN: “Just help me save Padme's life. I can't live without her. I won't let her die. I want the power to stop death.”
PALPATINE: “To cheat death is a power only one has achieved, but if we work together, I know we can discover the secret.”
ANAKIN kneels before PALPATINE.
ANAKIN: “I pledge myself to your teachings. To the ways of the Sith.”
PALPATINE: “Good. Good. The Force is strong with you. A powerful Sith you will become. Henceforth, you shall be known as Darth . . . Vader.”
ANAKIN: “Thank you. My Master.” (Empowerment (for now). In the novel he describes metaphorically crushing the “dead star dragon” that has been haunting him.)
PALPATINE: “Rise, Darth Vader.”
Palpatine moves over to his desk.
129 EXT. KASHYYYK-MEETING HALL-DAY YODA winces, closes his eyes, and holds his head. He feels a disturbance in the Force. (I would think this is the force going further out of balance with Anakin’s turn, Anakin’s strong connection to the force making it more than just a regular Jedi falling.)
130 INT. CORUSCANT-CHANCELLOR'S OFFICE-EVENING PALPATINE is putting on his dark cloak: he is now fully DARTH SIDIOUS.
PALPATINE: “Because the Council did not trust you, my young apprentice, I believe you are the only Jedi with no knowledge of this plot. (Or more that he is one of the Jedi who didn’t know their concerns regarding the growing strength of the dark side.) When the Jedi learn what has transpired here, they will kill us, along with all the Senators.” (They would likely kill Palpatine and Vader. But the Senators?)
ANAKIN: “I agree. The Jedi's next move will be against the Senate.” (Pov truth. Anakin blindly mimics a lot of what Palpatine says in the PT.)
PALPATINE: “Every single Jedi, including your friend Obi-Wan Kenobi, is now an enemy of the Republic. You understand that, don't you?” (Obi-Wan is name-dropped at certain times regarding Anakin/Vader. It has been suggested it represents Anakin’s connection to his conscience. At first he doesn’t want to kill Obi-Wan directly (“We can only hope he’s remained loyal to the Chancellor.”), but as he delves further into his dark acts this hesitation disappears.)
ANAKIN: “I understand, Master.”
PALPATINE: “We must move quickly. The Jedi are relentless; if they are not all destroyed, it will be civil war without end. (Pov truth.) First, I want you to go to the Jedi Temple. We will catch them off balance. (Besides the Jedi’s vulnerable position due to the war, may be metaphorical as well.) Do what must be done, Lord Vader. Do not hesitate. Show no mercy. Only then will you be strong enough with the dark side to save Padme.”
ANAKIN: “What about the other Jedi spread across the galaxy?”
PALPATINE: “Their betrayal will be dealt with. After you have killed all the Jedi in the Temple, go to the Mustafar system. Wipe out Viceroy Gunray and the other Separatist leaders. Once more, the Sith will rule the galaxy, and we shall have peace.”


The battle between the CLONES and the DROIDS rages throughout the sinkhole. OBI-WAN rides up to CLONE COMMANDER CODY.
OBI-WAN: “Commander, contact your troops. Tell them to move to the higher levels.”
CLONE COMMANDER CODY: “Very good, sir.”
CLONE COMMANDER CODY starts to move away, then remembers something and returns to OBI-WAN.
CLONE COMMANDER CODY: (continuing) “Oh, by the way, I think you'll be needing this.”
He hands OBI-WAN his lightsaber, and the LIZARD rears up.
OBI-WAN: “Thank you, Cody, (smiling) Now let's get a move on. We've got a battle to win here.”
CLONE COMMANDER CODY: “Yes, sir!”
OBI-WAN and the LIZARD ride off down the wall of the giant sinkhole.
The battle rages throughout the city. CLONE COMMANDER CODY (2224,) takes out his comlink and listens to the HOLOGRAM OF DARTH SIDIOUS as, far below, OBI-WAN can been seen battling DROIDS on a landing platform.
DARTH SlDIOUS: “Commander Cody, the time has come. Execute Order Sixty-Six.”
CLONE COMMANDER CODY: “It will be done, My Lord.”
The HOLOGRAM disappears, and CLONE COMMANDER CODY gestures to a nearby Clone Trooper.
CLONE COMMANDER CODY: “Blast him!”
The battle rages all around OBI-WAN. DROIDS and CLONES are everywhere. OBI-WAN is riding on a LIZARD, cutting down DROIDS as he races across the battlefield. Suddenly a volley of laser blasts from behind him knocks him and his LIZARD off the wall of the sinkhole. He looks around just in time to see his CLONE TROOPS are firing on him.
OBI-WAN falls hundreds of feet to the bottom of the water-filled sinkhole.
(I don’t buy into the TCW bio-chip explanation. For me the clones are just bred without much free-will, and will do anything asked of them by Palpatine. Still pretty creepy that they change so suddenly.
This is all (of course) the payoff to the planning and patience Sidious put in. He manufactures a war, makes the Jedi compromise their values and sully their good name, slowly watches their numbers fall, and finally turns their own troops on them with little resistance.
“The time has come.” seems to indicate this was the Clones’ destined function since the beginning of their creation.)




Vader leads the assault on the Jedi Temple, his Anakin face like a fraudulent mask now. His actions here cement his loyalty to Palpatine, and bury any good in him deep within.




We also see when Bail Organa tries to enter the Jedi Temple that Senators are being left alone for now. It pulls the wool over the eyes of the public, that only the Jedi are killed. This way they can’t yet truly see what they are losing. The Senate is basically just for show now.




Final scene I’m going to include, to avoid repeating too much.
176 INT. CORUSCANT-SENATE CHAMBER-SUNSET The Chancellor is in the podium in the center of the vast arena giving a speech. MAS AMEDDA stands to the right of SIDIOUS. BAIL ORGANA walks through the hallway of the Main Senate Chamber. He enters the Senate Pod of Naboo and sits next to PADME. JAR JAR, CAPTAIN TYPHO and TWO HANDMAIDENS are in the pod also.
PALPATINE: “. . . and the Jedi Rebellion has been foiled.”
BAIL ORGANA: “I was held up. What's happening?”
PADME: “The Chancellor has been elaborating on a plot by the Jedi, to overthrow the Senate.”
BAIL ORGANA: “That's not true!”
PADME: “He's been presenting evidence all afternoon.”
BAIL ORGANA: “And the Senate will go along with it, just like they always do.”
PALPATINE: “The remaining Jedi will be hunted down and defeated. (applause) Any collaborators will suffer the same fate.”
(applause)
“These have been trying times, but we have passed the test.” (So much irony.)
...PALPATINE: “The attempt on my life has left me scarred and deformed, but I assure you my resolve has never been stronger.”
Applause.
...
PALPATINE continues his speech at the podium.
PALPATINE: “The war is over. (applause) The Separatists have been defeated, (applause) and the Jedi rebellion has been foiled. We stand on the threshold of a new beginning.”
There is a long period of APPLAUSE.
PADME: “Well, this is the moment we discover if he intends to return the Republic to a democracy.”
PALPATINE: “In order to ensure our security and continuing stability, the Republic will be reorganized into the first Galactic Empire, for a safe and secure society which I assure you will last for ten thousand years.”
There is a loud, sustained CHEER from the Senate. BAIL ORGANA and PADME sit, dumbfounded.
PALPATINE: (continuing) “An empire that will continue to be ruled by this august body, and a sovereign ruler chosen for life . . .”
The Senate CHEERS again. BAIL and PADME are devastated. PADME begins to cry.
PALPATINE: (continuing) “An empire ruled by the majority . . . Ruled by a new constitution . . .”
The Senate APPLAUDS.
PADME: “So this is how liberty dies, with thunderous applause . . .”
BAIL ORGANA: “We cannot let this happen.”
He starts to stand up. PADME stops him.
PADME: “Not now! There will be a time.”


That basically sums up Palpatine's plan. Thanks if you have read this far.

 

Thanks for the mention and credit HevyDevy.

This is an awesome and well put together analysis!

I love Palpatine's Character in the PT. So much fun watching him put together his plan and just the sheer patience of letting it unfold, and not rushing it.

After you and I discussed how Palpatine uses General Grievous as the carrot to lure the Jedi into the final confrontation, I thought about writing an essay about it myself, however you have obviously beat me to it. It's a very important part of the story in ROTS. Once Palpatine realizes that Anakin is now as powerful as he is, by beating and killing Dooku, Palpatine knows it is time to start his plans for the final confrontation. He uses Grievous to move each step of his plan forward...

To quote myself..

Another part I love that you picked up on was at the Opera. When Palpatine tries to blur the lines between the Jedi and the Sith, and Anakin rebuffs him. When Palpatine pauses for a few moments, you can tell he realizes he may have gone a little too far and gives both Anakin and himself some time to step back from the conversation before Palpatine has another go at Anakin, but from a more personal angle. Ian Mcdiarmid was absolutely brilliant in this moment (well he was in the whole movie, but, this is one moment in particular that always stood out!)

 

Thanks.
Yeah, your post was a big part of my motivation to make the thread. I have always thought Palpatine has some of the most interesting writing in the series. It's pretty underrated.
I had noticed a little of what you said in your post, but I hadn't realised how recurring in the film it was, it seems completely intentional. I knew Grievous was a pawn from Palpatine's point of view, and that Palpatine knew they wouldn't send Anakin to defeat him, but your observation is much richer.

Agreed.

 

Palpatine using his apprentices/allies as pawns is a very common theme with Palpatine's character (Plagueis/Dooku/Trade Federation/Separatists/Anakin/Vader). It's also a trait of the sith, that they will destroy each other in order to obtain the power they want (straight from Lucas). Their loyalty goes only so far as to how they can use one another.

Just such a great underlying theme, the difference between good and evil (the Jedi and the Sith) in Star Wars. That while the Dark Side may be more powerful, it's very nature is self destructive and plays a part in it's own demise.

 

Plus, Amidala in TPM, if you aren't just talking bad guys.

I've mentioned a lot on the forums how much I like the parallel between Padme Amidala and Palpatine.
- Both a Senator from Naboo.
- Padme a Queen in TPM inverting Sidious as a "King" in ROTS.
- Red royal guards.
- TPM Padme at some stages wears black clothing against her white make-up. As weird as it may sound, Sidious looks similar when he puts on his cloak.
- They move in the opposite direction in terms of power; Padme from Queen to Senator to powerless against the Empire, Palpatine from Senator to Supreme Chancellor to Emperor.
- Anakin is attached to them personally. There is a significant shift; from a respectable "I will do anything that you ask." to Padme on their potential relationship, to a dark "I will do whatever you ask." to Palpatine when pledging to the dark side to save Padme's life.

But more relevantly, Palpatine uses Padme's superior position in TPM to create sympathy for Naboo and get himself elected. It seems ironic to me that Padme has more political power than him at this stage, and he is just piggybacking on their planet's plight. Before too long, partially because of this beginning, he will be the most powerful man in the galaxy. And Padme, a much more compassionate leader, is forgotten.


Also, I like watching the progression of Senate scenes over the PT. There are obvious parallels...
- "Vote now!" is chanted in TPM as Palpatine sets up stealing Valorum's position as Supreme Chancellor through Padme.
- In AOTC the Senate applauds the idea of Palpatine's emergency gaining powers through Jar Jar as Padme's representative.
- In ROTS there is "thunderous applause" when Palpatine declares himself Emperor. Padme can only watch on in horror.
- Finally, when fighting Yoda in the main Senate room, Palpatine callously pulls out and throws pods at Yoda, symbolising what he really thinks of democracy.


Two other relevant links between these characters...

- There are two moments in TPM and ROTS where husband and wife similarly defy Palpatine;

PADME: "My fate will be no different than that of my people."
PALPATINE: "Please, your majesty, stay here where it's safe!"

PALPATINE: "We must get off this ship before it's too late." ... "Leave him or we'll never make it."
ANAKIN: "His fate will be the same as ours."
Pretty cool that Palpatine is requesting "staying" then "fleeing", and Padme and Anakin say the same thing.

-
TPM - PALPATINE (to Padme): "Together, we will bring peace and prosperity to the Republic."
ROTS - PALPATINE (to Vader): "To cheat death is a power only one has achieved, but if we work together I know we can discover the secret."
ROTJ - PALPTINE (to Vader): "He has grown strong. Only together can we turn him to the dark side of the force."




Back to the general subject of PaIpatine's allies, I think Maul and Vader were the two of Palpatine's subordinates that he actually respected. He was angry to lose Maul, who he had worked on for years, he was kind of the ideal apprentice. Dooku was more a placeholder, like even Vader will become at the end of ROTJ. Initially Vader potentially represented the ultimate Sith apprentice until he was injured, and despite how coldly Palpatine throws him away when Luke comes along, Palpatine saving him on Mustafar is about the only genuinely nice thing we see him do. That's the closest thing we see to a friend with Palpatine, trying to turn Luke on the other hand was solely a greed thing. I mean, so was Vader, but Palpatine actually had some twisted sort of affection for him I think.

Yes, I remember in highschool (when TPM came out to be specific) when I wasn't as much of a Star Wars fan, a friend of mine who was a hardcore fan explained this to me. The reason for the rule of two and all.

True. You have Anakin/Vader being his own worst enemy, and Palpatine's end being pretty karmic, in reflecting what he did to gain power and solidify Anakin as his apprentice.

 

HevyDevy - well said and well composed! All I can say and agree is that - Palpatine - practically the one most irredeemable characters in Star Wars and well a franchise - one who 'NEVER GAVE A FORCE!' about anyone or anything but himself and his own Power ... and consider in the EU he MURDERED his family at 17 - House Palpatine in a bloodbath and how Darth Plagueis when he gave him a once-look over and envisioned Palpatine with the potential and the vast raw Power which once tamed and refined would make him quite the Sith Apprentice and the one to fulfill the Sith Grand Scheme ... and considering Palpatine until then was already a young murderer with the bloodlust of a Killer - a SERIAL KILLER (GULP!) and the fact Palpatine was quite pissed off when he found out Darth Plagueis had goaded and manipulated him into killing House Palpatine and opening up Naboo ... although he did have to shut-up when Darth Plagueis remarked 'CAREFUL BOY ... YOU ARE NOT THE ONLY ONE WITH THE POWER TO KILL IN THIS ROOM ...' and the fact how Darth Plaguies did train Palpatine to a very high standard ... and how Darth Plagueis remarked how he had to make Palpatine immune to the emotional troubles and such and to make him embrace the Dark Side of the Force and the early harsh training he 'FORCED' Palpatine to endure - I mean being 'FORCED' to endure the 'SHEE-VERING' cold and frigid naked wastes of Mygeeto ... being 'FORCED' to recall in greater accurate detail on the slaughter of House Palpatine, years of training and learning all about the Dark Side of the Force - even that of modern weapons and Force Healing techniques, Politics, Sith History Ancient and Modern yet building and molding him up ... and yet considering when Palpatine at a young age already was intrigued by RULE OVER THE GALAXY, Politics and he already killed 2 pedestrians and 'NEVER GAVE A FORCE!' about it ... plus resenting and hating his father Cosinga Palpatine and murdering him later ... and how he remarked 'I WAS A STORM MAGISTER! STRONG ENOUGH TO WARP BULKHEADS! STRONG ENOUGH TO HURL BODIES ACROSS THE CREW CABIN! I WAS A STORM! I WAS DEATH ITSELF!' and in anguish yet later to the point where he 'NEVER GAVE A FORCE!' about anyone or anything - down to Count Dooku, Darth Maul - Anakin - and yet he would not stop until then ... but then again consider being 'FORCED' to 'SHEE-VER' in the naked frigid cold of Mygeeto for days with no food, water, sleep or comfort or luxury ... and only surviving by 'FORCING' yourself to and that's it ... and being 'FORCED' to recall details to your Sith Master ... none other than the Powerful Sith Scholar of the Midichlorians Darth Plagueis! >

 

Lol.
I haven't read "Plagueis" but it sounds interesting.
Only thing is I have trouble believing Plagueis was still alive in TPM from how Palpatine talks in ROTS. But I still might give it a read.

 

Hello again! https://books.google.com.au/books?id=mLZrDBHJi0wC&pg=PA152&lpg=PA152&dq=you have the Force apprentice, and the talent to lead&source=bl&ots=E4yp-zzZzl&sig=I4gJJrp3qpk14IsFkI1AFl-0Z34&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CB0Q6AEwAGoVChMI29_U4O-ExgIVxR-mCh2gagD9#v=onepage&q=you have the Force apprentice, and the talent to lead&f=false - ENJOY THIS LINK! Its got extracts and bits and pieces of the novel itself - some parts are omitted for viewing but I'm sure you'll be able to get a decent read still

Don't forget also how Darth Plagueis - by then he had 'retired and disappeared from Damask Holdings' and the fact he was always enigmatic and mysterious to the Jedi Order for a LONG LONG TIME - both Canon and EU - the fact how Palpatine carefully hid knowledge of Darth Plagueis for some time before even in ROTS divulging the 'tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise'... and the fact how he yet still somewhat acknowledged Darth Plagueis's Powers ...

Plus - don't forget then how Darth Plagueis in the EU at least was responsible for indirectly also influencing the events that would unfold in TPM and also how his involvement in the Clone Army (well providing the funds) as well as the Naboo Invasion/Blockade and the Yinchorri Uprising and still helping Palpatine here and there - and his studies on Midichlorian Manipulation ...

 

I didn't read the entire post but I'm going to "like" your post just because of the time in effort that went into it.

But Palpatine's plan became more than obvious throughout the novels (Plagueis-TPM-AoTC-RoTS)..The Sith love absolute power..and what way can one being have absolute power? By being Emperor. In a Republic it is governed by many bodies (mainly being the Senate). SO taking powers away from Senators and isolating into one body (Emperor) was much obvious. Palps wanted nothing more than to be the most powerful politician/Sith the galaxy has ever seen and manipulating an entire galaxy into turning on the Jedi and convert to an Empire was very cunning.

And none of this would have been possible if it was not for the war. It is sort of the anti Cincinnatus. In Rome's early(er) days, Rome was facing a crisis and gave absolute power over to Cincinnatus in the time of war to deal with the rebellious enemies, and after about 14 days he dealt with the problem and almost immediately handed over power back to the Republic thus ending his short reign as Emperor (of sorts). Palpatine took that power in a time of war (which as we all know, he coerced the entire war through his cunning) and instead of handing over absolute power after the threat (Trade Federation, Jedi) had been dealt with, he held on to the power and became Emperor.

Fascinating topic.

 

Thanks to anyone who has read this. Any feedback is appreciated.

 

Okay, time to add to this. On advice from DarthNerdling I decided to arrange some stuff categorically, and simultaneously add a lot of new observations. Also mikeximus and Cryogenic I would love to hear your thought on this.
Again, script is in red.





Examples of wordplay

- PALPATINE: “I need your help, son.” (Fatherly - both in the wording/tone, and regarding the implication that the Sith were behind Anakin's creation.)


- PALPATINE: “There are times (not hinting this era is the end of the Republic) when we must all (phrased like everyone is on the same side) endure adjustments (as if Palpatine is just as strained by them) to the constitution in the name of security.”


- PALPATINE: "I'm depending on you."
ANAKIN: "For what? I don't understand."
PALPATINE: “To be the eyes, ears, and voice of the Republic...” (A metaphor for future "suited" Vader; Eyes - electronic vision, Ears - “Lord Vader, can you hear me?”, Voice - James Earl Jones’s deep menacing tone.)


- PALPATINE: (continuing) “Anakin, you know I'm not able to rely on the Jedi Council. If they haven't included you in their plot, they soon will.” (“You know.” Making Anakin feel he is already naturally coming to this conclusion himself.) “Anakin, search your feelings. You know, don't you?” “I know they don’t trust you.” Again making Anakin’s thought process (seemingly organically) come to the intended outcome.


- PALPATINE: (continuing) “Did you ever hear the tragedy of Darth Plagueis "the wise"?” (Use of language that influences how Anakin sees the Sith in his subconscious; “Tragedy” provokes relatable sympathy and “The wise” makes the Sith seem wiser.)





Warm intonation/wording


- PALPATINE: “You did well Anakin.” (About Anakin's first cold-blooded killing of a human.)
...
PALPATINE: “It is only natural. He took your arm, you wanted revenge.” (Gently playing on Anakin's humanity and impressionability.)



- PALPATINE: “Anakin, I've known you since you were a small boy. I have advised you over the years when I could... I am very proud of your accomplishments. You have won many battles the Jedi Council thought were lost... and you saved my life.” (Fatherly.)



- PALPATINE: “They asked you to do something that made you feel dishonest, didn’t they.” (Like catching a child stealing. Feigned pity, when Palpatine is the one conning him.)


-The Jedi appear more uptight, formal, and demanding of Anakin. Compare these two moments...
PALPATINE: “You're the best choice, by far. (Warmly) Sit down. (to his aides) "Leave us.”
///
MACE: “Take a seat, young Skywalker.” (Coldly)
The Jedi Council give Anakin a Masterless seat on the Council for show, where Palpatine offers the "seat" of a position of one of only two Sith Lords.


- OBI-WAN: (continuing) "You have allowed this Dark Lord to twist your mind until now... until now you have become the very thing you swore to destroy." ("Allowed" references that, on some level, Anakin willingly gave in to the manipulation because it was what he wanted to hear.)


- Compare these two comments -
PALPATINE: “You have great wisdom Anakin.”
OBI-WAN: “I have failed you, Anakin. I was never able to teach you to think.”
(Obi-Wan is clearly the one telling Anakin how it really is.)








Point of view truths

Others have noted; Palpatine rarely flat-out lies. He is more prone to saying things that can be true or false depending on how you read them.

- MACE: "Are you alright?"
PALPATINE: “Yes, thanks to your two Jedi Knights. They killed Count Dooku.” (Anakin indeed killed Dooku, but no one else saw how. And he crash-landed the ship safely.)


- PALPATINE: “I can assure you the Senate will vote to continue the war as long as Grievous is left alive.” (True, but the war was manufactured by Palpatine and the Senate is mostly full of weak-minded Senators under Palpatine's influence.)


- PALPATINE: “The end of the war is near General.” (True, but he doesn't tell Grievous that the Separatists will lose.)


- PALPATINE: (continuing) “Their sincerity is to be admired, although I sense there is more to their request than they are telling us.” ... "Senator Amidala is hiding something. I can see it in her eyes.” (True, but can you blame them? The Delegation of 2000 isn't sure where the Jedi stand, and they are growing very weary of Palpatine.)


- PALPATINE: “They don't trust you, Anakin. They see your future. They know your power will be too strong to control." (I wonder why.)


- PALPATINE: "You must sense what I have come to suspect. the Jedi want control of the Republic."
///
MACE: "The Jedi Council would have to take control of the Senate in order to secure a peaceful transition.”


- PALPATINE: “We must move quickly. The Jedi are relentless; if they are not all destroyed, it will be civil war without end.” (Any Jedi surviving would indeed guarantee endless Civil War, regardless of how obviously morally superior the Jedi may be.)







Double-meanings (TPM and ROTS)

- PALPATINE: "Now they will elect a new Chancellor... a strong Chancellor... one who will not let our tragedy continue..." (Palpatine is essentially single-handedly setting in motion the real tragedy that unfolds over the PT.)


- DARTH SIDIOUS: "This is an unexpected move for her. It's too aggressive..." (In reality Padme already told Sidious she was going back to Naboo to fight, but this is nevertheless truly how he is reacting to the fact.)


- PALPATINE: "Please your majesty, stay here, where it’s safe!” (Coruscant proves to not be the haven it promised; Anakin turns there, and the Jedi Temple is wiped out there, plus Palpatine declares himself Emperor there, and Vader is constructed on Coruscant.)
...
GRIEVOUS: “I am sending you to the Mustafar system in the Outer Rim. It is a Volcanic planet. You will be safe there.” (Mustafar proves to be dangerous to both Anakin and the Separatists.)



- PALPATINE: “I hope you trust me, Anakin.” (I wonder why.)
ANAKIN: “Of course.”


- PALPATINE (ROTS): “Nevertheless, their actions will speak more loudly than their words.” (And the Jedi's actions will indeed paint themselves in a bad light.)



- PALPATINE: “It is upsetting to me to see that the Council doesn't seem to fully appreciate your talents. Don't you wonder why they won't make you a Jedi Master?” (From a point of view it is indeed upsetting to Palpatine that Anakin is not reaching his full potential - as a Sith.)


- ANAKIN: “I can’t live without her.” (On hearing Padme has died, Anakin metaphorically ceases to live.)


- PALPATINE: “To cheat death is a power only one has achieved.” (Plagueis... or Qui-Gon? )





Foreshadowing



- DOOKU: “Twice the pride, double the fall.”

- PALPATINE: “They need you... more than you know.”

- Palpatine describing killing his mentor "in his sleep" can be a metaphor for Palpatine's blindness to Vader's coming betrayal at the end of ROTJ.

- PALPATINE: “I sense Lord Vader is in danger.” (Indicative of a strong bond considering the distance.)








Parallels within ROTS



- SIDIOUS: "When my new apprentice Darth Vader arrives, he will take care of you."
...
VADER: "The Separatists have been taken care of, My Master."


- “Not the Jedi way.” x2
“Too dangerous to be kept alive.” x2



- OBI-WAN (to Anakin): "The Chancellor has requested your presence."
...
MAS AMEDDA: "The Chancellor has requested your presence at a special session of Congress."
BAIL: "I will be there."
MAS AMEDDA: "He’ll be expecting you.”
...(and ROTJ) “Welcome, young Skywalker. I have been expecting you.”

Palpatine's allies have a habit of becoming expendable.






----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Parallels to other films

TPM/ROTS



- "You have been well trained my young apprentice. They will be no match for you." / “Get help, you’re no match for him, he's a Sith Lord!” (ROFL)


- (To Gunray): “Wipe them out.” / (To Vader): "Wipe out Viceroy Gunray and the other Separatist leaders."


- QUI-GON: "I will do what I must, Obi-Wan."
///
SIDIOUS: “Do what must be done, Lord Vader”
///
OBI-WAN: "Only a Sith deals in absolutes. I will do what I must."


AOTC/ROTS

Anakin to Padme: “I will do anything you ask.”
///
Anakin to Palpatine: "I will do whatever you ask."


TPM/ROTS/ROTJ

- (To Padme): “Together, we will bring peace and prosperity to the Republic."
///
(To Anakin): "To cheat death is a power only one has achieved, but if we work together, I know we can discover the secret."

///
(To Vader): "He has grown strong. Only together can we turn him to the dark side of the force."




ROTS/ROTJ

- “Good Anakin, good.” (ROTS)
“Goood.” (ROTS)
"Good! Your hate has made you powerful." (ROTJ)


- "Leave us.” x2


- “I can feeeel your anger.” x2


- PALPATINE: “Help me!”
///
LUKE: "Father please! Help me!"


- “You will die!” x2


- "Rise."
///
“Rise, my friend.”


- YODA: “Destroy the Sith, we must.”
///
PALPATINE: “If you will not be turned, you will be destroyed.”


- SlDIOUS: “Your arrogance blinds you, Master Yoda.”
///
LUKE: “Your overconfidence is your weakness.”


- (to Yoda): “Now you will experience the full power of the dark side.”
///
(to Luke): “Your feeble skills are no match for the power of the dark side!”

- SlDIOUS: "You will not stop me. Darth Vader will become more powerful than either of us."
YODA: “Faith in your new apprentice, misplaced may be, as is your faith in the dark side of the Force.”
///
PALPATINE: ”Your faith in your friends is yours (weakness).”






---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


This bit I may as well copy straight from a PM, I can't write it better...

A little more on that...



PALPATINE: “The dark side of the Force is a pathway to many abilities some consider to be unnatural.” (Makes the Sith’s power seem near limitless, unrestrained, which appeals to Anakin. "Pathway". And gives Anakin the hope that Yoda’s advice – “Death is a natural part of life.” - may not be the only way to approach it.)

“Let me help you to know the subtleties of the force.” ("Let me help" and "subtleties".)

“I pledge myself to your teachings.” (Notice Anakin is not saying "to the Sith", rather he is interested in the knowledge he wants to access.)

Furthermore, this scene is relevant...
OBI-WAN: "Wait, Master. There is something I must know..."
YODA: "If into the security recordings you go, only pain will you find."
OBI-WAN: "I must know the truth, Master."
OBI-WAN moves to a panel and flips some switches. He sees a HOLOGRAM of ANAKIN slaughtering JEDI, including the YOUNG ONES. OBI-WAN and YODA react.
OBI-WAN: (continuing) "It can't be... It can't be..."
As ANAKIN surveys the carnage, a DARK-ROBED SITH LORD enters. ANAKIN turns to DARTH SIDIOUS and kneels before him.
ANAKIN: "The traitors have been taken care of, Lord Sidious."
DARTH SlDIOUS: "Good... good... You have done well, my new apprentice. Do you feel your power growing?"
ANAKIN: "Yes, My Master."
DARTH SlDIOUS: "Now, Lord Vader, now go and bring peace to the Empire."
Anakin’s dark deeds cement his loyalty to Palpatine, and increase his power. The side-effect being of course being that he is gradually consumed, and the voice of his good side gets quieter and quieter as he progresses further into his dark side acts.





--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Next, a few key scenes from TPM, and some from the remainder of ROTS.



The Phantom Menace

PALPATINE: “What is it?”
RUNE: “The blockades is finished. This scheme of yours has failed Lord Sidious. We dare not go against the Jedi.” (ROTJ LUKE: “You’ve failed your highness. I’m a Jedi, like my father before me.”)
PALPATINE: “Viceroy, I don’t want this stunted slime in my sight again.” (Iteration of “s” sounds to make Palpatine seem snake-like.) “This turn of events is unfortunate.” (No, he already knew of it.) We must accelerate our plans. Begin landing your troops.” (Making the TF do the dirty work outside the Republic (as a scapegoat), then 13 years later orders them killed from within the forming Empire.)
GUNRAY: “My Lord, is that legal?”
PALPATINE: “I will make it legal.”
GUNRAY: “And the Jedi?”
PALPATINE: “The Chancellor should never have brought them into this. Kill them immediately.” (Again, he already knew, going by the next scene at Theed Palace. But any excuse to kill Jedi.)
GUNRAY: “Yes, yes my Lord. As you wish.”

..............

PALPATINE : “...How could that be true? I have assurances from the Chancellor...his Ambassadors did arrive. It must be the...get...negotiate...”
The hologram of PALPATINE sputters and fades away. (Palpatine’s own subordinates are responsible for the communications disruption that conveniently interrupts his own transmission here.)
AMIDALA : “Senator Palpatine?!? (turns to Panaka) What's happening?”
CAPTAIN PANAKA turns to his SARGEANT
CAPT. PANAKA : “Check the transmission generators...”
BIBBLE : “A communications disruption can only mean one thing. Invasion.”
AMIDALA : “Don't jump to conclusions, Governor. The Federation would not dare go that far.”
CAPT. PANAKA : “The Senate would revoke their trade franchise, and they'd be finished.”
This again reinforces that the TF are blindly following Sidious and taking the fall in the eyes of the Republic. They are unaware the TF (and the other Separatists) will be demonised by Sidious himself, and won’t be a surviving part of the final grander plan.


PALPATINE: “...the Republic is not what it once was. The Senate is full of greedy, squabbling delegates. There is no interest in the common good. I must be frank, Your Majesty, there is little chance the Senate will act on the invasion.” (Later Sidious says to Nute – “I will see to it that in the Senate, things stay as they are.”)
AMIDALA: “Chancellor Valorum seems to think there is hope.”
PALPATINE: “If I may say so, Your Majesty, the Chancellor has little real power... he is mired by baseless accusations of corruption. The bureaucrats are in charge now.” (This plot thread is quite like Palpatine’s framing of the Jedi in ROTS. He predicts the Senate won’t act and Valorum will be ineffective, then what happens in the Senate chambers matches exactly what he warned Padme of.)
AMIDALA: “What options have we?”
PALPATINE: “Our best choice would be to push for the election of a stronger Supreme Chancellor. One who will take control of the bureaucrats, and give us justice. You could call for a vote of no confidence in Chancellor Valorum.”
AMIDALA: “He has been our strongest supporter?”
PALPATINE: “Our only other choice would to be to submit a plea to the courts...” (Knowing she won’t be patient enough for this option.)
AMIDALA: “The courts take even longer to decide things than the Senate. Our people are dying, Senator... We must do something quickly to stop the Federation.”
PALPATINE: “To be realistic, Your Majesty, I think we're going to have to accept Federation control for the time being.” (Playing on Padme’s compassion for her people, feigning he doesn't know she won’t do this.)
AMIDALA: “That is something I cannot do.”
(Amidala will of course call for a vote of no-confidence in Valorum, sparked by the devil whispering in her ear exactly what she sees confirmed by Valorum’s lack of action. Palpatine is then nominated to be Supreme Chancellor, as he flawlessly predicted.)


...............


The CHANCELLOR PALPATINE walks up to OBI-WAN and ANAKIN. The JEDI bow before him.
PALPATINE: (to Obi-Wan) “We are indebted to you for your bravery, Obi-Wan Kenobi.” (Veiled threat. Things don’t go well for Palpatine’s apprentices in TPM and ROTS – Maul (who was part of Palpatine’s initial grand plan) is bisected, Dooku is beheaded, then Palaptine’s ideal apprentice Vader is permanently crippled.)
(to Anakin) “And you, young Skywalker, we will watch your career with great interest.” (Inverting Qui-Gon’s “I will watch over him, you have my word." before Qui-Gon is killed.)
The CHANCELLOR PALPATINE is greeted by the QUEEN.
AMIDALA: “Congratulations on your election, Chancellor.”
PALPATINE: “Your boldness has saved our people, Your Majesty. It is you who should be congratulated. Together we shall bring peace and prosperity to the Republic.”



Revenge of the Sith (continued...)


PADME: "Oh, Obi-Wan, thank goodness... you're alive."
OBI-WAN: "The Republic has fallen. Padme... The Jedi Order is no more..."
PADME: "I know, it's hard to believe everything to which we've dedicated our lives is gone."
OBI-WAN: "I believe we have been part of a plot hundreds of years in the making."
PADME: "The Senate is still intact, there is some hope."
OBI-WAN: "No. Padme... It's over... The Sith now rule the galaxy as they did before the Republic."
PADME: "The Sith!?!"
OBI-WAN: "I'm here looking for Anakin... When was the last time you saw him?"
PADME: "Yesterday."
OBI-WAN: "And do you know where he is now?"
PADME: (looks down) "No."
OBI-WAN: "Padme, I need your help. He's in grave danger."
PADME: "From the Sith?"
OBI-WAN: "From himself... Padme, Anakin has turned to the dark side."
PADME: "You're wrong! How could you even say that?"
OBI-WAN: "I have seen a security hologram of him killing younglings."
PADME: "Not Anakin! He couldn't!"
OBI-WAN: "He was deceived by a lie. We all were. It appears that the Chancellor is behind everything, including the war. Palpatine is the Sith Lord we've been looking for. After the death of Count Dooku, Anakin became his new apprentice."
PADME: "I don't believe you ... I can't."
(Just thought this was very relevant.)


...............



219 EXT. MUSTAFAR-LANDING PLATFORM-IMPERIAL SHUTTLE-DAY An Imperial Shuttle closes its wings and settles on the highest of the Mustafar Landing Platforms. A PLATOON OF CLONE TROOPERS exits the craft, followed by DARTH SIDIOUS.
220 INT. MUSTAFAR-VOLCANO PIT-DAY DARTH SIDIOUS walks in front of the CLONE TROOPERS on his way to get to Anakin at the edge of the lava pit.
221 EXT. MUSTAFAR-VOLCANO PIT-DAY DARTH SIDIOUS discovers what remains of ANAKIN and checks him out. He turns to the CLONES.
DARTH SIDIOUS: "Anakin! Anakin! There he is. He's still alive. Get a medical capsule, immediately."
CLONE CAPTAIN: "Yes sir. Right away."
Several of the CLONES rush off as DARTH SIDlOUS puts his hand on ANAKIN's forehead.
(IMO it is fairly debatable whether Sidious actually wanted Vader crippled or not. On one hand, a weaker Vader is less likely to overthrow Palpatine, and with the Jedi already eliminated as a threat to Palpatine, a broken Vader may be exactly what Palpatine desires. On the other side, Sidious clearly wants the Sith to rule for "ten thousand years", so a powerful apprentice in his prime may be what Palpatine really wants for the Empire, and he therefore is really only saving Vader's life out of pity and (some twisted sort of) affection he has for Vader. Saving Vader here has been described as The Emperor's one true act of compassion in the entire series. On top of that, Palpatine may naturally see his apprentice trying to kill him as a sign that he is indeed a true Sith, and this may play into wanting to replace Vader with Luke in ROTJ.)


............


222 INT. POLIS MASSA-OBSERVATION DOME-NIGHT On the isolated asteroid of Polis Massa, YODA meditates.
YODA: "Failed to stop the Sith Lord, I have. Still much to learn, there is ..." (Yoda is humbled here, in a way both by Sidious and Qui-Gon, using the same wording he used when showing up Dooku in the previous film - "Much to learn you still have.")
QUI-GON: (V.O.) "Patience. You will have time. I did not. When I became one with the Force I made a great discovery. With my training, you will be able to merge with the Force at will. Your physical self will fade away, but you will still retain your consciousness. "You will become more powerful than any Sith."
YODA: "Eternal consciousness."
QUI-GON: (V.O.) "The ability to defy oblivion can be achieved, but only for oneself. It was accomplished by a Shaman of the Whills. It is a state acquired through compassion, not greed." (The Jedi ironically achieve what Vader never could.)
YODA: "...to become one with the Force, and influence still have... A power greater than all, it is."
QUI-GON: (V.O.) "You will learn to let go of everything. No attachment, no thought of self. No physical self."
YODA: "A great Jedi Master, you have become, Qui-Gon Jinn. Your apprentice I gratefully become."
YODA thinks about this for a minute, then BAIL ORGANA enters the room and breaks his meditation.
BAIL ORGANA: "Excuse me, Master Yoda. Obi-Wan Kenobi has made contact."

.............

(Vader and The Emperor don’t know the twins survive, Padme is made to look still pregnant at her funeral. They are split up to make their force-presence less detectable. Yoda and Obi-Wan go into separate exile, both beginning to commune with Qui-Gon as hinted above.)

.............

231 INT. CORUSCANT-IMPERIAL REHAB CENTER-DAY DARTH SIDIOUS hovers around the periphery of a group of MEDICAL DROIDS who are working on ANAKIN. DARTH SIDIOUS paces in the foreground. A DROID approaches the Dark Lord.
MEDICAL DROID: "My Lord, the construction is finished ... he lives."
DARTH SIDIOUS: "Good. Good."
The DROID moves back to the table where DARTH VADER lies. The table begins to move upright. DARTH SIDIOUS moves in next to DARTH VADER.
DARTH SIDIOUS: (continuing) "Lord Vader, can you hear me?"
DARTH VADER, with his dark mask and helmet, moves up into the frame until he is in a CLOSEUP.
DARTH VADER: "Yes, My Master."
DARTH VADER looks around the room.
DARTH VADER: (continuing) "Where is Padme? Is she safe, is she all right?"
DARTH SIDIOUS moves closer to the half droid/half man.
DARTH SIDIOUS: "I'm afraid she died. ... it seems in your anger, you killed her."
A LOW GROAN emanates from Vader's mask. Suddenly everything in the room begins to implode, including some of the DROIDS.
DARTH VADER: "I couldn't have! She was alive! I felt her! She was alive! It's impossible! No!!!"
VADER SCREAMS, breaks his bonds to the table, and steps forward, waving his hands, causing objects to fly around the room. SIDIOUS deflects the objects, but some of the DROIDS aren't so lucky. VADER'S PAINFUL SCREAMS echo throughout the Center.


If you want a justification for Anakin's staying with Palpatine after losing Padme this is relevant. In Anakin's mind, a traitorous Obi-Wan had turned on the Republic, corrupted Padme, then cut off his limbs and left him to burn. Sidious coming to claim Vader from the lavabank is a meaningful nod to the OT. This is perhaps the only person besides himself that Palpatine would bother rescuing. Although, being a Sith, Vader keeps the possibility of overthrowing Palpatine in the back of his mind, he has lost so much that he now essentially believes in the Empire as a means to an end. The novelisation's description of Vader being told he directly killed Padme (technically a lie) is quite fitting - at first he thinks of lashing out at Palpatine, but doesn't have the strength, in the end he doesn't even want to anymore. Because Sidious is now all he has. He realises he has failed, and killed Padme himself, and my personal interpretation is that he blames the weakness of the Anakin side of him for failing. Hence it is very fitting that he finally abandons any ties to his old self here.

Palpatine now has rule of the galaxy, with no Rebels or Jedi to bother him for the time being, and a broken and subservient Vader. The dark times.

 

I have skimmed through it and again you have outdone yourself! I want to really sit down and read it and digest it for a proper response!

However, my initial thought is something I have always felt, that even though Lucas's dialogue may come across as wooden to some (all arguments aside), what is clear is for the most part, he doesn't waste dialogue with throw away lines. When his characters say something, the majority of the time it means something!

 

Thanks for reading it! Sorry, I didn't know how to respond before.
Yes I've thought similar since rewatching TPM after the release of ep3. The prequels are really condensed if that is the word.

 

But Mace, as you know, wasn't striking an unarmed person. Not to mention that Anakin in that scene could care less about the Jedi way. He was trying as many excuses as he could ("he must stand trial"/"it's not the Jedi way" and finally the true reason: "I need him") to avoid losing the person who could save Padmé.

Palpatine had nothing to do with Anakin's creation. The purpose is to establish a closer bond between them which in turn build Anakin's reliance on attachment.

But Anakin had already compromised himself by being the Chancellor's representative. Mace was just stating the obvious.

 

We know that, but as far as Mace and Anakin were concerned Palpatine was out of juice. Mace fully believed he had a window to become somewhat of a vigilante and kill Palpatine on the spot. His reasoning for doing this was based solely on Palpatine's previous two moments of resisting arrest. Mace was angry, and rationalised that he would do what needed to be done for the good of the galaxy. Not to mention he must no longer believe in the prophecy if he thinks he can end the Sith himself.
And Anakin genuinely thought he was saving Palpatine's life.

I agree with this. But I think we are supposed to see why Anakin is presented with an easy opportunity to act on his selfish instinct. If he didn't see a blurred line between the values of each Order (mostly thanks to Palpatine) it would be harder to act solely on his fear for Padme's life.
I'd even go as far as saying Anakin was hypocritical, because he killed an unarmed Dooku. But I think Anakin actually had felt guilty about this, holding the belief that a greater Jedi wouldn't have done the same. And now he sees a respected Jedi Master appearing to the same thing as he did. Plus, he doesn't have time to really think about it. Palpatine and Mace force his hand.

Because the Plagueis novel is decanonised? I'm not really decided on Anakin's creation personally, I'm sure you are aware it was left ambiguous in the final film.
I agree about it establishing a bond, I expanded on that in the later post above.

Fair enough. Both Obi-Wan and Palpatine use their friendship with Anakin to use Anakin to spy on the other. Palpatine just manipulates things so he appears to be the one who Anakin can trust.

 

As far as Anakin was concerned, not Mace. Mace knew he was still powerful and dangerous.

I'm not sure that was on Mace's mind at that moment.

Just because he was (supposedly) the key to save Padmé.

No, because Plagueis was the one who was (supposedly) able to create life, not Palpatine.

 

But when Mace moved to strike, he believed he had won.
"He has control of the Senates and the Courts. He's too dangerous to be left alive!"
Notice this refers to what would happen if Palpatine was captured. It appears Mace thought Palpatine was really defeated, and had the option of yet again attempting arrest, but decided to end his life anyway.

Yeah. But Yoda and Mace had voiced their doubt in the prophecy in an earlier scene. I'm in the camp that feels Mace should have brought Anakin to the arrest, despite Anakin's conflict on the matter. Even just to have the chosen one as backup from the start.

Off-topic a little, I like the irony that Mace doesn't see the betrayal coming; from his gesture to Anakin when Anakin arrives it is like Mace sees him as reinforcements. Palpatine on the other hand, IMO predicted Anakin would intervene to protect him. If Palpatine had thought Mace was going to kill him he could still have gone quietly the first two arrest attempts, but he is counting on Anakin getting involved and crossing a line.

Point conceded.

Ah. I haven't read the novel, but I have heard here that the force created Anakin in response to the Sith messing with the midichlorians. Was that just Plagueis?

 

It's in that novel that Darth Plagueis makes that hypothesis, at least.

 

HevyDevy

Some thoughts...

This might be a left over line from when Lucas tossed around the idea of Anakin being born because of the Sith manipulating the Midichlorians. It might be a foreshadowing of that possible story arc, but, I have to agree with Alexrd.

I believe the context is more in line with showing that Anakin and Palpatine share a very close bond. Palpatine is constantly manipulating Anakin through telling Anakin what he wants to hear. Things like one day Anakin will be the most powerful, the Jedi need Anakin more than he knows, etc etc. This line leaves me with the impression that Palpatine is further manipulating Anakin by taking over that father figure that Anakin never had as a boy, and replacing Obi Wan's father like presence now that Anakin and Obi Wan's relationship moved to friends/equals and past the father/son relationship.

It's interesting, because Palpatine tells Anakin what he wants to hear out of manipulation, Obi Wan told Anakin the truth because he actually cared for Anakin...

There is that, but, also let's not forget that Palpatine knows Anakin is unhappy with the council. We know Anakin has told Palpatine some pretty heavy secrets (tusken Slaughter), and Palpatine has witnessed and kept other secrets for Anakin (Dooku). So it is not beyond reason to think that Anakin hasn't complained to Palpatine about the issues he has with the Council. This is also Palpatine further playing on Anakin's fears and paranoia with the council and muddying the waters for when Palpatine plans to reveal himself to Anakinn, Anakin doesn't try to kill him outright.

Yup!

Also again the Father/Son relationship and letting Anakin know that Palpatine knows more than everyone thinks, that Anakin needs to be honest and open about his feelings, because Palpatine will catch him in the lie.

It is very important because it sets Anakin up for the conversation coming about Palpatine's lecture about the Sith and Jedi. Palpatine is trying to probe Anakin and see where he sits on the whole Jedi vs Sith issue, so in order to do that he must first catch Anakin in a lie and point it out so that later on, Anakin will be more willing to let his true feelings known and not just repeating what the Jedi teach him, out of fear that Palpatine will catch him in another lie.

Not to mention also, as you previously stated, that now that Palpatine knows for a fact that Anakin is strong enough, and willing to embrace the Dark Side because of the Dooku incident, Palptine knows it is now time to start the final phase of his plan. Which you wrote about in your opening post.

One of my favorite lines in the whole Saga... The Seps see that as one thing, Sidious means it in another. Sidious takes great pleasure in coming out and telling them that he is sending Vader to kill them, and they don't think twice about it! Plays into his whole persona of duplicity.

I wish Lucas would have left the line of dialogue I underlined in the movie. It's a great line to show that the Sith have been cleverly calculating in the shadows for a very long time. That this whole plot just wasn't Palpatine, Palpatine was the culmination of the Sith's plan.

I think it is clear that Palpatine is all in on the overall Sith plan of ruling forever. While Palpatine doesn't want to die, and wants to rule for as long as he can. I could see a strange moment of pride come from Palpatine if Vader ever proved himself more powerful and overtook Palpatine. Once again, the Father/Son angle where the father has a great deal of pride and is proud of his son when he realizes his son has surpassed him, albeit in a strange, dark, and twisted manner.

Also, don't forget that Palpatine shows a great deal of pride in what Anakin will eventually become when yoda confronts him...

Again, showing that Palpatine knows Anakin will eventually surpass even himself.

Once again, just an awesome job Hevy!

 

I don't think so. He just has him within reach and knows how powerful and dangerous he is.

Doesn't mean they don't believe in the prophecy. They question their own interpretation of it.

Mace was right when he adviced Anakin to stay in the Temple. Anakin's inner conflict was the catalyst of his choice.

I haven't read the novel nor do I think it's relevant. I'm just going by the movie. It's established that Anakin was conceived by midi-chlorian due to the will of the Force. Palpatine mentions that Plagueis at a certain point in time was able to manipulate the midi-chlorians and create life. If one is to assume that Anakin was created by the Sith (in my opinion, I don't believe he was), it was Plagueis who did it, not Palpatine. Therefore Palpatine calling Anakin 'son' is no indication of his origin.

 

I don't know if you feel the novelisation counts, but there is this excerpt from the moment Palpatine stops the lightning...

I read it as them doubting Anakin would be the one to lead them to victory over the Sith, due to his recent behaviour and bond with Palpatine.

I'm going to agree to disagree on this point. It's subjective. I feel Palpatine had more leverage with Anakin because Mace refused to bring him along.

Fair enough. Palpatine is at least a father-figure to Anakin, however. I think you may be underestimating the strength of Anakin's connection to Palpatine by the time he turns.

Agreed, well put.

Yeah, I get the impression Palpatine knew before he made Anakin his representative.

He arguably comes close to killing Palpatine though. But yes, Palpatine's thirteen years manipulating Anakin certainly muddy the waters, if he was someone else this betrayal probably would have meant Anakin killing the Sith Lord.

Interesting.

True. Your observation initially though

Heh. Plus, their trust makes sense because Maul was sent to help them in TPM ("A Sith here?") and they of course have been cohorts with Dooku.

Yes, and it makes the Jedi look less gullible really.

Thanks. Cheers for your feedback.

 

I don't. I see that coming from Stover, not George.

I don't argue that Palpatine had more leverage. He also has a closer bound with him than Mace. Still, had Anakin followed Mace's advice, what ended up happening wouldn't have happened.

No argument there.

I'm not. I'm just saying that Palpatine calling Anakin 'son' is more to show/encourage affection and not a hint at Anakin's origins (which Palpatine, one way or the other, had nothing to do with).

 

Great read. Also, I never thought of the irony of Obi-Wan's line: "Chancellor Palpatine, Sith Lords are our specialty." He did defeat Maul and train Anakin, and Anakin was the one who beat Darth Tyranus and replaced him thereafter. Good stuff.

Personally, some of my favorite lines of Sidious are comprised of his speech to the Senate and his taunting of Yoda. I also like McDiarmid handles the line: "Only through me can you achieve a power greater than any Jedi. Learn to know the dark side of the Force, and you will be able to save your wife from certain death." That manipulative smile and Williams' music! Oh, no! Lol. McDiarmid is a class act. He clearly enjoyed role. Sidious was obviously excited when he was planning Order 66 and giving Vader his assignment to attack the Jedi Temple. He could hardly contain himself. The man is a vicious bastard. His conversation with Anakin at the Opera was great, especially considering that McDiarmid was sick. Not sure how he delivered the lines so well. Great actor!



I think Tim Curry was channeling McDiarmid a bit when he performed Sidious. I know people have complained about his voice being too different from McDiarmid's for Palpatine, but I don't care. The guy gets the character well enough. He made for a menancing Sidious, especially in the Yoda arc at the end. He was terrifying.

 

Thought so. Either way, Mace wasn't entirely honest in his rationalisation for killing Palpatine. Yes, he had control of the Senate and the courts, but this hadn't changed since before he attempted to arrest him. He was angry, and acting on the spur of the moment.

True. Anakin obviously made the wrong decision in Palpatine 's office. But I would argue so did Mace.

It was just a speculation on metaphor. Likely unintentional, but I don't think it is a coincidence that Anakin turns to "save" his "father" then turns back to save his son.

 

Yeah, I've liked the irony of that for a while. It's also pretty funny that Obi-Wan thinks it's a kindly old Chancellor, when he's advising possibly the most powerful Sith so far that they are the experts.

Maybe I'm stating the obvious but I love that it's the first Anakin is hearing that Palpatine even knows about Padme.

He's talented. I think Lucas should get a little more credit for the writing of Palpatine as well. There is a lot going on.

It's weird because I don't watch the show, yet I have seen that out of the parts of two or three episodes I saw.