Lit Does Palpatine really want Vader to surpass himself?

I meant pre-Mustafar.

 

It's possible, but if so, that's another reason Sidious would've probably started looking for Vader's replacement.

 

Sidious would never want to transfer his essence into a cyborg like Vader or Lumiya, obviously, but that does give us another reason why he would want to replace Vader. He may be warped and repugnant, but he is pragmatic.

 

Don't think this necessarily means that he never wished for Vader/Anakin to achieve his full potential, and to surpass him. As many people noted earlier in the thread, Sidious statements and opinions on Vader did change over time. Not sure when this is set exactly (Though its clearly well into the Dark Times) but by the time of the OT Palpatine most assuredly had little more than contempt for his former "friend", so him not wanting Vader to grow any stronger would make a decent amount of sense.

On the subject of Essence Transfer, I feel that if he'd been planning to do that with Anakin, for some reason I just don't see that as having ever been part of the plans Sidious had for Vader. He really seemed comfortable within his own body, only looking towards others as a last resort.

 

Or he just wanted a superior apprentice than Dooku & Vader when he tries to seduce Anakin & Luke.

 

Well that's true in both cases (And in the case of Vader and Galen before Luke came along.) The second only happens however specifically because Vader fails to get over his emotional/mental problems, making himself open for replacement. And while their may be some ambiguity in Maul's case, Dooku served his purpose to aid in the Clone Wars, but was only ever a placeholder for Anakin in the long run.

 

IMO he didn't want Vader to surpass him because if you read Tarkin because of these points
1. Palps had a armor already ready for use, seems like Palps already planned to have an ''accident'' happen to Anakin
2.Star Wars : Tarkin explains that Palps goal is to become a dark side god, who will reshape reality and gain influence of the ultimate sort
I think that he intended for him and Vader to discover the secrets of the sith shrine and then Sidious would stage an ''accident'' for Anakin

 

That sounds like Sidious.