Does the Prequel Trilogy do justice to Darth Sidious?

Agreed. I'm glad that farrell could understand what I was trying to make clear, weeks ago.

Only those who just spam by complaining about the topic.

 

got yeah thanks sinister... So in the end the saga as a whole does indeed do justice tp the emperor. I always thought that he was the villain though, because at the end of ROTJ, I was sad to see vader die, he was a good guy at the end. SO my thoughts of vader as being the ultimate villain never really materialized.

 

I always wondered how powerful Sidious was after seeing him in ROTJ. It really came from seeing vader bow to him and call him master.

seeing him use lightning, i knew he was very powerful, but the fact that when yoda was instructing luke, he told him he must confront vader.
And even said only a fully trained jedi with the force as his alley can conquer vader and his emperor.

Yoda really put the emphasis on vader and made it sound like if he beat vader the rest would be childsplay. when really he knew sidious was a far greater challenge than vader.

But he does state do not underestimate the powers of the emperor.

But overall i was happy the way the showed sidious rise to power in the PT.
He is really powerful, even against fully trained jedi.
I think sidious is now recognised as the most powerful bad guy in all the films without a doubt, so yes the PT did him justice

 

It does 100% IMO. The Emperor was a great figure in ROTJ and Im glad his platform became ROTS. Okay maybe his power has been questioned because of ROTS (Mace, Yoda) So as the most powerful force user etc his 2 duels are questionable but he still won in the end. The character of Palpatine has been considerably developed and he has become my second favourite character as a result.

One nit pick that I have is that I prefer his look in ROTJ. The saggy chicken neck and bloated face they gave him in ROTS didn't do him as much justice.

 

Well he is 20+ years older than when he did ROTJ, so he's probably not as slender.
Not much they could do there I believe.

 

The PT didn't do Sidious justice in one regard; setting up the scene in TPM as to why the Sith were so bent on revenge, how long they'd been planning it, how deep Sidious' manipulation of the Republic went. In TPM, we just get Maul saying "at last we will have our revenge" but no reason why. I had to read one of the DK books to find out just who the Sith were and what their beef with the Jedi was.
So for me, the final triumph of the DS/Sith in ROTS rang hollow for two reasons. One, I didn't know the backstory of what/why/how long the Sith plotted their revenge. Just a few lines in TPM would've helped(cut a few seconds from the podrace to make time) make their aims understandable to the audience, if not to the Jedi in the film. Secondly, their great "victory" will end up devouring itself and create, through their cruelty and brutality, the very means of it's destruction - the Rebellion.

 

That's a really good point. That's where the Pee-U (er, I mean EU) comes into play, but I dont read any of it, so I had to ask those that did.
Long story short: The Sith used to rule the galaxy and the Jedi put an end to it, thus the Sith seek revenge. I'm sure there's more to it, but I think that's the basic gist.
But, back to the film... I agree completely with you. A couple more lines could have cleared that up nicely.

 

And having to go to other sources(DK books, comics, novels)to explain more completely what we saw in the movie? I know the SW universe is complex, but a movie should be complete in itself, not require "homework" for it to be understood.

 

Yeah I get what you mean, but if they had adapted the same make up and details from ROTJ he would look the same. Look at Ian's neck and chin in ROTS. Much the same as ROTJ. It's not because his aged. It's almost like they went for a look that was fresh and swollen from the effects of force lightning. It's not a major thing, I just prefer the ROTJ slender look more.

 

Double post. Please delete this one... thank you

 

First off I have to congratulate Farrelg for starting this thread. Right man for the right job

I think the prequels described Sideous, Palpatine, the Emperor or whatever you desire to call him very well as the most powerful sith. Let's compare what he does in ROTJ and ROTS. In ROTS he foresees most of the things that happens. He barely loses to Mace, the second strongest Jedi, but in the end he wins because of his cunning. He draws with Yoda, perhaps the strongest Jedi of all time. He annihilates almost all of the other Jedi in a swift strike. He gains control over the galaxy as the supreme ruler.

In ROTJ he cannot sense Luke, even though Vader can. Sideous' powers are diminishing. He fools the rebels to think the DSII is inoperative, but eventually falls victim to his own trap. He electrocutes Luke, not much of an accomplishment after we see him electrocute Mace, is it? Then, he dies after being lifted by Vader and tossed down the shaft. He was killed the exact same way Mace was killed. Good on ya Anakin Sideous should have remembered...

 

I see what you mean. It's debatable whether the Emperor looked stronger in the OT or PT. Emphasizing the Emperor's powers might not have even been a priority in Lucas' mind, even though it's important to fans of the character. Some people have said they thought the Emperor was undefeatable, while others said his abilities weren't anything special. As you pointed out, both of these extreme views are apparently wrong. The Emperor never was invincible, but he's definitely an extremely powerful Sith lord who has an immense knowledge of the Force and is leagues ahead of most Jedi. The ultimate villain needs to be powerful, so that he can pose a real danger to the heroes and have a legitimate reason for being the Sith Master. The ultimate villain needs to be powerful, so that he can pose a real danger to the heroes and have a legitimate reason for being the Sith Master. At the same time, the Emperor can't be too powerful because he needs to be destroyed in the end.

 

I think that the PT did do Sidious justice. It showed his cunning and his rise to power as well as his raw power as a Sith. He took down three Jedi Masters and eventually Mace Windu. He fought to a draw with Yoda, the most powerful Jedi in the order. The PT in my mind certainly did justice to his power. The only dark side/Sith powers we see from Sidious in the OT is a few bursts of force lightning. In the PT we see him weild a lightsaber against Jedi foes as well as face off against the greatest Jedi Master ever. The PT definately does Darth Sidious justice.

 

My sentiments exactly.

 

(But) Sith power resided not in the flesh but in the will.

Powered by treachery, the Sith Master-apprentice relationship was always a dangerous game. Trust was encouraged even while being sabotaged; loyalty was demanded even while betrayal was prized; suspicion was nourished even while honesty was praised.


"You must begin by gaining power over yourself; then another; then a group, an order, a species, a group of species. . . finally, the galaxy itself." Sidious could still hear Darth Plagueis lecturing him.


***

If we measure Sidious's success against the afore-mentioned Plagueis quote, I would say Sidious gets to check off everything on his master's list.

So yeah, the PT does him a ton of justice.




***
All three quotes taken from Dark Lord.

 

I've always looked at the Emperor the same way....He was a master of the dark side, which to me, didn't make him more powerful than anyone else. He may have been more powerful than people like Qui-Gon, Luke, Obi-Wan, and even Anakin, but something always told that he was equal in power to Yoda.

Now it's still very questionable about his matchup against Mace, but my opinion is Mace kicked his butt. Yoda got the better of him also but in his matchup against both Mace and Yoda, Sidious displayed total corrupted dark side powers.

 

I agree that sidious was overpowered by Mace in their duel, But it did seem to be deadlocked at the moment Anakin intervened.
Whats getting me is if anakin hadnt been there, would sidious have survived.

Because he is injuring himself with his own lightning, and id imagine even a sith lord will fry. If anakin hadnt arrived, sidious would have kept shooting lightning at mace.

And even though mace was struggling with it, he wasnt being injured up unitl that point.

So i think sidious would have either died because of his own lightning or because the minute he stopped using it, mace would chop his head off.

One thing is for sure, Darth sidious is shown to be very powerful.

He is certainly a good match for the top 2 Jedi masters, and would probably cream the other more average Jedi Knights who in their own right are still powerful force users.

 

I never really knew the backstory for the rebellion, when I saw A New Hope, just a line that Empire was indeed Evil. I didn;t care then, and I don't care now. The Empire is the antagonist, like the Sith are the antagonists in the PT. If I needed everything exlpained to me I'd read those books that you did....