How ancient is Darth Sidious?

I think Palpatine's casual mention of Plagueis the Wise as something the Jedi would not have told Anakin about was just a seque into a conversation and nothing more. I'm not sure it can be taken as literal truth that the Jedi knew of Plagueis.

I believe Palpatine is just as his age would appear to be before his corruption by Force Lightning. In other words, about 60-ish in TPM and about 75 in ROTS.

McDiarmid's comments aside, I think the Emperor at death was probably only about 95 years old. However, if Plaguis the Wise WAS really his master and he learned more than a little about Plagueis' power, then it is entirely feasible that the Emperor is about 120 as McDiarmid said.

He may not have known the secret to cheating death, but it IS very possible that Palpatine could have used the Dark Side to extend his own life by a decade or two.

Now, if Plagueis' secrets were in some Holocron in the Jedi Temple, I would think that Palpatine would have accessed it and actually discovered this secret...but it would also mean that Plagueis lived over 1000 years prior and either was NOT Palpatine's master, or Palpatine is very very old. I don't tend to believe this however.

Someone had very good theory on one of these threads that Palpatine was in fact created by Plagueis and is, like Anakin, a product of the Force, but the total embodiment of the Dark Side. I like this theory for many reasons.

At any rate, it's all open to interpretation, which is what makes this fun.

 

I agree with the EU and the movies. Palpatine was born in Naboo some 65 years before ROTS. Darth Plagueis (perhaps King Veruna as some have said) trained him and slowly Palpatine grew in power in Naboo. He eventually killed his master when he got all he wanted and we know the rest (up till ROTS). When Sidious finally unleashed the dark side that day when Mace Windu (and co.) attacked it was the strongest sith outburst since the time of Darth Bane, He no longer needed to hide the darkness. At the end of the fight, during the turning of anakin and the transformation of Palpatine (due both to lightning and extreme dark side use) Palpatine's body was seriousley damaged by the dark side, it aged unnaturally quick and became what it was. With a body that could die at any moment if he used too much power he needed a back up plan, so he got the spirit transfer to clones idea from the jedi archives and sought the jedi who knew (Ashka Boda) So he learned what to do and set his labs. My guess is that since ROTS till ROTJ palps "died" and took a clone around 4 times. In Rotj he died in a way he had not before, unexpected and far away from the clones. The death star explosion may have crippled his spirit and made it slower. And you know the rest, he waits out until the time is right and does his thing and dies.

 

My guess is about as old as Yoda, maybe a little older...not sure if wiser, but certainly has aged a lot more. Time has not been kind to old Palpy.

 

I thought Ian stated he played a charactor that was some 126 years old?

 

I see no reason to believe that he is any older than 65 in ROTS.

 

But was he 1,000 years old because i think he saw the massacre of the Sith and was going to wait and lurk in the shadows waiting for the right time to start his plan.

 

I can't see what the debate is about? Ian - and George as well - has said in numerous interviews that when he was around 30, he got a call from GL to play "The Ruler of the Universe", who "looked like he was a 100 years old" (I don't think he's said that he's exactly 100 years old, ever) and 30 years later, he gets to go "back in time" and play the character when he is the same age as Ian is then, which is around 55-60.

I can't get my head around the other theories. PT Darth Sidious/Palpatine is about 60-65 years old. ROTJ Palpatine is around 85-90 years old.

Why does Sidious have to be as old as Yoda? Mapping out his life isn't that hard over 80 years time. Theoretically, this how it could have gone.

We know he was trained by Darth Plagueis who was a Sith in hiding (otherwise, Anakin would have heard of him since I'm guessing the names of the Sith the Jedi almost destroyed are well known in the archives and something a Jedi learns) and then he killed his master in his sleep.

He was probably born on Naboo, about 80 years prior to ANH. What happens in his childhood and teenage years we don't know, but we must assume that he had some political training since that begins early on in Naboo life (see Padmé's talk about politics in AOTC). It was probably during his teens that he was approached by the Sith Lord who taught him in secret.

He probably worked his way up the bureaucratic ladder from there on, while being schooled in the Sith arts in the mean time. Since he's such a skilled saber fighter, we'll have to assume that he's learned these skills while he was still young and agile, probably in his late teens and early 20s. Skills like that are easier to maintain into old age if you pick it up in your "formative" years. He probably killed Plagueis sometime inbetween his 20s and 40s.

If Palpatine was indeed aiming for the Senate, his 30s and 40s must have been focused primarily on the politics and also the teaching of Darth Maul. Assuming it takes a while to train a Sith as well, we're talking at least 10 years of training. If he found Maul when he was in his early 40s, it leads us up to his early 50s and the events of the Phantom Menace. Say that he is about 52-53 during the events of TPM, which is roughly the age Ian was when they started shooting it. That gives us another 10 years until AOTC and 3 more until ROTS, which would make Palptine/Sidious about 65 in ROTS. Which is what he looks like before the lightning - a man in his early 60s.

Plenty of time to practice being an evil overlord, right?

 

I want official answers if available:

1-How old is Palpatine/Darth Sidious? (I have heard he is a normal human age of 70's.)

2-And is he older because the dark side has extended his life?

3-Is he an old Master from another time?

4-Was he really that ugly all the time but covered it up or was he burned by lightning? (He looks older in Ep2 then Ep1 but younger again in Ep3.)

5-Does he change his appearance with the dark side?

6-Did he manipulate ANakin's birth (or his master Darth Plageuis, did he do it)?

7-Did he have anything to do with Dooku(Darth Tyrannus)'s training of QuiGOn (since he was the one who found Anakin)? (I assume Dooku came over to the darkside after Ep1 but did he have his hands on Dooku for years)

8-Was General Grevious created because Darth Maul was sliced in half? (Did Palpatine fear to lose his apprentice, Darth Vader, in the future with the same fate?)

9- Did Darth Plagueis own Shmi and Anakin as slaves before they were sold to Gardulla the Hutt when Anakin was 3? (The Prophecy speaks of the Son of the SUns so maybe that is why they were sent to Tattooine)

10- Palpatine was born on Naboo and seemed to be well known from there. Was Darth Plagueis from Naboo, when did Palpatine start training as a Sith?

11- Are Mas Amedda, Sly Moore and a few other Senators under the influence of the dark side or are they just strong supporters of Palpatine's politics?

Ok, I think that is all the Palpatine questions that still exist in my head and over time, have not been answered...anyone?

 

I can't see what the debate is about? Ian - and George as well - has said in numerous interviews that when he was around 30, he got a call from GL to play "The Ruler of the Universe", who "looked like he was a 100 years old".

No that's not true, he said that George told him that the emperor was 120 or something around that age.

He didnt say he was playing a character that "looked" that old, he said he WAS that old.

I saw the entire interview on HS.

So we all know that he's "AT LEAST" 120 to 130 years old in ROTJ, Ian said it during the interview.

(I especially remember that part of it because as soon as I heard it I came back over here to report the "truth". )

 

Since McCallum confirmed that Sidious' true face appears cause of the Lightning, then he's over a hundred years old.

 

"Since McCallum confirmed that Sidious' true face appears cause of the Lightning, then he's over a hundred years old".

When did RM confirm this?

 

Sinister:
Since McCallum confirmed that Sidious' true face appears cause of the Lightning, then he's over a hundred years old

Go back to the very beggining of this thread.....I've been saying that since this debate started .


Like I said....listen to the hitman .

(Invictus Sol....where are ya?? )

 

Equally old as Ian McDiarmid, so in RotJ he would be eighty or something.

-S-

 

Sidious is NOT old at all. He does not know how to cheat death in ROTS. His master, Darth Plaiguis knew, but he didn't. The first time Sidious cheats death is after ROTS when he kills Jedi Master Ashka Boda revealing a Holocron that reveals how to transfer his consciouness into a clone of himself. -SW: Dark Empire-

 

Who cares how old he is? He's old enough, and that's good enough for me. Trying to answer this question is about as useful as trying to pin down what galaxy exactly this all took place in.

 

Ok. Probably taken by Plagueis when very young (months) trained up till hi mid 20's kills Plagueis (who is polititc in Naboo) and starts rising as such. Takes Maul 25 years prior to TPM, becomes senator, makes blockade to become chancellor. Gets Tyranus, starts separatists and orchestrates clone wars. kills jedi becomes chancellor, due to not using the dark side for a long time (for the jedi not to discover) his outburst is extremely strong and along with weakening from the lightning he becomes deformed, lightning makes him look older as does his outburst, becomes emperor and soon starts looking for another way to cheat death, about five years after ROTS body is extremely weak, makes use of technique found after jedi purge (ashka boda, holocron) and transfers himself to clone body, body rots very quickly (5 years), clones himself another 3 times and when ROTJ he is about to do it again. dies away from clones and everything and explosion weakens him. Takes clone in byss and rots it quicker, dies and takes another clone (with skywalker there), dies again, away from clones, takes some time to get back to byss, gets inside a new clone(last), lab sabotaged and he needs a new body (solo kid) seeks out unborn child but is trapped inside body of dying jedi (anyone seen dogma?), Finally vanquished like this.



This is my "timeline", fitting EU and the movies perfectly. I don't see why anything in it would be wrong so please comment on it.

 

I'll just bump this, seems good enough to bump

 

McCallum and McDiarmid confirmed that Palpatine's hiding his true face and that he's older than he looks, right until his face is revealed. Since Lucas envisioned Palpatine as 120 some years old, that's how old he is. It probably has nothing to do with Plaugeis' teachings and more that Palpatine just happened to still be alive. He's strong enough to make himself look like he's in his 50's and 60's, in the PT.

 

I'm sure I heard/or read an interview with Ian McD saying that he plays a character 126 years old. He could of been just generalising though.

 

I might have just found the "ammo" that I needed to challenge the OS' theory about Sidious' face being an injury.

Sinister, when did McCallum or McDiarmid say this.....do you know where I can find his quote?

And what has Lucas himself said about it?

 

The most recent edition of Star Wars Insider confirmed that Palpatine's face was damaged by Force lightning (as is clear from the movie--Palpatine's face and hands are being assaulted by his own lightning, arcs of dark side power are striking his face directly and wherever they strike, his face changes; his face is also seen smoldering). Pablo goes on to say that Rick and Ian were speaking metaphysically, "in the same vein with Christian Bale describing Bruce Wayne as the mask and Batman as the true face, but no one would take that literally."

The most damning evidence against an ancient Palpatine is the very workings of Naboo's political structure. Again and again we have been reminded that Naboo begins training its politicians and elects them into office when they are very young. In order to gain the trust of the Naboo people and be elected to the Senate, Palpatine would have had to have also begun his political career at a young age, meaning that most of his life he would have been under public scrutiny. It seems to me that George might have built this scheme into the system not only to justify a young queen of Naboo, but also to subtly discredit the EU.

But, as with all things Star Wars, George is the final word, not Rick, Ian, or Pablo... so we'll have to wait for the Commentary and hope that at the pivitol moment, we don't get Ben Burtt talking about how to make wind effects.

 

Lucas told McDiramid during the filming of ROTJ that Palpatine was about 120 years old. During the PT, Lucas changed his mind and told Mcdiarmid Palpatine had a normal age. Palpatine cannot be more than 100 years old During the prequels, he is what he looks like.

 

I might have missed this in the commentary, but did we ever get any confirmation on this??