Saga How Long Did Palpatine Intend to Live and Rule?

Palpatine by the time he becomes Chancellor in TPM is already elderly and in his sixties. By the time he is able to wipe out all of the Jedi Knights completely and transform the Republic into the Galactic Empire he would have been in his eighties. How much longer did the Emperor expect to live and rule on the Imperial throne? I could not imagine him lasting more than another thirty years even with the power of the Dark Side at his disposal. It seems almost like a waste to me to take such a long time to go through this process and only possess the throne for another few decades as such a warn down and elderly individual. He would not have been able to enjoy the fruits of it in his youth. Your thoughts?

 

I think he was in his 50s in TPM, 60s in AOTC and ROTS, and 80s in the OT. According to the EU, he had clones of himself made, so he intended on living and ruling forever. However, going just off the movies, I would say he intended on ruling as long as possible, and would use the dark side to prolong his life.

 

In the original continuity he intended to live forever. This is solidified by his machinations in Dark Empire.

 

Dark Empire is irrelevant now. But the Tarkin novel states that he wanted to essentially rule forever together with Vader.

 

In the ROTS novel, didn't he intend to live forever? Or like a thousand years?

 

Longer than a couple decades.

 

It's relevant exactly to this discussion if any.

 

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Palpatine was intent on finding a way to live and rule forever.

 

The Supreme Chancellor
In the CT forums when the legends are stated not to be part of canon anymore? How?

 

Palpatine intended to rule as long as he was alive.

However, we know from ROTS that he saw past his own rule:



Palpatine says "The Sith" in general terms, and really doesn't personalize it to himself. It shows that Palpatine understood that one day he would be gone, but, the Sith would continue to rule the galaxy past him.While his ambitions were to get himself into the seat of power, his bigger goal was to make sure the Sith as an organization would continue to rule past him.

 

I was referring to "Legends," simply because there is a new continuity doesn't mean we cannot discuss the original one.

 

In the CT films there's nothing I can think of to suggest that Palpatine wanted to live and rule forever. I'd assume that he wanted to rule until he died.

 

I'm going to say for as long as possible. Until the end of his natural life or (if he found a way) eternity.

 

I'm inclined to think that he intended to prolong his life somehow using the Force. Maybe not indefinitely, but well and truly past the life expectancy of a normal person, and long enough to enjoy ruling the galaxy.

Incidentally, mentioning Dark Empire is perfectly relevant to this discussion as a possibility, it just can't be taken as definitive. That applies to virtually all non-movie sources, regardless of their 'canon' status.

 

That's actually a really interesting question to ponder now that the EU no long applies. I kind of wonder if it comes down to it; does Palpatine value the Sith ideal more than his own life and legacy? I would speculate that as he grew older he might have regretted killing Plagueis without learning all his knowledge about the force. Although, we do not know the true extent of his powers and abilities; he might have been close to finding a way to preserve his life indefinitely.

 

"To cheat death is a power only one has achieved, but if we work together I know we can discover the secret."

I suspect that this might be the one moment when Sidious really bares his soul to Vader. He wanted the assistance of the most naturally (or unnaturally) gifted Force sensitive in the galaxy to help him unlock the key to immortality.

 

I've actually wondered this myself. The vibe I got from the movies, when he recounts the whole story of Darth Plagueis, is that he was very much hoping to live forever as his master was trying to. (He never struck me as grooming any of his apprentices for leadership - not Vader not Dooku definitely not Maul, Luke would've been no different).

The EU no longer matters for the purposes of this discussion, but I thought the "using clones to live forever" story made for a nice follow-up to ROTS, even if it was written before.

 

That's how I've always seen it: while Palpatine would've loved to live for decades, well past the life span of a normal human being, as the Galactic Emperor, his overarching goal was to ensure that the galaxy would be ruled by a succession of Sith Lords for thousands of years.

 

His choice of words for that scene does imply that he hopes that the SIth will rule for generations.

I'm not sure how long he personally planned on living; some people have wondered if Force Sensitives live longer than normal beings but they do appear to be more spry in their old age then the average person: Dooku is in his eighties and Sidious is around that age in the OT.

I think it should be noted that with our new knowledge of how the Rule of Two works in RotJ Vader was more or less telling Luke that he, Luke, was going to take his, Vader's, place as the Emperor's apprentice. At that point Vader is beginning to succumb to his injuries and his internal conflict isn't making things better. Luke would be healthier than his father and inexperienced enough to be led to the the Dark Side; bonus points is that he's twenty-three or so. He will be able to carry on the Sith Legacy when Sidious is dead and gone.

And Sidious might have been hoping to 'merge' with the Force. For some reason I'm remembering hearing somewhere that Sidious had become a living embodiment of the Dark Side.

 

I reckon this needs to go to Saga as much of the material which impacts on it is from outside the CT.

Therefore, moving to Saga...

 

Making of ROTJ says that Palpatine uses the dark side to prolong his life for as long as he isn't killed by an external force. I personally got this impression from the movies themselves. He's in his 80s in ROTJ and doesn't seem worried about dying of old age. "Once more the Sith will rule the galaxy" is what Vader wanted to hear.

 

The Empire was only the second phase of Palpatine's plan. The final phase was to rule the galaxy through the power of the dark side alone, replacing the Imperial military with an army of dark side force users. I feel he was strong enough with the Force he would be able to prolong his life indefinitely.

 

So according to Wookieepedia, normal humans live for 120 years while Force-sensitive humans live up to 200 years...so even without Dark Empire's cloning shenanigans it would seem Palps would have plenty of years left.

And speaking of human lifespans in sci-fi settings, it's interesting to note that Mass Effect has humans living up to 150 years despite the civilization in Star Wars being much older and more advanced.

 

36 years is a pretty long term in office. I think he may have been too greedy with Luke. Palpatine and Anakin never showed Luke the benefits of the Empire, they never spend enough time seducing him, it was a rush job for both of them. Palpatine spent 13 years seducing Anakin, but only spent a few hours with Luke.