Palpatine's purpose

One of the themes of the Star Wars saga is that through the Will of the Force everything and everyone seems to have a purpose in one way or another. Now, this got me thinking, what about Palpatine?

I've heard before that some people think Palpatine's Empire was, in the long run, a good thing, since it allowed the Republic and the Jedi Order to be reborn, free of the corruption it had before Palpatine came along. While this makes sense, it seems odd that the 'Will of the Force' would want so much suffering to have to occur in order to fix the problems of the Old Republic.

Still, what if Palpatine wasn't doing what he was destined to? We do all have free will after all... Mayhaps, had Palpatine chosen to use his political genius for good instead of evil, he could've actually helped end the corruption in the Old Republic from within, without destroying it altogether. Yet even though he chose to use his abilities for his own power instead of the greater good, this ultimate purpose of creating a New Republic was still accomplished- although because of his choices it was through his death, rather than through his life, that the New Republic was born.

This seems similiar to Anakin's story, in a lot of ways. As the Chosen One, it was Anakin's destiny to destroy the Sith and restore order to the Force. Had he not turned to the Darkside himself, he might have been able to achieve this much earlier in his life. Even so, he managed to redeem himself in the end, although it caused his death doing so. The main difference between Anakin's story and Palpatine's is that Anakin fulfilling his destiny in his last hours was intentional, while Palpatine remained enveloped in his evil desires until the end. Thus, even though Palpatine's Empire (or more specifically, the fall of his Empire and the creation of the New Republic) was for the greater good in the long run, Palpatine himself would not be redeemed since it was not by his intentions.

 

Wow, that's a very interesting take on Palpatine! This makes me think that perhaps Palpatine was the Chosen one, but when he was lost to the dark side, another Chosen one was conceived in his stead. Which should mean that when Anakin became Darth Vader, yet another Chosen one appeared and that would be Luke.

I believe Palpatine is a sadist, though. He just takes too much pleasure in other people's suffering to be good. He is evil at heart. So his purpose is to create a mess that the Chosen one must then clean up.
Or maybe his purpose was to reveal the Sith so that the Chosen one could fulfill his destiny? It would then, of course, be up to Palpatine to choose the nature of that revelation.

 

You write the "Will of the Force" as if it is a God that controls the Star Wars universe. In my opinion this is not the case. GL has never made any reference to a God in his Universe. So I don't think there is a supernatural being controlling the events of the stories.

The Force is an energy field created by all living things. If something happens a Jedi could shrug and say "It's the will of the force" or its destiny. But do not confuse the will with a God that controls everything.

Palpatine is a truly evil man in SW. His New Order destroys a corrupt democracy, and then a New Republic a better Republic is founded.

-Seldon

 

i think in a way the force is god. it has all the characteristics, and the same mystery to it. it controls destiny and fate and binds the galaxy together.

 

The Force is not a God
1. When do they ever refer to the Force as a person. It is a thing.
2. In what religion does God give his people special powers?
3. It never said that the Force controlled the galaxy.

Seldon

 

i never said the force is a person named god.

all i said is it carries the same characteristics that we normally attribute to god.



and i think its pretty obvious that the force does control the universe, thats the whole point of the prophecy, and everything else GL put into star wars.

 

From a certain Point of view, perhaps
The entire universe is effect by trillions of things. Anakin was just one of them.

You can look at it as a god
You can look at it another way.
I personally don't see a god in Star Wars.
That is not what it is about.
Its not about a galaxy's journey through a path plotteds by god
It is the story of men, women and aliens as they create their own destinys.

In GL's own words it is about the very mistakes humans make. It has nothing to do with a god.

-Seldon

 

"Its not about a galaxy's journey through a path plotteds by god
It is the story of men, women and aliens as they create their own destinys."

Why can't it be both? Isn't it possible that, as I suggested, we can be destined for something yet still have the free will to choose not to accept that destiny, as Palpatine did?

 

I think you are trying to make something into Star Wars when it is not actually part of it.

GL has said that it is the story of the mistakes humans make and how they have to deal with them.

Its not a story about God plotting man's destiny. It is really about humans in control of their own destiny.

Seldon

 

althougth the humans controll thier paths, i think the sense that there is an ultimate destiny for all things is a major theme.

at least thats the sense i get with the PT. even though we know how it will turn out, there is great excitement in knowing how the characters will get to where they were in the OT.

 

Palpatine's purpose was to spread fear and terror accross the Galaxy and it's people. His motive was not money or power, he just did what a Sith is supposed to do: bring fear and evil. Pure evil.

 

He needs a motive, though, otherwise he is not a believable character. I believe he is a sadist and that his ultimate motive is to satisfy his sadistic needs.
Just look at him in ROTJ, the way he thoroughly enjoys being evil and causing pain. You'll see what I mean.

 

Makro: Palpatine has other reasons. He is human first, he had his personal reasons as well.

Yes he must first serve the Sith
but he is also human, he craves power, and those such things.

He is a human character, being a sith does not make him inhuman. He is going to be greedy, corrupt, needy, etc.

Seldon

 

Yes he must first serve the Sith
but he is also human, he craves power, and those such things.

Palpatine would probably serve himself first. That's what Sith are supposed to be like, after all.

Depa Billaba

 

That's right!

 

Still, it's unrealistic that a person would go through such lengths for no reason at all other than power and power alone.

 

I don't think it's unrealistic considering what a Sith represents...

 

Still, it's unrealistic that a person would go through such lengths for no reason at all other than power and power alone.

Look at what Hitler did for power.

If people want something bad enough, they'll go to any lengths to do it.

Depa Billaba

 

But what do they want to do with that power? Power in itself is not interesting at all. To anyone. It's totally useless, unless there's something you can do with it.
So why does Palpatine feel that he needs absolute power? I guess it gives him a rush to feel invincible. I also guess he feels that power enables him to live forever. He's afraid of dying. You could go into the EU stories about clones and stuff, but that's not what I'm talking about here.
When Luke said "Master Yoda, you can't die", Yoda answered "Strong am I with the Force, but not that strong". Now, GL has said that the dark side is inherently stronger. It gives you more power to do anything. Even lengthen your life, I would think.
I think Palpatine wants to live forever and that he wants to turn the whole galaxy to the dark side, because if he does that, he will have all the dark side power he needs to live on forever and nothing can stand in his way to do so.

 

There are many reasons besides power, fame, glory, honor, control, wealth,

they all go along with the power.
Certain people lust for power more than others.

Seldon

 

His purpose is plain and simple: Absolute god-like power and control: A moon shaped planet destoyer? Control through many years of manipulation and plotting, instead of just contracting an army? Palpatine was not as powerful at the beginning of Episode 1 as he is at the end of Episode 6. If the Jedi Council ever found him out they would have pounced on him like a fumbled football. It took all the power he had to cloud the force for ten years while he skillfully plotted. His plan is so thorough that every action that every character has taken so far in the Episodes 1 & 2 have been by his design. He is the evil of all 6 movies. Also,it is a fiction and plays much better with an no-questions asked evil antagonist. Not sympathetic bad guy like V.Corleone or an anti-hero like Riddick, but a flat out, despicable, no redeemable quality type in the vein of Angela Landsbury in the "Manchurian Candidate" or Robert Mitchum in "Night of the Hunter".

 

The Force doesn't control everything. These characters aren't just dancing on strings, they are making their own decisions, and Palpatine is a key point. He's not a part of the will of the Force. Anakin was the only part where the Force took a hand, for the purpose of eliminating him.

 

Thats a great way of looking at it Ewan. But if the force binds us and surrounds us its not a far stretch to imagine that a exceptionally gifted force wielder couldnt manipulate key people as a means to his end considering everything else we suspend our disbelief for with this saga.

 

The view that Palpatine is totally evil and craves nothing more than power for power's sake is fine for the audience, but for the actor, it doesn't work. The actor who portrays the villain needs something more real to make a believable performance.
What McDiarmid found in his character to make him solid I don't know. It's not really important what it was, but it was obviously something, because Palpatine is an enjoyable character.

 

You could almost see it as an allegory to World War 2, to what Hitler did. At the time nobody believed that a man was capable of such things, his atrocities helped us to look inside of ourselves and see the evil we were capable of.