What was the Emperor's mistake?

What do people think was the mistake the Emperor made in his plans that led to his downfall?

I can think of two possabilities.

1) He did not think Vader could feel anything for Luke.

or

2) He did not think Luke would become part of the alliance.

 

I'd say he didn't believe that Luke would refuse to kill Vader, or that Vader would kill him to save Luke. Luke was already a Rebel by the time the Emperor had found out about him. He also underestimated the power of the Rebels and their attack on the Second Death Star. The Emperor became too confident in himself after taking control of the galaxy, and just figured that he would never have to worry about anything. He was wrong.

 

He also didn't account for Ewoks...messing up his plans for ambushing the rebels at the shield bunker. The dark side may cloud everything...but the Ewoks just plain mess it up.

 

He invaded Russia...oh wait a minute...sorry wrong tyrannt.

He underestimated the Power of the Light side of the Force.

Turned his back on his Sith apprentice, which got his arse thrown over the rail!

 

He was too arrogant. Arrogance is deadly.

 

He messed with Luke !

 

He took control of the Army and wouldnt let them fall back to more defensible positions?

 

Overconfidence


and faith in his friends.

 

The whole pivotal issue at the end is whether or not there is any good in Vader and Luke's struggle against every dissenting voice to go with his gut instinct about it. (Even Obi-Wan disagrees with Luke.) With Luke, Vader, and the Emperor, you get the gamut of viewpoints on this.

Luke insists there is good in Vader.

Vader insists there isn't although we get a few subtle hints that he doubts it (watch what he does immediately after sending Luke off to meet the Emperor, that moment of silence, looking away, as if carefully considering what his son just said to him.)

The Emperor insists that Vader can never be turned from the dark side.

The Emperor's downfall was wholly dependent on that issue and for being wrong, he paid the price.

 

<<What do people think was the mistake the Emperor made in his plans that led to his downfall?>>

The first mistake was Vaders. He could have captured Luke right when they arrived at Endor, instead he let them go or blasted them right there.
The second was when the Emperor opened his mouth just when Luke was about to strike Vader down. I guess you can call that over confidence, but if Palpatine had just remained quiet and let things run their course, Luke would have turned to the Dark Side right then and there.