500 Republica to become the Imperial Palace?

Now, I remember reading in Zahn's trilogy that the Emperor had converted the Presidential Palace into the Imperial Palace, expanding it into a massive fortress that becomes his, and later the New Republic High Command's home.

But we don't ever see any "Presidential Palace" in the prequel EU, and while flicking through Labyrinth of Evil again I noticed this paragraph which makes me suspect that 500 Republica could evolve into the Imperial Palace.

With its fifty-three skydocks, hundreds of private turbolifts, arrays of hidden security armaments, and towering atria, 500 Republica was like a world unto itself. Containing more technology than many Outer Rim worlds and more residents than some, the sky-piercing structure was the unrivaled gem of the Senate District, and the elegant cynosure of the district's prestigious Ambassadorial Sector.

What had begun as a stately building in the classic style had, over the course of centuries, become a vertitable mountain of steps and setbacks - some with flat roofs, other as gently rounded as shoulders, and still others as massive as any structure in the district. Up and up they climbed, profuse, organic, in seeming competition for Coruscant's sunlight, culminating in a graceful crown, banded with penthouses and topped by a lithe spire. Gilded by the rising sun, its head in the clouds, buttressed by the towers that had allowed it to outgrow all its neighbours, 500 Republica was the lofty vantage from which a privileged few could actually gaze down on Coruscant.

Sounds a lot like the description of the Imperial Palace to me.

Thoughts anyone?

 

It wouldn't surprise me at all if Palpatine converted 500 Republica into the Imperial Palace. It is the most luxerious building on Coruscant and it would be the ideal spot for him. It was also free, came with the world some may say.

 

It also appears in Dead Ends:

500 Republica--an adress reaching high above the clutter of Coruscant. A place of power and prestige for some politicians. A refuge from the tensions of the senate for others...


There's a picture of it too. I'm pretty sure it's the same apartment building that Padmé is in in AotC. It looks too small to me.

 

It could be the foundation for what would become the Imperial Palace...

 

500 Republica could be the foundation, but..

where is it located? post a picture please! because if it was seen in the prequels, or background, I believe it is too small or in a too densly build area to be the palace later on.

I always imagined one of the huge citymountains seen in the backgound of the Jedi Temple to be turned into THE palace. which resides in mostly open space close to the Senate District.

Padmés residence is not the 500, because in the top is palpatines suit and office, and in the residence there is Padme´s suite. couldn´t be.

and from the important prequel buildings we know of..
The Senate, close to the senate the dome is the presidential building, rather small, stadion like.

I read somewhere that the 500 republica is the building (looking huge, top not seen in movie) behind the two, is this true? in a rather densely populated area, with excludes the palace to be there, if not Palp let the area be scrapped and rebuild.

 

Actually, Coruscant and the Core Worldss says that the offices Palpatine uses are seperate from the Presidential Palace. The ones he uses in AotCs were created to handle overflow of beauracracy from the older Presidential Palace.

So the two residences are completely seperate.

When he comes into power, he turns the older Presidential Palace into the Imperial Palace.

 

Palps lives at 500?

Well the image of it in Republic #61 made it look rather like Padmé's residence. And it looks way to small to be Imperial Palace.

 

Dead Ends's 500 Republica looked like the tower AOTC opened with, McGeggor and his boy ascending the turbolift. The building was also mentioned in Cloak of Decepticons.

 

Also 500 Republica is a residential complex. Nothing to do with the government except that it's where important politicians live.

 

Also 500 Republica is a residential complex. Nothing to do with the government except that it's where important politicians live.

Doesn't mean that it doesn't become that in the future.

And I never heard anything about Padme being in 500 Republica. All that was said in Labyrinth of Evil was that Palpatine had a private residence there near the top.

 

This issue always confuses me a lot as well... What is Palpatines official residence?

 

Yeah, I'm hazy on the whole PT-OT Coruscant building transitions myself; and the thread from when Coruscant and the Core Worlds came out didn't help matters all that much (especially regarding the Senate buildings during the New Republic/NJO).

I hope there's a definitive article in Insider on this somday...

 

And I nominate either Dan Wallace or Abel Pena to write it!

 

At about forty seconds into the new Ep.III trailer, we see the domed building we know as 500 Republica (which doesn't on its own match Luceno's description of the complex), and several other large domes and spires. If you look at the surrounding 'ground level", there's a basic, underlying circular street-pattern, which I think has 500 Republica on its bullseye...

IIRC, TUF has a reference to the "platform" of the Imperial Palace... so my guess is that all this is 500 Republica/the Imperial Palace... all these appartments, spires and towers, built on a raised (pyramidal?) platform at the heart of Coruscant - consider it like the Forbidden City - the domed 500 Republica building is the central residence of a far, far larger complex, which over time has acquired all these extra spires...

So, yes - 500 Republica is the Imperial Palace - with the caveat that T3 established the name of "the Imperial Palace" to be actually far older than the rise of the Empire - that's not been contradicted explicitly in the Prequel material, so there's no need to retconn it...

- The Imperial Ewok

 

Too, recall that, in Cloak of Deception, there's the big sequence where Qui-Gon and Adi Gallia (mostly) foil the assassination attempt on Valorum's life right outside 500 Republica...which itself is stated to be situated directly adjacent to the sectorial Senate building. (Seem to recall some expository verbiage to the effect that one could fall from the top of 500 Republica and land within the upper Senate levels.)

Might recheck The Illustrated SW Universe book, but I believe that this one also notes the later Imperial Palace's immediate Senate proximity, along with several large-sized paintings that could easily point to where 500 Republica ended and the Imperial overlay began.

 

I thought 500 Republica was the tower Palps lived in in TPM?

 

yeah it was that tower we saw in TPM and AOTC, and it didn´t look pyramide like to me, just like a vertical tower with 4 corners. like the WTC. but the area was too crowded with buildings, so how could they build THE palace there without changing the whole area? and it was too close to the senate to become the Imp Palace.

 

Giant contruction droids that tear down anything not in their plan could be the reason for why it's possible to build the palace in a densley populated area. Also, that round dome in AOTC and ROTS next to the the Senate is not 500 Republica. it's the Senate offfice building. 500 Republica is nearby.

 

Leto, you mean they could jump off the Senate dome and land on the adjacent medical building.

 

Now the big question I have, (based on that map) is, where is the ocean? Where are the mountains? Did part of coruscant get torn down? I'd imagine that The Works would eventually go, it'd be interesting to see a story that retcons geographical discrepancies on coruscant, ir does that already exist?

 

What oceans? What mountains? I don't see any of those in TPM, AOTC, or the ROTJ finale. Coruscant has none. The only surface water is located in the ice caps. The Manarai "Mountains" are completely covered in cityscape.

 

Well, okay the mountains are covered, but there are multiple references to oceans in post ROTJ EU. Are those covered too? Or do we assume they get uncovered when useless parts of Coruscant are leveled? *cough*The Works*cough*