PT Chancellor Palpatine is Darth Sidious/The Emperor - Did you know it before RotS?

Was it a secret that Palpatine was Sidious before RotS was released? Were you aware of it?

Personally, I had no idea. I wasn't even sure if Anakin was Vader, even though I had watched all 5 films before RotS! But I was young back then, and I wasn't paying attention, and I was only paying attention to the cool lightsaber fights.

 

Yes, and it was funny to see the wild theories of those that didn't (want to) believe it.

 

Near the time AOTC came out (I was about 7 years old) I the OT Visual Dictionary from my school library, and it literally used the title Emperor Palpatine therein. I was in shock for about a day, then I was simply impressed that he orchestrated his ascension to power and then changed the galaxy so he could keep it.

 

It has been known since 1976 that Senator Palpatine became the Emperor. It came as absolutely no surprise in ROTS.

 

It was pretty obvious.

 

No surprise at all.

I wanted to believe that it was a bait and switch.

 

Figured it out in the TPM or at the end anyway. Avid movie goers will tell you the secret to good films is good acting, good dialogue and good camera work. Camera work is important for giving people hints as to what to expect, for example in Batman the dark knight after Harvey has been rescued he gives an interview then gets into a police car then the camera turns to the women police officer. Now the scene itself has nothing to do with her so why does the camera turn to her? Later on it's revealed that she was one of the police officers giving information to the Joker, That's why the camera turned to her to give you a clue.

That's why I knew at the end of TPM, Because in the funeral scene Mace and Yoda were talking about the Sith (I think "The Sith have returned, always two there are". Something like that) Then the camera turns to Palpatine and zooms in, That's the clue. Why would the camera focus on Palpatine at a funeral of a Jedi and when the Jedi are talking about the Sith (The cameras giving you a clue) That's why. Yoda said "Always two there are a Master and a Apprentice" then Mace replies "But which was destroyed the Master or the Apprentice" Then the camera turns to Palpatine and zooms in. The camera is basically telling you this is the Sith Master there talking about.

 

I knew Senator/Chancellor Palpatine was the OT's Emperor Palpatine, but thought that Darth Sidious would be revealed to be a separate character. My ten year old self had a bit of an "I am you father" moment when they were revealed to be one in the same in RotS.

 

I was certain that they were the same from Episode I. However, you should have seen some of the crazy theories floating around here about how they are actually clones, brothers, god knows what else.

 

Darth Sidious was uncredited with an actor in the closing credits which for me removed any doubt.

 

Of course. I knew it from the beginning of TPM - Well, I knew Palpatine was The Emperor from reading the Star Wars novel when I was a kid, but confirmation that he was also Darth Sidious had to wait for Episode I.

Palpatine - The Emperor = Darth Sidious.

Was always thus.

 

The PT was spoiled for me as I was old enough to have seen the OT in theaters. So I knew it was Emperor Palpatine well before TPM came out. However, as some one said earlier, it was great fun seeing all the crazy theories people had. People even as old as I am that just didn't want accept that Palpatine was Sidious because they thought Lucas was holding onto a ESB like surprise.

One of the funnier theories was that Sidious was really a Clone of Palpatine that turned evil and to the Dark Side because he was jealous of Senator Palpatines success. So it was all a plan to kill the "good" Palpatine and then the evil clone Palpatine would take his place.

 

I didn't know who Sidious was either but I had a pretty good idea after AOTC and an accidental spoiler before I saw ROTS confirmed my suspicions. I remember my sister and I were discussing this (we were young when we first saw the movies), and she told me all these years later that she had been absolutely shocked the first time she saw ROTS! I couldn't stop laughing, cause she was like: But he was such a nice guy, I couldn't believe it!

 

i've always know after rotj came out. the novel calls him palpatine and he's played by the same actor. a lot of people still didn't know or were new during the pt time though and there was a whole thread on "is palps a clone" or some nonsense. people argued that he didn't look nasty enough to be the emperor but if you were old enough and had a brain you knew they were the same.

 

This^

 

Episode 1 and 2 didn't show very much dialogue with the Emperor involved so I always wondered what was wrong with that since he was so in control of the pre war of the clones, and no true information of who he was and then I started thinking that obviously it was a secret and he was a politician, then it came clear that it had to be Palpatine, the only concern of my theory was is how he looked so defiled in Episode 4, 5 and 6 haha that obviously came clear in RotS. A great read by the way with a lot of information on Sidious is the novel called "Darth Plagueis" very sneaky, brilliant, powerful force user.

 

I didn't. I remember that I said to my brother during the break: "You know, I think that politicial guy is Darth Sidious," I was never that big on actor names.

 

I did not know during episode 1, i had not seen episode 4,5,6 so thats why, after i saw them but i figured it out

 

yeah i had a funny feeling about it for some reason.

 

Yeah, I thought it was common knowledge. I read in a magazine at the time that they were the same actors, and I was around six at that time.

 

I knew it since July, 1977, when I got the novelization of STAR WARS (before it was ANH) and read the prologue.

 

It seems like several people are thinking: "If you knew Palpatine would become the emperor, then you MUST have known that Palpatine = Sidious." For me, that wasn't the case.

I knew Palpatine would become the emperor, but I did not immediately know that Palpatine and Sidious were the same person. After I finished watching TPM for the first time, I assumed that Palpatine would eventually become Sidious' apprentice, and he would start to dress like Sidious, and then Sidious would die, and Palpatine would become the emperor.
Several days later, it occurred to me that Palpatine & Sidious might actually be the same person, but I couldn't remember the details of the film well enough to know if that would make sense logistically.

Anyway, in answer to the original question: Yes, I knew that Palpatine & Sidious were the same person before ROTS came out, but I did not know it when I first watched TPM.

 

Initially when Darth Sidious was confirmed as the name of a Sith Lord in TPM, most didn't know who exactly he was. By the time his visage was shown, many suspected who he was. Those who didn't follow closely figured it out by film's end. Those who didn't figure it out, largely had trouble either because they weren't closely paying attention. Or thought that Palpatine always looked like he did in the OT.

Well, it's not that some of them didn't want to believe it. Rather, they wanted or expected an, "I am your father" moment with him. Hence you had theories like Palpatine is a vampire that sucks out Midichlorians and thus turns him into the Emperor. Ore Palpatine is a clone of Sidious. Or that they're siblings.

 

I knew Chancellor Palpatine (even when he was Senator Palpatine) was Darth Sidious and would become The Emperor. The moment he was on screen in TPM on Courcant, I knew the truth.

 

I didn't realise it till after my first viewing of TPM. It's mainly because Ian looks so different.