does aplaptine know that xizor is the leader of black sun

i can't figure it out. i mean plapatines really smart and it would make him seem really dumb if he couldnt figure out that xizor was running black sun. but if he knew, why did he let xizor stay in power and also become one of his advisors and run the businesses of the empire instead of sending him to jale for being a crimenal? isnt that basically like handing over the whole empire's economy to the dogs?

 

Because Palpatine is an evil evil man who likes having control of crime as well as so called "legitimate" enterprises.

 

wouldn't he be screwing himself or at least the empire over though?

 

Palpatine is a master of manipulating both sides of a conflict.

He created and controlled the Separatists to help destroy the Jedi and justify creating the Empire. Then he allows a criminal element to exist in order to justify the Empire's continuing oppression. Palpatine has the largest criminal element under his thumb, and Xizor is the Dooku of crime.

It's actually quite remarkable how this relationship inadvertantly foreshadows the prequels.

 

Palpatine knew Xizor was the head of Black Sun, he just looked the other way when anyone suspected Xizor's other job besides president of XTS. You can read about this in the book Star Wars: The Ultimate Visual Guide.

 

The Empire is like the mafia to begin with.

Palpatine no doubt benefits from access to smuggling, weapons, assassins, and drugs plus control over all of it.

Remember, the Empire's chief enemy is it's subjects. As long as Palpatine can keep them vice ridden and obediant...so much the better.

 

Palpatine at one time had Maul take out the heads of Black Sun. Was he trying to get rid of the organization? I highly doubt it. More likely he wanted to end up with someone within Black Sun who would be a benifit to him. Which whether Xizor knew it or not, that's what he ended up being. I'm not saying Palpatine hired Xizor to run Black Sun for him or that he actually ran the organization himself. Rather, he wanted someone in there heading it who could become an ally and a bit of a lackey. Xizor was pretty much little more than someone Palpatine could throw before Vader and say "careful that I don't replace you with someone ambitious as yourself." There's no doubt in my mind that Black Sun was rather convient to Palpatine and he could discretely let Xizor now of something he wanted to happen without getting the Empire's hands dirty in that particular element at that particular time. So he uses an underworld contact to give him exactly what he wants. And Xizor, despite being a smart man, would have been very unlikely to know he was being used by a master manipulator.

 

Not just should you doubt it, but that's flat out what Darth Sidious says to Maul before sending him off against the Vigos.

 

Have you read SOTE?

 

Yes, lovely book. Why?

 

I think he was talking to MGK, as in the book it's pretty clear that he DOES know the Xizor is the head of Black Sun. I think an equally valid question would be, "Have you seen The Godfather?" or any number of films about organized crime, for that matter. Palpatine is not a wise and benevolent leader. He is evil and corrupt, like any crooked cop or politician that takes up with organized crime for his own gain.

 

hehe, yeah, I was being sarcastic.

 

Palpatine knows EVERYTHING. And he's the biggest criminal in the galaxy. Like goes with like.

 

Palpatine, not Plapatine or Aplaptine. Pet peeve.

 

Palpatine probably did help Xizor on his way to the top. He helped Nute Gunray take control of the Trade Federation and he helped Poggle the Lesser take over Geonosis. Palpatine has a long history of choosing ambitious and greedy pawns that he helps to the top of their respective heaps to further the long range Sith agenda.

 

My question was indeed put to MGK---have you read Shadows of the Empire? How can you ask whether Ian knows about Xizor?

 

It would be a shocking turn of the tables if Palps didn't have a hand in Xizors rise, if he did not outright manipulate his ascent to begin with.

 

Yes, except that Palps is the master. He chooses his minions well. Their greed and hunger for power far exceed their intelligence and position in life. That is why Palps picks them, because tey basically are flunkies that do what he tells them, since they don't have enough ability, talent, saavy or vision to control their own destinies to get the things they want. They are thugs and bullies that get more than they deserve or would have otherwise earned in exchange for letting their resources be manipulated.

 

I'd have to disagree with some of that, Tiershon_Fett. Some of the folks Palpatine picks do have enough talent, vision, ability, and saavy to both control their own destinies and get what they want without him. But he is such a good manipulator that he can makes folks do what he wants without them realizing their doing his bidding. He also realizes that with some of the more ambitios ones it's better to give them rivals so as to keep them more in line and less likely to challenge his authority.

 

Palpatine and Sidious have no interest to me. Terrified of his unknown role in ROTS, no one bothered to write him as anything other than a cackling scene-ending liner, who doesn't converse more than all proceeds as planned time and again---as if you needed to see ROTS to write him less superficial.

He's actually, when you think about, a waste of Ent pages, compared to the charismatic depth Admiral Bwua'to's showed in a fistful of Unseen Queen pages. This is what writing is all about.