Iron Knights? WTH?

No, NEC made it pretty definite. The only reason there's any doubt is because it's an in-universe document, and therefore capable of being wrong, which is why Wookiee can get away with saying it's not definite. But really - it pretty much is. Sorry, mate.

- Keralys

 

The only thing I don't like about this is the assumption that it therefore instantly means Palpatine was training Darth Maul under Plagueis' nose.

Maybe Plagueis' "manipulation of the midi-chlorians" was more of a ball he got rolling in Shmi when she was a child, knowing that it would result in a Force-strong child sometime in her thirties. Sidious could have killed him shortly after this, and then started training Darth Maul.

Basically, I'd rather have had Sidious as the Sith Master for longer.

 

Only 40+ years? What's too short about that? *quirked eyebrow* I rather like it, personally... it fits with his habit of continually scheming to increase his own power, often under the very noses of those who would oppose him in some way or another. It certainly lines up with his pattern of grooming opposition to Vader (even if none of them were ever serious competitors).

- Keralys

 

For longer as of TPM.

9/10 years was just...meh. The impression previously was always that Sidious was the Dark Lord of the Sith when he approached Maul.

Basically, this means that Palpatine would have been in his late thirties/early forties when he betrayed Plagueis (I've forgotten how old he is in TPM)... I'd have preferred Palpatine as someone who had had control of the Sith from a younger age.

Then again, I also always preferred the idea of Sidious as some guy who was over 100 and extending his lifespan whilst searching for complete immortality... not as someone who *really* was the age that he declared to be publically.

 

I see. And I think I understand. Honestly, for me, it's the opposite. His evil seems that much greater when the reality of who he is, how old he is, etc. is made clear. It throws into sharp relief just how thoroughly he was corrupted, and how quickly and how completely power seduced him. It makes him that much more dastardly - that rather than being some ancient deceiver with decades and decades of experience at manipulating people, it comes to him naturally even in his youth. It makes him that much more the devil incarnate, in my mind. So while I can see where you're coming from, I disagree. I like it better this way.

- Keralys