Sidious touching Vader on forehead

Well, Sith apprentices are assumed to be treacherous. It's how the whole hiearchy works. Sith take on apprentice, Sith trains apprentice, Sith's apprentice surpasses him, Sith apprentice becomes new Sith Lord. Vader and Palpatine spend the whole OT plotting against each other, after all. It's nothing new.

I will agree that Palpatine does show a little extra concern for Vader, but he is the best warrior Palps has. He couldn't have raised his empire without Vader by his side. I think it's more that he considers Vader a treasure of the Sith...his greatest achievement, the utter corruption of the Chosen One originally meant to kill him. It's more possession than anything else. Vader belongs to *him.* He controls whether to break Vader down or build him back up.

 

Compassion? Idiots. The point of the sith is they have no compassion but for themselves and their own goals. This is not an act of love nor tenderness. At the most it is no more than a move to see if his pupil is still alive. Like checking someone's pulse. Or something to the effect of helping stay alive.

He forsaw Annakin as very powerful and you think he was going to just let go of thing he had planned so hard to acheive.

Anyone who thought that act was one of any actual feeling towards Vader is nuts. I'm sure serial killers feel something towards their victims, but to describe it a love or compassion is not the way any sane human being would. This guy order the death of a lot of people, without regard. If Vader was no longer useful towards him what do you think he would do. HMM let me think oh I know:

"Strike him down with all your hate and take your father's place at my side."

Does that ring a bell for anyone.

Compassion, pugh.

 

^^^^


I hate it when people show ignorance, Lucas himself has said that it was an act of compassion by Sidious, the only time in the films he shows concern for someone. Been in this forum as long as I have you'd know that.

 

Jesus... Sidious show compassion? What planet did you come from? He wouldn't know compassion if it Force Choked him. He took Darth, he destroyed his life with promises of unlimited power, then when Luke showed equal promise, he cast him aside in the attempt to make another Sith.

 

do not argue with da Lucas.

 

Darth Fierce said: I think it must be compassion, simply because we see Anakin stop writhing in pain once Sidious touches him. Very nice and very unexpected scene. <end quote>

Ok... this is exactly why Anakin turned. He was DECEIVED by Palpatine's words of sympathy/understanding/trust/friendship. Palp is a master manipulator, and he gradually worked on Anakin's mind till the young dude didn't know what the hell to think.

Palpatine/Sidious has no compassion. He sees Anakin as his tool (as another poster said about the guy who checks on his Ferrarri outside). He likely deduced that Anakin and ObiWan were fighting, and that his Force touch might be needed to save Anakin.

I think he touched Anakin's forehead for 2 reasons:
1. Undo some of the physical damage
2. To prevent Anakin from freaking out and going into shock, which could cause more damage.

Hey, I agree it would be nice if Sidious had a shred of compassion and showed it just once. But I think his compassion or ability to love died long ago.

 

Maybe Plagueis "did" teach Sidious how to prevent death (which involves touching the forehead). He'd never tell Vader he knew this though.
I know it's a stretch.

 

Compassion? Idiots. The point of the sith is they have no compassion but for themselves and their own goals. This is not an act of love nor tenderness. At the most it is no more than a move to see if his pupil is still alive. Like checking someone's pulse. Or something to the effect of helping stay alive.



He knows he's alive already, he says as much when he arrives. He point to him and says, "yes, there he is, he's still alive"

The touch on the forhead i belive is to signify a kind of father - son bond, master and apprentice. Dont forget, anakin is not just his new apprentice, they have been close friends his whole life.
However, i believe the touch to be symbolic, for palps to show anakin he really is all he has left, so anakin see's him as he's savior, he's only friend and trusted master. Palps is playing the concerned father role here to a tee and anakin buys it. But lets not forget what palps says as soon as luke comes along . . .

"kill him, and take your fathers place by my side"

Palps only ever seeks to please himself, anakin is a means to an end.

 

It may have been some form of compassion on Palpatine's part. A moment's compassion doesn't make him any less evil.

Hitler loved children.

 

At this point, though, a medical capsule is on its way to Vader. Sidious could just run off back to his shuttle and let the clones deal with Vader, but the little forehead thing shows he actually cares enough about Vader to stay with him.

This is exactly the point. Perhaps Sidious is feeling his anger. Sensing Anakin. Connecting with him via the force somehow. Was even Sidious a bit shocked at what happened that day on Mustafar.

 

I thought this was an interesting moment. It's just about the only time we've ever seen any REAL compassion from Palpatine. He did look as though he genuinely felt sorry for Anakin's downfall.

 

It reminded me of ANH when Obi-Wan touched Luke's forehead after the Tusken Attack.

Bingo!

I do not think Sidious was being kind here. I don't think he can be kind. He was merely protecting his investment. I saw the gesture as a Force-move to stabilize Vader's condition until the medical equipment arrived.

 

Bout to say something strange here.

It could be love. Sith rely on passion, so they oughta be able to feel love.

Also - did Ian strike anyone as particularly gay in this movie?

 

Charn posted on 5/24/05 2:50am

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Lucas himself has said that it was an act of compassion by Sidious, the only time in the films he shows concern for someone. Been in this forum as long as I have you'd know that.
[hr][/blockquote]
bingo! [face_applause]

plus i like that its another "rhyme" to what happens in the OTs.

(we really need a thumbs up for this place)

 

"Sidious wasn't sad, he was seeing if there was something to salvage"

^^^ Im sorry but that is just plain nonsense. Sidius does not need to touch Annakins forehead to sense if Annakin is still alive or worth saving.

Further a lot of you seem to think that a Sith cant feel some sense of compassion, id have to say that is also probably wrong. Just because the Sith are selfish and powerhungry does not mean they are incabable of some types of compassion.

I go with the theory (mentioned by someone else here earlier), that this touch was a not only a sustaining touch, but a touch to bind them together for once and for all. Thats why Vader tells Luke in RoTJ "..nothing can stop that now."

Vader had his hand cut off, and got some lighting, but so what, Luke got a lot worse and he was fine. There was no reason for Vader to die, other than he was so closely linked to Sidius that Sidius's death meant his own as well.

 

I'm a little confused that everyone is saying that this was a true act of compassion. The way I read it, he's just happy that Vader is alive to further his own cause, not because he really, truly cares about Anakin.

It's a combination. Think about how Sidious treated his other failed apprentices. When Maul died, it doesn't look like he grieved. Hell, he goaded Anakin to KILL Tyrannus, betrayed him right to his face and watched his decapitation.

In light of that, Sidious showed unbridled mercy to Anakin. He could have simply discarded him, as he did his other apprentices once they were useless.

 

Compassion? Idiots. The point of the sith is they have no compassion but for themselves and their own goals. This is not an act of love nor tenderness. At the most it is no more than a move to see if his pupil is still alive. Like checking someone's pulse. Or something to the effect of helping stay alive.

Who's the idiot? You're right on the one hand. Sith are in most ways selfish and evil. However, I think the Sith, in their own twisted way, have a deep respect for their own kind and their philosophy. But why else would they take an apprentice? Why train someone in a philosophy that will ultimately lead to your own death at the hands of the one you taught? In a way, that's the opposite of selfish. You could argue that Sidious may need another powerful force user to help gain control over the galaxy. But I don't buy that. I think Sidious would have come to control the senate with or without an apprentice.... Also, Sidious tells Yoda that the Sith can't be stopped...that Anakin will be more powerful than both of them. That the Sith continue and vanquish the jedi, whether Sidious is at the helm or not, seems very important to Sidious. Also, in the opera house, Sidious clearly speaks of his old master with reverence and respect, which I think is genuine.

I just think this is the way of the Sith. They take on and "nurture" (again, this is a relative term) an apprentice to carry on their philosophy, and then when the apprentice exceeds the skill of his master, the master is supplanted by the apprentice. It's the Sith way.

Also - did Ian strike anyone as particularly gay in this movie?

I was surpised by Palpatine's character in this movie too, but I didn't think he came across as "gay". I thought he came across as fatherly.

 

There's one thing that I just cant grasp. Anakin is the chosen one, the Jedi know this, palps knows everything about anakin (it seems) and would clearly know this.
And if the prophersy of the chosen one is to kill the sith, why not just let anakin die? Just in case. I would if I were him. Even though he had been turned to the darkside, and palps believes there is no going back, why take a risk. Admittedly, were it not for Luke, Vader would never have been turned, but palps doesn't seem to be the sort of person to leave loose ends.

 

And if the prophersy of the chosen one is to kill the sith, why not just let anakin die? Just in case. I would if I were him.

See my post above. I think the Sith want their "blood line" to carry on. I think Palpatine knows that Anakin, if he achieves his potential, will kill him some day, just like Sidious killed his master.

 

I think what we need to be clear on is what was Palpatine feeling when he saw Anakin. Was it empathy? Did he just want to save Anakin's life for the sake of Anakin?

I don't believe so. Because you have to carry the thought to conclusion: Would Palpatine keep Vader alive if he lost his powers from the injuries?

 

Would Palpatine keep Vader alive if he lost his powers from the injuries?

Probably not. But, I think he would be very disappointed to lose him, because I think Palpatine viewed Anakin as the future of the Sith.

 

Also - did Ian strike anyone as particularly gay in this movie?

Man, don't even go there.

 

i think he truly loved anakin. over time after vader got the suit did they grow apart. it is easy to love a person like anakin esp if you are in a position to manipulate. i even think he would have let anakin grow strong enough to kill him becuase it would have been for the benefit of thesith. but after the suit, he began to search for someone whole. is it not human nature to want our leaders to be blemish free.

 

I am going to type up one of Ian's responses from his interview in the new issue of Insider:

It seems as if Palpatine, in his own strange way, cares for Anakin.

I was pleased that when Anakin is almost brutally destroyed, Palpatine is relieved to not only find him alive for his own purposes but also because he's Anakin Skywalker. There is one moment that George scripted in a rather casual way where I touch Anakin's forehead. I think that's really the only human moment we see in the Emperor-just a moment of sympathy and compassion for another human being. And sympathy and compassion are not ingredients for the sith.

 

Obi-Wan places his hand on Luke's temple after his knocked out by the Tuskens. He also does the same when a Jedi is killed on Geonosis, and when Padme is knocked out on Mustafar.
Perhaps it's the same as checking for a pulse in the Star Wars Universe?