The Emperor Palpatine/Darth Sidious FAQ

See the other two threads for rules.

Just post your questions about Emperor Palpatine for a Lightsaber of Truth answer.

 

The Dark Empire series portrayed Palpatine as someone who wanted to enslave the entire galaxy to the dark side, like he did with the citizens of Byss. How did he plan to do this? How did he even do it on Byss?

 

The Emperor has always desired to rule the galaxy in a state of absolute and unquestioned power with the Sith as its rulers. The Emperor's desire to see a Dark Side Theocracy seems to be something that he toyed with from the very beginning. Count Dooku was told about this plan and while he was murdered, its a note that Vader was just as likely to lose his fight with Dooku according to Dark Lord. Furthermore, Palpatine was already 'feeling Vader out' to recruiting other Dark Siders to their cause after the destruction of the Jedi.

Already at the time of his Death Palpatine had created the High Inquisitors, recruited the Prophets of the Dark Side Sith Cult, created his many hands, the Dark Jedi, and worked tirelessly to build an elite circle of dark siders around him. While insignificant in comparison to the Jedi Order, the organization is clearly the beginnings of the Dark Side theocracy that Palpatine openly touted in Dark Empire. It seems Palpatine has wanted for a very long time to throw away the Rule of Two. In spirit if not actuality since Palpatine used his apprentice as the "Big Stick" to keep the other disciples of the Sith in line.

Operation Shadow Hand was where Palpatine essentially decided the time was to cut loose and drop all pretensions to goodness. Essentially he switched from Augutus Caesar to Attila the Hun in plans. Palpatine would return "Anti-Christ style" from the dead as the galaxy's savior with his Dark Side minions and use fear to keep the local systems in line. Much like the Yuuzhan Vong, it was a matter that the Emperor would kill as many people he needed to in order to conquer the whole of the galaxy.

From there he'd appoint Darksiders as leaders and essentially institute a Reign of the Sith very similiar to Darth Krayt's current Empire in Legacy.

In Byss' case, it's important to note that they don't worship Palpatine like a god, it's just he rules utterly along with his Dark Siders while he drains their life energy.

 

How did he do it on Byss though? Was it one massive force power or did he have Sith temples/monuments to help him drain the life force of billions of people?

 

Dark Empire describes that Palpatine was able to drain the life energy of tens of millions of people on Byss at once. It's most likely that this resulted in most of the rest of the population being "redundant populous" for the feeding of the Emperor's hunger. How the entire world became bathed in the Dark Side is questionable though its possible it may have something to do with so many of the Emperor's clone bodies dying on the planet or it could be the planet had already a Dark Side history.

It's a safe assumption that there were also Sith temples and monuments on the planet.

 

How did Palpatine manage to find the time to be a Sith Lord, train Darth Maul, and STILL be active enough in politics to not only be elected a representative of Naboo, but then also to fulfill his duties as Supreme Chancellor? I guess I have a hard time believing a politician can handle all of his responsibilities as a politician, and still find the time to train Maul in the dark side...Both are full time jobs, I would think.

 

Cos Palpatine (speculated first name from previous drafts) managed these matters through a rather wonderful balancing of his time.

Palpatine's career on Naboo it should be noted is undistinguished and he wasn't actually elected to his position but a replacement for the murdered Senator of Naboo. It was probably simplicity to fake some records after completing his ascension to being a Sith Lord and then use mind control, bribery, or other method to get made to be an appointed candidate for replacing the existing Naboo Senator in the event of his death. Then when he was murdered (as seen in Republic), Palpatine took over the man's office.

Darth Maul had apparently already been trained while for a good long while (secretly under Plagueis' nose) at this point and Palpatine mostly started sending Maul on missions or leaving him to his own studies while he played the part of being a Senator. It's been noted that Kyp Duroun has a Sith power that allows him to not require sleep in Jedi Academy Sorucebook (I believe I may be wrong) so Palpatine probably has a good eight hours or so extra to spend his time plotting world domination. It seems Plagueis just had an affection for it.

Sate Pestage was also fully awareof Palpatine's Dark Side leanings, so he handled the majority of Palpatine's paperwork even at this poitn. Even then, Palpatine was viewed as something of a recluse and a busy man that never had time to get involved in deeper politics. Its important to note that most of this was a sham to begin with and he didn't need to preserve his career on Naboo since they elected people for ridiculous reasons and he didn't want to seem too ambitious.

 

Isn't "Cos" linked to Cos Da****, not Palpatine?

E_S

 

Hence, its pure fanon. We've just seen plenty of recycling information before. It might end up that Da**** is his middle name.

Still, with a name like that, its no wonder Palpatine became a Sith Lord.

Can you imagine the playground insults with that middle name?

 

I always thought his real name was Joey Joe Joe Jnr Shabadoo Palpatine, myself.

Worst. name. ever.

E_S

 

It's hinted at strongly in some sources (COD & LOE, I think) that Palpatine didn't sleep. He also had Pestage, Doriana, and Dangor to handle political duties, as well as Doriana (and presumably other agents) to do his Sithly bidding.

When he's got the "Sith at work" sign up on his office door, they know not to come in.

 

Yeah, that's my take basically. Palpatine's cronies had a very important purpose from the beginning and a long leash from the beginning.

 

What it boils down to.

Senator ****es gotta blame someone for their problems.

 

1. What prompted the change we see in Palpatine from the scheming, ten-steps-ahead-of-the-Galaxy Sidious of the PT and OT EU to the DS overload madman of DE? I've always contended that that was the true value of Ani's sacrifice, that even though Sidious came back, he's lost his edge and he's too obsessed with finding fresh blood (so to speak) to be any major threat (except when he's got a line of clones just waiting for him to jump in)

2. What was the reasoning behind Leland Chee (I think) retconning Palps' line in DE about "My death above Endor ws not my first death." into being a lie to prompt Luke to fall? I always liked the idea that he was just regularly body-hopping and probably had the cargo-hold of that Lambda loaded with clones for his trip to DS2.

 

Was Thrawn secretly part of Palpatines Operation Shadowhand and if not, why not seeing as he was one of his best commanders?

Another one was Palpatine secretly preparing the Galaxy for an invasion by the Vong?

 

On that note, is Palps chilling in a clone body on Byss between Endor and DE, or is he for soem reason stuck in the Madness Beyond Death until about the time of DE?

And, GAJ, I'm aware that Palpatine is pretty lucid in DE, but I'd contend that's because he's got clones aplenty during DE. It's not until the end of DE that his precious bodies bite the dust and Carnor Jax decides to make sure the rest don't survive. I guess, my point is this: is his imminent long-term return to the Madness Beyond Death what causes Palpy to go off the deep end, or is there some other factor, perhaps something to do with his body-hopping technique?

 

1. What prompted the change we see in Palpatine from the scheming, ten-steps-ahead-of-the-Galaxy Sidious of the PT and OT EU to the DS overload madman of DE? I've always contended that that was the true value of Ani's sacrifice, that even though Sidious came back, he's lost his edge and he's too obsessed with finding fresh blood (so to speak) to be any major threat (except when he's got a line of clones just waiting for him to jump in)

This is going to be a long explanation here and its important to remember it clearly. While Dark Empire II's Emperor is suffering advancing stages of Clone Madness and makes numerous critical errors that ultimately result in his Empire's destruction (The building of the Eclipse II immediately after the destruction of the Eclipse I, the installation of the unproven Executor Sedriss as Supreme Commander, and his going to Onderon alone to steal Anakin Solo's body)....the Emperor of Dark Empire I is in full control over his faculties.

He is capable of uniting the entirety of the Empire into one single united front across the universe, capable of bending Luke Skywalker to his service, capable of masterminding a masterful offensive that results in the immediate conquest of half the universe, and fully able to manipulate his vastly improved Dark Side abilities to the level of an effective god (immortality being one of those methods). The Emperor is more powerful in the Force, more intelligent, stronger, and capable of plunging the galaxy into a Hell of Despair and Suffering despite the fact that its back where Thrawn started at the beginning of DE.

Its important to remember that Palpatine's ultimate goal is not a restoration of the Star Wars Trilogy Empire. He doesn't want to go back to ruling from Coruscant over Moffs, Governors, Grand Admirals, and a functioning military-corporate dictatorship. Palpatine intends to not only restore his control over the galaxy but make his return even MORE closer to his final vision of a (effectively) reborn Sith Empire. Palpatine was a major contributing factor to the disintegration of his own Empire and worked on it in order to eliminate large numbers of potential successors (rivals) to his throne. In effect, Palpatine wanted to return to the Empire on the verge of its collapse.

The lack of subtletly Palpatine displays isn't necessarily a flaw, he just doesn't believe he requires to work within the system of the universe anymore but that his twenty years of chaos and disorder has already made the galaxy ripe for his Endgame. Is it insane? Probably and there might be something to be said that Palpatine is impatient and ****ed off from waiting in Hell for a year for Sate Pestage to ressurect him. However, despite his arrogance and megalomania, the psychotic plan almost worked.

2. What was the reasoning behind Leland Chee (I think) retconning Palps' line in DE about "My death above Endor ws not my first death." into being a lie to prompt Luke to fall? I always liked the idea that he was just regularly body-hopping and probably had the cargo-hold of that Lambda loaded with clones for his trip to DS2.

Leland has indicated it was to restore the importance of the slaying of the Emperor by Anakin as the "Chosen One." While Palpatine was ressurected, the Prophecy was still true from a certain point of view. Palpatine was 'dead dead' until his ressurection by the Dark Lords of the Sith.

 

Was Thrawn secretly part of Palpatines Operation Shadowhand and if not, why not seeing as he was one of his best commanders?

No. Thrawn's return was implied to be something that Palpatine was disturbed and annoyed by. All of the Grand Admirals were kept unaware of Palpatine's return and indeed only the Emperor's Elite Dark Side servants were made aware of it along with a handful of loyalist captains. Its noteworthy that Palpatine deliberately kept his best men from knowing about his resurrection. This is because (IMHO) that Palpatine wanted them to die in the resulting conflict. They were potential rivals for the throne and it couldn't be tolerated to let any one faction preserve the Empire.

Its also noteworthy that Operation: Shadowhand is effectively masterminded to the point of absurdity. The role of a genuine Imperial commander in following it is minimized to the role of a button pusher for all intents and purposes. Thrawn would have HATED IT and probably attempted to redraw the thing from the ground up.

Its also implied by the DESB Palpatine may have had something to do with Thrawn's assassination but what exactly that could be is extremely questionable since there's no sign of his involvement.

Another one was Palpatine secretly preparing the Galaxy for an invasion by the Vong?

In a vague sense, the same way he was preparing for the invasion of the Ssiruuk. Most likely Palpatine would have made a deal with the Yuuzhan Vong and sacrificed the entirety of the Unknown Regions to them or other territories to them and then proceeded to slam back at them. War is good for the economy, the military, and the like. As Nom Anor implied, the Empire's militarism and ruthlessness would have short work of the Vong.

Ironically, the difference between the Dark Empire and Vong at that point would have been negible though. Hitler or Stalin? Who do you want as your ruler.

 

On that note, is Palps chilling in a clone body on Byss between Endor and DE, or is he for soem reason stuck in the Madness Beyond Death until about the time of DE?

Palpatine attempted to join his soul with Jeng Droga in order to survive the cataclysm. This process apparently didn't work but provided an 'anchor' for Sate Pestage once they captured the (extremely) insane Jeng Droga and brought him to Korriban and prepared a Sith alchemical ritual The Sith Lords then extracted Palpatine's soul from Jeng and transferred it into one of the clone bodies.

Palpatine was stated to be quite ****ed up afterwards and spent the next 4 years recouperating on Byss. He also spent this time studying the Dark Side and preparing new Sith techniques. In other words, he wasn't in any condition to take over the Empire again.

 

Which gal did Palpatine have Tricolps with?

The harpy from Chandrila?

 

Unknown, he had a harem of Twilek slave girls and was lovers with Ysanne Isard. Palpatine also seemed to have had a relationship with Roganda Ismaren.

However, it's possible that Triclops is a child of a Sith experiment as much as any female mother. I also think its likely Triclops' mother is as human as Palpatine but just happens to have had his 'seed' corrupted by the Dark Side.

 

For what purpose was Palpatine writing his Dark Side Compendium? He seemed pretty intent that he wasn't planning on dying permanently any time soon, thus no need to leave a legacy of DS knowledge lying around, and it certainly seems unlikely that he would want any of his fellow Dark Force Users to go snooping around in one of his books and start figuring out how to get more powerful and possibly overthrow him. The only other solution I can come up with is the absurd idea that he was concerned he might forget something, or possibly he was following the Boy Scout motto of "Be Prepared".