Why didn't Anakin question Palpatine how he knows about the Sith and/or if he's one himself?

As far as Anakin was concerned, the only people who had full knowledge about who the Sith were are the Jedi. So when Palpatine tells Anakin the story about Darth Plagueis, it should've raised a lot of red flags but Anakin didn't so much as move a muscle at the idea that this mere politician would know so much about the Sith. Why didn't Anakin question Palpatine about how he knows about the Sith, Dark Side, etc.? Even worse, why didn't Anakin piece together that Palpatine could be a Sith Lord himself at that point? He has to be the worst spy ever to not see all of this and Palpatine had to reveal himself as soon as Obi-wan had found Gen. Grievous.

 

1. Palpatine is his friend, people tend not to assume the worst when their friends are involved, rather they want to believe the best.

2. Its entirely possible the Jedi weren't the only source of knowledge about the Sith, Anakin may have assumed that Palpatine had found some other source of info.

3. Perhaps my memory is failing me, but does Palpatine ever refer to Darth Plagueis specifically as a Sith Lord?

 

Anakin is extremely vulnerable to father figures; Palpatine knows this,
and exploits it. Palpatine can also sense Anakin's growing frustration
with the politics within the Jedi order, and he exploits this as well.
Palpatine is a master of exploitation. He's been playing the Senate against the
Jedi, and the Jedi against each other for some time, and now enters Anakin Skywalker.
Anakin walks into this with his eyes wide shut; what does he see? A kindly, patient,
sympathetic, avuncular authority figure who "understands" him. Palpatine could be
wearing a T-shirt with, "I'm a Sith lord," printed on it, and Anakin would be too
blind to see it; he's fallen completely under Palpatine's spell.

What is especially sad, is that Palpatine seems to have some actual feelings
and compassion for Anakin buried underneath his tyranny.

 

PALPATINEid you ever hear the tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise?
ANAKIN: No.
PALPATINE: I thought not. It's not a story the Jedi would tell you. It's a Sith legend. Darth Plagueis was a Dark Lord of the Sith, so powerful and so wise he could use the Force to influence the midi-chlorians to create life... he had such a knowledge of the dark side that he could even keep the ones he cared about from dying.

So yes, Anakin kind of missed that, but I tend to think he saw Palpatine as more worldly and educated than the average citizen, and therefore thought Palpatine had learned about the Sith during his studies, driven by a thirst for knowledge. At least Anakin caught the hint the next time Palpatine talked to him about this stuff.

ANAKIN: How do you know the ways of the Force?
PALPATINE: My mentor taught me everything about the Force... even the nature of the dark side.
ANAKIN: You know the dark side?

Then moments later...

PALPATINE: Only through me can you achieve a power greater than any Jedi. Learn to know the dark side of the Force, Anakin, and you will be able to save your wife from certain death.
ANAKIN: What did you say?
PALPATINE: Use my knowledge, I beg you...
ANAKIN: You're the Sith Lord!

We have a winner!

 

Anakin is so desperate to save Padme that he'll take any tip to stop death, no matter how far-fetched it is. He figured out Palpatine was a Sith but that eventually didn't matter to him anymore. Essentially, he was looking for the power to save his wife and didn't care enough that it was coming from a devil.

 

Source?

According the the NEGTC: Palpatine was a noted historian IU, and well versed in little known events relating to Galactic History. So if anyone in the GFFA knew anything obscure, it was Palpatine.

In the EU, Palpatine had taught young Anakin many 'lessons' and in the movies he tells Anakin to remember his 'early teachings'... so it's clear that Anakin has been programmed to listen to whatever Palpatine says. We also must take into account, the events that surround the "Opera House Sith Sale's Pitch"... Anakin came into that meeting even more conflicted. The Jedi Council had just asked him to betray what they had traught him... Anakin was pissed that his plan for knowledge was crushed, upset that they would ask him to spy... and caught off guard by Palpatine's story about Plagueis. He was ripe for the picking.

Doesn't mean that I actually like how it all went down, though.

 

Yeah, as Palpatine is such a widely recognized & respected leader, it makes sense that it may not come as a total shock for him to have a historical knowledge on The Sith.

However, it is still definitely a very clever move by Palpatine to play on Anakin's arrogance in The Force & obsession for Padme. It's a gamble, but Palpatine counts on Anakin's greed overcoming his logic here.

 

Palpatine is also a noted historical expert in his public life; the statues in his office are obscure religious statuary from a variety of sects, and the big mural dealie is a depiction of a battle between the Jedi and the Sith from a thousand years before. So yeah, Palpatine knows about the Sith even just as Palpatine. It probably wouldn't seem that unusual if you knew the man.

 

Anakin had a friend in Palpatine, and generally a person is not as suspicious about a friend as they are about someone they are less familiar with when it comes to these things. He just didn't equate this knowledge to Palpatine being a Sith himself.

 

"The darkside clouds EVERYTHING."

 

I agree with your theory on this. Also worth noting that Anakin told Padme that she was "sounding like a seperatist" in ROTS, Yet he didnt arrest her or take it any further. He felt he knew her too well, and that thinking also applied to Palpatine. These were two people he had grown to trust and care about. He just wouldnt believe that Palpatine could be a Sith Lord.