Palpatine’s Thoughts on the Rebellion, the Empire and Power.

Here are some more of Palpatine’s inner thoughts during the Battle of Endor featured in the short story, “Then Fall, Sidious”.

I find the part in the last paragraph where he says “…strength is not a fist, but a burden. I will do what must be done to make this galaxy great because it is what I am called to do,” particularly interesting. It sounds almost like he feels called to “protect” the galaxy.

Anyway, like I’ve said before, I highly recommend this story to any Palpatine fan, who likes to see a more human side of him.

A small Palpatine sketch I did a while back. Was contemplating whether to post it or not.

Now for the ultimate question of life the universe and everything!

What are your favorite Scrooge McDuck colors?

HAYDEN CHRISTENSEN

On set of ‘Ahsoka’ | 2023

He looks so cute when he’s scared. Lol

I used to have a Sith Apprentice who was 6'8, and I'm 5'8. One time we were arguing and he took a holopicture of me from his eye level to show me what I looked like from his perspective and honestly, that was so disrespectful. - Emperor Sheev Palpatine

I also made a Revan Variant of this

You gotta show who’s the boss around here

cherry tree flowers at night

2024/03/22

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On paper, after years

Palpatine’s thoughts on why Luke refuses to join him, in the short story “Then Fall Sidious”. I highly recommend it to any Palpatine fan who likes him shown as a complex character and more than just the bad guy.

The story is featured in the anthology book “Star Wars Return of the Jedi: From a Certain Point of View”, and written by Olivie Blake.

Very well said. I’ll never understand the appeal of him being pure evil/born evil that many fans seem to claim about him. Like you said, it makes him boring and one-dimensional.

If you’re looking for a recent story that shows a bit of humanity in him, I recommend the short story “Then Fall Sidious”.

I Strongly Dislike the Concept of Palpatine as Naturally Evil

I am a Palpatine fan because I like how fun he is on-screen being evil (largely due to Ian McDiarmid’s acting and the overall shallowness of the characters in the movies), but forty-something years after the Emperor (and I like him called that way better than “Emperor Palpatine”) first graced the screen, I do feel tired of the same tricks played over and over again, that Palpatine is basically a male evil witch. I’ve long been a supporter of a deeper dive into Palpatine the person as a solution to this fatigue. We don’t have to have a formally Palpatine-centric major story (i.e. something on-screen), just something explaining his personal philosophy a little deeper would be welcome. Sadly, I do think such a project is unforeseeable in the near future because there’s a shift in vision.

In Lucas’ era (pre-2013, let’s just say), Palpatine is incredibly evil but there are still gapes of humanity within him, there even—as some visual guides, interviews, and novels would indicate—an attempt to build some type of “molding the world according to what I see as good” character with him starting in the Prequels years up to 2012. As a digression, I do find this concept coupled with his pursuit of power fascinating, “he is selfish, but” but “he is for progress, but”. A rather brain-tickling fictional fellow if executed correctly. But, and I do sense it becoming more and more evident, the idea has never been advanced since. There’s a prevailing concept of Palpatine as naturally the personification of evil nowadays.

On a more laughable basis, I don’t like the concept because it prevents my favorite character from being something much more interesting through character study pieces or simply by not being always relegated to the role of Final Boss in a Popular American Sci-Fi Franchise. On a deeper note, I think that the core message of Star Wars is choices between doing the right or wrong things. The story of Anakin’s redemption is ultimately that, his fall too though within more complicated circumstances. Ben Solo made the decision to emulate his idealized grandfather, and so on. I do think it would be unfair to suddenly enact extreme predestination on one guy to be evil (but how does “the will of the Force” work, does it set a rigid roadmap for everything?). And more, it would erase the profundity of his evilness so much if you think about it.

See, you have this man right here, he is incredibly evil, billions suffer because of this single human being. But then you find out that he has a severe, undeniable urge to maim, to destroy, to oppose all authority, value, and system, to play God whatever the cost, all for his own natural satisfaction. I do think there could be arguments for him not fully out of his mind, intelligent and educated enough to know norms and values, and there are steps to prevent natural predispositions to become harmful, but I personally would be a little less harsh toward such characters compared to characters who without any internal or external pressure choose evil freely. This relates to accountability, how much can we attribute to his free will?

I like my villains soberly choosing evil. (this doesn’t mean I sideline the “nurture” factor or the more complex “nature” reasoning, only that I hold them to some extent lesser of a consideration when judging). If he is evil out of his own free will, the question would be “Why?” which would be answered with a multitude of interesting personal history, cultural influences, and beliefs, making the character interesting. Let’s compare that to a scenario where Palpatine is naturally evil. You ask “Why?” and the answer you’ll get is akin to “It is how it is”, which is an incredible bore for me. The more freely the person chooses evil, the better for me.

So, yeah, I don’t like Palpatine fixed as the Dark Side incarnate. I like him incredibly evil but still very much human. Note, I do not see his pursuit of power as something inhuman, it is terrifyingly human, but maybe couple it with something else (needn’t be redeeming or sob-story-ish). Or maybe, let him mature into the incredible evil with nearly all of his humanity absent. I can totally enjoy that, as long as it’s not him being born evil.

you: Palpatine shipped anidala so that he would have more leverage to make Anakin fall and to drive another wedge between Anakin and the jedi and Anakin… Anakin… Anakin…

me, a feminist intellectual: sure but Palpatine shipped anidala specifically because it was a way to try and hobble Padme's political career by giving her a deeply unstable boyfriend to distract her from his corruption