"My childhood was awful. I grew up in a noble family on Naboo. I had a father who busted me out of jail after I ran over a few pedestrians. Usless things like that. Is it too much to ask for full ultimate power?" - Sheev
I think the thing I liked the most about Palpatine in legends is that when he did return from death, he was openly willing to admit that he underestimated the love anakin had for his son, and how that was something he couldn’t understand
@@wiltblush4136That's something that struck me as pure evil. Much like the Joker, Palpatine does sick twisted shit, but even when he's confronted with it being his actual deadliest failure afterwards, admits that thats what is wrong with him essentially and then continues doing fucked up stuff. Palpatine is genuinely one of the only fictional characters that is so evil that I hate them personally, like Umbridge from Harry Potter and Euron Greyjoy and Tywin Lannister from the Game of Thrones books
@@greenthumbstrummer lol.. you must not have read the books if you think Euron Greyjoy isnt all that bad. Come to think of it, Euron is probably the most apt example of a villainous character that so closely compares with sidious
What's interesting to note is despite being the series' Satan figure, Palpatine is the most successful when he's realistically evil. When he grooms people, manipulates a flawed government or stokes the flames of war, that's when he usually wins. But when he openly acts like a Sith Lord it usually ends badly for him
That's pretty much the Bane-line of sith m.o for the most part. They're excellent when scheming but loose sight when they fully succumb to evil. Even Bane who did some heinous shit still continued to serve the dark side with a goal in mind. Palpy however being Plageuis apprentice would go against the dark side and it bit them in the ass
The Dark Side is like a drug. Palpatine was an addicted, when he aquired the Sith Holocrons from the Jedi Temple ,he couldn't handle the power and craved even more.
I always wondered if Palpatine enjoyed his time in the clone wars the most in his life. The constant political tightrope of playing his role. Fooling the Jedi right to their face, watching them try and untangle the web all the while knowing the their end inch’s ever closer
I agree, he actually got very bored later in his life as Emperor as he had no one to oppose him, until the Rebellion was formed. He left most of the running of the Empire to governors and used Vader to deal with any small resistance and last remaining Jedi. He became far more introverted and focused on his studies of the dark side, mainly to become immortal.
There is an idea of a Sheev Palpatine. Some kind of abstraction, but there is no real me, only an entity, something illusory, and though I can hide my cold gaze and you can shake my hand and feel flesh gripping yours and maybe you can even sense our lifestyles are probably comparable: I simply am not there. -Sheev Palpatine (Naboo Psycho)
Sidious is a true Sith, like a singularity he warps everything around himself. He is constantly compared to black holes all through the novels. Ultimately his essence is Hunger, hunger for power, for wealth, for revenge. Hunger for anything that amuses him for a brief moment, that fills his emptiness for a few moments.
Palpatine was perhaps born as both a sociopath and psychopath considering that he casually murder people with a speeder and his disregard life has made him into a perfect Sith as a Dark Lord of the Sith only values his own power and they do everything in achieving that power.
Technically You can only be born a psychopath. A sociopath is a lighter version not genetic learned from the environment and bad parenting ( at least its the latest consensus)
@America Chavez And both types of villains are important if you ask me because of how they mirror real life. Sure some people do evil things because of some twisted worldview or tragic backstory, but some people also do evil things simply because they can, even with a perfectly normal background. We've all known someone like that.
It's somewhat ironic that both Plageuis and Tyranus made the mistake of seeing Sidious as a partner, when he was just using them both since he was nothing more than a megalomaniac psychopath.
And Maul, Asajj, Grievous, And Durge were meant to be mere asassins not powerful albeit while long temporary partners like Plagueis And Dooku nor potential successors like Anakin/Vader, Galen/Starkiller, Or Luke yeah.
@@matthewmann8969 you forgot about Cad Bane, the Separatist Council, the CIS droids, the Senate, Jedi Council, the Clones and the Imperial Moffs were being used by Palpatine as well
And arguably the single most significantly much more intelligent than anyone who didn’t get direct help from the only thing that truly dictates anything in the Star Wars universe the force haha
Few fictional characters can (in my opinion) hold the title of being “true and pure evil”, but Sidious definitely holds that distinction. He was a true Sith Lord. And in my personal, the most genuine Sith Lord ever.
This is gonna be dope! While I absolutely love the fan versions of characters that add humanity and moral complexity, I find that the intentionally pure evil that Palpatine represents is just as, if not even more, fascinating.
His presence in the force feels like a cold emptiness of a souless being, unlike other Sith like Vader, Maul or even Dooku who's presence feels more chaotic and a storm of negative emotions.
I had no idea that many, though probably not most, of those well-acquainted with the prequel trilogy, have also missed out on this, and that the joke needs to be explained to them.
Plagueis: “What is it you want more than anything in the world?” Sheev: “I want to rule” Plagueis: “So you’ll be comfortable being my subordinate and taking my orders forever without trying to kill me and seize power for yourself, right?” Sheev: “…” Plagueis: “R-right?” Sheev: “… …Yessss, master” Plagueis: “Good, now that I’m sure you won’t betray me, I’m going to go take a nap. Make sure nobody kills me in my sleep”
@@АлексейМомот-щ7о I agree. A lot of these legends stories are too dark for Disney to pull off, they'd try too hard to make it family-friendly As much as I'd love to see these old novels adapted, I wouldn't want it done under Disney
“He is more evil than the devil. At least Satan fell - he has a history, and it’s one of revenge…He doesn’t know what scruples are, let alone have any. I’ve been trying to find a redeeming feature to Palpatine, and the only one I’ve got so far is that he’s clearly a patron of the arts because he goes to the opera.”-Ian McDiarmid
Padme was hand selected by Palps to become the next Queen of Naboo because he knew he could control her, and it worked out even better than he could have planned.
A classic case of how familial love (or the lack of it) can change someone. Unconditional love may be the biggest lie we tell ourselves, but it is a necessary lie to keep ourselves sane.
Also bit of headcanon-Anakin (and to a lesser extent Padmé) may have in fact been the only remaining chains of humanity that Palpatine had left, especially as one could interpret at least some of the fake benevolence he displayed before revealing himself as in fact genuine, or at least rooted in the remnants of humanity that existed within him. There is a marked difference in him before the events of Episode III (where he cared about power-but pursued it with a level of lucidity and rationality) and after the events of Episode III (where he threw away his victory with needless cruelty).
I love palpatine because he’s not sympathetic or very deep. You can have a great character by keeping them really simple by being pure, irredeemable evil
2:55 I'm just in love with the visual design of the Senate chamber. The pods are actually rows where it skips a level each time, with the rows on either side filling that vertical gap. It gives the impression of spirals expanding from the floor of the Senate chamber.
In many ways sidious truly is the devil. I mean the way he converted anakin to the dark side was similar in the way the devil operates. He doesn’t appear as a horned demon, instead he appears as a friend who manipulates you and makes you his play thing.
God gave us free will. The devil just tempts us to test if we are capable of making that distinction, he doesn’t fool us, he doesn’t lie. He lets us do all that for him, that’s his whole point to the Lord for every soul he covets. We are flawed when we allow ourselves to be weak. Otherwise, he has no power. Palpatine is far worse. He has no point, twisted by envy or otherwise. He simply exists to cause pain, death and hate because he can. The devil is a fool who rebelled cause couldn’t see the bigger picture. Palpatine simply is just evil incarnate, the abyss, the darkness that was there before even Lucifer first fell.
The Plaguies novel has to be my faviorate off all the many star wars novels, thats becuase it shows how well Palpatine played everyone.I think he's the smartest character in Star wars by far.
Darth Sidious is the culmination of thousands of years of Sith teachings. He was the incarnation of darkness and his power was so great that it took the spirits of every Jedi who ever lived to trap Palpatine in the Underworld forever. Edit: Even Plagueis is awed by Palpatine’s power in the Force, wondering if he were in fact sprung from nature itself. Had this human truly been born of flesh-and-blood parents? Plagueis asked himself. When, in fact, he seemed sprung from nature itself. Was the Force so strong in him that it had concealed itself? --Darth Plagueis
Palpatine is actually more evil than the in-universe devil. The Son is the personification of the dark side yet he had angst and cared about his family even if he was bad at showing it. Palpatine isn't the embodiment of the dark side, he's the pitch-black side of the Force
Have to think that there were about 28 Sith Lords before Sidious and that each one was more powerful, wiser than the last, like a container of darkness that becomes more full with each generation. By the time Sidious grew up, the Sith had become a gigantic storm with almost unlimited destructive power.
Palpatine is one of my favorite villains. As a kid I never knew the name of the Emperor. Just that he was "The Emperor" and a very bad guy. Then I saw the Prequels and l was completely sucked into the benign grandfatherly persona that Palpatine crafted for his political career. So when I watched ROTS for the first time (in theaters), I was completely blindsided that Palpatine, good kind hearted Chancellor Palpatine that only wanted to restore the Republic (yes I was convinced he would give up his emergency powers, such a naïve little girl I was) became the evil Emperor of the Original Trilogy. Palpatine, along with Judge Frollo, are my favorite villains because these people exist in real life. Granted they don't have Force powers, but there are sociopaths and hateful people that justify their hate with benevolent ideals. And that is - in my opinion - makes Palpatine a truly terrifying villain. Most villains, like Sauron, Voldemort, Vader, they exist safely within the confines of their stories. They are symbols of what the author deems as negative or wrong. Palpatine, transcends that because he can easily exist in our world. He is no longer a symbol for the author to use, but a warning to be wary of such people. These people exist and that is true horror.
Indeed. Frollo is Disney’s best animated villain, and Palpatine is, in my opinion, the best villain of any franchise in history with the sole exception of Tolkein’s Melkor (who is, without any doubt, the closest fictional representation of Lucifer himself).
I would agree with Frollo being a man that can easily exist in the real world, but not so Palpatine. Voldemort or Vader feels more likely than Palpatine, because Palpatine is such an evil anomaly with basically no origin story, most real people wouldn't be able to match him even if they tried. Vader was a young man willing to do fucked up shit to save the love of his life, losing said love of his life in the process. The first part is perfectly realistic, the second part is a tragedy that can happen. His passion was also exploited by an old bastard, so there's also that. Voldemort I believe is based off a real man, Adolf H. A racist, obsessive, and paranoid bastard that wields absolute power in his cult. He's based off the most prominent evil person in history, but he's based off a real human. Palpatine though, is as evil as a human villain can theoretically be. He's effective and manipulative when amassing power, but also absolutely sadistic and blatantly evil when he already has absolute power. He's not just egotistical, he's not just cruel and uncaring, he's all of the above and then some more. Even Sauron is more realistically evil than him, and Sauron's an actual fallen angel.
@@jsw973the closest thing to Palpatine in real life is Pol Pot, and even then, he thought that he was doing the greater good rather (communism) than trying to become the devil/some demon (that is what Palpatine is supposed to be in Star Wars according to George Lucas)
Two things I love about Palpatine. One is that as an incarnation of the dark side itself he has used core emotional values of the dark side as weapons to manipulate his enemies. Fear, rage, xenophobia, anger, pride, and the desire to do good by any means necessary to the point you’re doing evil. And two, while the prequels weren’t well received if you pay attention to that whole timeline of events you can see how palpatine manipulated events to not just steal the keys to the galaxy, but create an entire class of people who actually consented to imperial domination. People were afraid, angry, and prideful, and he used their emotions to justify dominance over the galaxy
Sidious is a monster. I love him. His unwavering prudent malice, mixed with that truly wise feel... The type of villain i would truly be unimaginably afraid of... *demonic chef kiss* 100 starbucks isn't a lot, i got to lvl 20+ in that game without spending, granted it is a nice little boost. Plus ads help...
Another long runner, Geetsly's? It's not even Christmas yet, and even then, the subject is a devil of sorts. Edit for 35:45: In my opinion, his Legends (and maybe even Disney Canon) name is Cosinga Sheev Palpatine. Remember that he hated the name his father gave him (most likely his father's own first name), all while the idea of Sheev being a middle name turned preferable first name makes sense (think Hiram Ulysses Grant... the U.S. general/president didn't like its initials).
The dark irony of Star Wars is that if you combined the character traits of Palpatine and Yoda you would actually end up with a very competent leader. One ruthless enough to destroy the Hutt Cartels and other lawlessness of the Outer Rim, strong enough to lead the people of the galaxy to victory against the terror of the Yuuzhan Vong and Abeloth, yet compassionate enough to act in the people’s interests and never be needlessly cruel or tyrannical, but instead to transform the lives of the galaxy’s downtrodden for the better and truly protect the people.
When you think about it, Palpatine is the only one responsible for his own defeat and the Empire's fall. He had everything at his disposal, had full control over almost all the galaxy, but he allowed Tarkin and his own Empire to be so evil and harsh upon everyone that people stood against him and started to resist and rebel against the power he took so long to acquire. Nothing could stop the rebellion, because it was born from how stupidly evil the Empire was. Even though the Empire could have beaten the rebels at Yavin, I don't think this would have prevented the rebellion to be reborn, unless Palpatine could mind control absolutely everyone in the galaxy. People always end up revolting against blatant injustice, and the Empire was especially good at creating rebel cells again and again. This shows again when Luke refused to give himself to the dark side. Palpatine didn't immediately kill him and either get rid of Vador or show him that nobody can disobey the Emperor. He wanted to slowly kill Luke, and it was a fatal mistake. The worst weakness of Palpatine is that he's truly 100% evil, and lacks a true sense of realism. He was at his best when he had to contain his power and his ambitions, when he had people able to resist him. Once he lost all cheks and balances, it was the start of the end because the light can never be killed. It's like a phoenix, like the force itself. It can be wounded, but never really killed. In the end, there's only one thing Palpatine needed to be an absolute ruler : a bit of humility. Unfortunaletly for him, he viewed that as a weakness.
He never even wanted to "rule" it seems, he wanted to demonstrate and prove his supremacy. He wanted to fight and overcome. The Empire was never dear to him, so he never actually cared about holding it, just trying to literally have fun by whatever means possible, including torturing Vader and "getting" people like Luke under his command.
@@DX16 More likely he sees it as his personal defeat, as being bested by someone inferior, which he cannot stand. In other words, he may not care about his Empire *standing,* he cares about it *not losing.*
Palpatine is such a souless being. There are things that are simply and purely evil and Palpatine is an example that these villains can be good characters.
I couldn’t agree more his manipulation and everything else. Also, he had a lot of help from terrible writing in the sense that Jedi were basically folding bamboozled by arguably the most sketchy man I’ve ever seen in live action that depicts a fictional character.
I recently read the dark lord trilogy and in dark lord the rise of darth Vader palps felt like he was written a little differently. I thought he was a little patient and forgiving with Vader (given how strict and overbearing he becomes by episode 6). I think during that time he almost subconsciously tried to befriend Vader legitimately in his own twisted way. In the plagueis book young palpatine was liked to a young anakin. Obviously palps is a giant in terms of intellect and in the force aimed solely with the promotion of himself, but o feel that time was important for his personality and perspective. Even after distorting the Jedi order, turning anakin, and securing galactic political power he was still unable and ultimately unwilling to share himself with anyone else.
Highly recommend taking the time to read Darth Plagueis and the whole Dark Lord trilogy. Fans of Grievous, Dooku, Vader, Sidious, and Plagueis will NOT be disappointed, and nor will SW fans in general. They are excellent books that flesh out the Rise of the Empire era in superb detail, and are thrilling reads to boot.
I love the idea that Darth Sidious's penultimate defeat at Endor in both Legends and Canon spelled the breaking of his power. Neither the Dark Empire of Legends nor the First Order in canon ever achieved the might of the Empire. Both were simply Palpatine's last hurrah before his final death.
i think that the prequel’s characterization of Palpatine is so interesting, because of what he represents in the wider themes of “democracy careening towards fascism” that the prequels were wrapped in. Palpatine, in my opinion, is not a meticulous planner _nearly_ as much as he is a career opportunist. he wants power, realizes that the way to gain the most power is to manipulate well-meaning people who play by the rules to give him executive powers, and then use that as leverage to reorganize the government around him. he’s able to play both sides of the war not because he is an expert planner, but because he builds failsafes everywhere and then improvises really, _really_ well
Palpatine, as he is killing his master, Darth Plagueis The Wise: “I needed to learn from you. No more. No less. To learn all of your secrets, which I trusted you would eventually reveal. But what made you think I would need you after that? Vanity perhaps? Your sense of self importance?? You’ve been nothing more than a pawn, in a game played……by a genuine master”.
My head canon is that Palpatine is the reason the Force allowed Anakin to be conceived. It sensed a great imbalance towards the Dark in Palpatine, and used Plagueis's obsession with eternal life to basically engineer the eventual counterbalance - Anakin (and to an extent, Luke). It just didn't happen on the timescale or in the way the Jedi expected.
@@mitthrawnuruodo1730that's not really true. Remember the line "Darth Vader will become more powerful than either of us" right before the fight with Yoda. That's why I don't agree with this video's claim that palpatine is a psychopath since if he only cares about himself then why the hell would he train someone way more powerful than him who he knew would eventually kill him? He was a true believer in the dark side who was extremely hateful and misanthropic and that overrided whatever sense of guilt he may have had. That's my take on it anyway
@@jamariojackson4289 The Son at least seemed to care about his father and sister in some way Palpatine brutally murdered his entire family and enjoyed it
Sidious was much alike and similar and close in persona, personality, character, or characteristics to Vitiate also known as Valkronean also known as Tenebrae as well as certain other darksiders he was truly the culmation and make shift of the dark side from birth in Legends yeah.
Except for one crucial detail: Palpatine was utterly bloodthirsty to the core while Vitiate was just like pure coldness and apathy. The first wanted to make the Galaxy a monument to his ego and the second thought he deserved better than the Galaxy so he wanted to erase it to live as many different lives as possible. Both were evil to the core and not a shred of the common good ever crossed their minds.
Funny that you made this video too(if you saw my comment on your last video you know) I just finished hearing the audiobook of Revenge Of The Sith. The stars are aligning.
I have seen many villains over the years in many different franchises, some were just people who started out as good but fell down a dark path, others are evil and greedy from the start but even some of them are not pure evil as they can at least have other parts of their personality some honor or at least loyalty to their own side and whose on it so they at least have something or someone they care about other than themselves, then there are the pure evil villains the ones who care only about themselves and of all those villains in that category Palpatine is by far the greatest of them all. He is completely pure evil, he's not Human or any other type of sentient living creature in the Star Wars or any other universe, he is just a beast, as he himself admits, a simple beast that only wishes to destroy and has a never-ending hunger for more(far greater than even Darth Nillisis), but as he also said he's the king of the beasts, the greatest evil force there ever can be, and he knows it full well and revolves in it. And he's also got a god complex, and as Belos from The Owl House has shown in recent times, there's nothing worst than a villain with a god complex because it makes them think they can do anything because they are so superior to everyone else. He's evil and he loves being evil. While pure evil villains aren't my favorite kind of villain, I like villains with a bit more complexity so there more than just two-dimensional villains, pure evil villains like Freeza from Dragon Ball or Palpatine right here are still very entertaining and have their place in fiction, and of the pure evil category like I said, Palpatine is the best there is.
What makes Palpatine work as a pure evil villain is that he's a distinctly human evil. Everything he does to make himself emperor are out of the playbook of the corrupt politicians and dictators of real history. Nihilus may embody the dark side, but he was a savage beast driven by instinct. Characters like Aku are evil incarnate yet they are driven by their nature to be evil. Palpatine at the end of the day is still human...he's just everything wrong with humanity
@@redjirachi1 Nihilus was not a savage beast driven by instinct. He had cunning and foresight enough to lay a trap for his enemies, and enough self-restraint not to consume them until they were all there--which may have been his ultimate undoing. He was a demon, not a beast; but you're right about him not being human, and about what that means to his character.
Exactly! The thing that makes him much worse than Darth Nihilus is that the latter’s endless hunger is, as Kreia said, a very primal and basic thing that he cannot really control for long. Palpatine’s hunger is worse in the sense that he is in control of all of it and still chooses to feed it with innumerable acts of megalomania, sadism and mass murder; all of them fully deliberate and calculated.
Pure evil villains are the best when they're not the only villain in the story. Palpatine is the pure evil overlord of the empire, while Vader was his tragic right hand man that regularly has contact with the protagonists, Tarkin is a ruthless admiral, and Tyranus was actually looking to change the galaxy for the better. Sauron, by the third age, is a being of malice, who has been designing his victory for 3000 years, while Saruman is a corrupted/delusional wizard (angel), (movie) Denethor was a steward with a broken mind, the Nazguls, while evil ghouls, were all victims of Sauron. Voldemort was a dark lord through and through, but Lucius was a coward that cares (only) for his family, Snape was a tragic triple agent, and Pettigrew was a cowardly asshole.
To me, the sheer endless evil of Palpatine always made me feel like he always would've had a fallback to keep going and continue his evil. That's why I always preferred him coming back in Dark Empire.
Emperor Palpatine was a genius, held back by the sheer weight of his ego and pride who was genuinely evil while also being right in some aspects like the Jedi serving the Republic when they could so easily take power and use it to better the galaxy but instead they serve a corrupt and weakened husk of a government.
That's a rather narrow-minded way of looking at it. Ofc that's how Sidious viewed the Jedi, given his own sense of superiority and the belief that he knew what was best for everyone. However, that wasn't the reality. Obi-Wan says it best in ANH where he tells Luke that the Jedi were _the protectors of peace_ in the galaxy. Working with the government wasn't the same as them serving it. That was just another Sidious lie.
The most effective, most successful Sith there ever was or will be. None of the rest of them meaningfully come close. 20+ years of basically being God, and only undone at the end because of the things that put him there in the first place. There is no conversation to be had, about who was the most masterful at everything the Dark Side is. It's Sidious, and then a distant *everyone else*.
In my head canon, I believe that Palpatine was a vessel for the spirit of the Sith Eternal Emperor (from the time of Revan). That the essence of Sheev the human was replaced and destroyed by the Emperor. That would explain why he was so powerful in the Force and a black hole of Dark Side energy, and would have been the one he was referring to when he said "to cheat death is a power only one has achieved..."
Came back a year later to say I truly enjoy this video along with the music 💙 it was and is still very well put together and is my favorite video of yours. It meshes both Plagueis and Palpatine, you cannot tell Palpatines story without telling about Plagueis
One thing i do like about rey being a palpatine is that they grew up completely different Sheev grew up as a Rich brat with daddy issue on the beautiful planet of naboo While Rey grew up alone a poor scavenger living in at-at on a shitty desert planet called jakku It's a cool contrast
Palpatine is still the reigning champion, in my opinion, of film villainy.. the guy is just..Evil. I love the fact he was regarded as the immoveable vanguard against corruption in the Senate.. when actuality, he WAS the Corruption. He WAS the Senate.
Palpatine had affluenza as a youth kinda like the affluenza teen difference is sheev ran threw those people with a speeder while the affluenza teen did it with a truck like it was nothing.
It's amazing that Palpatine made it this far, considering he started out as a boy from a minor noble family from an isolationist mid-rim planet. It is precisely his humble background and apparent lack of ambition that caused the bigwigs in the Senate to underestimate him as a country bumpkin. In fact, his low profile in the Senate was key to his promotion, since his social skills allowed him to build a network of informal contacts that he would later place in his government. In addition, the fact that he did not try to promote or get into any commission allowed him to avoid being stained by corruption cases and then present himself as a compromise candidate for the chancellorship, and deceive both the senators and the populace who saw him as a malleable and upright guy.
Seems Force Concealment was a natural Force gift Palpatine ALWAYS had. "Just naturally did" even from Force Users hints it was the FIRST power he ever learned even before he learned and decided to specialize in Lightning abilities. Though one he seems to have unknowingly trained himself An timid... The fact that HE HIMSELF could even make himself SEEM that way being as we all know how LETHAL an opposite he TRULY is when he was shown needing to be...
This reminds me of that story in a series with a demon possessing a child and people thought the demon turned the kid evil but eventually the demon came out and said the kid is so empty I couldn't even escape let alone influence him. Like there sidius was just pure evil so there was nothing to corrupt. He was never pure.
This is quite possibly the best analysis on the Palpatine that i've ever watched. I actually want to check out the novels to understand how evil he truly was now.
Maybe for the next character analysis in honor of the next season of the Bad Batch, Geetsly can do one on a clone. Maybe the original template, Jango Fett, or the very popular clone Captain Rex. Or even Commander Cody, the first named clone we got and an essential character in the next season.
What the Sith don't realize is that actually they are constantly harming themselves. They think they are self-serving, but they are nothing but slaves of desire. They delude themselves into believing that they have some benefit from it but they are just falling deeper and deeper into misery. They actually believe that to hate is happiness 😅 They are enslaving themselves to utterly pointles pursuits of power.
The Book of Sith contains some deep insight into Palpatines Ideology and perspective on the Galaxy. The best pieces of Lore on Palpatine lie in that book and also Darth Plagueis as well as The ROTS novelisation. Honestly Palpatine deserved his victory his monumental manipulation and Deception was so immense that it was virtually impossible for him to lose. His conception and execution of the Clone Wars was quite simply Masterful.
Yes, The Book Of Sith fleshes out the core elements bebind imporhant Dark Lords' ideologies and mohivations, including Palpatine. However, when it comes to the latter, it contains what Palpatine wanted those who'd read it to think, yet while it does mostly represent the ideas he personally followed, his true thoughts are much more complex, than what those notes would suggest. You see, oddly enough Palpatine wasn't JUST about personal eternal growth in power. He actually had a vision beyond himself, at lesst for the Sith. In the essential guide to the Force, there's a quote from his own recording within the Telos holocron that's meant to guide future Sith. There, Palpatine explaines his idea behind the Rule of one, and that indeed no Sith should ever intend for their apprentice to replace them, however the way he describes it there implies his Rule Of One is rather an adjustment to the Ro2, rather than it's replacement. It doesn't dictate that Palpatine specifically must be the eternal Sith master. It says that any Dark Lord Of The Sith at a given time should consider themselves the absolute Sith and protect their position at all costs. That is the way of the Sith after all. They should always seek an apprentice tho and stick to the Rule Of 2. Yet, as the recording points out, Palpatine suspected that the true eternal life is impossible and while he never wanted to give up on his controll, he knew that one day his existance would likely end. And he genuinly cared about his ideology being passed onto future Sith. To quote the recording: "You see, I have chosen to appear before you not as I have come to be, but as I was long ago, when I was young. A vanity, perhaps, but I know from experience that a much older teacher, no matter how gifted, can appear antiquated, or even obsolete, and I would be remiss to encourage you to believe I am or ever was your superior. After all, you are full of life, and I…Well, because the Holocron is now in your hands, I must assume I am but a whisper from the past."
Ethical Bug: ''Sweet mother of goose, Palpatine!'' Palpatine: ''Well, you know what they say, can't rule the galaxy without killing the Jedis and the Senate. *laughs evilly* Ethical Bug: ''Oh... OOOH!! That was horrible! Your wish is horrible! YOU'RE HORRIBLE!!!! You're an irredeemable monster!'' Palpatine: ''Wha-wha-wha-what took you so long, fool?'' *uses Force Lightening on the bug and sighs*
Darth Plagueis sitting tall in his chair listening to Palpatine retelling how he murdered his family is pretty much Plagueis having a Sith orgasm truly indulging and projecting in his mine Palpatine's act scene by scene as if he were a eye witness to this event. Plagueis was feeding off the pure surge of up welling in the dark side with in by just his listening to Palpatine becoming fully intoxicated and enveloped in the dark side that was being unleashed upon both of them just by Palpatine retelling the event that was Palpatine's initiation into the Sith.
I love ANakin and Palpatine, both are just complex in their own way. ANakin was simply a person with complex emotions due to a hard upbringing, from being raised to 9 years old while a slave with his mother and leavong her to train as a Jedi, while training he joined the Jedi later then normal and was mor emotional and independant then most Jedi, rather then helping him learn how to handle his emotions, the Jedi simply kept telling him to kep them under control, this led to a complex relationship with the Jedi wher ANakin felt love for Padme and those close to him yet wasn't always the calmest Jedi. Then there's Palpatine, who's complexity came not from his character, but from the fact that he could easily put on many different faces and manipulate people making it had for people to connect the dots and figure out who he really was, that and his plans already being complex. Such awesome characters, Anakin the tragic hero who becomes a villain, and Palptatine the overall manipulative villain who often hangs as a shadow over the plot rather then being a direct antagonist to the heroes.
Jedi and Sith are both doomed. One tries to remove all attachment out of peace, the other out of power. No being can exist as just one side or the other, and both are doomed in the end because of it. Anakin embodies this philosophy. The Jedi pretend to want balance, but to them balance removes the dark entirely. That isn't actual balance, and Anakin was pushed to the dark side because of them trying. As a certain woman once said: Apathy is death.
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Plagueis: Huh? There's is a new feeling. Pride in someone else. Unfortunately, it is overshadowed by all this unyielding rage
Great video
WOW, you put your AD at the end of the video..... good man
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It is so sad that advertising "no microtransactions" is now groundbreaking and considered a feature instead of how games are supposed to be.
"My childhood was awful. I grew up in a noble family on Naboo. I had a father who busted me out of jail after I ran over a few pedestrians. Usless things like that. Is it too much to ask for full ultimate power?" - Sheev
That reminds of the guy who ran over a family in his parebts sportscar and young women across america were all like "he is too cute to go to jail".
@@miniaturejayhawk8702 Got a link, or something to go off of? Never heard of that story till now.
Patrick Bateman is basically Palpatine if he didn't have magic powers
@@TT-pl5iw I am here to make funny comments, not to prove a point to a random stranger whom I will never meet in my life.
@@redjirachi1 no, patrick went mad because his environment was monotone and his life was meaningless.
I think the thing I liked the most about Palpatine in legends is that when he did return from death, he was openly willing to admit that he underestimated the love anakin had for his son, and how that was something he couldn’t understand
@@wiltblush4136That's something that struck me as pure evil. Much like the Joker, Palpatine does sick twisted shit, but even when he's confronted with it being his actual deadliest failure afterwards, admits that thats what is wrong with him essentially and then continues doing fucked up stuff. Palpatine is genuinely one of the only fictional characters that is so evil that I hate them personally, like Umbridge from Harry Potter and Euron Greyjoy and Tywin Lannister from the Game of Thrones books
@@ChrisVillagomez good references
@@ChrisVillagomez Euron greyjoy wasn't so bad
@@greenthumbstrummer lol.. you must not have read the books if you think Euron Greyjoy isnt all that bad.
Come to think of it, Euron is probably the most apt example of a villainous character that so closely compares with sidious
@@greenthumbstrummer Obviously you have not read the books. Euron is utterly twisted in them. The show version is affable compared to him.
What's interesting to note is despite being the series' Satan figure, Palpatine is the most successful when he's realistically evil. When he grooms people, manipulates a flawed government or stokes the flames of war, that's when he usually wins. But when he openly acts like a Sith Lord it usually ends badly for him
A very insightful observation.
That's pretty much the Bane-line of sith m.o for the most part. They're excellent when scheming but loose sight when they fully succumb to evil. Even Bane who did some heinous shit still continued to serve the dark side with a goal in mind. Palpy however being Plageuis apprentice would go against the dark side and it bit them in the ass
Satan at least fell from grace.
“When he acts openly as a Sith Lord it usually ends bad to him.”
_Usually_ meaning in only one instance, which was his last… in the G-Canon anyway.
The Dark Side is like a drug.
Palpatine was an addicted, when he aquired the Sith Holocrons from the Jedi Temple ,he couldn't handle the power and craved even more.
I always wondered if Palpatine enjoyed his time in the clone wars the most in his life. The constant political tightrope of playing his role. Fooling the Jedi right to their face, watching them try and untangle the web all the while knowing the their end inch’s ever closer
I agree, he actually got very bored later in his life as Emperor as he had no one to oppose him, until the Rebellion was formed. He left most of the running of the Empire to governors and used Vader to deal with any small resistance and last remaining Jedi. He became far more introverted and focused on his studies of the dark side, mainly to become immortal.
Yea, only 4 years later.
"And so the Mask becomes the man. I shall miss the face of Palpatine I think.
My head cannon is that Palpatine and Dooku would sit down for drinks and laugh their asses off at the stuff they pulled off in the clone wars.
he got bored after the rise of empire
After reading the Plagueis novel, I fully appreciate how evil this character is
He's not evil. He's just better than the devil.
Evil is a point of view.
@@Hinokassaudifan1 He's proof that humans are better at being evil than Satan
@@redjirachi1 I agree, honestly.
@@redjirachi1 just look at petty little America and Europe.
There is an idea of a Sheev Palpatine. Some kind of abstraction, but there is no real me, only an entity, something illusory, and though I can hide my cold gaze and you can shake my hand and feel flesh gripping yours and maybe you can even sense our lifestyles are probably comparable: I simply am not there.
-Sheev Palpatine (Naboo Psycho)
Sidious is a true Sith, like a singularity he warps everything around himself.
He is constantly compared to black holes all through the novels. Ultimately his essence is Hunger, hunger for power, for wealth, for revenge. Hunger for anything that amuses him for a brief moment, that fills his emptiness for a few moments.
I can't believe your comment has only 34 likes. Sidious's hunger for power was truly all consuming.
it's supprising how close to entities like Nihilus and Aboleth, Sidious actually is^^
Palpatine was perhaps born as both a sociopath and psychopath considering that he casually murder people with a speeder and his disregard life has made him into a perfect Sith as a Dark Lord of the Sith only values his own power and they do everything in achieving that power.
Or, as G. K. Chesterton would put it, he was not “all there.” He was a mad-man, completely consumed by power.
Technically young Palpatine didn't murder anyone. Murder requires intent and what Palpatine did was an accident. It's more man slaughter than murder.
Technically You can only be born a psychopath. A sociopath is a lighter version not genetic learned from the environment and bad parenting ( at least its the latest consensus)
@America Chavez And both types of villains are important if you ask me because of how they mirror real life. Sure some people do evil things because of some twisted worldview or tragic backstory, but some people also do evil things simply because they can, even with a perfectly normal background. We've all known someone like that.
Psychopaths and sociopaths are the same thing
It's somewhat ironic that both Plageuis and Tyranus made the mistake of seeing Sidious as a partner, when he was just using them both since he was nothing more than a megalomaniac psychopath.
And Maul, Asajj, Grievous, And Durge were meant to be mere asassins not powerful albeit while long temporary partners like Plagueis And Dooku nor potential successors like Anakin/Vader, Galen/Starkiller, Or Luke yeah.
@@matthewmann8969 you forgot about Cad Bane, the Separatist Council, the CIS droids, the Senate, Jedi Council, the Clones and the Imperial Moffs were being used by Palpatine as well
And arguably the single most significantly much more intelligent than anyone who didn’t get direct help from the only thing that truly dictates anything in the Star Wars universe the force haha
Palpatine is not evil incarnate
He is the Senate Incarnate
Not yet
Same difference
But... does he have the high ground?
@@Kurama420 He did when he fought Yoda, which is why Yoda retreated.
What's the difference?
"Some people are just evil, no point in trying to explain it" Arthur Morgan- 1899
Few fictional characters can (in my opinion) hold the title of being “true and pure evil”, but Sidious definitely holds that distinction. He was a true Sith Lord. And in my personal, the most genuine Sith Lord ever.
This is gonna be dope! While I absolutely love the fan versions of characters that add humanity and moral complexity, I find that the intentionally pure evil that Palpatine represents is just as, if not even more, fascinating.
Thinking of him as the only man who's truly empty inside really makes sense
His presence in the force feels like a cold emptiness of a souless being, unlike other Sith like Vader, Maul or even Dooku who's presence feels more chaotic and a storm of negative emotions.
So Palpatine is just Nihilus as a politician?
In Legends, his first name is Frank. He says so in the films; "I must be Frank."
XD
Sir this comment is criminally underrated
I had no idea that many, though probably not most, of those well-acquainted with the prequel trilogy, have also missed out on this, and that the joke needs to be explained to them.
He is essentially Frank Underwood from House of Cards but Sci-Fi/Space Wizard Edition.
Plagueis: “What is it you want more than anything in the world?”
Sheev: “I want to rule”
Plagueis: “So you’ll be comfortable being my subordinate and taking my orders forever without trying to kill me and seize power for yourself, right?”
Sheev: “…”
Plagueis: “R-right?”
Sheev: “… …Yessss, master”
Plagueis: “Good, now that I’m sure you won’t betray me, I’m going to go take a nap. Make sure nobody kills me in my sleep”
Plagueis: "If I wasnt I, Im sure you would kill me..."
Sheev: "Yeah, thats definitely it!"
Fair enough!
Except under the rule of 2 its a known fact that the apprentice will eventually surpass their master and strike them down.
@@youknow9092that's why in the novel when he killed plagueis he said "you where too trusting" "No True Sith can ever care for another being"
@@ghr501able having an apprentice isnt about caring about them. It was about funneling their power to them for when they rise.
I really want Disney to make the first Star Wars psychological horror movie about Palpatine on his childhood, when he meet Darth Plagueis
That would be so good, have it play kind of like The Shining or American Pyscho, where we witness the protagonist descent into madness.
Meh, they don't do any good with established characters at all, it always misses the mark. Only their original stuff is sometimes good or passable.
I want Disney to drop down a black hole!
@@richardscathouse ok…
@@АлексейМомот-щ7о I agree. A lot of these legends stories are too dark for Disney to pull off, they'd try too hard to make it family-friendly
As much as I'd love to see these old novels adapted, I wouldn't want it done under Disney
I think of him laughing while fighting Yoda, thank you for that🫡
That was awesome. He was really pickin’ on the runt and I loved it.
“He is more evil than the devil. At least Satan fell - he has a history, and it’s one of revenge…He doesn’t know what scruples are, let alone have any. I’ve been trying to find a redeeming feature to Palpatine, and the only one I’ve got so far is that he’s clearly a patron of the arts because he goes to the opera.”-Ian McDiarmid
Fascinating that both Palpatine and padme were from the same planet, and took different paths
Anakin and Luke were from the same planet, and took different paths. They had the same mentor too (Obi-wan).
Padme was hand selected by Palps to become the next Queen of Naboo because he knew he could control her, and it worked out even better than he could have planned.
A classic case of how familial love (or the lack of it) can change someone. Unconditional love may be the biggest lie we tell ourselves, but it is a necessary lie to keep ourselves sane.
Also bit of headcanon-Anakin (and to a lesser extent Padmé) may have in fact been the only remaining chains of humanity that Palpatine had left, especially as one could interpret at least some of the fake benevolence he displayed before revealing himself as in fact genuine, or at least rooted in the remnants of humanity that existed within him. There is a marked difference in him before the events of Episode III (where he cared about power-but pursued it with a level of lucidity and rationality) and after the events of Episode III (where he threw away his victory with needless cruelty).
Gandhi and Hitler were from the same planet and took different paths. Was this supposed to be deep?
I love palpatine because he’s not sympathetic or very deep. You can have a great character by keeping them really simple by being pure, irredeemable evil
2:55 I'm just in love with the visual design of the Senate chamber. The pods are actually rows where it skips a level each time, with the rows on either side filling that vertical gap. It gives the impression of spirals expanding from the floor of the Senate chamber.
Fun w Fibonicci.
In many ways sidious truly is the devil. I mean the way he converted anakin to the dark side was similar in the way the devil operates. He doesn’t appear as a horned demon, instead he appears as a friend who manipulates you and makes you his play thing.
God gave us free will.
The devil just tempts us to test if we are capable of making that distinction, he doesn’t fool us, he doesn’t lie. He lets us do all that for him, that’s his whole point to the Lord for every soul he covets. We are flawed when we allow ourselves to be weak. Otherwise, he has no power.
Palpatine is far worse. He has no point, twisted by envy or otherwise. He simply exists to cause pain, death and hate because he can.
The devil is a fool who rebelled cause couldn’t see the bigger picture.
Palpatine simply is just evil incarnate, the abyss, the darkness that was there before even Lucifer first fell.
He did the same to Dooku in Legends was grooming him way before Maul failed his mission alive or not and way before he took out Plagueis yeah.
@@matthewmann8969 yes, all of sidious apprentices were just his pawns, none of them were ever meant to replace him since he never saw them as such.
The Plaguies novel has to be my faviorate off all the many star wars novels, thats becuase it shows how well Palpatine played everyone.I think he's the smartest character in Star wars by far.
Meanwhile real life politicians study Palpatine for tips and tricks
Too many
Darth Sidious is the culmination of thousands of years of Sith teachings. He was the incarnation of darkness and his power was so great that it took the spirits of every Jedi who ever lived to trap Palpatine in the Underworld forever.
Edit: Even Plagueis is awed by Palpatine’s power in the Force, wondering if he were in fact sprung from nature itself.
Had this human truly been born of flesh-and-blood parents? Plagueis asked himself. When, in fact, he seemed sprung from nature itself. Was the Force so strong in him that it had concealed itself?
--Darth Plagueis
Well put.
Palpatine is actually more evil than the in-universe devil. The Son is the personification of the dark side yet he had angst and cared about his family even if he was bad at showing it. Palpatine isn't the embodiment of the dark side, he's the pitch-black side of the Force
Have to think that there were about 28 Sith Lords before Sidious and that each one was more powerful, wiser than the last, like a container of darkness that becomes more full with each generation.
By the time Sidious grew up, the Sith had become a gigantic storm with almost unlimited destructive power.
Let's not pretend that the Disney Star Wars are canon. Anakin Skywalker ended Palpatine.
@@Aivottaja We both know better than that.
Palpatine is one of my favorite villains. As a kid I never knew the name of the Emperor. Just that he was "The Emperor" and a very bad guy.
Then I saw the Prequels and l was completely sucked into the benign grandfatherly persona that Palpatine crafted for his political career. So when I watched ROTS for the first time (in theaters), I was completely blindsided that Palpatine, good kind hearted Chancellor Palpatine that only wanted to restore the Republic (yes I was convinced he would give up his emergency powers, such a naïve little girl I was) became the evil Emperor of the Original Trilogy.
Palpatine, along with Judge Frollo, are my favorite villains because these people exist in real life. Granted they don't have Force powers, but there are sociopaths and hateful people that justify their hate with benevolent ideals. And that is - in my opinion - makes Palpatine a truly terrifying villain.
Most villains, like Sauron, Voldemort, Vader, they exist safely within the confines of their stories. They are symbols of what the author deems as negative or wrong. Palpatine, transcends that because he can easily exist in our world. He is no longer a symbol for the author to use, but a warning to be wary of such people. These people exist and that is true horror.
Indeed. Frollo is Disney’s best animated villain, and Palpatine is, in my opinion, the best villain of any franchise in history with the sole exception of Tolkein’s Melkor (who is, without any doubt, the closest fictional representation of Lucifer himself).
I would agree with Frollo being a man that can easily exist in the real world, but not so Palpatine. Voldemort or Vader feels more likely than Palpatine, because Palpatine is such an evil anomaly with basically no origin story, most real people wouldn't be able to match him even if they tried.
Vader was a young man willing to do fucked up shit to save the love of his life, losing said love of his life in the process. The first part is perfectly realistic, the second part is a tragedy that can happen. His passion was also exploited by an old bastard, so there's also that.
Voldemort I believe is based off a real man, Adolf H. A racist, obsessive, and paranoid bastard that wields absolute power in his cult. He's based off the most prominent evil person in history, but he's based off a real human.
Palpatine though, is as evil as a human villain can theoretically be. He's effective and manipulative when amassing power, but also absolutely sadistic and blatantly evil when he already has absolute power. He's not just egotistical, he's not just cruel and uncaring, he's all of the above and then some more. Even Sauron is more realistically evil than him, and Sauron's an actual fallen angel.
@@jsw973the closest thing to Palpatine in real life is Pol Pot, and even then, he thought that he was doing the greater good rather (communism) than trying to become the devil/some demon (that is what Palpatine is supposed to be in Star Wars according to George Lucas)
@@jsw973 I disagree. Psychopaths are in the real world and they either come from upbringings of abuse or being spoiled and not held accountable.
Two things I love about Palpatine. One is that as an incarnation of the dark side itself he has used core emotional values of the dark side as weapons to manipulate his enemies. Fear, rage, xenophobia, anger, pride, and the desire to do good by any means necessary to the point you’re doing evil.
And two, while the prequels weren’t well received if you pay attention to that whole timeline of events you can see how palpatine manipulated events to not just steal the keys to the galaxy, but create an entire class of people who actually consented to imperial domination. People were afraid, angry, and prideful, and he used their emotions to justify dominance over the galaxy
Truly mastermind.
Sidious is a monster. I love him. His unwavering prudent malice, mixed with that truly wise feel... The type of villain i would truly be unimaginably afraid of... *demonic chef kiss*
100 starbucks isn't a lot, i got to lvl 20+ in that game without spending, granted it is a nice little boost. Plus ads help...
Another long runner, Geetsly's? It's not even Christmas yet, and even then, the subject is a devil of sorts.
Edit for 35:45: In my opinion, his Legends (and maybe even Disney Canon) name is Cosinga Sheev Palpatine. Remember that he hated the name his father gave him (most likely his father's own first name), all while the idea of Sheev being a middle name turned preferable first name makes sense (think Hiram Ulysses Grant... the U.S. general/president didn't like its initials).
The dark irony of Star Wars is that if you combined the character traits of Palpatine and Yoda you would actually end up with a very competent leader. One ruthless enough to destroy the Hutt Cartels and other lawlessness of the Outer Rim, strong enough to lead the people of the galaxy to victory against the terror of the Yuuzhan Vong and Abeloth, yet compassionate enough to act in the people’s interests and never be needlessly cruel or tyrannical, but instead to transform the lives of the galaxy’s downtrodden for the better and truly protect the people.
That would be the Emperor from Warhammer 40k
When you think about it, Palpatine is the only one responsible for his own defeat and the Empire's fall. He had everything at his disposal, had full control over almost all the galaxy, but he allowed Tarkin and his own Empire to be so evil and harsh upon everyone that people stood against him and started to resist and rebel against the power he took so long to acquire. Nothing could stop the rebellion, because it was born from how stupidly evil the Empire was.
Even though the Empire could have beaten the rebels at Yavin, I don't think this would have prevented the rebellion to be reborn, unless Palpatine could mind control absolutely everyone in the galaxy. People always end up revolting against blatant injustice, and the Empire was especially good at creating rebel cells again and again.
This shows again when Luke refused to give himself to the dark side. Palpatine didn't immediately kill him and either get rid of Vador or show him that nobody can disobey the Emperor. He wanted to slowly kill Luke, and it was a fatal mistake.
The worst weakness of Palpatine is that he's truly 100% evil, and lacks a true sense of realism. He was at his best when he had to contain his power and his ambitions, when he had people able to resist him. Once he lost all cheks and balances, it was the start of the end because the light can never be killed. It's like a phoenix, like the force itself. It can be wounded, but never really killed.
In the end, there's only one thing Palpatine needed to be an absolute ruler : a bit of humility. Unfortunaletly for him, he viewed that as a weakness.
Such a good assessment, well done.
He never even wanted to "rule" it seems, he wanted to demonstrate and prove his supremacy. He wanted to fight and overcome. The Empire was never dear to him, so he never actually cared about holding it, just trying to literally have fun by whatever means possible, including torturing Vader and "getting" people like Luke under his command.
@Skarrier With the Death Star's destruction, Sidious shows that he cares about the empire, he's genuinely pissed
@@DX16 More likely he sees it as his personal defeat, as being bested by someone inferior, which he cannot stand. In other words, he may not care about his Empire *standing,* he cares about it *not losing.*
@Skarrier Then why does he have a scorched earth plan for his own empire?
At 9:35, I laughed so hard at how the artist's rendition of a young Palpatine looks exactly like James Franco.
Palpatine is such a souless being. There are things that are simply and purely evil and Palpatine is an example that these villains can be good characters.
One of best villains in All of Cinema he is the goat
Not just cinema, one can argue that he's also that in tie-in expanded universe fiction.
Agreed.
Thanks for doing what I believe to be the best villain in fiction justice.
I couldn’t agree more his manipulation and everything else. Also, he had a lot of help from terrible writing in the sense that Jedi were basically folding bamboozled by arguably the most sketchy man I’ve ever seen in live action that depicts a fictional character.
I don’t know who this Palpatine or Sidious is that you speak of. I only know the Senate.
He discriminated against everyone.
Truly a man of equality.
I like this palpatine guy.
I recently read the dark lord trilogy and in dark lord the rise of darth Vader palps felt like he was written a little differently. I thought he was a little patient and forgiving with Vader (given how strict and overbearing he becomes by episode 6). I think during that time he almost subconsciously tried to befriend Vader legitimately in his own twisted way. In the plagueis book young palpatine was liked to a young anakin. Obviously palps is a giant in terms of intellect and in the force aimed solely with the promotion of himself, but o feel that time was important for his personality and perspective. Even after distorting the Jedi order, turning anakin, and securing galactic political power he was still unable and ultimately unwilling to share himself with anyone else.
Highly recommend taking the time to read Darth Plagueis and the whole Dark Lord trilogy. Fans of Grievous, Dooku, Vader, Sidious, and Plagueis will NOT be disappointed, and nor will SW fans in general. They are excellent books that flesh out the Rise of the Empire era in superb detail, and are thrilling reads to boot.
I love the idea that Darth Sidious's penultimate defeat at Endor in both Legends and Canon spelled the breaking of his power. Neither the Dark Empire of Legends nor the First Order in canon ever achieved the might of the Empire. Both were simply Palpatine's last hurrah before his final death.
Why does "Senator, Sith Lord, Chancellor, Emperor" sound like it should be a Star Wars version of "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy"? 🙂
Indeed, plain and simple... 😉
Simple but effective.
More like "Barbarian, thief, warrior, king"
Pretty sure the Star Wars version is Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Praji :^)
i think that the prequel’s characterization of Palpatine is so interesting, because of what he represents in the wider themes of “democracy careening towards fascism” that the prequels were wrapped in. Palpatine, in my opinion, is not a meticulous planner _nearly_ as much as he is a career opportunist. he wants power, realizes that the way to gain the most power is to manipulate well-meaning people who play by the rules to give him executive powers, and then use that as leverage to reorganize the government around him. he’s able to play both sides of the war not because he is an expert planner, but because he builds failsafes everywhere and then improvises really, _really_ well
Palpatine, as he is killing his master, Darth Plagueis The Wise:
“I needed to learn from you. No more. No less. To learn all of your secrets, which I trusted you would eventually reveal. But what made you think I would need you after that? Vanity perhaps? Your sense of self importance?? You’ve been nothing more than a pawn, in a game played……by a genuine master”.
My head canon is that Palpatine is the reason the Force allowed Anakin to be conceived. It sensed a great imbalance towards the Dark in Palpatine, and used Plagueis's obsession with eternal life to basically engineer the eventual counterbalance - Anakin (and to an extent, Luke). It just didn't happen on the timescale or in the way the Jedi expected.
Palpatine is what every other sith should be.
The average Jedi or Sith are nowhere near this charismatic.
Imo yes but it is this fact that the sith failed. He only served himself, not the dark side itself.
@@mitthrawnuruodo1730that's not really true. Remember the line "Darth Vader will become more powerful than either of us" right before the fight with Yoda. That's why I don't agree with this video's claim that palpatine is a psychopath since if he only cares about himself then why the hell would he train someone way more powerful than him who he knew would eventually kill him? He was a true believer in the dark side who was extremely hateful and misanthropic and that overrided whatever sense of guilt he may have had. That's my take on it anyway
Definition of pure evil in any series
He’s basically Star Wars Satan, he’s arguably more evil than The Son himself.
@@jamariojackson4289 The Son at least seemed to care about his father and sister in some way
Palpatine brutally murdered his entire family and enjoyed it
@@kaitosevski3881 You are right about that, yes I forgot about that scene with the son.
Long live Emperor Palpatine
Sidious was much alike and similar and close in persona, personality, character, or characteristics to Vitiate also known as Valkronean also known as Tenebrae as well as certain other darksiders he was truly the culmation and make shift of the dark side from birth in Legends yeah.
Yeah, vitiates death brought Balance to the force and sidious death also brought balance
Except for one crucial detail: Palpatine was utterly bloodthirsty to the core while Vitiate was just like pure coldness and apathy.
The first wanted to make the Galaxy a monument to his ego and the second thought he deserved better than the Galaxy so he wanted to erase it to live as many different lives as possible.
Both were evil to the core and not a shred of the common good ever crossed their minds.
@@jakobrenner2230 true man vitiate was a evil monster.
Funny that you made this video too(if you saw my comment on your last video you know) I just finished hearing the audiobook of Revenge Of The Sith. The stars are aligning.
Damn, so is Palpatine the force antichrist lol.
I have seen many villains over the years in many different franchises, some were just people who started out as good but fell down a dark path, others are evil and greedy from the start but even some of them are not pure evil as they can at least have other parts of their personality some honor or at least loyalty to their own side and whose on it so they at least have something or someone they care about other than themselves, then there are the pure evil villains the ones who care only about themselves and of all those villains in that category Palpatine is by far the greatest of them all. He is completely pure evil, he's not Human or any other type of sentient living creature in the Star Wars or any other universe, he is just a beast, as he himself admits, a simple beast that only wishes to destroy and has a never-ending hunger for more(far greater than even Darth Nillisis), but as he also said he's the king of the beasts, the greatest evil force there ever can be, and he knows it full well and revolves in it. And he's also got a god complex, and as Belos from The Owl House has shown in recent times, there's nothing worst than a villain with a god complex because it makes them think they can do anything because they are so superior to everyone else. He's evil and he loves being evil. While pure evil villains aren't my favorite kind of villain, I like villains with a bit more complexity so there more than just two-dimensional villains, pure evil villains like Freeza from Dragon Ball or Palpatine right here are still very entertaining and have their place in fiction, and of the pure evil category like I said, Palpatine is the best there is.
What makes Palpatine work as a pure evil villain is that he's a distinctly human evil. Everything he does to make himself emperor are out of the playbook of the corrupt politicians and dictators of real history. Nihilus may embody the dark side, but he was a savage beast driven by instinct. Characters like Aku are evil incarnate yet they are driven by their nature to be evil. Palpatine at the end of the day is still human...he's just everything wrong with humanity
@@redjirachi1 Nihilus was not a savage beast driven by instinct. He had cunning and foresight enough to lay a trap for his enemies, and enough self-restraint not to consume them until they were all there--which may have been his ultimate undoing. He was a demon, not a beast; but you're right about him not being human, and about what that means to his character.
Exactly! The thing that makes him much worse than Darth Nihilus is that the latter’s endless hunger is, as Kreia said, a very primal and basic thing that he cannot really control for long. Palpatine’s hunger is worse in the sense that he is in control of all of it and still chooses to feed it with innumerable acts of megalomania, sadism and mass murder; all of them fully deliberate and calculated.
Sauron and Morgoth are really the only comparable figures to Sidious in terms of how purely malicious and menacing they are.
Pure evil villains are the best when they're not the only villain in the story.
Palpatine is the pure evil overlord of the empire, while Vader was his tragic right hand man that regularly has contact with the protagonists, Tarkin is a ruthless admiral, and Tyranus was actually looking to change the galaxy for the better.
Sauron, by the third age, is a being of malice, who has been designing his victory for 3000 years, while Saruman is a corrupted/delusional wizard (angel), (movie) Denethor was a steward with a broken mind, the Nazguls, while evil ghouls, were all victims of Sauron.
Voldemort was a dark lord through and through, but Lucius was a coward that cares (only) for his family, Snape was a tragic triple agent, and Pettigrew was a cowardly asshole.
A lot of star wars and non-star wars villains might admire and fear palpatine/darth sidious for what he represents and his accomplishments.
Another awesome video! You should do a Darth Bane deep analysis next!
Why is this not a movie or series. This is gold. Star Wars meet American psychopath.
When you're describing Palatines worldview I wasn't sure I hadn't accidentally skipped ahead into a Boris Johnson biography.
“He was deceived by a lie, we all were”.
-Obi-Wan Kenobi
00:09:48 Bro taking the term “I’m built different 😏” to a whole other level!… 😂😅😊😮
To me, the sheer endless evil of Palpatine always made me feel like he always would've had a fallback to keep going and continue his evil. That's why I always preferred him coming back in Dark Empire.
Emperor Palpatine was a genius, held back by the sheer weight of his ego and pride who was genuinely evil while also being right in some aspects like the Jedi serving the Republic when they could so easily take power and use it to better the galaxy but instead they serve a corrupt and weakened husk of a government.
That's a rather narrow-minded way of looking at it. Ofc that's how Sidious viewed the Jedi, given his own sense of superiority and the belief that he knew what was best for everyone. However, that wasn't the reality. Obi-Wan says it best in ANH where he tells Luke that the Jedi were _the protectors of peace_ in the galaxy. Working with the government wasn't the same as them serving it. That was just another Sidious lie.
The most effective, most successful Sith there ever was or will be.
None of the rest of them meaningfully come close. 20+ years of basically being God, and only undone at the end because of the things that put him there in the first place.
There is no conversation to be had, about who was the most masterful at everything the Dark Side is. It's Sidious, and then a distant *everyone else*.
"Built Different" caught me off guard lmao
No one is ever truly the villain in the stories they tell to themself.
In my head canon, I believe that Palpatine was a vessel for the spirit of the Sith Eternal Emperor (from the time of Revan). That the essence of Sheev the human was replaced and destroyed by the Emperor. That would explain why he was so powerful in the Force and a black hole of Dark Side energy, and would have been the one he was referring to when he said "to cheat death is a power only one has achieved..."
Imo that would absolutly shit on both palpatine as a character and the entire point of star wars as a whole. But we all see things differently ig lol
Came back a year later to say I truly enjoy this video along with the music 💙 it was and is still very well put together and is my favorite video of yours. It meshes both Plagueis and Palpatine, you cannot tell Palpatines story without telling about Plagueis
One thing i do like about rey being a palpatine is that they grew up completely different
Sheev grew up as a Rich brat with daddy issue on the beautiful planet of naboo
While Rey grew up alone a poor scavenger living in at-at on a shitty desert planet called jakku
It's a cool contrast
Anakin Skywalker embodies the complex power of the force and Palpatine is simply born in the dark side
Palpatine is still the reigning champion, in my opinion, of film villainy.. the guy is just..Evil. I love the fact he was regarded as the immoveable vanguard against corruption in the Senate.. when actuality, he WAS the Corruption. He WAS the Senate.
You forgot to mention he IS the senate.
Jokes aside that was a great character breakdown. Who's next in this awesome series?
Looooool the chat box at the top right of the Pixel Starships sponsorship was hilariously counterintuitive
Damn 36 min Geetslys video for Christmas?? Thanks boys ❤️
Palpatine had affluenza as a youth kinda like the affluenza teen difference is sheev ran threw those people with a speeder while the affluenza teen did it with a truck like it was nothing.
Ian McDiarmid is an international treasure! 💯
Sidious: Put me down at once, I am you master!!!
Vader: You were the master of Darth Vader, not Anakin Skywalker!
It's amazing that Palpatine made it this far, considering he started out as a boy from a minor noble family from an isolationist mid-rim planet.
It is precisely his humble background and apparent lack of ambition that caused the bigwigs in the Senate to underestimate him as a country bumpkin.
In fact, his low profile in the Senate was key to his promotion, since his social skills allowed him to build a network of informal contacts that he would later place in his government.
In addition, the fact that he did not try to promote or get into any commission allowed him to avoid being stained by corruption cases and then present himself as a compromise candidate for the chancellorship, and deceive both the senators and the populace who saw him as a malleable and upright guy.
Seems Force Concealment was a natural Force gift Palpatine ALWAYS had. "Just naturally did" even from Force Users hints it was the FIRST power he ever learned even before he learned and decided to specialize in Lightning abilities. Though one he seems to have unknowingly trained himself
An timid... The fact that HE HIMSELF could even make himself SEEM that way being as we all know how LETHAL an opposite he TRULY is when he was shown needing to be...
Plagieus and the Revenge of the Sith novelisation are the true prequels.
This reminds me of that story in a series with a demon possessing a child and people thought the demon turned the kid evil but eventually the demon came out and said the kid is so empty I couldn't even escape let alone influence him. Like there sidius was just pure evil so there was nothing to corrupt. He was never pure.
This is quite possibly the best analysis on the Palpatine that i've ever watched. I actually want to check out the novels to understand how evil he truly was now.
Ironic how both Vidar and Ronhar Kim, Father and Son, were murdered for the grand plan.
This study of the Senate was fascinating.
He was a true dark side prodigy in every sense
Maybe for the next character analysis in honor of the next season of the Bad Batch, Geetsly can do one on a clone. Maybe the original template, Jango Fett, or the very popular clone Captain Rex. Or even Commander Cody, the first named clone we got and an essential character in the next season.
What the Sith don't realize is that actually they are constantly harming themselves. They think they are self-serving, but they are nothing but slaves of desire. They delude themselves into believing that they have some benefit from it but they are just falling deeper and deeper into misery. They actually believe that to hate is happiness 😅
They are enslaving themselves to utterly pointles pursuits of power.
What a great and in-depth analysis. Are you planning to do something like this for more characters in the future? Maybe Yoda or Obi-Wan?
Agree with you completely Adikin killed the Emperor in "Return of the Jedi" and set the Force and Galaxy back into order!!! 🤠👍
Darth Plagueis was a great novel!
The Book of Sith contains some deep insight into Palpatines Ideology and perspective on the Galaxy. The best pieces of Lore on Palpatine lie in that book and also Darth Plagueis as well as The ROTS novelisation. Honestly Palpatine deserved his victory his monumental manipulation and Deception was so immense that it was virtually impossible for him to lose. His conception and execution of the Clone Wars was quite simply Masterful.
Yes, The Book Of Sith fleshes out the core elements bebind imporhant Dark Lords' ideologies and mohivations, including Palpatine. However, when it comes to the latter, it contains what Palpatine wanted those who'd read it to think, yet while it does mostly represent the ideas he personally followed, his true thoughts are much more complex, than what those notes would suggest.
You see, oddly enough Palpatine wasn't JUST about personal eternal growth in power. He actually had a vision beyond himself, at lesst for the Sith. In the essential guide to the Force, there's a quote from his own recording within the Telos holocron that's meant to guide future Sith. There, Palpatine explaines his idea behind the Rule of one, and that indeed no Sith should ever intend for their apprentice to replace them, however the way he describes it there implies his Rule Of One is rather an adjustment to the Ro2, rather than it's replacement. It doesn't dictate that Palpatine specifically must be the eternal Sith master. It says that any Dark Lord Of The Sith at a given time should consider themselves the absolute Sith and protect their position at all costs. That is the way of the Sith after all. They should always seek an apprentice tho and stick to the Rule Of 2. Yet, as the recording points out, Palpatine suspected that the true eternal life is impossible and while he never wanted to give up on his controll, he knew that one day his existance would likely end. And he genuinly cared about his ideology being passed onto future Sith. To quote the recording:
"You see, I have chosen to appear before you not as I have come to be, but as I was long ago, when I was young. A vanity, perhaps, but I know from experience that a much older teacher, no matter how gifted, can appear antiquated, or even obsolete, and I would be remiss to encourage you to believe I am or ever was your superior. After all, you are full of life, and I…Well, because the Holocron is now in your hands, I must assume I am but a whisper from the past."
Awesome vid. 🙌 Loved the Force out of the Darth Plagueis audiobook. 🔥
Omg amazing video!!! I love Palpatine so much he’s a genius and powerful sith that I’ve will always love!
Palpatine sounds like a classic discription of a sociopath with Machevillainism thrown in for funsies.
Ethical Bug: ''Sweet mother of goose, Palpatine!''
Palpatine: ''Well, you know what they say, can't rule the galaxy without killing the Jedis and the Senate. *laughs evilly*
Ethical Bug: ''Oh... OOOH!! That was horrible! Your wish is horrible! YOU'RE HORRIBLE!!!! You're an irredeemable monster!''
Palpatine: ''Wha-wha-wha-what took you so long, fool?'' *uses Force Lightening on the bug and sighs*
Do one for Darth Caedus
The fact that he ascended to Darth Sidious and not descended really shows that he completely evil without redemption.
Darth Plagueis sitting tall in his chair listening to Palpatine retelling how he murdered his family is pretty much Plagueis having a Sith orgasm truly indulging and projecting in his mine Palpatine's act scene by scene as if he were a eye witness to this event. Plagueis was feeding off the pure surge of up welling in the dark side with in by just his listening to Palpatine becoming fully intoxicated and enveloped in the dark side that was being unleashed upon both of them just by Palpatine retelling the event that was Palpatine's initiation into the Sith.
You're created an exceptional video, a documentary, so to speak.
I love ANakin and Palpatine, both are just complex in their own way. ANakin was simply a person with complex emotions due to a hard upbringing, from being raised to 9 years old while a slave with his mother and leavong her to train as a Jedi, while training he joined the Jedi later then normal and was mor emotional and independant then most Jedi, rather then helping him learn how to handle his emotions, the Jedi simply kept telling him to kep them under control, this led to a complex relationship with the Jedi wher ANakin felt love for Padme and those close to him yet wasn't always the calmest Jedi. Then there's Palpatine, who's complexity came not from his character, but from the fact that he could easily put on many different faces and manipulate people making it had for people to connect the dots and figure out who he really was, that and his plans already being complex. Such awesome characters, Anakin the tragic hero who becomes a villain, and Palptatine the overall manipulative villain who often hangs as a shadow over the plot rather then being a direct antagonist to the heroes.
Jedi and Sith are both doomed. One tries to remove all attachment out of peace, the other out of power. No being can exist as just one side or the other, and both are doomed in the end because of it. Anakin embodies this philosophy. The Jedi pretend to want balance, but to them balance removes the dark entirely. That isn't actual balance, and Anakin was pushed to the dark side because of them trying.
As a certain woman once said: Apathy is death.
This video is a masterpiece thank you
The ultimate movie villain in my opinion