Errant

HI I AM BACK WITH AN ATROCIOUSLY LONG POST BUT THIS IS AN INFODUMP AND ALSO JUST LIKE- A RAMBLING SO IT'S OK ANWAY

Sheev Palpatine is the best villain in cinematic history. I don’t care whether or not you like Vader, the Joker, or hell someone like Gaston from Beauty and the Beast more, I am standing my ground and proclaiming (in my opinion) that Palpatine, Darth Sideous himself, is the perfect villain and here is why. This post also marks a return for me to Tumblr so hi to all 12 of my followers ily all <3. ANYWAY, time to get into our deep deep analysis of what makes Palpatine so good, and why his execution of the Sith’s grand plan to rule the galaxy is an absolute chef’s kiss in villainy.

SO FOR CONTEXT, at the time of the prequels, the Sith have been destroyed in the eyes of the Jedi for over a millennium. The last of the Jedi-Sith wars culminated in the perceived destruction of the Sith by the Jedi Order and the foundation of the Galactic Republic. However, we all know that Darth Bane was the only sith to have survived this destruction of the Sith Order, and of course brought about the rule of two. The rule of two stated that only two Sith Lords could exist at any given time, the master and their apprentice. This rule of two has allowed the Sith to survive until the time of Episode 1, the Phantom Menace, and allowed each subsequent Sith Lord to grow in power as time went on. So by 32 BBY (the year which Episode 1 takes place), Darth Sidious has become the preeminent Sith Lord after the death of his own master, Darth Plagueis the Wise. Sidious/Palpatine is now working with Maul and Dooku as his puppets and apprentices to put the grand plan to destroy the Jedi order into action, and the Jedi are none the wiser for it.

SO, THE PLAN. The plan that Palpatine has essentially started ten years before the Prequels begin. He and his master, Darth Plagueis have learned to essentially manipulate the force in such a way that one could feasibly create life. Now, is the Anakin Skywalker story kinda like the story of Jesus Christ? In a way yes as they were both conceived by a mysterious cosmic force and are destined for greatness. But that’s neither here nor there I don’t have the spoons or energy to compare Star Wars to the bible right now lol. Anyway, Sidious and Plagueis manipulate the force to essentially create Anakin, which in turn due to Anakin begin conceived from the cosmic force itself, makes Anakin incredibly powerful and force sensitive. This insane level of force sensitivity, greater than even Master Yoda’s, makes Anakin the chosen one in the eyes of the Jedi who eventually find him. I think this is step one in the master plan of Palpatine. He knows that the Jedi will eventually find Anakin and proclaim him to be the Chosen One, which will inevitably lead to Anakin being treated differently by the Jedi Council and such.

Another part of the plan of course consists of the Clone Wars. Basically, Palpatine wants to weaken the Jedi and put them into a position where they essentially become hypocritical of themselves and their teachings. The Jedi code stipulates that the Jedi are supposed to be keepers of the peace, not soldiers. Additionally, prior to the prequels the Jedi had a higher degree of popularity in the Republic. This would mean that for Palpatine, there was a real challenge in the Sith’s goal of defeating the Jedi. Thus, Palpatine’s grand plan would come into shape. To defeat the Jedi, he would need to make them both hypocrites and fairly unpopular in the eyes of the wider galaxy. To do this, Palpatine would play on the fears of the galactic population through his apprentice, Count Dooku. Palpatine would maneuver himself into the position of Chancellor of the Galactic Republic, while Dooku would take his position as leader of separatists who would seek to leave the Republic. Of course, I am talking about the Clone Wars and the way that Palpatine would manufacture a crisis to gain more and more power for himself. In Episode 2, Attack of the Clones, Palpatine would state that he would “not allow this Republic, which has stood for a thousand years, be split in two.” In a cruel twist of fate, he kept this promise. While it would appear on the surface that there were two sides to the Clone Wars, in reality both sides were simply serving as means to an end for Palpatine and his grand plan. I mean really, are there any other villains around who are able to take two sides and play them against each other for their own gain without no one being the wiser?

ike Joker manipulating Harvey Dent in the 2008 film, The Dark Knight, Palpatine is able to manipulate the hero of the story to his own ends, and turn him into his ultimate puppet. I am of course talking about the chosen one himself, Anakin Skywalker. After it is revealed that Anakin is the chosen one and accepted into the Jedi Order, Palpatine moves to turn himself into the only one that Anakin will trust. Because of the fact that Anakin was already nearly ten years old when he was accepted into the Jedi Order, he had already been allowed to form emotional attachments with those he was close to, including Padme and his mother. This would of course come into conflict with the teachings of the Jedi Order, as they forbid emotional attachments. Additionally, Palpatine knew that with the death of Qui-Gon Jinn by the hands of Maul, Anakin would not have the mentor that he would actually need to feel connected to and fully comfortable with the Jedi Order. Palpatine would then move to position himself as the only one that Anakin fully trusts, and would act as the father figure that Anakin actually needed. In this way, Palpatine was able to pray on Anakin’s fears and insecurities created by his relationship to the Jedi Council, and manipulate him into eventually turning on his fellow Jedi. I feel like this is one of the hallmark traits of a villain, turning the motivations of the hero against them for their own gain. Anakin wishes to save the ones closest to him, and the dogma of the Jedi prevents him from feeling like he truly can accomplish that. Thus, Palpatine is able to become the father figure that Anakin needed in order to seduce him to the dark side in a way which the Jedi couldn’t have foreseen.

I think in the end the characteristics that make Palpatine a perfect villain in my eyes are just how unashamedly evil he really is. When he is revealed to be the Sith Lord that orchestrated the Clone Wars and manipulated Anakin during Episode 3, Revenge of the Sith, he clearly revels in his villainy and in the Sith grand plan coming to fruition. The Jedi are destroyed by the newly christened Darth Vader, who is of course our fallen hero Anakin Skywalker, and the clone army that was seemingly created to protect the Republic. I think the irony comes when the galaxy largely accepts the narrative that the Jedi were traitors and deserved their fate. Palpatine made the Jedi the ultimate hypocrites in a way which few villains do. The Jedi became generals and soldiers in a war where, often times during the events of the Clone Wars, the Jedi are shown to be aggressive and attack more often than defend. This transformation of the Jedi Order into something which they were not supposed to be shows just how genius Palpatine really is in my opinion. In the end when the Jedi Temple is burning, Palpatine emerges triumphant at last. When Anakin burns on Mustafar, Palpatine imprisons him for his failure in killing Obi-Wan, and locks him into a metal cage, with a skull where his face used to be. This is such an evil move and Palpatine could not be more pleased with himself in this moment.