palpatine makes a lot of decisions that dont make a lot of sense, both in the actual film series and in the clone wars, but the one thing i really dont get is him turning up in the darth maul/mandalore arc like “no actually i replaced u permanently with dooku and now im going to electrocute you forever(?why?)”. like i realize that the films necessitate this happening but you Do realize you are being given the choice between a guy at the prime of his life who managed to survive ridiculous circumstance and came back to start staging a (at this point) fairly successful major coup and some 90 year old man whose favorite hobby is repeated failure, right sheev
I always assumed Palpatine’s intention at that point was to continue grooming Anakin Skywalker to be his apprentice. That he also saw Dooku as another stepping stone that he would use and throw away when the time is right.
This makes perfect sense when you think about Sith team dynamics – the Apprentice is always in conflict with the Master. The Master builds power for as long as he can and extends his life unnaturally until an Apprentice manages to kill him. The Apprentice learns as much as he can, positions himself with a NEW Apprentice, and then kills the Master to replace him.
We saw this with Dooku, who set up both Ventress and Grievous as potential apprentices so that he could replace Palpatine at some point. We saw Vader approach Luke for the position too. And we know Maul is always looking for a partner.
And we know from the movies that Palpatine had Anakin kill Dooku, and then tried to get Luke to kill Anakin. That “kill your predecessor” thing may be ritualized, but it’s definitely a behavior pattern with Palpatine that he always replaces his experienced apprentices with a new one he can manipulate more easily.
Darth Maul is ambitious, in the prime of his life, and powerful. He is ngood at being a Sith and that is bad for Palpatine. He’s dangerous. Maul will always be cheming against him, trying to get a new apprentice, and trying to become the Master.
Unlike Maul, Dooku used to be a Jedi. Dooku has a certain amount of respect for his teacher ingrained in him from an early age even as he schemes against Palpatine. Dooku will be reluctant to kill Palpatine to begin with, and is still of use in the current schemes. Given a choioce between a powerful but now independent younger man and an older man who’s powerful but manipulatable still, Palpatine was right to keep Dooku.
Anakin, however, with his innate loyalty and straightforwardness, is a pretty shitty Sith but the PERFECT apprentice for Palpatine. Vader is powerful, but not inclined to deceive or replace Palpatine. Well… until Luke shows up. Then Vader starts hiding things and trying to get a new Apprentice. (Latest comic run makes this clear, Vader has never acted like a Sith before he finds out he has a son. Palpatine acts pleased by it.)
So what’s Palpatine do when Vader starts acting like a real Sith Apprentice (obtain power, recruit Apprentice, kill the boss) rather than just a Corrupted Jedi (serve the boss until his natural death)? Tracks down the reason (Kid named Skywalker has popped up), and then sets things up so that either Vader or his kid will be destroyed and the survivor will be the Sith Apprentice. If Vader kills his own son, he’ll be miserable and demoralized for a few more years and still useful. If Vader’s son kills him, kid’s got the Sith potential and is young enough to manipulate.
Emperor Palpatine is either a really good or really terrible Sith Master. He’s managed to outlast at least 2 Apprentices and was working on a third there when one finally took him out. But the pattern’s clear, he wants someone powerful but someone he can control and eventually kill.
Emperor Palpatine is either a really good or really terrible Sith Master.
Yes PLEASE. I have thoughts on this! And I fall very firmly into the camp of “really terrible.”
The Sith don’t really have a lot of redeeming qualities. It’s a narcissistic creed masquerading as self-actualization, shorn of human empathy, compassion, and understanding. But it does have one thing going for it: the Sith are supposed to believe in something greater than themselves. The ultimate goal for any Sith Lord under the Rule of Two is to train an apprentice that surpasses them. That apprentice in turn will do the same, and so on and so forth. Darth Bane’s explicit reason for doing this is because the Sith constantly weakened and undercut themselves, which was stopping them from fulfilling their absolute potential and self-actualizing in the way that Sith Lords are supposed to.
You’re supposed to nurture your apprentice. Train them well, raise them up, make them strong and powerful and wise. You’re supposed to flense the weakness out of them, brutally if necessary. Eventually the apprentice will either prove themselves unworthy (by making a play on you they’re not ready for) or prove themselve very worthy (by making a play and becoming the new master.)
You know who was good at that? Count Dooku, Darth Tyrannus. Dooku invested a lot of time and effort into both Ventress and Oppress. He trained them extensively, supported them, tried to make them into good Sith. Because he was a good Sith. He believed in the code. He was going to make a move on Sidious at some point, all in good time, as soon as Sidious had finished teaching him everything that he could learn. (Sidious was grotesquely powerful and it is hard to blame Dooku for not wanting to move early and wanting backup.) You can tell that Dooku was really put out when Sidious ordered him to dispose of Ventress; I bet he was thinking “This isn’t very Sith.”
But Sidious, himself, is really bad at this. He doesn’t nurture his apprentices. He doesn’t work to build their strength. In many ways he works to tear it down and subordinate it to his own. This:
But the pattern’s clear, he wants someone powerful but someone he can control and eventually kill.
Is 100% spot-on true. That’s what he wants. And this abrogates his responsibility as a Sith Lord to better the Sith as a whole. Darth Bane would be outraged.
My thought is that Sidious believes he is the culmination of all things Sith, the Alpha and the Omega of the Dark Side, the most powerful Sith there ever has been or ever will be, and as such he has a perfect right to violate and ignore the Sith Code if he feels it is holding him back on his way to fulfilling his ultimate potential.
That Shattered Empire comics and Aftermath series both introduce the idea that Sidious literally planned to destroy the galaxy upon his demise. Taken in that light, his relationship with his apprentices makes a lot more sense. He’s not training them to follow in his footsteps or carry on a glorious tradition. The galaxy and everyone and everything in it, including the philosophy and traditions of the Sith, exist for his pleasure and will not survive his passing. He’s not training successors, he’s training tools, but telling them that they shall inherit if they’re worthy is the fastest way to get their compliance.
He does it with the Empire too. There is no heir apparent. There’s just just ambitious assholes constantly vying for power and approval while he laughs and laughs. No one’s getting anything but they’ll all work extra hard in the meantime and be highly entertaining doing it.
Sidious’ “contingency plan” of the Empire is to literally burn down everything so that no one else can have it. It’s also showed in the Battlefront II gameplay. He doesn’t care about the Sith nor the Empire, just himself.
He also murdered his master in his sleep (if what he said in the movie is true. Oddly, I think it’s probably one of the few truth he said on screen), which is not a Sith way to do. You’re suppose to overpower your master, not cowardly assassinate your master.
A Force Sensitive Phasesixer 