Palpatine

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Palpatine, also known as Darth Sidious, was the last Chancellor of the Galactic Republic and the first Emperor of the Galactic Empire. He was a Dark Lord of the Sith who followed the Rule of Two and was considered by many to be the most powerful Sith Lord who ever existed.^[5] Palpatine was able to establish his Empire by concocting a complex master plan, which involved starting the Clone Wars, a galaxy-wide conflict that cost billions of sentient lives. Palpatine himself headed both the Galactic Republic and, secretly, the Confederacy of Independent Systems, which allowed him to prolong the conflict in order to gain more executive powers from the Senate.

When his power as Chancellor had reached its peak, Palpatine abolished the Republic and replaced it with the first Galactic Empire with himself as leader. With the Imperialization of the galaxy, Palpatine effectively had total control over its people, and was able to create one of the most powerful military forces the galaxy had ever seen. For nineteen years, Palpatine's rule would go relatively unopposed, until disgruntled former Imperial senators founded the Alliance to Restore the Republic. The Galactic Civil War would last for many years, but in 4 ABY, he was killed by Anakin Skywalker, his former Sith apprentice, during the Battle of Endor. However, this did not mean the end of the Empire.

His spirit traveled to Byss, where he inhabited a clone body that he had prepared beforehand. Six years after his first death at Endor, he launched a massive offensive from the Deep Core—one that came close to destroying the New Republic. The victories, however, would not last long, as Palpatine's clones were sabotaged by the former Emperor's Royal Guard, Carnor Jax. Palpatine was killed one final time during his attempt to possess Anakin Solo's body on Onderon, when, after Han Solo shot him, Empatojayos Brand, a former Jedi Knight, bound his soul to Palpatine's, dragging Palpatine deep into the depths of the Force.

Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Early life 1.1.1 Birthplace 1.1.2 Family 1.2 Darth Plagueis and Darth Sidious 1.2.1 First encounter 1.2.1.1 Covenants 1.2.1.2 Initiation 1.2.2 Apprenticeship 1.2.3 The murder of Darth Plagueis 1.3 The training of Darth Maul 1.3.1 A visit to the Jedi Temple 1.4 Final preparations 1.5 The rise of Palpatine (70–32 BBY) 1.5.1 The beginning of Palpatine's political career 1.5.1.1 The Sistros statue 1.5.2 The senator's first "friendship" 1.5.3 Palpatine in the Senate 1.5.4 Friends and allies 1.5.4.1 Jorus C'baoth 1.5.4.2 Janus Greejatus 1.5.4.3 Terrinald Screed 1.5.4.4 Wilhuff Tarkin 1.5.4.5 Crueya Vandron 1.5.5 Aides 1.5.5.1 Sate Pestage 1.5.5.2 Kinman Doriana 1.5.5.3 Ars Dangor 1.5.6 Destabilization 1.6 The Naboo crisis (32 BBY) 1.6.1 The blockade of Naboo 1.6.2 The invasion of Naboo 1.6.3 The search for Queen Amidala 1.6.4 The senator commands the monarch 1.6.5 The fall of Chancellor Valorum 1.6.6 The scramble for the chancellorship 1.6.7 The election of Palpatine 1.6.8 The liberation of Naboo 1.6.9 The aftermath 1.6.10 An end to loose ends 1.7 The Republic under Palpatine (32–24 BBY) 1.7.1 Palpatine and Mas Amedda 1.7.2 Palpatine and Janus Greejatus 1.7.3 The offices of the new chancellor 1.7.4 The coming of the Red Guard 1.7.5 The reelection of Chancellor Palpatine 1.7.6 The Outbound Flight Project 1.7.7 The destruction of Outbound Flight 1.7.8 The search for a new apprentice 1.7.9 The seduction of Count Dooku 1.7.10 The clone army 1.8 The Separatist Crisis (24–22 BBY) 1.8.1 The rise of the Separatist movement 1.8.2 The false "peace initiative" 1.8.3 Putting the Senate on the defensive 1.8.4 The assassination attempts on Senator Padmé Amidala 1.8.5 Emergency powers 1.9 The Clone Wars (22–19 BBY) 1.9.1 From democratic diplomat to dictatorial despot 1.9.2 Hutt negotiations 1.9.3 The "Reflex Amendment" 1.9.4 The disappearance of Seti Ashgad 1.9.5 The assassination attempt on Bail Organa 1.9.6 The re-emergence of Finis Valorum 1.9.7 The Star of Iskin terrorist incident 1.9.8 The vote on the Enhanced Security and Enforcement Act 1.9.9 The trap on Vjun 1.9.10 The Sector Governance Decree 1.9.11 The search for Darth Sidious 1.9.12 "Kidnapped" 1.9.13 Palpatine becomes Supreme Commander 1.10 Endgame (19 BBY) 1.10.1 The birth of Darth Vader 1.10.2 The fall of the Jedi Temple 1.10.3 Order 66 1.10.4 The fall of the Confederacy of Independent Systems 1.10.5 The inauguration of the Galactic Empire 1.10.6 The last stand of the Jedi Order 1.10.7 The transformation of Vader 1.11 The Emperor's reign (19 BBY–4 ABY) 1.11.1 Imperialization 1.11.2 The dark times 1.12 The New Order in practice (0 BBY) 1.12.1 The dissolution of the Senate 1.12.2 An example is made 1.12.3 The same event in different languages 1.12.3.1 "During this time of crisis…" 1.12.3.2 "No longer of any concern…" 1.13 Death Star rising (0 BBY–0 ABY) 1.13.1 The destruction of Alderaan 1.13.2 The Galactic Civil War 1.13.3 The punishment of Bevel Lemelisk 1.14 Two Skywalkers (3–4 ABY) 1.14.1 The threat of Luke Skywalker 1.14.2 The plot to assassinate Luke Skywalker 1.14.3 The Raygar threat 1.14.4 Partnership with Black Sun 1.14.5 Treachery of Zaarin 1.14.6 The exile of the Prophets 1.15 The downfall of the Galactic Empire (4 ABY) 1.15.1 The trap at Endor 1.15.2 The balance of the Force 1.15.3 The first death of Palpatine 1.15.4 The question of Palpatine's Battle meditation 1.16 Palpatine reborn (4–11 ABY) 1.17 The fragmentation of the Galactic Empire (4–10 ABY) 1.17.1 Palpatine's reaction to Thrawn's campaign 1.18 The Empire in resurgence (10–11 ABY) 1.18.1 Skywalker's subterfuge 1.18.2 The last clone 1.18.3 Palpatine's final death 1.19 Legacy 1.19.1 The Great Leader of the Second Imperium scam (23–24 ABY) 1.19.2 Telos Holocron 2 Abilities 3 Styles of Address 4 Romances and Children 4.1 Irek Ismaren 4.2 Triclops 5 Behind the scenes 5.1 Political, historical, and mythological allegory 5.2 Original version 5.3 Portrayal 5.4 Commentary 5.5 Debates and discrepancies 5.5.1 Disfiguration debate 5.5.1.1 The scar theory 5.5.1.2 The disguise theory 5.5.1.3 The "mask" power 5.5.2 The name of Palpatine 5.5.2.1 Other examples of the name 5.5.2.2 Fan speculation 5.5.2.3 Origins 5.5.3 Dark Empire possible discrepancy explanation 6 Appearances 6.1 Video games 6.2 Non-canon appearances 7 Sources 8 Notes and references 9 See also 10 External links

Biography

Early life

Factual information about Palpatine as a child and as a young adult is extremely hard to come by. Records pertaining to his ancestry, immediate family members, and upbringing had mysteriously vanished by the beginning of the New Order.^[6] The general assumption is that these records were destroyed to conceal his identity as a Sith, but there is another, though less credible, possibility: there may never have been a real being named Palpatine born on Naboo; Darth Sidious, whose real identity prior to becoming a Sith would therefore be completely unknown, may actually have created the identity of Palpatine in order to enter the political sphere,^[7] and so there would be no records about a fictitious ancestry and family to destroy.

Birthplace

Palpatine was born on Naboo, a world in the backwaters of the Chommell Sector in the Mid Rim Territories. He would claim the planetary capital of Theed, a city on the banks of the Solleu River,^[8] as his home city, but it is not certain that he was actually born there.

Family

The names of Palpatine's parents have never been discovered, but as he himself has been described as a noble,^[9] it is likely that they too were of noble lineage. He was not an only child; the existence of a remote grandniece, Ederlathh Pallopides (b. 4 BBY) indicates that he had at least one sibling, name and gender unknown.^[10]

Darth Plagueis and Darth Sidious

First encounter

As difficult as it is to learn concrete facts about Palpatine's youth, information about how he became a Sith is even more scarce. Even the reason Palpatine became aware of the dark side of the Force is a total mystery. Suffice it to say that somehow, his Force-sensitivity escaped the notice of the Jedi Order; instead, his gifts came to the attention of Darth Plagueis, a Muun Dark Lord of the Sith.

Covenants

It was an ancient covenant of the Sith that apprentices must slaughter someone close to them to demonstrate their commitment to the Sith cause.^[11] Though there is no specific information concerning such a murder in Palpatine's case, it can be assumed that, if Darth Plagueis adhered to his cult's precepts, he would have commanded the young Palpatine to commit such a murder, only then having proved his worthiness to become a Sith apprentice. That Darth Sidious himself would insist on this commandment being observed by his own apprentices (Darth Maul nearly killing his master, the only being he had any attachment to,^[12] Darth Tyranus killing Master Sifo-Dyas, his closest friend in the Jedi Order,^[13] and Darth Vader first participating in the murder of Mace Windu, a being he had respected, and then personally slaughtering numerous Jedi younglings^[14]) is a strong indicator that Sidious also observed it.

Initiation

Having judged the young Palpatine worthy of joining the Sith, Darth Plagueis formally initiated him into the cult. Those initiation ceremonies that have been witnessed^[12][14] have revealed certain common elements: the apprentice-initiate went down on bended knee to humble himself before his prospective master; the initiate pledged himself to his master, to the master's teachings, and to the ways of the Sith Order; the master confirmed that the initiate was joining his destiny to that of the Sith Order of his own free will. So affirmed, the initiate was formally welcomed into the Sith Order, proclaimed a Dark Lord of the Sith, and given a new name according to the Sith tradition. Assuming, again, that Darth Plagueis properly observed his cult's traditions, it is likely that Palpatine became a Sith apprentice in this manner.

From the time of Darth Bane onward, it was common for Sith names to begin with the forename Darth, a moniker that was as much a title as a name.^[15] Many factors went into deciding on the second name. At least one, based on observed ceremonies, is that Sith masters would enter a kind of communion with the dark side of the Force, question it, and within it find inspiration, an answer.^[16] Exactly what inspiration Plagueis found in this communion has not been revealed, but Plagueis decided that, from that moment forward, Palpatine would be known as Darth Sidious.

Apprenticeship

Darth Sidious's apprenticeship has been described as lasting many decades,^[7] though there is no specific indication of when it began or when it ended. In that time, Plagueis trained Sidious in accordance with Darth Bane's tradition. During the course of Sidious's training, Darth Plagueis once allowed him access to a number of Sith holocrons, items that, according to the arcane writing inscribed on their pyramidal surfaces, were recorded in the days of Darth Bane. The Jedi mistakenly believed that these holocrons sat in the Archives room in their Temple, but those were actually clever forgeries, a form of Sith disinformation. How the actual and false holocrons came to their respective owners is still not known.^[17]

Under Plagueis, Sidious deeply studied Sith history, learning of the ancient Sith Lords as well as the more recent ones, such as Darth Bane.^[source?] Bane's teachings were of particular note, as they were the basis of the order. Plagueis's teachings were brutal, but they successfully molded Palpatine into one of the most powerful Dark Lords since Bane.

The murder of Darth Plagueis

Plagueis was obsessed with immortality. He delved into forbidden teachings, and possessed—or sought to possess—knowledge that could sustain those who were dying, or even return them from death.^[18] Both the Jedi and the Sith had sought ways to survive death for thousands of years, without success. The most powerful of the ancient Sith Lords, particularly Darth Sion and Darth Andeddu, supposedly knew such secrets, but they had been lost or misplaced.^[17] Plagueis then began taking his research to its greatest extreme, to create new life from nothing. Eventually Plagueis told Sidious of an experiment to influence the midi-chlorians to draw life directly from the Force itself. The child that resulted, Plagueis insisted, would potentially possess astounding powers.^[18]

Sidious at once suspected that Plagueis's real intention was to "create" a new apprentice to replace him. His position threatened, Sidious decided that he had learned all he could from Plagueis, and he already had his own secret apprentice in the form of Darth Maul. Soon after, Sidious killed Plagueis in his sleep and took the title of Sith Master for himself. To make certain the same thing would never happen to him, he kept a close eye on his own apprentices, and told them only the barest minimum of information about Plagueis.^[13] For much of his life, he would be on his guard, vowing to himself never to make the mistake of sleeping as Plagueis had.^[17]

Though Plagueis had died, there is evidence to suggest that his experiment came to fruition nonetheless: on the distant desert world of Tatooine,^[18] a thirty-year-old slave woman, Shmi Skywalker, gave birth to a son, named Anakin Skywalker (42 BBY). Though much remains unknown about Skywalker's childhood, it is known that his mother had no knowledge of her son's biological father, and when Skywalker eventually became known to the rest of the galaxy, it was discovered that he had more Force potential than any Force-user in history: his midi-chlorian count passed 20,000 per cell, far beyond the most powerful Sith or Jedi^[19] (by contrast, the average count for a standard, non-Force-sensitive human was less than 2,500 per cell).^[20] Sidious kept a close watch on Skywalker as he grew, anticipating that he could be a far more powerful apprentice than Darth Maul.^[18]

The training of Darth Maul

Shortly before he had murdered Plagueis, Palpatine had spirited a young Zabrak from his family on Iridonia, and had begun training him as a Sith.^[18] It was not without precedent that Sidious should have chosen a Zabrak for his apprentice. In ancient times, the Sith, taking notice of the martial prowess of the Zabrak, made lucrative contacts on Iridonia, and spent exorbitant sums to hire Iridonian Zabrak as mercenaries. Long after the Sith culture died out, the influence of the Sith remained a part of Zabrak culture.^[21] Zabraks were known to endure extreme amounts of pain, but nothing could have prepared young Maul for the brutality of Palpatine's training. Despite Palpatine's harshness, Maul held the utmost respect for the man, and was fanatically loyal.

A visit to the Jedi Temple

When Darth Maul was very young—so young that he would remember few memories prior to this (c. 54–52 BBY)—Darth Sidious took him to the Jedi Temple, both of them disguised as tourists. Sidious's command of the dark side was sufficient to keep both himself and Maul from being sensed by the Jedi, as long as they did not enter the Temple itself. As the building was not open to tourists in any event, there was very little risk of discovery. For the better part of a day, they stood there, and Sidious pointed out to Maul the various faces of individual Jedi as they entered and left the Temple, whispering into his apprentice's ear of the Jedi Order's ultimate destruction. Maul would long remember the thrill of seeing his foes, standing in their presence, hearing about their downfall, as they walked past, not one of them aware of the fate that ultimately awaited them.^[22]

Eventually, the time came for Maul's final test. Palpatine sent him out to a remote and isolated world, where he was hunted by assassin droids for a month. At the end of the month, Maul found Palpatine waiting at the mouth of a cave. Maul had not eaten for days, and was exhausted. Regardless, Palpatine challenged Maul to a duel, in which Maul was easily defeated. Palpatine stood over the broken man, and told him that he had been preparing another apprentice, should Maul fail as he had. Enraged, Maul flew at Palpatine with murderous intent. Palpatine was caught off guard, but was able to disarm Maul. Even without a weapon, Maul continued to attack, even going so far as to bite Sidious's hand before being ultimately defeated. Pleased, Sidious announced that Maul's training was complete, and that he was now a Sith Lord.^[12]

Final preparations

Before Palpatine could launch his grand plan for the extinction of the Jedi, he had to deal with a variety of dark side practitioners. The Sun Guard,^[23] the Sorcerers of Tund, and the Dark Force practitioners were all brought into line, and under Palpatine's direct control. The Sorcerers of Tund had in fact been almost completely eliminated by the last member, Rokur Gepta. Palpatine was intrigued by the Tundian secrets, and later would give Gepta the title of Scrivinir of the Centrality. In addition, Palpatine enlisted the Dark Force adherents, who were led by former Jedi Master Kadann, known as the Prophets of the Dark Side.^[23]

The rise of Palpatine (70–32 BBY)

The beginning of Palpatine's political career

Palpatine began his political career at a young age, carefully hiding his true persona of Darth Sidious. On Naboo, public service was mandatory from the ages of twelve to twenty, and he began his political career in this fashion (70–62 BBY). Unlike most of the Naboo, however, he elected to stay in politics beyond the normally accepted age. He entered local Naboo politics (62–52 BBY), working his way upwards.^[4] He lost more elections than he won, missing out on a string of political appointments.^[6]

When Senator Vidar Kim, Naboo's representative in the Galactic Senate, was assassinated by a never-identified gunman on a passing airspeeder (52 BBY), the thirty-year-old Palpatine stood for election to succeed him. The people of Naboo elected him as their sectorial Senator, to represent Naboo and the thirty-five other affiliated worlds of the Chommell Sector. It is not known if Palpatine, Plagueis, or any of their allies had anything to do with the murder, but whoever ordered it, only Palpatine stood to gain from it.^[24]

The Sistros statue

When Palpatine first came to Coruscant to begin his service in the Senate, a number of his personal effects came with him from Naboo, accompanied by a manifest. The manifest was submitted to Republic officials as part of a standard security scan. This procedure was mandatory for all equipment and furniture to enter the Senate building.^[16] One of these items was an abstract sculpture of Sistros, one of the Four Sages of Dwartii (these were controversial philosopher-lawgivers who lived during the early days of the Republic—the others were Faya, Yanjon, and Braata).^[8]

Palpatine's manifest clearly stated that this sculpture was a single piece of solid-forged neuranium with a bronzium finish. But the sculpture was not solid; it contained a small cylindrical cavity, in which rested one of his Sith lightsabers, sealed within the sculpture at the time of its forging. The security scan did not detect this cavity; neuranium was so dense that any piece more than a millimeter in thickness was impervious to sensors, and since nothing unusual was found in the scan, no one questioned it further. An advanced gravimetric detector would have revealed that one small section of the sculpture massed slightly less than it should have, but no one thought to use one at the time. The sculpture was admitted and placed in Palpatine's Senate offices (the floor had to be specially reinforced to bear its weight), and when Palpatine was elected Chancellor it was moved into the anteroom of his Suite in the Executive Office Building. Only after thirty-three years would Palpatine extract the blade within.^[16]

The senator's first "friendship"

The new representative of Chommell Sector wasted no time in forming relationships that could help him in the future. The first was the son of the man whose death ensured his own election. Ronhar Kim was a Jedi who had forsworn his family ties but had also been present to witness his father's murder. Palpatine approached the younger Kim even as he stood before his father's body, lying in state. Under his mask of sorrow and condolence, he studied Kim carefully.^[24] But he said little; instead, he demonstrated an art that would serve him well, and give him access to the powerful: his ability to listen, to serve as a confidant for others.^[25]

During their conversation, it quickly became clear that, rather than finding whoever struck down the father he had barely known, Kim was more concerned about himself and his own choices in life: Vidar Kim, lacking any other living family, had wanted his son to honor his bloodline again, perhaps follow him into politics. But Palpatine suggested that for a Jedi to become a politician would be a waste. Instead, perhaps the best course would be an alliance between a Jedi and a politician.^[24]

Kim agreed, and struck up a "friendship" that would last some three decades. Ronhar Kim would be the first of Palpatine's "alliances" with individual Jedi, but this particular alliance would be of great use: Kim would eventually be used as a pawn in a scheme that resulted in the creation of the feared Red Guards (32 BBY), and his eventual death in battle on Merson (21 BBY) would be used as propaganda fuel to further Palpatine's war aims. For these reasons, it can be said that a significant portion of the machinery that would destroy the Jedi would be created, unknowingly, with the help of Ronhar Kim.^[24]

Palpatine in the Senate

By the time Palpatine stepped onto the Senate floor for the first time, he already knew that the prominent power-brokers in the Senate looked down their noses at the more provincial delegates, expecting little to nothing of importance from them. He knew that he, too, was lumped in with the other hopefuls from Rimward worlds, those who, having never ventured far from their homeworlds before, would in short order be overwhelmed by Coruscanti politics.^[4]

Rather than do anything to prove the elites wrong, Palpatine encouraged them to keep thinking this way. Again, he failed to take advantage of opportunities that could have landed him on important advisory boards and powerful committees, and unless pressed, he never shared his observations with his colleagues;^[26] apparently he purposely sought to keep his advancement slow, knowing that the more he did so, the more harmless he seemed to potential rivals. The performance evidently worked; the powerful Senators, wrapped up in their own petty power struggles, simply laughed at the small and quiet provincial, and otherwise paid him no mind.^[27]

Palpatine surprised everyone as he became increasingly popular. He wrote extensively, his notes on power becoming popular texts among political and military science students, his theories even taught at leading universities throughout the galaxy. Despite this growing influence, Palpatine remained unassuming, and would spend many hours alone reflecting in his modest, yet well-appointed quarters. People remarked on how he remained a private man, rarely attending social functions, devoting all his time to his work. In fact, he spent much of his time in the training of Darth Maul and the furthering of his private Sith agendas;^[4] it was left to his senatorial aides and to droids, such as TC-4^[11] to do much of the day-to-day work and maintain his guise as the mild-mannered representative of Naboo.^[4]

Friends and allies

Senator Palpatine began establishing relationships with respected public figures in key positions of government. As it grew, the list of friends included Senators both weak and powerful, military officers, members of the great organs of commerce, and even members of the Jedi Order. Many of those with whom he formed friendships would eventually have prominent positions in the Empire. Others would meet radically different fates.

Jorus C'baoth

Palpatine served as part of a Republic task force sent to monitor the demilitarization of Ando, where the two native species had resumed a long-standing feud over mining rights. It was here that he met Jorus C'baoth, a Jedi who was also a member of the expedition. Palpatine took advantage of the encounter to establish what would become a long-standing friendship with C'baoth. Upon returning to Coruscant, they often met to discuss politics, philosophy, and the state of the Republic. Eventually, at Palpatine's request, the Jedi Reassignment Council sent C'baoth to act as his personal advisor, and C'baoth became part of his staff. One thing they discussed during their time together held promise for the future: they spoke of the ExGal Society, a small, dedicated group of scientists studying the possibilities of life outside the galaxy, and the idea of an excursion beyond the galactic rim. It would be conversations like this that would result in the ill-fated Outbound Flight project.^[28]

Janus Greejatus

Janus Greejatus, then a politician on Chommell Minor, had established himself as an isolationist - in fact his political language concealed a virulent anti-alien prejudice that stemmed from his earliest formative years - with a significant popular following on his homeworld. Through circumstances not known, Greejatus came to the attention of Senator Palpatine. Palpatine did not echo Greejatus' more divisive statements, understanding that they would only do harm to his own long-term plans, but he did see a use for Greejatus and took him under his wing. Palpatine's own feelings are a mystery, but Greejatus labored under the impression that theirs was a firm friendship. That friendship, if such it was, would endure for more than three decades.^[29]

Terrinald Screed

Commander Terrinald Screed, then a young officer in the Republic Judicial Department, was contacted by Palpatine, and found that his own ideas easily meshed with those of the Senator.^[4] With the coming of the New Order, Screed, now an Admiral, would become one of the highest-placed officers in the new Imperial Navy.^[30]

Wilhuff Tarkin

Lieutenant Governor Wilhuff Tarkin, a government official on Eriadu who was descended from a ruthless and ambitious family, was contacted by Darth Sidious, who convinced Tarkin that they actually shared many of the same sentiments on government. It is not certainly known if Tarkin ever was aware that Palpatine and Sidious were the same person, but he served both faithfully and long.^[4] Even as the New Order was inaugurated, Tarkin was placed in charge of the construction of Palpatine's most secret weapons projects.

Crueya Vandron

Lord Crueya Vandron, the head of a noble house in the Senex Sector, secretly joined Palpatine's camp.^[25] After the Empire was inaugurated, Vandron would become an advisor and the head of COMPNOR.^[26]

Aides

Senator Palpatine also brought his own loyal aides with him from Naboo and elsewhere. They served him in legitimate political and legal roles, but they also worked his will in darker and more secretive ways. It would be these functionaries who earned the greatest rewards, with the exception of Palpatine's Sith accomplices, that could be bestowed in the New Order.

Sate Pestage

Palpatine had maintained Sate Pestage as an aide ever since he had been but a minor functionary on Naboo. Pestage performed the day-to-day duties of a senatorial aide, but he also was fully aware of Palpatine's secret identity of Darth Sidious and willingly served Sidious as a covert operative. Under the New Order, Pestage was made Grand Vizier and given the power to control all access to the Emperor.^[4]

Kinman Doriana

Palpatine treated Pestage's colleague, Kinman Doriana, in a similar fashion. Doriana had a kind of unspoken wish to be a spy, and Sidious indulged this by assigning him to perform covert work, but unlike Pestage, Doriana was not informed of the secret connection between Sidious and Palpatine. As far as Doriana was aware, they were separate people, and he performed tasks for both without realizing the truth. His service was so valuable that, years after his death, it was said that Palpatine could only fill his shoes with three others: Darth Vader, Thrawn, and Mara Jade.

Ars Dangor

The ruthless Ars Dangor was also an aide to Senator Palpatine at this time, though information about his activities is far more scarce. Dangor was eventually given a prime place among the Imperial Advisors, and Palpatine consulted with him on galactic-security issues, especially those dealing with the Rebellion. He ran much of the day-to-day affairs of the Empire, and as Dangor, like his master, was a powerful and charismatic public speaker, he was also responsible for all public addresses.

Destabilization

In 33 BBY, Sidious's shadow ally, Lieutenant Governor Wilhuff Tarkin, helped Sidious to engineer the murder of the Trade Federation Directorate, which were on Tarkin's homeworld of Eriadu for a trade summit. The pirate raids on the Trade Federation that had led to the summit had also been orchestrated by Palpatine, as was Nute Gunray's rise to power as Viceroy.^[25]

Shortly afterwards, Palpatine secretly funneled several million credits, believed to have been stolen by the Nebula Front, through the Bank of Aargau, and into the accounts of House Valorum. Palpatine's aide, Sate Pestage, ensured that the exchange was uncovered by Valorum's political enemy, Senator Orn Free Taa, who revealed it to the Internal Activities Committee, thus critically weakening Chancellor Finis Valorum's already tenuous hold on power.^[25]

In 32 BBY, Sidious convinced the Neimoidian leaders of the Trade Federation to blockade the planet Naboo, in protest of Senate resolution BR-0371,^[31] a measure that levied a tax on the major Rim trade routes. Sidious kept his identity of Palpatine unknown to the Neimoidians, although he revealed that he was a Sith Lord and made it quite clear that he held some power in the Senate.^[25]

The Naboo crisis (32 BBY)

Over the past year, Palpatine had moved the major pieces into position. The Trade Federation was now angered, threatened, and led by weak individuals controlled by him. Chancellor Valorum could also be controlled by him, a huge advantage. And, finally, the monarch of Naboo had been replaced by a new one, as malleable as the rest. Palpatine now had control of every side of the board. It was time for the next round of the game. This was the Naboo crisis, the point where all the other plots intersected and dealt the first crippling blows to the Republic.

The blockade of Naboo

The Trade Federation rapidly built up its forces in the Naboo system, assembling enough battleships to ensure a tight blockade. At Sidious's command, they closed the planet off and strangled its formerly thriving trade business. No supply ships could land or take off. Then the Federation secured the outer gate to the system by stationing a battleship at Station TFP-9, its own outpost at the outer edge of the system, to ward off the curious and advertise the act to all who would listen. The last free entrance was closed off, and all incoming ships were informed that the Federation was acting in protest of the illegal taxes that the Republic had levied against them.^[32] The blockade of Naboo was an accomplished fact.

For the next month,^[33] the Senate debated fiercely, but did nothing to help the Naboo. The Federation's representative, Lott Dod, successfully argued that they had not yet violated any Republic laws; they had attacked no ships, nor had they moved against Naboo itself. And if no outright crime had been committed, the Judicial Department could not act.^[32] The stalling further weakened the Valorum government; their defiance of his measures was in itself damaging, but the longer it went on, the more impotent Valorum appeared. Partly to allow this perception to widen, Palpatine kept his monarch, Queen Amidala, from disrupting his plans, urging her to be patient and wait until the Senate reached a decision.^[33]

Amidala proved harder to rein in than expected: her patience spent, she contacted Valorum and told him that she held him personally responsible for her world's suffering.^[33] Shocked, pushed into a corner by his own conscience, and desperate to shore up his crumbling support, Valorum decided to act. He would call for a special session of the Senate to discuss the blockade, but to give him a strong bargaining position, he needed the battleships sent away from Naboo. He decided to send the Jedi to Naboo as ambassadors, hoping they would shake the Neimoidians' confidence and show them he meant business.^[32]

The invasion of Naboo

Palpatine may not have known Valorum's full plans, since the Chancellor went directly to the Jedi Council without informing the Senate as the law required. Eventually he learned about the ambassadors, but not that those ambassadors were Jedi. The presence of a Jedi Master, Qui-Gon Jinn, and his Padawan, Obi-Wan Kenobi, took him by surprise. When the panicked Neimoidians told him, he fought hard both to manage his own anger and to get the Neimoidians under control, to focus them on the next task. The Jedi had been brought into the picture sooner than he would have liked, and Sidious ordered the Neimoidians to begin landing their troops. As for the Jedi, he had plans for them also, and he ordered them to be killed. The Neimoidians acted accordingly, destroying the cruiser that had delivered the Jedi and immediately jamming all communications. Then, the conference room the Jedi were in was flooded with dioxis. The Jedi however, survived.

The invasion went splendidly. Within a day, most of the major cities, including the capital, were in Federation hands. Amidala was captured with her entire retinue, and the Neimoidians presented her with a treaty that would bring an air of legitimacy to the invasion. But she never signed it; instead, the Jedi, far from being dead, had escaped, rescued Amidala and her retinue, and commandeered a ship bound for Coruscant, successfully evading dozens of heavily-armed battleships in the escape. Sidious was livid, or seemed so. He took the opportunity to introduce them to Maul. But despite the anger Sidious showed to his Neimoidian agents, Amidala's escape did not inconvenience him. Had he been anyone other than the Senator from Naboo, his plans would have been greatly harmed. But it was the very fact of his public identity that ensured that, come what may, he would have little trouble in finding her, no matter where she fled. He had an inside source: Amidala herself.

The search for Queen Amidala

After Amidala's ship was damaged in the escape, Jinn and Kenobi recommended that they land on Tatooine, an obscure desert world in the Arkanis Sector, to repair the ship before going on. Amidala agreed, and they made for Tatooine, bringing this backwater planet into the spotlight for the first time. She signaled Palpatine, informing him that the ship had been damaged, was waylaid (she did not say where, in case the Federation was monitoring her communications) and that they would arrive after making repairs.^[34] Palpatine could now trace the signal to find out exactly where she landed. He handed the signal data over to Maul, giving him what he needed to find his prey. In a very short time they had narrowed the search to Tatooine.

The Neimoidians too tried to track Amidala, crafting a desperate-sounding message from Sio Bibble to be sent to her ship. They failed to get anything of use, but, desperate to stay in Sidious's good graces, they reported their scant findings. Maul knew the arid world had a small population, so it would not take long to find them. Sidious told him to move against the Jedi first and then take the queen. But Sidious also knew that Plagueis's "experiment" was on Tatooine. If the Jedi interfered, the child could be tainted, less susceptible to Sith teachings. Sending Maul to kill the Jedi under the cover of retrieving Amidala would prevent that. This was one reason why Maul was instructed to move against them first.^[18] But Sidious may not have told this to Maul; there is no mention of the boy in Maul's journals prior to his visit to Tatooine.^[12] As far as Maul knew, he was going to kill the Jedi and bring Amidala back to Naboo by any means necessary.

Maul left for Tatooine, but, he failed to kill the Jedi or retrieve Amidala. Soon after, Palpatine was surprised to find the queen arriving on Coruscant, determined to rouse the Senate to her cause. One of Sidious's more trusted non-Sith agents, Kinman Doriana, who was present for these events, indicated—or at least believed—that the original plan was to use the occupation of Naboo, which they expected to last for months or even years, to create turmoil and paralysis in the Senate, which Sidious and his agents could have used to devastating effect.^[15] The eventual goal, to lever Palpatine into the position of Chancellor, would likely have been achieved nonetheless, but more gradually. But Sidious was as capable at improvisation as he was at careful planning. He saw a new plan, one that would work far better than the first one.

The senator commands the monarch

Palpatine requested an audience with Queen Amidala in his apartments at 500 Republica to go over strategy. He had spent the last six months cultivating the queen's trust, knowing she would heed him better than Veruna would have. It was all for this moment, when, in a crisis, she had to rely on him. She came believing the Senate would help her, but Palpatine slammed the door in her face by announcing, with mock disgust, that the Senate was long past caring about the common good. Worse, the corruption scandal had weakened Chancellor Finis Valorum more than she had thought. Both the Senate and Valorum were closed off to her as options. That left her with nothing but the options Palpatine offered.

He gave her two: she could move for a Vote of No Confidence in Chancellor Valorum, and push for the election of a more effective leader, or she could take the matter to the courts. In offering her this choice, Palpatine risked nothing. Amidala had pinned her hopes on a quick resolution of the crisis. The longer Naboo starved under Federation occupation, the more of her people would die. If there was to be a solution, it had to be now. And the courts took even longer to decide things than the Senate. He had given her an option he knew she would never choose, could never choose.

So Amidala had to decide between working in the courts, while the death toll on Naboo rose to unimaginable numbers, or heeding her trusted Senator's advice. More specifically, she had to choose between Valorum or her homeworld. As expected, she chose Naboo. Only fourteen and still new to the throne, she had all the qualities of the great leader she would eventually become, but little experience. If Palpatine, who knew the Senate in ways she did not, said that Valorum had become an obstacle, that was enough for her.

The fall of Chancellor Valorum

The long-anticipated special session of the Senate—the last under the Valorum government—had only two items on its agenda: a hearing of the Naboo delegation's case, and a debate on the Trade Federation's continued opposition to BR-0371. Few expected it to be anything other than routine. Palpatine alone knew what was coming. He knew that the Federation's representative, Lott Dod, would stall the proceedings with every procedural tool at his command. He also knew that the vice chair, Mas Amedda, would keep Valorum shackled by procedure no matter what. And he knew that, in the face of an attempt to stall, Amidala would have no choice but to act as he had suggested.

During the session, Dod and his allies threw up objection after objection; Amidala, unable to even finish her plea, grew more and more frustrated. Finally, Dod moved that a Senate committee be created to determine if her "accusations" were valid, citing senatorial procedures that Amidala had no hope of understanding. Then, Amedda pulled Valorum aside, subtly forcing him to concede that Dod was within his rights. When Valorum then asked Amidala to defer her motion to allow the committee to do its work, it was the last straw. She saw with her own eyes that Palpatine was right—Valorum was ineffective—and she had nowhere left to go. Palpatine hid his satisfaction as, next to him, Amidala delivered the words that sealed Finis Valorum's fate.

Valorum was thunderstruck, but by the time he could recover, events had moved past him. Senator Edcel Bar Gane of Roona seconded Amidala's motion, and the vote was on the floor. The Senate had waited for this for months, perhaps years, and so unpopular was Valorum that they fell on him with abandon, demanding a vote. It was all the Chancellor could do to postpone the vote until the following day. Palpatine already knew it would be a vote the Valorum government would not survive. It now remained only for him to ensure that he would be the one filling Valorum's shoes.

The scramble for the chancellorship

The sudden power vacuum left a choice for the two major factions in the Senate. The loyal Senators saw the danger of an unstable government and sought to elect a strong leader to truly clean up the corruption in the Senate. The corrupt Senators wanted stability too, if only so they could continue plundering the system, and sought a figurehead who would provide the appearance of stability and just look the other way while they fattened themselves. Bail Antilles, representative of Alderaan, was the choice of the loyal Senators, while Ainlee Teem, representative of Malastare, was the choice of the corrupt Senators. These two nominations came as no surprise; both had been campaigning for months, even before the corruption scandal.

Much of the back-room politicking that led to Palpatine's nomination has been lost to history. What is known is that he had been working for months to catch the attention of an influential clique in the Senate, led by Senator Orn Free Taa of Ryloth. Taa was not satisfied with Teem or Antilles. As early as the breaking of the corruption scandal, Palpatine had caught Taa's eye as a potential compromise candidate.^[25] From Taa's point of view, it made sense: Palpatine had few enemies in the Senate, and many friends, ensuring that all factions could work well with him. Thus, it can be assumed either Taa or one of those Senators in his circle nominated Palpatine.

Palpatine returned to 500 Republica certain that the tide was with him. He declared to Amidala that he would become the next Chancellor, and meant it. In fact, he had already made certain of it. Even in the midst of all his preparations for the Naboo crisis, Sidious had availed himself of his connection to the Thyrsian Sun Guard. Before Valorum's recall ever came to a vote, Sidious had made use of these Sith mercenaries to assassinate a discreet, though pivotal, number of Senators whose votes could have endangered his scheme. Exactly which Senators were killed is not known, but they would have been the ones most likely to tip the balance of votes decisively in favor of his competition.^[23]

The election of Palpatine

When the Senate convened the following day to vote on the no confidence motion, the outcome was a foregone conclusion. Valorum had few friends left, and the Senate so wanted him gone that they did not hesitate. Finis Valorum was swiftly voted out in a humiliating defeat. His political career in ruins, he spent years in seclusion, waiting for the public's distaste for him to wear off. When he finally realized just what role his removal had played in Palpatine's grander scheme, Valorum made one last small but brave attempt to hold back the avalanche, but by then it would be too little, too late. Future generations, however, would look more kindly on him.

In his absence, the Senate voted for a successor. Probably, neither Antilles nor Teem could garner enough votes to achieve an effective majority, especially when the recent murder of certain delegates had removed some decisive votes from the equation.^[23] Rather than face a voting deadlock, the Senate eagerly embraced the third option. Antilles' supporters could take heart that Palpatine had seemingly kept his distance from the corrupt Senators during his tenure. Teem's supporters were encouraged by his apparent docility. Almost every faction in the Senate had become convinced that while he was incorruptible, he would work nonetheless to further their specific interests.

But the ultimate deciding factor, as Palpatine intended, was the groundswell of sympathy for the representative of besieged Naboo. Palpatine could rightfully claim that Valorum had promised to do all he could for Naboo in a time of crisis, and failed. Perhaps it was proper, many believed, that Palpatine himself should be given the chance to make things right. With such weight behind him, Palpatine received the most votes by far,^[35] becoming Chancellor—the last being ever to hold the title—by an overwhelming margin. He promised to reunite the disaffected among the people and restore the remembered glories of the Republic.^[36] No one could have realized that they had elected the leader of an order dedicated to destroying the Republic.

The liberation of Naboo

Even before Palpatine's election, Amidala declared her intention to reclaim Naboo from the Trade Federation. He made a show of concern and tried half-heartedly to keep her from going. She left anyway, taking both Jinn and Kenobi with her for protection. Thus she had taken all his enemies along with her into what could only be a death trap. He and Darth Maul contacted the Neimoidians on Naboo, instructing them to kill Amidala, and notified them that Maul would be joining them to deal with the Jedi personally. Then he sent his apprentice off, with orders to make certain the Neimoidians killed the Queen, and that the Jedi fell by his own hand.

Even while Sidious managed the election on Coruscant, he made time to go over the progress reports from Naboo that Maul was frequently sending to him. As they came in, Amidala's behavior seemed more and more baffling: not only did she manage to escape Gunray's reach, but she had forged an alliance with the Gungans and assembled an army in the Lianorm Swamp, possibly in preparation for a strike against the Federation occupation force. If true, she was acting far more aggressively than her tactical position suggested; he doubted she would last even five minutes in such a contest. He gave his approval to Gunray's plan to meet the Gungans head-on.

In truth, the outcome of what would be called the Battle of Grassy Plains mattered little to him. He had only sent Maul to Naboo, and ordered Gunray to destroy the Gungan army, to keep up the facade that he had an interest in Naboo, to keep the Neimoidians from seeing his true motives. Regardless of who won the battle, Palpatine would benefit: if Amidala and her defenders fell, she would become a martyr he could use to justify further and more decisive action against the Trade Federation, and if they succeeded, he could use her victory as a symbol of the new take-charge attitude the Republic would be showing under his guidance. Either way, he would be seen as a decisive leader, and validate his election.

The aftermath

Palpatine was soon informed that Amidala had triumphed. Against all odds, she had retaken her throne, and taken Gunray and Haako into custody. Of all the possibilities, he had not expected this one to come to pass, but in the end it did not matter. The occupation had already served its purpose. And his state visit to Naboo after the battle tied himself firmly with that victory. The loss of Maul, however, might have seemed like a defeat for Palpatine.

Whether this truly was is unknown. Palpatine himself has presented two conflicting points of view on the matter. The first, written as an addendum to the late Maul's journal very soon thereafter, indicates he was displeased with the outcome. "Defeated by a young boy, a naive girl and a Jedi Apprentice. It was not a good day." He also indicates that Anakin Skywalker had not come to his notice before now.^[12] The second, recorded many years later in the Telos Holocron, is quite different. He claimed that he had seen that Skywalker, whom had come to the attention of the Jedi Council just days prior, would ultimately become his apprentice and sacrificed Maul to this end. Maul was but a tool whose goal was to rattle the Jedi's long-complacent attitude regarding the Sith and to act as the catalyst for the relatively inexperienced Obi-Wan Kenobi to train Anakin.^[37]

All of this, he would claim in the Telos Holcron, was carefully planned and executed by Palpatine, although he had considered using Maul to pick off individual Jedi and act as a major distraction to the Order.^[15] Sidious likely had to rearrange his overall plan to take into account Maul's death once he foresaw his apprentice's death. He did express some regret at the loss of a valuable tool, but that was all; for all the childlike loyalty Maul had shown him, it was never returned.

In any case, he had gained far more than he had lost. He had also learned the role that a certain Anakin Skywalker, a former slave boy from Tatooine, had played in the liberation. Though barely large enough to reach the controls, he had piloted a fighter straight into the Federation control ship and destroyed it. He had caught the eye of the Jedi Council itself; suspicion was growing that he might even be the Chosen One of ancient Jedi prophecy, and after much debate the Masters decided he would be apprenticed to Kenobi. Sidious would have preferred it if the experiment had stayed on Tatooine, living an anonymous life, free from Jedi influences, but eventually he could still make the boy his. He made a promise to Anakin in the celebration, telling him his career would be watched with "great interest." He would keep this promise.

Returning to Coruscant after the victory celebrations, he must surely have had much to celebrate himself. True, the Jedi now knew of the Sith's return and their involvement in the crisis, and for more than a century the Jedi had been aware of rumblings that there were neither more nor less than two Sith at a time.^[23] They might search for that "second Sith," but such searches never could lead to him. They had claimed his apprentice, but he already had his eyes on the charismatic Count Dooku,^[37] whom would serve him as an adequate replacement until the young Skywalker was ready to be turned. The Jedi were now afraid, and that gladdened him. The greatest prize had been won. The Republic that the Jedi sought to defend was already in Sith hands.

An end to loose ends

Quickly, Palpatine removed incriminating materials left over from the crisis. Republic investigators had seized both Maul's ship, Scimitar, and his droid C-3PX on Naboo. Both contained knowledge best not revealed. But Scimitar refused to yield its treasures; the first Republic Intelligence technicians to try inspecting the ship were gunned down by security probe droids, and their bungled attempt caused the flight, weapons and communications systems to self-destruct, leaving little more than a burned-out carcass.^[13] When they called in Jedi Master Saesee Tiin to secure the ship, Tiin also found the onboard computers completely erased. There would be no clues about the "second Sith" from that quarter. Sidious had sacrificed the ship and all its equipment—Maul's surveillance gear, his explosives, his poisons and torture devices, and his speeder, Bloodfin. But it was worth it, just for the fear that ate at Tiin as he left the Infiltrator:

Tiin recommended that the ship's carcass be placed in the care of the Jedi Council, but the Senate representative from Kuat lobbied successfully to give Kuat Drive Yards an opportunity to study it. Before it could ever reach a KDY facility, however, it disappeared, at least officially. Few were aware that it had actually been diverted back to Naboo and stored in a clandestine hangar in Theed,^[13] an easy feat in a Republic so bloated that its left hand did not know what its right was doing—especially when Palpatine was guiding both hands. As for the droid, Palpatine saw to it that C-3PX's possibly incriminating memory was erased, then remanded it to the custody of Raith Sienar. Under Sienar and subsequent masters, the droid was re-tasked for other uses, and throughout the rest of its operational life, whether as a corporate espionage droid, a bounty hunter, even as an assassin, it had no inkling of its link to Sidious's former apprentice.^[38]

The Republic under Palpatine (32–24 BBY)