Page 78 - Star Wars Insider #188

The Two Are One
• • •
Palpatine has an ally who
aids his climb. Some in the
Jedi Council surmise that this
mysterious figure may be the one
behind all the galactic chaos, but
they have not been able to locate
him or confirm their suspicions.
The ally is a man of Palpatine’s
age, stature, and physique, yet
instead of the ornate dress of the
chancellor, he wears simple zeyd-
cloth robes, with his face cowled
under a hood. This man also
has talents and powers beyond
those which some would consider
natural. His name is Darth Sidious
and he is a Sith, one of an ancient
order of devotees to the dark
side of the Force. Though the
Jedi believe they eradicated the
Sith long ago, they have in fact
survived: always in pairs, a master
and an apprentice.
Over the last two decades,
Sidious has spun his dark web,
using his infernal powers to
slowly, inexorably draw the
Republic to the brink of collapse.
He has turned Count Dooku to
his side, appointing him as his
apprentice and giving him the
name Darth Tyranus. The two
conspire to instigate the war
between the Separatists and
Republic, with the view that the
Jedi will eventually fall and the
Sith will re-establish security and
order as new galactic rulers.
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Sidious’s greatest feat, however, is that
he does all this not by hiding in the shadows
but in plain sight. For Palpatine’s dark ally is
none other than Palpatine himself. The mild-
mannered chancellor with the calm demeanor
uses the public forum of politics as his platform
to bend the galaxy to his will.
Palpatine reveals his identity as a Sith to
the Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker, whose career
he has watched with “great interest” since
Qui-Gon Jinn rescued the boy from slavery on
Tatooine. Sidious is in need of a new apprentice
after losing his first, Darth Maul, during the
Naboo invasion, and having his second, Darth
Tyranus, decapitated by Skywalker. The young
Jedi initially resists Palpatine’s persuasions, but
is eventually convinced of the corruption of
the Jedi and the supremacy of the Sith. As a
Jedi, Skywalker had not been able to save his Terminus
mother from Tusken Raiders, but as a Sith, he
can surrender to the dark side and potentially • • •
save his beloved Padmé from the death he’s
witnessed in his nightmares. Palpatine even Unbeknownst to the Jedi
convinces the young man that his wife may generals, Count Dooku had the
have ulterior motives. Kaminoans implant a biochip into
the brains of the clone soldiers.
PALPATINE: “These are unstable times for Upon activation, the chip would
the Republic, Anakin. Some see instability initiate “Clone Protocol 66,” also
as an opportunity. Senator Amidala is hiding known as “Order 66,” which
something. I can see it in her eyes.” would force the clones to turn
against the Jedi. After the Jedi
As usual with Palpatine, the truth of the matter who come to arrest him are killed,
is that he is not speaking about Padmé, but Sidious initiates the fatal order to
himself. He is the one who sees instability as clone commanders in the fi eld,
an opportunity. He is the one who is hiding who in turn relay the order to
something. It is he who has orchestrated an their troops. The clone soldiers
all-encompassing plan that will soon reach its spin on their Jedi generals and
terrible climax. fi re, and in one fell swoop the
order of brave knights that has
guarded peace and justice for
millennia is reduced to just a
scant few. What the Sith have
long desired—but never been
able to accomplish—Palpatine
has achieved: revenge against the
Jedi. But he is not done yet.
With the Jedi Order fi nally
extinguished, Palpatine executes
the fi nal step in his long quest for
galactic control. He goes before
the Senate and declares that the
Republic will be reorganized into
a new governmental body to
ensure security and continuing
stability. He will become the
sovereign ruler, chosen for life.
Thus the Empire and the Emperor
are born.