Page 79 - Star Wars Insider #188

THE LONG GAME
The Long Game
• • •
Palpatine is a patient villain,
plotting his takeover for many
years. Politics is his ladder,
allowing him to make most of his
moves in the public eye so that
the sagacious in the Jedi Order
never see the full picture of what
he plans to do until it is too late.
In the Jedi’s defense, none of his
choices seem evil on the surface;
they are but political reactions to as Senator Amidala observes,
the direness of current events.
Moreover, Palpatine’s feigned
hesitation to accept emergency
powers or mobilize the Grand
Army masks his true intentions.
Boring, unimposing Palpatine
represents that most ordinary
malevolence, an evil so banal that
it is inconspicuous, even to the
man himself.
For the evil doer never sees
themselves as evil, demonstrating
why even the most principled of
men can convince themselves
into perpetrating heinous acts.
Boring, unimposing Palpatine represents
that most ordinary malevolence, an evil
so banal that it is inconspicuous.
Palpatine merely wants to
establish his version of security
and justice, with himself as
the final arbiter. Like his Sith
predecessors, he believes the
galaxy would be best served if
it were under his command.
When Palpatine does
announce himself as Emperor
of the first Galactic Empire, it is,
to “thunderous applause.”
After years of war, senators and
citizens cheer on their new leader,
surrendering their liberties for
supposed safety and security.
But under this new Empire, that
means oppression, domination,
and blind allegiance to a New
Order. As the minds of the
citizenry become normalized
to Imperial rule, soon even the
surname “Palpatine” starts to
fade in the public consciousness,
until only a title exists:
The Emperor.
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