Saber Forum

I watched Revenge of the Sith for the first time when I was like 5 years old so I don’t remember how the reveal of Palpatine as Darth Sidious was treated. At the time, was this reveal a surprise or plot twist type of thing? Just curious. Thanks!

Really it was neither....since it was already known to Star Wars fans who he was.  But I was 22 when the film came out.

Ah okay. What revealed his identity prior to the movie then?

He was Senator Palpatine.  I think there might have been some speculation that perhaps the senator was a clone that the Sith Lord was controlling, but it was just speculation


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Interesting. I know he was Senator Palpatine but I don’t think they ever called him by his name in the OT. It was just “The Emperor.”
Thank you both for the information though!

Yeah, this. We knew this going in to The Phantom Menace. Let alone Revenge of the Sith.

A few things...... In between the gap between the OT and the Prequels there were a TON of merch...trading cards, novelizations of the films, the Expanded Universe novels etc.  Many of these named him as Emperor Palpatine.   Added to that and the factor for those fans who did not delve into the other avenues...it was the actor.  We all knew Ian McDiarmid played The Emperor in ROTJ...and now here he is playing a major character in a Prequel......wasn't hard to put two together.   Again...this is coming from an adult when the Prequels came out.

I remember wondering how they were going to "reveal" that.
To my disappointment, they just had it in the movie very matter of factly, as if everyone already knew who he was and why he was.  They put NOTHING into it....  kind of like they put NOTHING into him still being alive in E9.  LAZY.

Seems like the new normal is to put much more justification and informations into the novelisations of the movies. We have to keep in mind that it was never part of the plan to bring back Palpatine in those disney things. They had no plan all along. And the middle movie took a dump on everything hinted in the JJ first one.

I disagree.  Yes he was there in the open...but that was the point.  He was operating out in the open as Senator Palpatine...honorable  representative from Naboo.  While operating in the shadows as Darth Sidious and orchestrating a conflict that would forever change the Galaxy.  A LOT of thought went into it.

I was only 9 when Episode 1 hit theaters and I guess the name "Palpatine" should have linked the two in my mind but I was too young to really notice I think. It worked out more spectacularly though, I have an ear for sounds especially when it comes to Star Wars and I remember actually freaking out because I recognized the voice of the Emperor in this seemingly peaceful senator from Naboo. I mean everybody knew that "Lord Sidious" had to be the future Emperor when Nute Gunray and the gang was speaking with him via hologram, but it definitely blew my mind when I saw and heard the "alter-ego" if you will of Sidious.

Man hearing how old some of you were when the prequels came out makes me feel old lol.  But this is an interesting topic to get the different reactions depending on age and how deep you were into SW lore.  I remember the line Palpatine told Anakin at the end "We'll be watching your career very closely."  You could tell who knew in the theater by their reactions to this line and the heads turning basically asking "Wha?"