Best Star Wars Character of All Time Series (Chancellor Palpatine Character Analysis) Part 1

[Music] the story of star wars is generally a tale of good versus evil filled with characters that solidify their stance in the matter through the actions they take on their respective journeys it's through these actions that these characters transform from just everyday people into legends this begs the question which character is the best many may give one or various answers i believe there are quite a few so my goal in this series is to intensely analyze the characters i believe fit this mold and to make a case for them as the greatest star wars character of all time the character i want to look at today is the dark lord of the sith himself emperor palpatine palpatine is undoubtedly one of the most iconic characters in star wars and the man responsible for most of its events in this three-part analysis i want to go over how palpatine's ideals philosophy and essence as a character molds the themes of both the prequels and the original trilogy palpatine has first introduced audiences in the original trilogy as not only the mysterious master of darth vader but the supreme emperor of the galaxy he's a leader that's equally feared and respected by both the rebellion and empire light and a source of infinite knowledge and unlimited power but in order to fully understand how we achieve this we must look at the journey he took to get there as his actions and experiences are what built his success reputation and power both politically and through the force in episode one palpatine is immediately established as a character of importance receiving the honor of being the film's titular character the moniker of the phantom menace highlights his affinity for secrecy in generating conflict by any means for the protagonists meanwhile remaining completely anonymous to them i have a bad feeling about this i don't sense anything it's not about the mission master it's something elsewhere elusive this sets up palpatine as a fearsome antagonist to the jedi of the republic as the inevitable threat that they cannot see for not only in this movie but the saga moving forward the mystery behind palpatine's true intentions are further concealed by the identities he carries on a day-to-day basis in darth sidious and his alter ego sheev with the differences in their personalities highlighting the duality in palpatine as a whole tidious is considered to be palpatine's true nature mischievous and wicked to the core where sheave tends to display his more manipulative and machiavellian side the two sides of palpatine also establish his ability to play both sides of the conflict he's fabricated as sidious he controls the trade federation with an iron fist always adapting with confident decisions ensuring that no one will stand in their way this turn of events is unfortunate we must accelerate our plans begin landing our troops my lord is that legal i will make it legal and the jedi the chancellor should never have brought them into this kill them immediately the tight ship he runs with the trade federation as sidious is juxtaposed by his role as an agent of chaos in the republic as sheep causing others to doubt their leader meanwhile pretending to be innocent in nature negotiations haven't started because the ambassadors aren't there how could that be true i have assurances from the chance today his ambassadors did it right the two sides of palpatine also contrast each other in appearance and both being used his tactical advantage where sidious attempts to intimidate his subordinates by always wearing dark robes and a hood to cover his face or more importantly his eyes as the eyes are the windows to the soul something the dark lord of the sith lacks for sheave he wears brighter robes with his face revealed for everyone to see allowing him to gain the trust of others through his charm only to manipulate them in the end and lastly where sheave is courteous and says things with a smile sidious is a straight savage this king of yours has failed yet the blockade is finished we dare not go against each other i don't want this stunted slime in my sight again and that's the last time gunry lets you in on the skype calls speaking of gunray new gun ray is a character that contrasts sidious in many ways further highlighting his leadership qualities where sidious seems fearless gun ray is cowardly emphasized by palpatine's ability to take action during a time of conflict and taking advantage of the republic's flawed system i have decided to bog down in procedures they will have no choice but to accept pure control of the system meanwhile gunray is shown to be craven when dilemma shows up at his doorstep such as when he realizes that the ambassadors are jedi knights he immediately defers to sidious to make the choice of how to proceed distract them i will contact lot while gunray may be the face of the trade federation as its public representative sidious is the true mastermind that hides in the shadows although the confidence that comes with sidious intelligence leads to his arrogance as he underestimates padme to be just another youthful idealist while gunray holds his reservations the queen has great faith that the senate will side with amidala her young and naive you will find controlling her will not be difficult overall sidious is always in control in this relationship as the alpha as he never feels threatened by gunray whereas gunray is in constant fear summarized well by the nemoideans after maul is introduced to them this is getting out of hand now there are two of them we should not have made this bargain and speaking of maul we're now introduced to palpatine's first apprentice and a smooth introduction at that it's impossible to locate the ship it's out of our range not full of sith this is my apprentice darth maul in the same way that sidious does the word insidious justice by stealthily deceiving and harming the republic and jedi alike darth maul does the same for his namesake representing the savage nature of the sith designed to hunt and kill its prey move against the jedi first you will then have no difficulty in taking the queen to naboo to sign the treaty as palpatine's apprentice small in many ways is an extension of palpatine himself in this case maul symbolizes palpatine's lust for power his pride and most of all his wrath at last we will reveal ourselves to the jedi at last we will have revenge you have been well trained my young apprentice they will be no match for you throughout the film maul acts as a man filled with rage represented by his red and yellow eyes fully corrupted by the dark side most subservience and unquestioning obedience to palpatine is representative of the hold the dark side can have over an individual with palpatine exploiting this to serve his grand plan not only in his first apprentice but the many to come on coruscant palpatine excels at taking advantage of every opportunity he can to better his position politically we see this first hand in his impeccable work ethic and near omni presence shown when he's the first one to await the queen's arrival a sign of how in control he likes to be of every situation and have a potential influence on every outcome not only does this set himself up to always be in a position to succeed but he follows through socially as well this can be seen in the stark difference in greetings to the queen from palpatine and valorum where palpatine sounds sincere and exudes charm alloram is stern and robotic in his delivery it is a great gift to see you alive your majesty welcome your highness it's an honor to finally meet you in person this showing that palpatine understands the effect that a strong charisma can have on others allowing him to more easily gain their trust once palpatine and padme have a moment to discuss the dangerous situation developing on their home planet of naboo we see palpatine's natural talent for playing the game of thrones recognizing that padme is young and relatively new to the world of politics palpatine exploits this along with her naivety as she leans on his expertise as a politician the republic is not what it once was the senate is full of greedy squabbling delegates there is no interest in the common good he begins by painting a picture of the republic's fall from grace while implying that he's not involved in the corruption of the government almost making it seem like it's us versus them palpatine also realizes that padme's idealism and impulsiveness makes her prone to take action as long as she believes it's for the greater good which is why he plants further seeds of doubt in chancellor valorum i must be frank your majesty there is little chance the senate will act on the invasion dancer velorum seems to think there is hope if i may say so your majesty the chancellor has little real power he is mired by baseless accusations of corruption the bureaucrats are in charge now with this palpatine then displays his aptitude for forcing people's hands under the illusion of choice essentially leading someone to draw a desired conclusion while believing that they're in control of the situation for padme he gives her three options option a being to submit a plea to the courts but as padme states the courts take even longer to decide things than the senate our people are dying senator we must do something quickly to stop the federation then he presents her with an even less attractive choice in option b to be realistic your majesty i think we're going to have to accept federation control for the time being that's something i cannot do and lastly his most desired and likely outcome option c you could call for a vote of no confidence in chancellor lauren he's been our strongest supporter while she does have reservations about the plan palpatine knows that she's willing to sacrifice the long term in order to see short-term results allowing palpatine to make the most out of the situation and create an opening for a seat of greater power in the republic although palpatine has positioned himself well to dethrone valorum he leaves nothing to chance influencing padme's decision by pressuring her and playing into her fears into the bureaucracy the true rulers of the republic and on the payroll of the trade federation i might add this is where chancellor valorum's strength will disappear at the end of the day palpatine recognizes that padme craves action so he convinces her that she's at the point of no return only for her to do exactly what he wants i will not affair i've come before you to resolve this attack on our sovereignty now palpatine's unmatched leverage over others stems from his ability to psychologically understand what they desire once he knows what they want he simply aligns their goals with his and the rest is all according to plan if this body is not capable of action i suggest new leadership is needed i move for a vote of no confidence in chancellor valorum's leadership and for the icing on palpatine's manipulation cake he positively reinforces the action by assuring her that she's made the right choice now they will elect a new chancellor a strong chancellor one who will not let our tragedy continue and so palpatine reaps the rewards of his machiavellian maneuver being nominated for valorem's position without taking any of the blame for his unseating i'm surprised to be sure but a welcome one your majesty if i am elected i promise to put an end to corruption with palpatine lying through his teeth it becomes hard for him to contain himself as from this point on it's almost too easy for him as his reign is inevitable i feel confident our situation will create a strong sympathy vote for us i will be chancellor being from naboo palpatine has fabricated an entire invasion on his home planet all for the sake of securing more votes in his favor his purposeful attention to detail in his decision-making just reminds us that he's playing chess and everyone else checkers this degree of control over everyone's actions however leaves him susceptible to being surprised when others don't follow the plan as in a rare occurrence palpatine is thrown off guard i've decided to go back to naboo go back but your majesty be realistic that they'll force you to sign the treaty i will sign no treaty senator my faith will be no different than that of our people palpatine's arrogance causes him to underestimate padme and her undying spirit it's also here that the stark differences between the two begin to show where one fights for justice on the front lines the other operates in corruption in the shadows and because of this they go from seeing each other as political allies to rivals and now palpatine is forced to make an audible showcasing signs of his top-tier adaptability at play i will see to it that in the senate things stay as they are i'm sending my apprentice darth maul to join palpatine understands that to maintain control he must tighten his grip on the leaders of the trade federation sending maul to handle the situation as he rightfully doesn't trust gun rate to handle things on his own this is an unexpected move for her it's too aggressive be mindful let them make the first move yes my master padme's effect on palpatine is clear as for the first time in the film palpatine is forced to take a defensive approach passively waiting for events to take place compared to his typical active choices however that doesn't last long as he quickly plays right into padme's more foolish trap i thought this will work to our advantage i have your approval to proceed then my lord wipe them out all of them because he knows that padme is impulsive he never stops to think that this aggressive move is simply bait to draw out the droid army so palpatine makes the mistake of focusing on winning a battle between soldiers rather than protecting viceroy gunray and capturing queen amidala similar to chess where the objective is to protect your king and to put your opponents in checkmate not just to capture the most pieces simply put you forgot about the essence of the game it's about the cones exactly ben exactly those padme reclaims her palace an even more important battle takes place in the duel of the fates as palpatine's apprentice maul fights for the sith and qui-gon the jedi they fight not only for their victory on that day but for the many to come as the duel will determine the fate of anakin skywalker with qui-gon being the closest thing to a father figure to anakin he stands as palpatine's biggest threat to controlling the chosen one so qui-gon's elimination would allow palpatine to fill the void in anakin's life and begin his descent to darkness we will watch your career with great interest not only that but qui-gon is considered to be the last true jedi of the republic era one that adheres to the will of the force rather than the code so it's in palpatine's best interest that maul adheres to his training and defeats the jedi master fortunately for palpatine maul does this but because he learned everything from his master he also acquired palpatine's hubris which causes his downfall and foreshadows palpatine's similar demise in this film not only does palpatine not play the politicians but the jedi as well while palpatine has been hard at work to restore the sith to what it once was the jedi had become dogmatic and arrogant during this time of peace leading to their blind ways unable to see the signs even when it shoved in their faces the sith have been extinct for a millennial i do not believe the sith could have returned without us knowing ah hard to see the dark side is this way of thinking by the jedi contrasted by palpatine's meticulous effort to constantly improve not only his prowess and the force but his political standings as well leaves him primed to knock down the jedi and expose their achilles heel their inability to change so although the trade federation has lost and is apprenticed slain because palpatine played both sides he remains the victor in a prime position as the supreme chancellor of the republic with gunray taking the fall qui-gon killed and the chosen one well within his grasp together we shall bring peace and prosperity to the republic palpatine's biggest threat now remains his political adversary in padme as the jedi posed no real threat to him as they remained clueless to his true identity and intentions but which was destroyed the master or the apprentice with palpatine's early plans set in motion he proves that all roads will lead to victory at the start of episode 2 tension has risen in the galaxy as war is on the horizon with palpatine the root cause of it all his new apprentice count dooku leads the separatist movement forcing the senate to make a quick decision on the i military creation how much longer i can hold off the verb my friends more and more star systems are joining the separatists while palpatine feigns having limited control of the situation we're then quickly reminded that palpatine is a master at saying exactly what others want to hear i will not let this republic that has stood for a thousand years be split in two my negotiations will not fail this like many other claims he makes is a complete lie or is it while on one hand his negotiations do fail as the separatists do end up breaking away from the republic on the other both factions fight for the same leader and one singular cause palpatine's cause so no matter what the members of the republic and the separatists believe they're fighting for at the end of the day they're bringing palpatine one step closer to the empire of his dreams not only is palpatine willing to manufacture an entire war to achieve this but he's willing to challenge the jedi and their ideals in the process making warriors out of monks you must realize there aren't enough jedi to protect the republic we're keepers of the peace not soldiers in all palpatine has the jedi right where he wants them as their lack of clairvoyance and their dogmatic ways have made them predictable do you think it will really come to war the dark side clouds everything impossible to see the future is this of course is music to palpatine's ears where even the supposed best of the jedi in yoda is blind to his plan allowing palpatine to always be one step ahead of the jedi in order to manipulate them understanding that if they could be fooled they could be killed while the jedi have been shown to be deceived by palpatine with relative ease the same cannot be said for padme but the assassination attempts on her life and the mystery behind her attacker's identity the jedi are shown to be oblivious and padme on the right train of thought do you have any idea who is behind this attack our intelligence points to disgruntled spice miners on the wounds of naboo i think the count dooku is behind it padme proves that her intuition clearly rivals palpatine's this along with her unwavering desire to defeat the military creation act only gives him more than enough reason to remove her from coruscant as soon as possible or at the bare minimum to prevent her from doing her job which is exactly why he proposes this may i suggest the senator be placed under the protection of your graces perhaps someone you're familiar with an old friend like master kenobi with this one move palpatine is able to accomplish so much as with the jedi's constant presence they will undoubtedly disrupt padme's ability to work as well this reaffirms how quickly the jedi will place their lives at risk for politics and lastly where obi-wan goes anakin will follow reuniting the chosen one with someone he clearly had strong feelings for just being around her again is intoxicating and on the subject of anakin we see in his conversation with palpatine the unique relationship that they've built and so they've finally given you an assignment your patience has paid off your guidance more than my patience it's clear that anna confused palpatine as a mentor and thinks highly of him even as a father figure this contrasted by his comments about obi-wan as a teacher master obi-wan manages not to see it i'm really ahead of him he's overly critical he never listens he he doesn't understand this all stemming from palpatine showing an abundance of trust in anakin meanwhile implying that the council has not done the same so they're not needed for his growth you don't need guidance in time you will learn to trust your feelings then you will be invincible palpatine's ability to play into anakin's ego gains him his respect in return as well this plants the idea that if anakin is better than the jedi what does he need them for i have said it many times you are the most gifted jedi i have ever met thank you your excellency i see you becoming the greatest of all jedi anakin even more powerful than master yoda although palpatine is not present in the majority of attack of the clones his presence is felt throughout from obi-wan's quest on kamino to anakin and padme's adventures on naboo and tatooine to the jedi council on curacao with obi-wan on kamino we see the incredible foresight that palpatine has with the creation of the clone army that began 10 years prior to the film's events even covering his tracks immaculately from using master scifideath as a scapegoat and having dooku erase the planet from the jedi archives an action that took over a decade for the jedi to even could have discover those files but who and why harder to answer as for the clones themselves palpatine ensured that they were designed to specifications they are totally obedient taking any order without question we modified their genetic structure to make them less independent than the original host this of course would be perfect for palpatine as when the time would come they would be willing to execute order 66 without hesitation also the fact that they were engineered this way is representative of how palpatine wishes to control the people the republic only viewing them as a number that will be enslaved to his rule and disposed of when their purpose is complete a reminder that everyone is just upon fighting his battles in anakin's story we see how his thought process and decision making is affected by palpatine's advice to trust his feelings as it's definitely more appealing than obi-wan's commands anakin don't do anything without first consulting either myself or the council yes master with this in mind anakin chooses to allow his feelings for padme to grow as his compassion is a great strength of his but unfortunately he builds an attachment to her that could be used against him consequences of forming an attachment are seen firsthand when he fears that his mother is in danger he quickly abandons his mission without informing the council to travel to tatooine only to have her die in his arms where he would go on to give in to the temptation that is the dark side all being a good sign for palpatine as not only is his prodigy willing to do the unthinkable but his actions could be controlled through the fear he has of losing those that he loves also to note when anakin jokes about how the government should be more like a dictatorship not only do we see shades of how he actually feels the trouble is that people don't always agree well then they should be made too but when describing the ideal ruler he more than likely had palpatine in mind by whom who's gonna make them i don't know someone you of course not me but someone someone wise this showing that anakin follows palpatine's machiavellian line of thinking where the ends justify the means sounds an awful lot like a dictatorship to me well if it works on curacao yoda and mesa reminded of how palpatine is always miles ahead of them we are with creation of this clone army we could not see time and time again palpatine proves how deeply flawed the jedi are to the point that they even admit that he has their number only the dark lord of the sith knows of our weakness if informed the senate is multiply our adversaries will unfortunately for yoda and the jedi the dark lord and the sith are one in the same further foreshadowing their inevitable demise as for the political landscape palpatine takes full advantage of padme's absence as an opportunity to gain power when obi-wan delivers information of the separatist plans for war the sentence is set into a panic mode [Music] unfortunately the debate is not over the senate will never approve the use of clones before the separatist attack the fear of what is to come causes others to become impulsive and want to take drastic action as desperate times call for desperate measures as dooku's claims are nearly a reality and a nightmare scenario for the republic we should have an army greater than any in the galaxy the jedi will be overwhelmed the republic will agree to any demands we make while there are still rational thinkers like bail organa present fortunately for palpatine his voice doesn't carry the same weight of persuasion that padmes does so he's practically free to require power with little resistance this is a crisis the senate must vote the chancellor emergency powers he can then approve the creation of an army once again like in episode one palpatine uses fear and panic to climb the political ladder meanwhile taking advantage of the naive and impressionable to hand him the power he craves but what senator would have the courage to propose such a radical amendment if only senator amidala we're here for the final touch palpatine manipulates sharjah to do his bidding playing into his emotions as he understands that jar jar wants to make padme proud as her representative so he's more inclined to take action just as she did all those years ago when their home planet was under threat and this time the stakes have been raised as the fate of the entire republic is in question on geonosis after obi-wan's capture we get a better glimpse into the mind of palpatine's second apprentice in count dooku with dooku's confession we're reminded yet again of the jedi's arrogance as they choose to deny the truth even when it's presented to them on a silver platter what if i told you that the republic was now under the control of the dark lord of the sith no that's not possible the jedi will be aware of it as well we're made aware of palpatine's sheer power the dark side of the force has clouded their vision my friend hundreds of senators are now under the influence of a sith lord called darth sidious well what's truly important in this scene is how we see the qualities that he shares with palpatine as similar to maul he's an extension of his master in dooku's case he represents palpatine's greed gluttony and envy which gives understanding to the sith name of tyranus deriving from the word tyrant so it comes as no surprise that even as one of the most powerful figures in the galaxy being the leader of the separatists dooku still craves the authority palpatine possesses to the point that he wishes to betray his master in an effort to obtain this and satisfy his hunger and jealousy you must join me who be one and together we will destroy the sith as for palpatine's authority over the galaxy it simply continues to grow as the senate grants him executive power and it's here in palpatine's acceptance of this power that we see once again how he and padme juxtapose each other as politicians and leaders where padme is honorable and relies on the truth palpatine is corrupt and insincere the day we stop believing democracy can work is the day we lose it let's pray that day never comes it is with great reluctance that i have agreed to this calling i love democracy i love the republic while palpatine knows exactly how to play the game to his benefit saying the right things at the right time it's through padme that we're reminded that actions speak louder than words as they can give insight to our true intentions when both characters are put in a situation where others wish to grant them power that would begin to break the established system at the end of the day padme rejects it while palpatine embraces it i heard they even tried to amend the constitution so you could stay in office i was relieved when my two terms were up and as my first act with this new authority i will create a grand army of the republic to counter the increasing threats upon accepting this power palpatine proves just how far people are willing to sacrifice their freedoms for protection as ironically palpatine doesn't gain this power over people by brute force and taking it but by manipulating them and to handing it over to him and with this executive power palpatine embraces the chaos that comes with it as he uses the clone army to kickstart the war he's been manufacturing for over a decade and it's through the battle of geonosis that we see how palpatine's ascension comes at the expense of others as in war some lose their ideals and choose violence over peace others lose loved ones in the end both sides are affected all the same so palpatine chooses to benefit from the conflict and uses it as a stepping stone for his true goals and in the final scenes of the film we see the pieces of the puzzle all coming together as through his hard work and dedication he's put himself in a position to succeed both in the long term with the creation of the initial blueprints to the death star and in the short term with the start of the clone wars the shroud of the dark side has fallen begun the clone war has it's clear that for the heroes what should be a celebrated victory is an ominous sign of things to come so for palpatine the future couldn't look any more promising i have good news for you my lord war has begun excellent everything is going as planned once again to the victor go the spoils as palpatine reaps the rewards of his master plan as he looks down at his army the sun sets on what was once the republic of old representing its fall and the rise of the empire and in the final shots we see anakin heed the advice of palpatine trusting his feelings by marrying his love for palpatine this act is arguably his greatest win yet as now he has a means to control the chosen one himself so with this power one can only imagine what the puppet master has planned next hey everyone thanks for watching i had a ton of fun making this video so if you enjoyed it too then i highly suggest liking the video and if you want to see more like it then definitely hit subscribe and if you want to be notified when part 2 comes out then hit the bell for notifications and in the comments let me know if you like the idea of these videos being split into parts with this format i should be able to get videos out more consistently so the feedback would be appreciated also i want to give a shout out to my patrons your support means everything to me if you enjoyed the content and want to help support the channel then check out the patreon link in the description any contribution would help out immensely also let me know in the comments which star wars character is the greatest villain and why and who knows they might be in the next one until next time we meet it'll be a surprise to be sure but a welcome one

Channel: KraziKazi

Views: 149,072

Keywords: Best Star Wars Character of All Time, Greatest Star Wars Character of All Time, Best Star Wars Character of All Time Series, Palpatine Character Analysis, Palpatine Video Essay, Palpatine Star Wars Video Essay, Star Wars Video Essay, Palpatine, Chancellor Palpatine, Palpatine Star Wars Character Analysis, Palpatine Best Villain, Palpatine Best Villain Ever, Palpatine Best Character, Emperor Palpatine, star wars prequels video essay, Darth Sidious, Sidious character analysis

Id: x0fpniW4Ejg

Length: 31min 41sec (1901 seconds)

Published: Sun Jun 06 2021