The primary Death Star's throne room, alternatively called the Observation Dome, functioned as the Emperor's command center when he was not on Coruscant at the Imperial Palace, and also provided a vantage point for overseeing the battle station's construction.
After the Empire discovered the leadership of the Rebel Alliance's High Command and they were apprehended by Darth Vader, the Imperial Military's Supreme Commander, they were presented to the Emperor. He decreed that they would be subjected to torture to extract the identities of all Rebel forces and their allies. The Sith Lord then planned to publicly execute them in a gruesome manner as a warning to anyone who defied the Empire. Galen Marek, the former Sith assassin, infiltrated the throne room and rescued his allies, severely wounding Lord Vader in the process. The Emperor then commanded Marek to slay the cyborg warlord and take his place as Palpatine's new Sith apprentice. However, when Jedi General Rahm Kota attempted to strike down the Sith Lord to prevent Marek's fall to the dark side, Emperor Palpatine attacked him with Force lightning. Palpatine and Marek then engaged in a Force-based duel, which the Dark Lord of the Sith ultimately lost. Despite facing potential death, Palpatine tried to manipulate Marek into killing him, hoping to turn him to the dark side. However, with Kota's assistance, Marek resisted the temptation and sacrificed himself to enable his allies to escape the Death Star battle station. Marek's sacrifice resulted in significant damage to the Emperor's throne room. It remains unknown if the throne room was repaired before the Death Star's destruction two years later.
The throne room was positioned close to one of the convergence arrays of the Concave Dish Composite Beam Superlaser. A circular door featuring a clock-like locking mechanism marked the entrance to the throne room itself. The area outside the throne room was a chamber featuring a central pillar and two entry points, resembling the design of the future Death Star II. It also featured elevators. At the center was an energy field, likely serving as a temporary floor since it was incomplete at the time. The southern section included a corridor leading to the Conclave Dish area, while the northern section led to the inner sanctum. The east and west sides had windows. The inner sanctum featured a large platform with an extended walkway leading to the Emperor's designated area. A shield could be activated to protect the Emperor from attacks and to prevent anyone from escaping. Within the shielded zone was an array of monitors; the leftmost monitors seemingly displayed the status of the battle station's core, and the rightmost monitors likely functioned as the communication system between the throne room and the rest of the station. The throne was located just beyond the shielded area and appeared to be integrated into the wall. There were also containment field capsules for detaining individuals. Imperial Royal Guards, Imperial Shadow Guards and Imperial Senate Guards were present to guarantee the Emperor's safety. Like the later Death Star II, it also had a 100-meter tower around the northern pole and included among the amenities a private turbolift and throne with command controls.