Darth Sidious

The beginnings of Darth Sidious were secrets so closely kept that he carried them to his grave on multiple occasions. He was born as Sheev Palpatine on the Mid Rim planet Naboo, eighty-four years prior to the Battle of Yavin. The noble, dynastic Palpatine family was part of the wealthy class in Naboo society, although at various times in his life, Palpatine seemingly had no living family members, and no records existed of his parents' deaths, marking him as the last of his ancient bloodline. Palpatine grew up in the sophisticated city of Theed, his homeworld's capital. There, he developed connections with many respected politicians over the centuries, gaining extensive knowledge of governance and the nuances of power during his youth. As a result, Palpatine was skilled in manipulation from a young age.

The specifics of how Sidious became a student of the Sith are largely unknown, including when this occurred. However, he became the Sith apprentice to Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Plagueis and adopted the name Darth Sidious. As a Sith Lord, Sidious learned everything his Sith Master knew about the dark side of the Force, following the tradition established by the ancient Darth Bane. While apprenticed to Plagueis, Sidious constructed his own Sith lightsabers. Simultaneously, he gradually began to secure political influence.

As a young man, Palpatine traveled throughout the galaxy, collecting art, some of which was connected to the dark side. While uninformed experts might have dismissed his collection as junk, Palpatine knew better. He learned new strategies for expanding his power during his travels, keeping them secret for years. During his training with Plagueis, Sidious was taught that two Sith were necessary for their dangerous schemes. Working together in accordance with Darth Bane's Rule of Two, with one serving as bait for the dark side of the Force and the other as a vessel, they could successfully harness the full power of the dark side and rule immortal for ten thousand years.

Darth Sidious and Darth Plagueis collaborated for years, seeking to unlock the secrets of immortality, which was Plagueis's long-standing obsession. Sidious eventually learned of Plagueis's ability to manipulate midi-chlorians to create life, which his master used to prevent the deaths of those he cared for. Plagueis believed that the secret to immortality lay in science and conducted "unnatural" experiments with his rare ability to manipulate midi-chlorians as part of their in-depth studies into the biological foundations of life. Though incomplete, these experiments were encouraging to Sidious. According to Darth Sidious's book, The Secrets of the Sith, written later in his life, Plagueis discovered a form of "immortality" through transference, a Force power that allowed the user to transfer their spirit and consciousness to another body, essentially using bodies as vessels. This obsession with extending one's life was later adopted by Sidious during his time as Galactic Emperor. Plagueis also attempted to create a Force dyad with Sidious, a unique Force-bond as strong as life itself and which was a precursor to the Rule of Two. However, Plagueis was unsuccessful in forming the dyad.

In his public identity as Sheev Palpatine, Sidious showed significant interest in politics and the public affairs of Naboo. In 65 BBY, he attended the opening ceremony of the Theed power generator, where observers noted his interest in the complex's deep-pit design. His entry into politics was further supported by his master, who arranged for him to be elected as the senator for his homeworld in the Galactic Republic Senate as part of the Naboo delegation in 52 BBY. This role also made him the senator for the entire Chommell sector, representing thirty-six planets in total. After his election, Palpatine quickly joined the ruling party of incumbent Supreme Chancellor Skor Kalpana. He was accompanied by loyal aides who had followed him since his days on Naboo. He observed the intense infighting and corruption that plagued the Republic and began to form relationships with future collaborators, such as Wilhuff Tarkin. The two first met when Tarkin was a cadet at the Sullust Sector Spacefarers Academy and Palpatine was still apprenticed to Plagueis.

Taking an interest in the younger man, Senator Palpatine decided to help him join the Judicial Department, as Tarkin desired, but also advised him to consider a political career. Over the following years, their relationship became increasingly confidential. Palpatine often praised Tarkin's talents and skills, noting their similarities: both came from planets on the edge of the galaxy but were destined to significantly impact the history of the galaxy. Tarkin eventually became one of the few people who called Palpatine by his first name.

While keeping his Sith identity hidden from the public, Sidious undertook the Sith's long-developing plan to replace the Republic with a new Sith Empire and destroy the Jedi Order. In doing so, he would deceive the Senate, the Republic, and the Jedi. As a senator, Palpatine was known to have the support of mysterious friends and allies whom he would mention but never name. Even Tarkin was unaware of who specifically worked with Palpatine in the shadows, despite Palpatine's frequent references to them. Speculating about his secret supporters, Palpatine's political enemies knew he had contacts beyond his loyal Naboo followers and the senatorial cabal he was often associated with. Rumors suggested that shadowy organizations and figures operating outside public view—including industrialists, financiers, and bankers from the galaxy's major sectors—were linked to the senator of Naboo.

Seeking a Sith apprentice, Sidious traveled to the planet Dathomir and met with the Dathomirian Nightsister Mother Talzin. Combining his knowledge of the dark side of the Force with Talzin's knowledge of Nightsister magicks, Sidious considered making Talzin his apprentice and right hand. However, he chose her infant son, the Zabrak Nightbrother who would become his true Sith apprentice, Darth Maul. During Sidious's visits to Talzin, Maul always hid in his room, fearful of the man and concerned about Talzin's growing connection with him. Sidious was drawn to Maul because of his inability to control his anger. Eventually, Sidious ordered Talzin to give Maul to a keeper, threatening to abandon his promise to make her his apprentice. She reluctantly agreed, and Maul angrily fled into the forest, overhearing the conversation from behind his door. The next morning, a Nightbrother took him and threw him into a pit, preventing him from saying goodbye to his mother.

Over several months, Maul endured relentless domestic abuse orchestrated by Sidious as a test. Influenced by the abuse and beatings from the keeper's sons, Sidious's wish for Maul came true: Maul's perceptions and love for his mother transformed into resentment and hatred for abandoning him. Maul's hatred began to manifest through the Dark Side, and he practiced using it whenever possible. Eventually, the two brothers stopped beating him after realizing their provocations no longer affected him. Sidious then organized a selection to find himself an apprentice. At the Selection Arena, Sidious witnessed Maul, who had initially been prevented from participating. In a sudden burst of anger, Maul used the dark side of the Force to Force choke the two brothers and the keeper, all in front of Sidious and Talzin. Pleased with Maul's progress and potential, Sidious declared Maul the winner and his new apprentice, much to Talzin's dismay.

Thus, instead of fulfilling his promise to give the apprenticeship to Talzin, Sidious took her son and left Dathomir, leaving the Nightsister seeking revenge against the Sith Lord. Following the traditions of the Rule of Two, which demanded only two Sith, and deciding that Plagueis had outlived his usefulness, Sidious betrayed his master by breaking into his apartment and murdering him in his sleep. Sidious fondly remembered the moment he realized he was more powerful than Plagueis and could kill the man who had trained him, later reflecting that "Master" was the first title of power he claimed for himself. Now the Sith Master himself, Sidious brutally trained Maul to be a weapon of the Sith, viewing Maul's prowess and combat abilities as an invaluable asset to his Grand Plan.

At some point during Maul's training, Sidious took his apprentice to Malachor to witness a great battle that had occurred between the Jedi and the Sith. He forced Maul to breathe in the ashes of Sith warriors who had been slain when an ancient weapon was activated in the Sith temple on the planet. While breathing in this ash, Maul had visions of members of the Sith order being struck down by the Jedi, feeling the slash of saber after saber as he experienced the deaths of his Sith brethren. These visions, combined with his training, made Maul long for revenge against the Jedi Order, which had defeated the Sith a millennium earlier. Thus motivated, Darth Maul would serve as a powerful weapon in Sidious's plans to destroy the Jedi and restore the Sith to galactic power.

In 42 BBY, Palpatine was introduced to Dooku, a Jedi, by the latter's former Padawan Rael Averross, after the former Jedi Master gave a speech to the Galactic Senate on Coruscant. Following the invasion of Serenno, Dooku left the Jedi Order to claim the title of planetary count, but Sidious eventually recruited Dooku to the Sith by exploiting his anger with the Republic, even though he already had Maul. Dooku would not become a Sith apprentice yet. To advance Sidious's plans, Dooku betrayed and orchestrated the death of Jedi Master Sifo-Dyas and took over his commission for a clone army produced on Kamino. This event was subsequently covered up when Dooku erased all records of Kamino from the Jedi Archives.

Meanwhile, Palpatine maintained regular correspondence with Wilhuff Tarkin—whose service in the Judicial Department prevented frequent face-to-face meetings—and supported bills in the Senate that would benefit Eriadu and the Seswenna sector, Tarkin's homeworld and its sector, respectively. After Valorum's re-election, which Palpatine attributed to special interest groups needing a weak chancellor, rumors began to circulate that Valorum would be unable to hold onto power, with Palpatine's name emerging as a possible successor. Around this time, Palpatine met with Tarkin—who had become disillusioned with the Judicial force—in his Coruscant office during one of their rare in-person meetings. Palpatine urged Tarkin to enter planetary politics as Eriadu's new governor, warning him of dark events brewing in their corner of the galaxy and promising the support of himself and his shadowy allies. Palpatine convinced Tarkin, who promised to do whatever was best for Eriadu and the Republic in any way Palpatine desired.

Needing pawns for his plans but preferring a mysterious, hooded presence through holographic transmissions rather than direct communication, Sidious contacted the galaxy's most powerful beings and convinced them to do his bidding through promises and threats. To this end, Sidious was also able to manipulate Nute Gunray's rise to the position of Viceroy of the Trade Federation. Gunray's ascension was facilitated by the Eriadu Conference, where an attempt to resolve disputes between the Trade Federation and the Republic ended in disaster. The Nebula Front attacked the conference, successfully wiping out the Federation directorate, creating a power vacuum for Gunray to fill. Valorum escaped and briefly boosted his popularity, using it to push through taxation legislation. Convincing the Trade Federation to obey him by promising wealth, Sidious ordered the Federation to construct a droid army. Sidious also helped the Geonosian Poggle the Lesser rise to the position of Archduke of Geonosis and controller of their droid foundries. With Sidious's backing, Poggle produced millions of B1-series battle droids for the Trade Federation military.

In the year 33 BBY, Darth Sidious summoned Maul to his clandestine location, which was situated within the dilapidated LiMerge Power Building of Coruscant's the Works industrial district. There, he reprimanded Maul for his carelessness in allowing the Jedi to detect his presence. Sidious made it clear to his apprentice that his impatience was of no concern to him and cautioned Maul against jeopardizing his master's carefully laid plans, warning that such actions would have dire repercussions. Subsequently, Sidious dispatched Maul to confront a group of pirates who were disrupting their secret mining facilities located within the Kellux system. Unbeknownst to Maul, this mission served as a test of his loyalty, as Sidious orchestrated an encounter with a Jedi Padawan. Maul, unknowingly following Sidious' design, ultimately killed the Jedi. Upon Maul's return to Coruscant, Sidious revealed his complete awareness of Maul's actions, questioning whether his apprentice found satisfaction in the Jedi's death. Sidious expressed his satisfaction when Maul indicated that he did not.

Shortly thereafter, while operating in the Coruscant underworld, Maul murdered a Force-sensitive thief in an attempt to satiate his desire to battle Jedi. Sidious criticized the absurdity of this act, but Maul asserted that he had taken sufficient precautions to prevent the Jedi from discovering the Sith's continued existence. Sidious acknowledged Maul's rage but cautioned him to temper it with patience. Maul responded with frustration at being restrained. Sidious reminded Maul that his training was not as complete as he believed, and he brought Maul back to Malachor to revisit the location where, years prior, Maul had experienced visions of the Sith's annihilation by the Jedi. Sidious instructed Maul to induce another vision by inhaling the ashes of deceased Sith warriors. Through the vision, Maul realized the importance of patience, understanding that rage alone was insufficient for him and his master to overcome the combined power of the Jedi Order. Pleased, Sidious emphasized that the combination of meticulous planning and the power of the dark side would eventually lead to the Jedi's destruction.

Around this period, Palpatine engaged in regular meetings with Chancellor Valorum and Jedi Masters Yoda and Adi Gallia to deliberate on diplomatic matters pertinent to both the Republic and the Jedi Order. Among the topics discussed were the labor strikes occurring on Garqi and Chamble. Regarding Chamble, Palpatine proposed that the Jedi conduct a training exercise there. Another matter concerned a shipment of flamboyant boots sent by the newly admitted member world of Hafernia as a gift for the Order. Gallia expressed reservations about accepting the gift, stating that the Jedi did not endorse commercial products. Palpatine countered that they did endorse the Republic and effective governance. Ultimately, the group decided that the Order would nominally accept the boots.

Gallia was briefly called away to confer with Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn. Upon her return, Palpatine presented her with a datapad outlining the actions he and Valorum had proposed thus far. Before resuming the main discussion, the two engaged in a discreet discussion regarding their aesthetic disagreement with the deep shade of blue chosen by Valorum following his re-election, with Palpatine musing about how the room would appear in red. Shortly thereafter, Palpatine and Valorum became aware of the Jedi Council's intention to visit Kwenn and contacted Master Mace Windu to discuss the situation.

Following the defense of Kwenn by the Jedi Council against pirate forces led by the Riftwalker commander Zilastra and the destruction of the Order's Sanctuary Mount outpost, Sidious initiated a holocommunication with the installation's former Seneschal, an elderly Bimm named Voh. Sidious, operating under the guise of Senator Palpatine, had previously arranged with Voh to maintain the Senate's interest in Kwenn, ensuring the Jedi kept the outpost operational, in exchange for Jedi texts from its library that Sidious deemed valuable. They had also agreed to destroy any material that Palpatine did not want in order to conceal the fact that items were missing. However, Sidious discovered that Voh had instead sold the remaining material, unable to bring himself to destroy historical documents. Furthermore, during the Council's visit to Kwenn, Master Eeth Koth had noticed items missing from the library and located some of the less important ones in a local shop. When confronted with this, Voh argued that the evidence of the theft had been destroyed along with the outpost and that he could manipulate his way into a position at another outpost and continue providing Palpatine with Jedi works.

However, Sidious expressed his disinterest in continuing to work with Voh. The Sith Lord explained to the bewildered Bimm that he no longer cared about Kwenn and was, in fact, pleased to see the Jedi closing outposts and moving around the galaxy reactively, which would benefit his upcoming plans involving the Republic and the Trade Federation. Sidious stated that Zilastra's scheme had impressed him and that she would be of further use, although he was not surprised that she had ultimately failed in her endeavor against the Jedi. The Sith Lord also pointed out that Voh was too old to be of much further use to himself or the Jedi. When the bewildered Bimm asked why Palpatine had so radically changed his attitude and why he was revealing all of this, Sidious replied that it was for another being's ears, indicating his apprentice Darth Maul, who had entered the room and proceeded to eliminate the former Seneschal.

Under the guise of Palpatine, Sidious strategically maneuvered to wrest power from Supreme Chancellor Finis Valorum, a figure with limited political influence whom Sidious had cultivated as a close friend and ally, thereby facilitating easy manipulation. Within the Senate, Sidious covertly ensured that debates over taxation bills remained contentious, resulting in voting sessions that yielded both defeats and victories for the Federation, while Gunray was misled into believing that Sidious was consistently working to secure Federation victories. Following a discussion in his office concerning the latest version of the bill, Valorum requested Palpatine to remain behind and confided in him his consideration of appointing a Jedi as an independent moderator, a suggestion that Palpatine feigned surprise at before urging him to postpone that option for the time being. Expediting his agenda upon learning of the Chommell sector summit that threatened to consolidate the sector's power, Sidious employed holographic communication to persuade Gunray to blockade the planet Naboo, framing it as a protest against the Senate's taxation of trade routes to remote star systems. Ultimately, driven to desperation by the Senate's inaction, Valorum secretly dispatched two Jedi Knights—Master Qui-Gon Jinn and his Padawan Obi-Wan Kenobi—as ambassadors to negotiate with the Trade Federation's Neimoidian leaders.

Impressed by the Geonosians' ingenuity in creating the Federation's battle droid army, the Trade Federation initiated the Invasion of Naboo under Sidious' command, who also instructed Gunray to assassinate Chancellor Valorum's Jedi ambassadors. When Gunray questioned the legality of the invasion, Sidious simply asserted that he would make it legal. The Neimoidians complied, but the Jedi survived the assassination attempt and escaped the Federation ship. After Sidious concluded his communication with Gunray, Queen Padmé Amidala contacted him to inquire about the Federation's denial of the Chancellor's promise to send ambassadors to negotiate. Sidious, as Palpatine, feigned concern at this supposed revelation, but was interrupted by the Trade Federation's communication blackout, signaling the Naboo of their impending invasion.

The Federation's droid forces commenced their attack. Within a single day, the army occupied the planet's capital and the surrounding areas. Furthermore, Amidala and her entourage were captured and presented with a treaty that would legitimize the invasion. However, the Jedi intervened to rescue them, and they successfully evaded the blockade aboard the queen's starship.

Upon Gunray's report of Amidala's refusal to sign the treaty, the enraged Sith Lord introduced them to Darth Maul, whom he dispatched to locate and recapture Amidala. Due to damage sustained by Amidala's ship during the escape, the queen chose to land on Tatooine, an obscure desert planet in the Outer Rim Territories, for repairs. Maul successfully determined the queen's location and assured his master that his search on the sparsely populated world would be brief. Sidious instructed him to confront the Jedi first, and then capture the queen once they were dead. Maul departed for Tatooine, but he failed to kill the Jedi or retrieve Amidala. Sidious anticipated her arrival on Coruscant following Maul's failure.

While awaiting Amidala's arrival on Coruscant, Sidious found himself with limited obligations, although he ensured his presence at Senate votes on current matters, despite his lack of interest in them. With time to spare, Palpatine began reviewing his art collection, having exhausted the available space in his office to store it. His attention was drawn to a black statue known as the Yonta Prime, a favorite piece that he found difficult to display in his office without appearing careless. He decided to retrieve it from storage, instructing its transport to his apartment, with the intention of placing it in the Supreme Chancellor's office upon the culmination of his current plan.

Despite these setbacks, Palpatine successfully met with Amidala on Coruscant, where she intended to present her case to Chancellor Valorum before the Galactic Senate. Welcoming Amidala to his apartment for a private audience, Palpatine informed the queen that the Senate had long ceased to prioritize the common good, while Valorum was essentially powerless against them. With both the Senate and Valorum rendered ineffective, Palpatine offered her two options: she could initiate a Vote of No Confidence in Chancellor Valorum, advocating for the election of a more capable leader; or she could pursue the matter through the courts, a process that would be even more protracted. Hoping to achieve some resolution within the Senate, Amidala chose to attend the body's special session the following day.

During the anticipated Senate session, Amidala endeavored to argue for Republic intervention to halt the Trade Federation's occupation of her planet. However, the Federation representative Lott Dod vehemently refuted the "accusations" leveled against the Federation, asserting that there was no evidence of an invasion or occupation. He proposed that a commission be dispatched to Naboo to ascertain the truth of the situation, a motion seconded by the senator from Malastare, Aks Moe. Vice Chair Mas Amedda conferred quietly with Valorum for a few moments, and Palpatine seized the opportunity to predict that the Chancellor, constrained by Senatorial procedure at the behest of bureaucrats likely in the Federation's pay, would fail to assist Naboo. When Valorum reluctantly acknowledged the Federation's right to request a commission, an outraged Amidala realized that Palpatine was correct; Valorum was too weak and ineffective to provide her world with the necessary assistance. Consequently, she heeded Palpatine's advice and publicly called for a Vote of No Confidence in the Chancellor. Within moments, numerous Senators began demanding an immediate vote, leaving Valorum stunned.

The ensuing power vacuum led to Palpatine's nomination as Supreme Chancellor, alongside Bail Antilles of Alderaan and Ainlee Teem of Malastare. However, when he announced his nomination to Amidala, the queen declared her intention to return to Naboo and liberate it from the Trade Federation by any means necessary. Palpatine feigned concern and made a halfhearted attempt to dissuade her from leaving Coruscant. She departed regardless, accompanied by Jinn and Kenobi for protection, and wished Palpatine success in the election.

Sidious contacted the Neimoidians on Naboo, instructing them to kill Amidala upon her arrival, and dispatched Maul to accompany them with orders to ensure the Neimoidians killed the queen and that the Jedi fell by his own hand. Even while managing the election on Coruscant, he dedicated time to reviewing the Neimoidians' progress. Contrary to his expectations, he learned that Amidala had not only evaded Gunray's grasp but had also formed an alliance with the Gungans and assembled an army in the planet's swamp, preparing to strike against the Federation occupation force. Doubting her chances of success, he approved Gunray's plan to meet the Gungans in direct combat.

However, the Federation army suffered defeat, Gunray was captured by Amidala's forces, and Maul met his apparent demise at the hands of the Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi, though not before killing Qui-Gon Jinn. Darth Sidious displayed no sorrow for the Zabrak warrior and was prepared to acquire a new Sith apprentice to further his plans. Following Jinn's death, Count Dooku traveled to their designated meeting place, the LiMerge Power Building in the Works, to confront Sidious, enraged that his ally's machinations had resulted in the death of his former apprentice.

As Dooku accused Sidious of causing him to betray everything and everyone he had known, Sidious affirmed that Dooku's actions served a greater purpose, and the galaxy required sacrifices to be remade. Dooku speculated that Qui-Gon Jinn could have been a powerful ally, a sentiment Sidious acknowledged, conceding that it would have indeed been advantageous for Dooku. Despite Dooku's contributions, Sidious admitted to always questioning his loyalty, much to Dooku's dismay. Defending his commitment, Dooku emphasized that he had fulfilled every task entrusted to him. Sidious then revealed that even greater demands lay ahead if they were to achieve their objectives.

Unbeknownst to them, Yaddle had secretly followed Dooku and urged him to surrender and assist her in defeating Sidious. Dooku initially hesitated but then, under Sidious' orders, engaged Yaddle in a lightsaber duel as a final test of loyalty. Despite Yaddle's considerable effort, Dooku's unparalleled dueling skills quickly began to overwhelm her. Yaddle pleaded with Dooku, admitting that the Jedi High Council had been mistaken and informing him that she had resigned from her position on the Council as a result. Her final attempt to persuade Dooku failed, and they dueled once more, as Sidious watched and cackled maniacally.

As Dooku knocked Yaddle into the frame of the large doorway, he used the Force to flip the lever controlling the door, which came crashing down onto his former friend. Collapsing in sorrow over what he had just done, Dooku was reassured by Sidious, who congratulated his "friend" and apprentice. To their shock, Yaddle suddenly lifted the doorway off in one final display of her immense Force power. Lying defenseless and exhausted at Dooku's feet, Dooku impaled her with his lightsaber. As Sidious' new Sith apprentice, Dooku adopted the secret name of Darth Tyranus.

Ultimately, Palpatine secured victory in the election for Supreme Chancellor and subsequently attended the funeral of Jinn. Palpatine also learned that the Naboo owed their triumph to the unexpected intervention of Anakin Skywalker, a young, freed slave from Tatooine who possessed a strong connection to the Force, reinforcing the belief that he was the Chosen One of Jedi prophecy who would bring balance to the Force. Following extensive deliberation, the Jedi Council decided that Skywalker would be apprenticed to Kenobi as a Jedi. Palpatine personally congratulated the two Jedi during the celebration on Naboo, telling young Skywalker that his career would be watched with "great interest."

Throughout the ensuing decade, Supreme Chancellor Palpatine cultivated a positive image as a humble servant of the common good, while the public remained unaware of his true, malevolent nature. He concealed one of his lightsabers within a statue of Sistros Nevet, coated in neuranium for protection against scans, while the other was hidden in an undisclosed location. As Anakin Skywalker matured, his relationship with Palpatine grew stronger; Palpatine frequently praised Skywalker as the most gifted Jedi he had ever encountered, destined to surpass even Yoda, the Grand Master of the Jedi Council. Skywalker, increasingly frustrated with the strict Jedi lifestyle under Kenobi's guidance, appreciated Palpatine's praise and valued his counsel. In reality, this was all part of Sidious' strategy to gain Skywalker's trust and groom him as his future Sith apprentice.

However, Sidious recognized that his plan to turn Skywalker to the dark side would take years to materialize, and with Maul presumed dead, Sidious required an interim apprentice. Therefore, he turned to Dooku, making the former Jedi his temporary apprentice under the name Darth Tyranus. Sidious and Tyranus acquired control of a behavioral modification biochip that Sifo-Dyas had intended to implant in each clone as a safeguard against rogue Jedi, and they repurposed the chip for Sidious's purposes. Subsequently, bounty hunter Jango Fett was hired as the genetic template for the clone army on Kamino, and the clones were fitted with the Sith's retooled biochip, containing a protocol that would ensure their absolute obedience to Sidious when the time came.

In 26 BBY, Sidious dispatched Tyranus to Sullust to negotiate with the SoroSuub Corporation. Tyranus soon reported the presence of a Jedi Knight on the planet. Uncertain of the Jedi's purpose, Sidious instructed his apprentice to determine the reason for his presence and prevent the Jedi from uncovering the alliances Count Dooku was forging on behalf of the Sith, ostensibly for Serenno. Tyranus succeeded in this mission and also secretly eliminated the Jedi, under the pretense of assisting him in investigating the Kaldana Syndicate.

In 25 BBY, Sidious and his Adviser Yupe Tashu journeyed to the desolate Inner Rim planet of Jakku, situated at the edge of the Unknown Regions. After landing his yacht Imperialis on the Plaintive Hand plateau, Tashu ordered a detachment of six droids to commence excavation. The yacht soon departed off-world, but a local twelve-year-old boy named Galli secretly boarded the Imperialis. Sidious sensed his presence and offered the boy the choice between death and servitude. Sidious then instructed Galli to return to the excavation site and guard it against intruders, emphasizing that they must not be allowed to taint the site and ordering Galli to kill them. Sidious then introduced himself on a first-name basis as Sheev.

For the next decade, Galli guarded the Plaintive Hand excavation site. In 15 BBY, Sidious returned and invited the boy aboard the Imperialis this time as a guest of honor. By that stage, work on the Jakku Observatory had been completed. Using a game of Shah-tezh as an illustration, Sidious explained that his future Galactic Empire could not be allowed to outlive its Emperor should he die prematurely. To demonstrate his seriousness, Sidious Force choked Galli. He tasked Galli with executing his secret Contingency plan and inducted the boy into Imperial service. Galli subsequently joined the Naval Intelligence Agency as a commander and adopted the name Gallius Rax.

As Anakin Skywalker aged, his bond with Palpatine, the Chancellor, intensified. The Chancellor frequently observed Anakin's training at the Jedi Temple, praising the young Padawan's advancements in lightsaber combat. Perceiving Anakin's emotional vulnerability, Palpatine requested Master Mace Windu to send the boy to him, believing he could aid in his development. Upon Skywalker's arrival with his Master Obi-Wan Kenobi, Palpatine proposed an excursion to the lower levels of Coruscant with Skywalker. Ignoring Kenobi's warning about Skywalker's non-Jedi status and potential dangers, the Chancellor escorted Skywalker to Level 2685. Disguised as ordinary travelers, Palpatine confided in the youth that he often visited the area when his duties allowed, seeking to do some good. Ultimately, they arrived at Club Kasakar.

Within the club, Palpatine expressed a degree of longing for the predetermined path of young Jedi Padawans, contrasting it with the difficult choices and troubling decisions of his own political life. He also revealed that the Club was frequented by Senators, specifically pointing out Senator Colandrus, a Tarsunt known for his gambling habits. While the Tarsunt senator placed bets at a game table, Palpatine claimed Colandrus was corrupt, albeit without concrete evidence. Inspired by this negative portrayal, Anakin employed Jedi telekinesis to manipulate Colandrus' final die, causing him to lose significant amounts of money. Hearing Palpatine's disguised laughter at his misfortune, Colandrus unleashed his bodyguard upon him, but the Chancellor diffused the situation by claiming "his son" was merely joking and promising their immediate departure. Despite lingering doubts, Colandrus allowed the cloaked individuals to leave without further incident.

Upon their return to the Chancellor's office, Palpatine "apologized" to Anakin for involving him in a Senate matter. Anakin suggested the Jedi could arrest Senator Colandrus, but Palpatine countered that the Jedi's obedience to him would be akin to dictatorship, an outcome he did not desire. He also instructed Anakin to keep their excursion a secret from his masters and inquired about Anakin's happiness at the temple. When Anakin confirmed his contentment, Palpatine sensed the truth through the Force. Eventually, Palpatine thanked Anakin for his pivotal role in the Battle of Naboo, assuring him that a place would always be available for him and that a young man like Anakin could be exceptionally useful.

Palpatine persisted in his role as Skywalker's confidant, offering guidance to the aspiring Jedi. Skywalker held Palpatine in high regard, viewing him as both a mentor and a friend. In private conversations, Palpatine expressed his unwavering faith in Skywalker, even suggesting that Skywalker's power would eventually surpass the collective strength of the Jedi Order, including Grand Master Yoda.

Under the direction of Sidious, Tyranus incited several thousand solar systems to declare their independence from the Galactic Republic, choosing instead to join the Confederacy of Independent Systems with Tyranus at its helm. Two years following the establishment of the Confederacy, civil war loomed, and the Jedi's numbers proved insufficient to maintain peace throughout the galaxy. The Senate advocated for a vote to establish a Grand Army of the Republic. While concealing his true intentions, Palpatine resisted all Senate attempts to create an army and the push to wage war against the Confederacy.

At some juncture, Darth Sidious and his Sith apprentice, Count Dooku, recognized the potential of Kaleesh warlord Grievous, formerly Qymaen jai Sheelal. Grievous had led his Kaleesh warriors in the war against the insectoid Yam'rii species from Huk, a neighboring and technologically advanced planet. After the Republic and the Jedi intervened to support the Yam'rii, the Kaleesh faced severe consequences, with hundreds of thousands succumbing to starvation. Sidious and Dooku, who had significant plans for Grievous, took notice of his exploits as he rose to become one of the IGBC's most valuable assets. Dooku then orchestrated a shuttle crash to recruit Grievous to command the droid armies. Extensive surgery, performed by cybernetics experts and Geonosian biotechnicians with the assistance of medical droids, including the FX-9 surgical assistant FX-6, was necessary to save Grievous' life. The operation resulted in drastic physical alterations to Grievous.

Upon arriving on Coruscant to participate in the vote, Palpatine's successor as Senator of Naboo, former Queen Padmé Amidala, narrowly survived an assassination attempt orchestrated by Zam Wesell on behalf of the vengeful Nute Gunray. Palpatine delayed the vote and placed the senator under the protection of Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker, her former allies from the Battle of Naboo. Following a second attempt on the senator's life, Skywalker was assigned to protect her on her homeworld of Naboo. There, they secretly began to fall in love which, coupled with Skywalker's later discovery of his mother Shmi's death at the hands of Tusken Raiders on Tatooine, would draw the young Jedi closer to the dark side of the Force, rendering him even more susceptible to Sidious' deceptive schemes.

However, when the Separatists' secret construction of a battle droid army, supported by numerous commercial organizations, including the Trade Federation, was exposed, Palpatine exploited the situation to secure emergency powers from the Senate through Representative Jar Jar Binks. Palpatine feigned reluctance, promising to relinquish the authority to the Senate after the crisis subsided. His initial action involved authorizing the use of the clone army, discovered by Kenobi on Kamino, to counteract the Separatist threat, leading to the First Battle of Geonosis, which marked the commencement of the Clone Wars. After clone template Jango Fett was killed and his Separatist partners escaped the battle, Tyranus met with Sidious at the Coruscant tower in the Works with good news that the war the Sith had been orchestrating had begun, as well as preliminary blueprints for a Geonosian superweapon that could be of use to their future Sith-led regime. Sidious was pleased with the turn of events, and he later, with the leaders of the Senate, oversaw the new Republic army marching towards war, while Palpatine additionally would be able to deceive both sides from the start of the war. Skywalker and Amidala secretly wed on Naboo. The clandestine ceremony was witnessed only by their two droids, C-3PO and R2-D2, along with a local holy man who officiated the rite. He unknowingly passed on the secret to Sidious, which the Sith Lord would later use during his quest to lure Skywalker into becoming his next apprentice.

At some point, Sidious infiltrated the Jedi Temple with a number of agents, including the former Padawan Heezo, ordering them to identify Jedi dissatisfied with the Order and covertly nudge them towards the dark side. Shortly after the mission to Thule, he met with the Jedi High Council. On his way to their chamber, he was escorted by one such Jedi, the Knight Iskat Akaris. Sidious seized the opportunity to subtly encourage her darker impulses by prompting her to voice her secretly-held opinions of the Order to him.

Following the Confederacy's Droid Army's seizure of the major hyperspace lanes, Sidious instructed Tyranus and his assassin Asajj Ventress to kidnap Jabba's son, Rotta, the leader of the Hutt Clans' Council. After Rotta was taken to Teth, Sidious contacted both Ventress and Tyranus, assuring them that the Jedi would be at war with the Hutts as well the Confederacy.

Palpatine subsequently received a message from Jabba, requesting assistance in rescuing his son. Despite Master Windu's reservations about allying the Republic with the Hutt, Palpatine recognized the necessity of securing the Hutt's space lanes for troop movement. Despite General Grievous spreading the Republic forces thin, Windu told Palpatine that Skywalker and Kenobi could carry out the rescue. During the rescue, Palpatine learned that Jabba believed that the Jedi were behind his son's kidnapping and told Senator Amidala of this. Jabba refused to speak with him, so Amidala decided to speak with Jabba's uncle Ziro at his palace, despite Palpatine's warning. Kenobi, Skywalker, and his new Padawan, Ahsoka Tano were able to return Rotta to his father and secure a treaty with the Hutts. Following the events, Sidious spoke with his apprentice about this setback. He assured Tyranus that the war was turning in their favor.

Upon learning that Senator Amidala had ventured through enemy territory into the Outer Rim, Palpatine contacted her aboard her H-type Nubian yacht. Amidala explained that Senator Farr of Rodia, an old family friend, had requested her presence due to his people's starvation. Palpatine claimed to understand, though he argued that she should have a clone trooper escort. However, Amidala had trust in diplomacy. After Representative Binks tried to talk to Palpatine, he caused C-3PO's chair to move, knocking the Gungan down and causing the ship to veer off course. Amidala was able to regain control, but Palpatine discreetly urged her to keep Binks out of the negotiations, which she agreed to.

However, once Amidala was planet-side, she learned Farr had joined the Separatists to help his people, and she was captured by Nute Gunray's battle droids. However, Binks helped disrupt the Separatist's plans and Farr decided to side with the Republic. Thanks to a message sent by C-3PO, the 41st Elite Corps arrived on the planet and captured Gunray. Palpatine contacted them via hologram, stating that Amidala had brought Rodia's needs to his attention. The Chancellor had deployed a convoy of supply ships and stated that Gunray's capture was a major Republic victory.

However, the secret Sith Lord saw the danger Nute Gunray's capture posed, as the viceroy would not last under the Jedi's questioning. Contacting Darth Tyranus, Sidious was informed by his apprentice that Asajj Ventress could infiltrate the Republic warship, allowing her to rescue or kill Gunray. While Sidious was apprehensive about using an agent who had previously failed them in the past, Tyranus argued that she was a skilled assassin. Ultimately, the master allowed his pupil to proceed in this plan; Ventress successfully rescued Nute Gunray, denying the Jedi and the Republic the opportunity to extract secret information from the Separatist leader, whilst also demonstrating her ability to handle a Star Destroyer's contingent of clone troopers, a Jedi Padawan, and a Jedi Master all at once.

As the war got underway, Dooku crash-landed his ship on Vanqor and was captured by the Ohnaka Gang. Kenobi and Skywalker were sent to verify their leader Hondo Ohnaka's demand for a reward, and then sent Senator Kharrus and Representative Binks to deliver it. Ultimately, Dooku escaped from the pirates.

Sidious paid Cad Bane to steal a Holocron from the Jedi Temple's Holocron Vault, which when used in conjunction with the kyber memory crystal would reveal the location of Force-sensitive infants across the galaxy. He had Bane kidnap these children to his facility on Mustafar to commence the creation of an army of Force-sensitive spies, Sidious told the nanny droids of the children's natural talent and how he would harness that power for his own needs. Looking into the future, Sidious saw a vision of Force talented spies trained in the dark side that would appear in every corner of the galaxy doing his bidding. The nanny droid told the Dark Lord that subjects rarely survive the procedure at a young age but Sidious said the risk was necessary and that if the procedure failed he would lose nothing. As the surgery was about to happen, an alert from a nanny droid told the Sith Lord of an incoming shuttle that was approaching and it did not belong to the bounty hunter. This surprised Sidious as he did not foresee this and ordered the droids to evacuate the children and destroy the facility to protect his identity and ended the transmission quickly. the Jedi foiled Bane and rescued the younglings.

During the Battle of Malastare, the Zillo Beast was inadvertently awakened and Palpatine wanted the creature killed, but changed his mind when Doctor Sionver Boll and Skywalker pointed out the beast's indestructible hide could prove fruitful if analyzed. The Zillo Beast was instead rendered unconscious, and transported to Coruscant. It broke out of its restraints and rampaged through the Senate District before being killed with poison gas. Palpatine ordered Boll to clone the animal.

During the Senate hostage crisis, Cad Bane demanded Ziro the Hutt be released from prison in exchange for the hostages' release. Palpatine reluctantly complied after Skywalker was subdued by Bane's gang.

The following year, while the Senate was considering deregulating the banks to increase funding for the war. Palpatine was soon informed by Amidala that the Separatist Senate, led by Mina Bonteri, was considering peace negotiations. Dooku had the central power distribution grid bombed, and then staged another attack on the Confederacy, which killed Bonteri and was blamed on the Republic, dashing any hope of peace.

Desperate, Amidala attempted to rally support for opposing a new bill but found few willing to do so. Upon further investigation, Amidala found that many of the senators who voted in support have actually been blackmailed to do so. She also discovered that supporting the bill would mean bankrupting certain segments of the Republic such as their social programs, due to the Banking Clan's high interest rates. Pursued by assassins, Bail Organa, Onacondo Farr and Amidala continued attempting to oppose the bill with Amidala stepping up in front of the Senate. In her speech, she pointed out that passing the bill would harm the citizens it was supposedly attempting to protect. Her speech marshals loud respect and support from the Senate audience. Later, Palpatine expressed his displeasure to Mas Amedda, noting how the success of one individual's passionate voice can have over his power. Palpatine resolved to wait until fate and the Senate once more turn to favor him.

When the military enhancement bill for more clone troopers was introduced, Palpatine claimed to be opposed to it. The bill encountered minor but effective resistance, although one of its greatest critics, Onaconda Farr, seemingly died of a heart failure before it could be voted on. Palpatine attended the funeral, but, in the Chancellor's office, he and others met with inspector Tanivos Exantor Divo, who revealed a poison had actually killed the senator. As the inspector left, the Chancellor claimed that murder in the Senate was unthinkable. Later, Palpatine and the others reunited in his office, where Divo nearly arrested the false suspect, the Kaminoan Senator Halle Burtoni. However, Amidala realized Farr's aide, Lolo Purs, was the true culprit, and the Rodian was arrested. Soon afterward, the military enhancement bill was passed; Palpatine claimed to a disappointed Amidala that he too was disappointed, but that democracy needed to be respected, and stated that, with more troops, the war could possibly end more quickly.

Two years after the mission to Thule, Palpatine expressed his faith in the disgraced Jedi Knight Iskat Akaris to Master Yoda. This support, in tandem with that of Masters Klefan Opus and Uumay Hawlatha, proved enough to forestall Yoda's reservations as he and fellow Councilor Mace Windu decided in favor of putting Akaris back in the field.

During the Battle of Sullust, Sidious felt Asajj Ventress growing stronger in the ways of the dark side of the Force. Through a hologram, Darth Sidious accused Tyranus of wanting to overthrow him as Dark Lord which shocked his apprentice who stated his loyalty belonged only to his Master. Sidious then demanded proof and ordered him to eliminate Ventress which the Count sadly obliged to. After assuming success in the death of his former disciple, Dooku contacted Sidious of his apparent success. Satisfied, Darth Sidious praised his apprentice for once again proving his loyalty. The two were unaware that Ventress survived.

Sidious ordered Tyranus to ally with the resurgent Zygerrian Slave Empire, explaining past Sith Empires were built on the backs of slaves and theirs would be no exception. They soon plotted for bounty hunters such as Cad Bane and Rako Hardeen to "kidnap" Palpatine during the Festival of Light on Naboo. Kenobi infiltrated the plot and helped the Jedi to prevent it, lulling them into a false sense of security. Dooku showed up the evening after the festival but was defeated and forced to flee.

The subsequent year saw Maul's reemergence into the galaxy after a decade in hiding, now accompanied by his brother Savage Opress as his apprentice. While the Jedi expressed concern, Palpatine dismissed it, persuading Yoda that the Separatists warranted greater attention and that Maul's vendetta was Kenobi's personal matter. When Maul seized control of Mandalore, the most powerful planet in the Council of Neutral Systems, Sidious recognized Maul's escalating danger and the threat he posed to his future galactic conquest. Resolving to personally eliminate the threat, Sidious piloted his shuttle to Sundari, where he engaged Maul and Opress.

Not deceived by Maul's renewed attempts to become his apprentice, Sidious confronted the rival Sith Lords in a battle. Sidious demonstrated that he was not only an equal match for their combined abilities but also superior. Following a drawn-out duel, he separated the brothers by first bypassing Savage's defenses and delivering a forceful kick to send him flying, then using the Force to push Maul, resulting in a brief knockout. Subsequently, Sidious briefly mocked Savage, not even bothering to engage, before resuming combat and decisively defeating Opress in single combat. Ignoring Maul's attempts to reach his brother, knowing that Opress was beyond saving, Sidious mocked Maul once more, reminding him of the ancient Sith rules and how he had been supplanted. He then re-engaged his former apprentice in combat. Despite finding Maul to be significantly more aggressive than Savage, Sidious ultimately prevailed in their final lightsaber lock, forcing Maul to his knees. However, he chose not to kill him, anticipating that his fallen apprentice might prove useful in the future.

The trial of Ahsoka Tano, where she faced accusations of orchestrating a bombing at the Jedi Temple, was overseen by Chancellor Palpatine in his role as judge. Accompanied by two guards clad in crimson robes, he listened as Senator Amidala and Admiral Tarkin presented their arguments as the defense and the prosecutor, respectively. After their presentations, the Chancellor delivered a speech, cautioning the court about Separatist plots aimed at undermining the Jedi Order, and consequently, the Galactic Republic, from within. However, before he could announce the verdict, Skywalker interrupted, bringing forth Barriss Offee, who confessed to the crime. Palpatine ordered Offee to be taken away, and Tano was acquitted. This experience left Tano disillusioned, leading her to decline an offer to rejoin the Jedi Order.

During the Battle of Ringo Vinda, clone trooper CT-5385, known as "Tup," experienced a sudden malfunction, exhibiting confusion and ultimately betraying and killing Jedi Master Tiplar before succumbing to insanity and death. This incident was triggered by a defective biochip, implanted in clones to ensure loyalty to the Supreme Chancellor and which paved the way for the execution of Protocol 66. Recognizing the threat to his plans, Sidious, in his guise as Chancellor Palpatine, ordered Tup's body to be transported to the Grand Republic Medical Facility for an autopsy. Shaak Ti and Nala Se presented Palpatine with the rebellious clone CT-5555, known as "Fives," who had discovered the inhibitor chips implanted in each clone trooper and believed them to be part of a Separatist conspiracy. The Chancellor revealed his involvement with the chips to Fives and orchestrated an attack by his guards to portray Fives as a danger to the Republic, thus discrediting him. Following Fives' death, he informed the Jedi that a parasite native to Ringo Vinda was responsible for Tup and Fives' behavior, leading to the inoculation of all clone troopers against it. Sidious further capitalized on these events by transferring the majority of his Sith artifact collection from a concealed storehouse in the Works district to the Medical Facility, fearing discovery by the Jedi.

During a diplomatic mission to Scipio, Senator Padmé Amidala learned from Rush Clovis about the InterGalactic Banking Clan's bankruptcy. Palpatine advised her to trust Clovis while simultaneously hiring the bounty hunter Embo to target them, seemingly on the Clan's behalf. Sidious and Tyranus conspired to install Clovis as the new head of the Banking Clan: the Muun government arrested the Core Five, and Clovis was elected by a Senate majority to replace them. Dooku blackmailed Clovis into raising the Republic's interest rates and dispatched a fleet to blockade Scipio, prompting Palpatine to respond by sending a fleet under Skywalker's command. As Scipio fell under the Republic's control and Clovis committed suicide, the Muuns relinquished control of the banks to the Office of the Chancellor.

When Queen Julia of Bardotta sought assistance from the Senate concerning the disappearance of several Dagoyan Masters, Palpatine offered to dispatch Bail Organa and Senator Amidala, but she insisted on the assistance of Representative Binks. Palpatine informed the Jedi Council, who considered it unwise, leading Master Windu to volunteer to accompany him.

Yoda visited Palpatine after the Jedi discovered Sifo-Dyas's lightsaber at a distress beacon location. Apparently, Sifo-Dyas had died on a mission to Felucia, but the details were classified by the Office of the Chancellor. Palpatine advised Yoda to consult former Supreme Chancellor Finis Valorum, who was still a Senator at the time. Sidious then reprimanded Tyranus via hologram for this oversight, instructing him to resolve it. Annoyed by Tyranus's negligence, Sidious used the Force to choke his apprentice, reminding him of the consequences of failure. Dooku prevented Kenobi and Skywalker from discovering who killed Sifo-Dyas, but they still inferred that the Sith were responsible for the creation of the clone army.

When Yoda entered the Valley of the Dark Lords on Moraband during a quest to uncover immortality, Sidious and Tyranus detected his presence and met at the Works on Coruscant. Greeting his apprentice upon arrival, Sidious led Tyranus to the tower's ceremonial chamber. Exploiting the Force-bond between Tyranus and Yoda, Sidious used a Balc incantation to create a dark illusion to trap the Jedi Master. Using Sifo-Dyas's image, he offered to reveal his identity if Yoda would join him, but Yoda refused. The illusion then depicted them pursuing the Sith Lords in the Works with Anakin Skywalker and the 501st Legion. Sidious dueled Yoda on the catwalks outside the tower, with Skywalker arriving outside shortly after. Sidious incapacitated Skywalker with Force lightning while continuing to fight Yoda. As the illusion progressed, Yoda refused to sacrifice Skywalker to pursue Sidious, demonstrating his willingness to sacrifice himself to save the Chosen One. Sidious's illusion faltered, and the Jedi Master emerged victorious. Defeated, Sidious stated that they would require more time to defeat the Jedi.

Upon learning that the otherwise insignificant planet Utapau had produced a massive kyber crystal, Sidious became interested in the world, desiring the large crystal for his battle station project. With the crystal in the possession of a Sugi arms dealing group, Dooku agreed to a sale, claiming he wanted the crystal for the Separatist Alliance. Grievous himself arrived to oversee the deal, ultimately killing the Sugi leader, Endente, and taking the crystal to his Separatist fleet. However, after arriving on Utapau to investigate the death of Jedi Master Tu-Anh, Kenobi and Skywalker fought to thwart the Separatist operation, pursuing the crystal into space and destroying it aboard Grievous's Dual Hemisphere-Omni Support Vessel. Nevertheless, Yoda feared that Sidious was planning to create a superweapon, and Sidious remained interested in Utapau. Consequently, the planet was targeted for occupation, facilitating a crystal search. Within months, the Separatists invaded the world.

Simultaneously, Sidious aimed to use Maul to lure out Mother Talzin, the Nightsister witch who posed a threat to his plans. His operations against Talzin commenced when Mandalorian super commandos freed Maul from his imprisonment in the Spire on Stygeon Prime. Maul sought help from Mother Talzin after General Grievous defeated his forces at Zanbar, precisely as Sidious and Dooku had intended. Talzin anticipated this and instructed her son to lure the Separatists to Ord Mantell, where he defeated and captured Dooku. Maul contacted Sidious, informing him of their capture; the Sith Lord responded by instructing him to execute them, stating they were no longer of use to him. Maul informed Dooku, provoking him into forming an alliance.

Maul and Dooku traveled to Dathomir, where Talzin intended to siphon Dooku's lifeforce to regain her physical body. Sidious and Grievous also arrived on the planet and attacked Maul and the Talzin-possessed Dooku. Talzin regained her physical body and defended against Sidious's lightning, sacrificing herself to allow her son to escape. Seizing the opportunity, Grievous plunged two lightsabers into her body, eliminating Sidious's foe. Despite Maul's escape, Sidious was satisfied that the Shadow Collective had been destroyed.

Later, the Jedi dispatched Quinlan Vos to collaborate with Ventress to assassinate Count Dooku. This mission was considered Jedi business, so Palpatine was not informed. However, Skywalker questioned the decision, believing that the Jedi keeping secrets from the Chancellor was wrong. Eventually, aboard the Republic's Venator-class Star Destroyer Vigilance in orbit of Christophsis, Vos, who had succumbed to the dark side and sought to become Dooku's apprentice to uncover Darth Sidious's identity, and Dooku, held captive by clone troopers and Jedi, including Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker, enlisted Asajj Ventress's assistance in their escape.

The trio, however, crash-landed on Christophsis while being pursued by the Republic, with the Count of Serenno sustaining severe injuries. Seeking refuge in a hidden Confederacy fortress, Tyranus contacted Darth Sidious via hologram, seeking assistance, but not before Vos and Ventress infiltrated the communications chamber. Tyranus was compelled to introduce Quinlan Vos as his "new assassin" to Sidious, who concealed his features behind a dark cowl, while Ventress remained hidden. After expressing disapproval of his apprentice's new employee, Darth Sidious listened to Tyranus's plea for an evacuation ship as a second battle of Christophsis erupted, led by Skywalker. Providing only a vague response, Sidious terminated the holo-communication as the Christophsis Separatist tower fell under Republic fire. The battle resulted in a Separatist defeat, and with Ventress's redemption through her apparent sacrifice for Quinlan Vos, Tyranus's "new assassin" chose to allow Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi to return him to the Jedi Temple on Coruscant for reassessment. Meanwhile, as the Jedi took Vos, a ship dispatched by Darth Sidious arrived to retrieve Tyranus, ensuring the Separatist leader's safety.

As part of his plan to exploit the Clone Wars as a pretext to consolidate and centralize his political power, paving the way for his reign as Emperor, Palpatine had become the most powerful Supreme Chancellor since the Ruusan Reformations by the end of the conflict. Citing the war effort as justification, Palpatine had the Galactic Constitution amended multiple times during the conflict. One constitutional amendment, known as the Reflex Amendment, granted him near-absolute authority over military matters, allowing him to bypass the Senate in such decisions. Towards the war's conclusion, Palpatine enacted a constitutional amendment known as the Sector Governance Decree.

Under the Sector Governance Decree, Palpatine established a new structure of regional governance by appointing certain individuals as governors. Theoretically, the decree was intended to bolster the war effort by uniting star systems into singular blocs and converting their production centers into war-focused installations. In reality, however, regional governors could become leaders of the systems they oversaw, enabling Palpatine to circumvent and eventually disband the Senate by creating a new bureaucracy composed of individuals he handpicked. The decree, however, proved excessive for senators who formed the Delegation of 2,000, which secretly assembled the Petition of 2,000 to protest Palpatine's conduct and growing powers. Led by Amidala, Mothma, and Organa, the Delegation hoped to compel Palpatine to relinquish his emergency powers and intended to present their petition to Palpatine once it had been signed by two thousand of their fellow legislators.

Determining that it was time to make Skywalker his next apprentice, Sidious conceived a plan for Palpatine to be captured, providing Skywalker with an opportunity to rescue him. The plan involved sacrificing Darth Tyranus, who was to be killed by Skywalker, thus tempting Skywalker to the dark side and ultimately leading to the young Jedi replacing Dooku as the Dark Lord's new apprentice. Likely through the Nexus Route, Sidious obtained the coordinates to Coruscant and provided them to Grievous and his fleet, enabling them to jump directly from the Outer Rim to Coruscant. Sidious also devised a plan to kidnap the Supreme Chancellor, tasking Grievous with the operation and instructing Dooku to hold him hostage. Grievous and Dooku, however, were unaware of Sidious's true intentions.

During the Outer Rim Sieges, Grievous commanded a massive invasion of Coruscant, accompanied by Dooku. Dooku, having relocated his command post to Grievous's flagship, the Invisible Hand, remained close to Grievous to ensure his orders were carried out; despite the cyborg general posing no threat to Sidious, he wanted to avoid any setbacks to his plans. While the Republic and Separatist fleets clashed above the planet, Grievous went to the ground to capture Palpatine. Shaak Ti and Roron Corobb, along with a clone task force, were dispatched to protect him. Corrob and the clones fell to Grievous, while Ti managed to fight further. Grievous gained the upper hand by electrifying the Jedi Master with cables, rendering her unconscious. Grievous took her lightsaber and fled with the captive Palpatine to the Separatist flagship Invisible Hand.

Kenobi and Skywalker, who were preparing to take Mandalore, were summoned to rescue him. After landing in the Invisible Hand's hangar, the two found Palpatine bound to a chair on the bridge. They were confronted by Dooku, whom they engaged in a duel. Dooku easily defeated Kenobi and then focused on Skywalker. They continued the duel until Skywalker severed his hands. Disarmed and on his knees, Dooku was defeated. Palpatine commended Skywalker on his accomplishment but then betrayed Dooku by urging Anakin to kill him, as Dooku had served his purpose. A horrified Dooku looked pleadingly to Palpatine, only to be met with a more sinister urging. With a swift move, Count Dooku was beheaded. Anakin was conflicted by his actions but was comforted by Palpatine, who told him it was a simple act of revenge for Dooku cutting off his arm. Beyond luring Skywalker closer to the dark side, the act also eliminated the loose end Dooku would be if he lived, preventing the Jedi from questioning him to learn more about Sidious.

Skywalker went to retrieve the unconscious Kenobi, but Palpatine pleaded with the Jedi to abandon his master. His plea was denied, and the three began their descent to the hangar. Meanwhile, the Invisible Hand was attacked by the Guarlara, sustaining extensive damage and losing its position, momentarily falling towards the planet's surface. With the ship on its side, the three began running down an elevator shaft, only to lose their footing as the Invisible Hand regained its position. They managed to escape to a hallway, where they were captured in a ray shield. They were brought before Grievous in the control room, where R2-D2, also a captive, provided a distraction that allowed Kenobi and Skywalker to seize control. With nowhere to escape, Grievous broke open a window and fled to the escape pods, which he activated as he escaped. The ship then became caught in Coruscant's gravity well and began plummeting towards the surface. Skywalker and Kenobi attempted to land it, managing only to ease the crash. Following the crash, Palpatine and the Jedi were escorted to the Senate Building.

Sidious now directed Grievous to return to Utapau under the guise of ensuring the safety of the increasingly irrelevant Separatist Council, but in reality, he had other plans for the general, who was unaware that he was being set up again. Grievous's usefulness to Sidious had come to an end, as the cyborg had played his role, and his entire campaigns had served to distract the Jedi Order from the Sith conspiracy unfolding around them on Coruscant. By this time, the Sith Lord's schemes had progressed to the point where Grievous had only one role left to play: he had to serve as bait to lure Kenobi away from Coruscant and from Anakin. Sidious didn't care if Grievous or Kenobi lived or died; his plan would bring down the Republic and the Jedi.

Sidious soon began preparing for the war's end. Sidious instructed Grievous to move the Separatists to Mustafar. He also instructed him to remain on Utapau until the new apprentice had joined their cause, as he didn't want to waste any time before finding a replacement. Skywalker, who had just been hailed as a hero for killing Count Dooku and rescuing the Chancellor, began having visions of his wife dying in childbirth. Sidious decided to exploit this to his advantage. Throughout the next few rotations, their relationship continued to grow. Ultimately, Palpatine appointed Skywalker to be his representative to the Jedi Council. During what became the last full session of the Republic Senate, the Petition of 2,000 was officially unveiled. However, Palpatine still managed to find an advantage in the current political atmosphere, telling and convincing Skywalker that Amidala could have ulterior motives she was keeping secret from them both.

Meanwhile, the Jedi began to distrust and resent the Chancellor's accumulating power and control. The Council, unhappy with Skywalker's appointment by someone not of their order, denied him the rank of "Jedi Master." This turn of events furthered Sidious's plans. The Council, however, decided to use this appointment as an opportunity to spy on Palpatine. Skywalker, feeling insulted by the demand, regretfully agreed and began to devote his time to getting to know the Chancellor better. Some Jedi, such as Mace Windu, were concerned about their relationship, seeing that it could be dangerous to put the two together. Windu ultimately noted that the dark side of the Force surrounded the Chancellor.

At an opera show, Palpatine and Skywalker discussed the situation, with Palpatine revealing that he knew the Council wanted Skywalker to spy on him. Simultaneously, Skywalker, dealing with the fear of his wife's loss, began to distrust the Jedi Council. This allowed Sidious to orchestrate Skywalker's downfall; he claimed that the Jedi and the Sith were alike in nearly every way, setting the stage for the young Jedi to switch sides while playing to his devotion to the Jedi ideology. Next, Palpatine told him the story of his master, "Darth Plagueis the Wise." According to the story, Plagueis possessed such strength in the Force that he could use it to prevent those closest to him from dying. Skywalker asked what happened to him, to which Palpatine said that he was afraid of losing his power, but had taught his apprentice everything, and then his apprentice killed him in his sleep. Skywalker, enthralled by the story, wished to know more about this power, asking if he himself could learn it, with Palpatine stating that, while possible, such things could not be taught by members of the Order. Skywalker, however, was unaware that Palpatine was really talking about how he killed his mentor Plagueis to lure him to the dark side.

As the situation worsened, Skywalker went to speak with the Chancellor regarding the Battle of Utapau. Anakin expressed his disappointment at not being chosen for the assignment. Palpatine told Skywalker that the Council did not trust him and that the Jedi Council were plotting to take control of the Republic. He then revealed that he was trained in the ways of the Force, "even the nature of the dark side," the power that could save his wife Amidala from certain death. This led Skywalker to conclude that Palpatine himself was the Sith Lord the Jedi were hunting down and drew his lightsaber. Although Skywalker considered killing Palpatine, the young Jedi was deeply conflicted, realizing that he could not lose the Sith Lord as he thought he needed to learn the dark side power to "save" his wife. Stunned by the revelation, Skywalker responded by reporting Palpatine to the Jedi and went to the Jedi Council with this information.

After Skywalker revealed the Chancellor's secret identity, Mace Windu, understanding the Jedi had been deceived by Sidious, proceeded to confront the Chancellor. He was accompanied by fellow Jedi Council Masters Kit Fisto, Agen Kolar, and Saesee Tiin. Windu, along with the three Jedi Masters, boldly activated their lightsabers, declaring the Chancellor's arrest. Sidious, in response, ignited his own red lightsaber, branding the four Jedi as traitors to the Republic. Emitting a furious, inhuman scream, he swiftly attacked, eliminating Kolar and Tiin within seconds, and Fisto shortly after, leaving only Windu to face the Sith Lord. A fierce one-on-one duel then ensued between Sidious and Windu. Despite an initially balanced fight, Windu eventually gained the upper hand, disarming Sidious, forcing him to the ground, and holding his lightsaber to his throat.

Following this, Skywalker arrived, and both Sidious and Windu attempted to convince him of the other's treachery. Windu's taunting of the defeated Sidious provoked the Sith Lord to unleash Force lightning in an attempt to kill Windu. However, Windu redirected the lightning back at Sidious, causing his face to become grotesquely disfigured due to the dark side energy contained within the lightning. Subsequently, Sidious altered his strategy, feigning weakness and helplessness, ceasing his lightning attack and claiming to be too feeble to continue. Skywalker insisted that Sidious should face trial, but Windu argued that Sidious wielded too much influence to be left alive, controlling both the courts and the senate. Ultimately, Skywalker, prioritizing his wife's survival over his loyalty to the Jedi Order, betrayed Windu by severing his lightsaber hand, thus allowing Sidious to drop his pretense and hurl Windu out of the office window with a concentrated blast of Force lightning.

Although initially shocked by his actions, Skywalker ultimately perceived Windu's actions as the epitome of Jedi hypocrisy, which he could no longer endure. He knelt before the now-scarred Chancellor, agreeing to embrace the dark side on the condition that he would be taught how to save Amidala's life, thus completing his betrayal of the Jedi. Sidious then bestowed upon the young man the Sith title of Darth Vader, promising that together they would uncover the secret to preventing death. Sidious then informed Vader of his plan to eliminate all Jedi from the galaxy, asserting that the Order posed a threat to both the Senate and the security of the Republic. Sidious commanded Vader to attack the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, and then execute the Separatist leaders on Mustafar. He proclaimed that the galaxy would then be restored to peace under the rule of the Sith.

While Vader spearheaded the 501st Legion's assault on the Jedi Temple, Sidious commanded the remaining clone troopers to carry out Order 66, effectively declaring all Jedi as enemies of the Republic. However, to a select few Jedi he had secretly groomed, he offered their lives in exchange for service to him. Order 66 activated the biochips embedded within the clones, which were programmed to compel them to kill the Jedi for treason against the state. Despite having served alongside and developed strong bonds with the Jedi, the activation of their biochips by Sidious immediately and forcefully brainwashed them into believing that the Jedi were traitors to the Republic who needed to be eliminated, thus initiating the Great Jedi Purge. Consequently, the Jedi were betrayed and murdered by their own soldiers, although some, such as Obi-Wan Kenobi, Yoda, and Caleb Dume, managed to survive. Sidious also used Order 66 to compel Clone Commander Rex to eliminate the former Jedi Ahsoka Tano, along with his former apprentice Maul who had been captured and brought to Coruscant by the 501st Legion. However, both attempts were unsuccessful as Tano freed Maul, and then subsequently freed Rex of the mind control by removing his biochip.

Following the fall of the Jedi Temple, Sidious arrived and congratulated his new apprentice, confirming that he had followed his orders. Vader had slain numerous Jedi during the siege, including Padawans and younglings, much to Sidious's delight. After assuring Vader that he had performed admirably, Sidious instructed his apprentice to bring peace to their newly established empire, dispatching him to Mustafar to eliminate the Separatist leaders. Their conversation was recorded by the Temple's security holograms. Sidious then contacted the Separatist Council, informing them that Vader would arrive and take care of them, unaware that Sidious had betrayed them and had actually sent Vader to assassinate them.

Convening the Senate in a special session, Sidious, as Palpatine, addressed the Republic, accusing the Jedi of attempting to assassinate him and overthrow the government, using his newly scarred face as evidence. Affirming that the Jedi rebellion, as he termed it, had been suppressed by the loyal Clone Army, Palpatine assured the Senate that any remaining Jedi would be hunted down and eliminated. Capitalizing on the fear and death he had spread throughout the galaxy and presenting himself as the individual who had ended the war and the alleged Jedi rebellion, he announced the Republic's transformation into the First Galactic Empire, promising that such a destructive conflict would never occur again under its rule. In the process, he declared himself Emperor of the new regime, encountering little to no resistance from the majority of the senators present.

Upon realizing what had transpired after viewing a recording within the Jedi Temple, Kenobi and Yoda reacted. Yoda went to face the Emperor directly, while a hesitant Obi-Wan secretly boarded Amidala's yacht, heading to Mustafar to kill Vader. Upon arriving at the working office of the Chancellery Secretariat, Yoda eliminated the two guardsmen stationed at the entrance, surprising Sidious. However, the Sith Lord quickly regained his composure, unleashing a barrage of Force lightning at the Jedi Master after a brief exchange between the two. Yoda swiftly recovered and used the Force to push Sidious backward. When Sidious refused to allow Yoda to escape, Yoda engaged him in a duel. Sidious proclaimed that Vader would surpass both of them in power, while Yoda countered that Sidious's faith in his new apprentice was misplaced, as was his faith in the dark side.

The two then engaged in combat within the Senate hall. Having lost his lightsaber shortly after, Sidious resorted to using his Force powers, launching numerous Senate pods at the Jedi Master, who skillfully evaded them. Yoda eventually managed to redirect one of Sidious's pods back at him, which the Sith Lord dodged. Sidious then unleashed a torrent of Force lightning at Yoda, who managed to redirect it back at him, giving the Jedi Master the advantage. However, the accumulation of energy resulted in an explosion that caused Sidious to stumble backward and Yoda to fall heavily to the ground. Fortunately, Sidious managed to hold onto a pod and regain his footing. Although neither emerged victorious, Yoda believed he had failed because he was unable to stop Sidious, and subsequently fled and chose to go into exile.

As Imperial shock troopers of the Coruscant Guard arrived in the Senate Chamber following the battle, the Emperor stood with Mas Amedda on a Senatorial pod as they searched for the Jedi Master. However, they could not find any trace of a body. The Emperor had more pressing concerns however: he had sensed that Vader, far away on Mustafar, was in danger of being destroyed. He ordered the clones to double their search for Yoda, and that his shuttle be prepared to depart.

Accompanied by a squad of the most skilled shock troopers under the command of Commander CC-4477 "Thire," the Emperor hastened to Mustafar. Upon arriving on the planet, he discovered that Vader had been dismembered, severely burned, and left for dead by Obi-Wan Kenobi following their duel. He instructed the clones accompanying him to prepare a medical capsule for his apprentice. As they departed to fulfill his instructions, the Emperor knelt beside his fallen apprentice, determined to find a way to keep him alive.

The Emperor was acutely aware that, without Vader, the foundations of his newfound power would be severely weakened. He needed an apprentice capable of ensuring that his Empire would withstand the inevitable challenges that would arise against it. To ensure that Vader would remain a formidable apprentice, the Emperor contacted the most daring scientists he could find, those whose methods would have been disapproved of by the Jedi and the Republic. Among these scientists was Doctor Cylo, an expert in cybernetics.

The Emperor transported Vader to the Grand Medical Facility, located high above Coruscant's surface as a storm raged across the capital. A grueling night ensued, during which the scientists, their droids, and their technology worked tirelessly to save the critically injured Vader from death. The new Sith apprentice was kept conscious throughout the entire procedure, enduring the pain associated with saving his life. Cylo and the other scientists designed a suit of armor that would protect his weakened body and enable his scorched lungs to breathe. Cybernetic limbs were added to replace the legs and arm that Kenobi had severed.

After what the Emperor would later describe as a "long night," Skywalker was surgically reconstructed as a cyborg and encased in the armor and mask that would forever conceal his former identity from the galaxy. As the procedure concluded and the Sith apprentice rose, the Emperor approached him. Vader's initial inquiry was to ascertain whether his wife was safe. The Emperor informed him that he had killed Amidala in his anger. This final loss pushed Vader beyond the brink of pure rage and anguish, completing his transformation into the apprentice Sidious had spent decades grooming. Consumed by fury, Vader used his new limbs to tear away the restraints that bound him to the operating table and employed the Force to destroy the droids that had just saved his life, before staggering onto his new legs and unleashing his despair upon the galaxy as a satisfied Sidious watched on with a devious smile.

Vader then turned his rage onto the Emperor, throwing him into the wall of the operating room with the Force. He angrily berated his master for promising that he could save his wife from death. The Emperor conceded that he had failed him in that regard but countered that, with her death, Amidala had given him something so much stronger: pain. This pain would fuel his power for decades and make him the dreaded Sith apprentice that Sidious had always coveted. It would also allow him to live. After a tense few moments, Vader released his master and proclaimed that he would live. Satisfied, the Emperor then assaulted Vader with Force lightning, pointing out his apprentice's lack of a lightsaber. Afterward, Sidious warned Vader never to use the Force against him in such a way again, or he would finish what Kenobi would not.

Having demonstrated his apprentice's need for a new lightsaber, Sidious revealed to Vader a ceremony during which many of the weapons looted from the Jedi Temple were incinerated. Sidious also elucidated the red color of Sith lightsabers, acquired through the process of bleeding a kyber crystal taken from a slain Jedi. He then dispatched Vader to obtain one for himself. Vader proceeded to hunt down and kill Jedi Master Kirak Infil'a on Al'doleem, seizing his lightsaber. Following Sidious's instructions, he returned to Mustafar, bleeding his new crystal there in a dark side cave. Sidious was in the middle of a meeting with Wilhuff Tarkin when a battle-damaged Vader returned, bursting into the room and presenting the new weapon to his master.

Following the establishment of his Sith Empire, Sidious took residence in the former Jedi Temple on Coruscant, transforming the most renowned of the Jedi Order's temples into his Imperial Palace. The Jedi had constructed the palace atop an ancient Sith shrine in order to neutralize and contain the dark power emanating from its depths. Sidious entrusted the reopening and restoration of the ancient temple to droids under the supervision of 11-4D, a protocol droid inherited from Darth Plagueis.

Secure in his position as Emperor of the galaxy, Sidious pursued his obsession with immortality, delegating the bureaucratic aspects of the government to his followers. This allowed Sidious to enjoy ruling the galaxy without concerning himself with the more mundane aspects of administration. He largely withdrew from public view to delve into the secrets of the dark side and extensively study his Sith arcana in order to unlock the ability to live forever. He prepared the ancient Sith world of Exegol, constructing a base of power within the Sith Citadel located on the surface, intending to claim the ancient throne of the Sith as his permanent seat of power. His devoted cult following, the Sith Eternal, began to experiment with technology and genetic cloning science in an attempt to extend his lifespan. Exegol also served as the location for his most promising experimentations within a vergence of the Force.

The planet Byss in the Deep Core held significant importance for Palpatine. Ultimately, Palpatine's true objective was for the Death Star to become the symbol of fear that would maintain order in the galaxy, granting himself and Vader the freedom to pursue the deepest secrets of the dark side. Beyond mere immortality, Sidious sought the power to alter reality itself and bring every living being under his dark control. As such, he pursued immortality solely as a means to prevent anything, even death itself, from hindering his pursuit of ultimate power.

Over many years, Sidious dispatched explorers to uncharted regions of space to locate the source of the dark side, believing it resided there. These explorers established communication stations and labs on remote moons and asteroids. As part of his planned Contingency, Sidious had Imperial scouts explore the Unknown Regions while also utilizing extensive resources to establish laboratories, shipyards, and observatories within that same region. This arrangement would continue over a period of decades and would be known solely by him and the elect.

In their efforts to grant Sidious immortality, the Sith Eternal employed a cloning method known as Strand-Casting, in addition to modified Kaminoan cloning technology. This involved producing numerous modified cloned bodies of Sidious's original form in an attempt to find a vessel worthy of containing and preserving his essence. In 12 BBY, the only survivor of this process, who grew and aged normally, was created. This artificial construct, designed and assembled from Sidious's clone tissue samples and other donated blood cells, was thriving in health and had the Palpatine bloodline flowing through his veins. This unnamed strandcast was Sidious's "son." However, the strandcast, not being a direct cloned replicate of Sidious and therefore not entirely identical in appearance, ultimately proved to be a disappointment for Sidious. Sidious was disgusted with the son he sired through science; the boy possessed no Force-sensitivity like his father, and Sidious, who relished the powers of the Force, immediately rejected the "useless creature" that was his son. Sidious deemed the boy an example of such "disappointing ordinariness," unable to bear even looking upon him, the inferior child spawned from his flesh undeserving of his legacy.

However, the Sith Lord surmised that, because the boy possessed his blood, he might still prove useful at some point. Therefore, Sidious chose to allow his son to continue living, the clone's health providing Sidious with the means to continue his bloodline and potentially yield more promising results for producing a vessel for his spirit through more natural means. For this reason, Sidious granted his cloned progeny protection from the Sith Eternal cultists, preventing them from "recycling" him as a failed experiment, and allowing him to live on Exegol. Sidious neglected his son, ignoring him like the cultists, never naming him, and barely acknowledging his existence. However, Sidious made his son aware of the Force and its nature as the mystical energy of the galaxy that surrounded all life, especially the its dark side, and the Sith that wielded them.

In his early years as Senator Palpatine, Sidious had maintained a close association with Wilhuff Tarkin, whom he encouraged to pursue a career in politics after completing his training with the Judicials. Tarkin went on to become Governor of Eriadu and one of the Republic's foremost military leaders during the Clone Wars. Sidious had learned of Tarkin's upbringing on Eriadu, where he had undergone harsh training through a brutal initiation in the wild Carrion Plateau of his homeworld. Tarkin had been taught to hunt savage creatures and emerged from his training with the conviction that only the brutal application of the law and the fear of force could maintain order among beings under a central galactic government. Although Tarkin lacked Force-sensitivity, Sidious recognized him as someone whose mindset closely aligned with that of the Sith.

During the early years of the Empire, making a rare public address, Sidious claimed the Empire would do whatever was needed to ensure a lasting reconciliation now that the Clone Wars had ended. At some point during the Imperial Era, Sidious created an Imperial hunter droid named M-OC; additionally the B1 battle droid R0-GR of the Freemakers later claimed to have fought Sidious. The Ehllo family was an influential political dynasty during the Imperial Era, with Palpatine personally knowing Captain Cerasus Ehllo's father. As such, Captain Ehllo was able to make a Raider-class corvette, the King's Ransom, into his flagship.

Within his first year as Emperor of the Galactic Empire, Sidious brought to fruition an old idea with the formation of the Inquisitorius, an organization composed of dark side adepts and tasked with hunting down surviving Jedi. The Inquisitors were primarily captured Jedi who had been tortured until they turned to the dark side. However, a few, such as the the Grand Inquisitor and the Fifth Brother, joined the Inquisitorius of their own accord. Another was the former Jedi Knight Iskat Akaris, who Sidious spoke to in the Inquisitorius Headquarters on Coruscant, not long after she had received her uniform. He tested her willingness to continue her training in the dark side and made sure she understood that she and her fellow Inquisitors were substantially inferior to him. Sidious was impressed by Akaris' wits, as she had quickly realized that he was a Sith Lord and had by now identified the agent he had assigned to help nudge her away from the Jedi over the course of the Clone Wars. He then told her to choose her path carefully before turning her over to the Fifth Brother.

Following his confrontation with Kirak Infil'a, Darth Vader gave a report to Emperor Sidious. The report covered the ongoing training of the Inquisitors, and Vader inquired as to why Jocasta Nu, the Jedi Master, held such high importance amongst the remaining Jedi. Sidious clarified that she presented a threat due to her vast knowledge and access to a library containing secrets and Force artifacts, rivaling any other collection. Moreover, Nu possessed the Jedi's registry of Force-sensitive children throughout the galaxy. Sidious stressed to Vader the necessity of capturing her alive, emphasizing that her knowledge was valuable, but they couldn't risk it falling into enemy hands. He instructed Vader to employ the Inquisitors in the search, while concealing the true extent of Nu's threat from them. In a subsequent discussion, Vader used the Force to choke an officer for delivering a substandard report, until Sidious commanded him to release the man. Sidious, while understanding Vader's frustration with the scarcity of Jedi to eliminate, cautioned him against the needless killing of subordinates. Shortly thereafter, Vader informed Sidious that Nu had died while attempting to escape his custody, a development Sidious deemed unfortunate.

After surviving two assassination attempts, Vader traced the conspiracy back to high-ranking officials within the Imperial government. He then met with Sidious near Nu's hidden vault. Despite Vader's failure to capture Nu alive, Sidious expressed satisfaction with the artifacts recovered from her secret stash. Addressing Vader's suspicions towards him, Sidious briefly examined Vader's reconstructed lightsaber, approving of the modification from Kirak Infil'a's original design. He then asserted that if he desired Vader's death, he wouldn't need to hire mercenaries. Sidious declared that dealing with the conspiracy was Vader's responsibility, cautioning that great power attracts countless enemies to destroy.

Vader soon identified one of the conspirators, an Imperial officer, and sought the Emperor's permission to set an example to solidify his position within the Empire's hierarchy. Sidious granted his request, stipulating that Vader could execute any officer except Tarkin. Later, the Emperor assembled the Imperial Officer Corps, introducing Vader to them and instructing them to treat Vader as they would treat him. Vader then summoned the known conspirator and four randomly selected officers to step forward, before using the Force to choke them to death in front of the assembled officers.

Around this period, Sidious deemed it appropriate to finally replace the aging Clone Army with a newly conscripted military force that would be loyal to him. Despite his absolute power, he continued to manipulate the Senate as a puppet government to maintain the illusion that his role as Emperor was not drastically different from his time as Chancellor. Consequently, Sidious relied on individuals eager to share in his power, such as Admiral Rampart, and idealistic followers who could serve as scapegoats while advancing the Sith's agenda. Tarkin had determined that the clones were twice as expensive as a proposed new military force and considered them less effective for maintaining order. By 18 BBY, preparations were secretly underway to replace the clones with an army of volunteers and conscripts from across the galaxy. The Kaminoans clung to the belief that their cloning expertise was their only value to the Empire. However, their usefulness came to an end when Admiral Rampart ordered the destruction of Tipoca City after removing its valuables.

Following the successful orbital bombardment of Tipoca City, the Empire's official explanation was that the cloning facilities had been submerged by a severe storm, despite their construction being designed to withstand Kamino's extreme climate. New legislation was now of great interest to the Emperor: the Imperial Defense Recruitment Bill, which formalized the decommissioning of the Clone Army and the transition to an Imperial Military. However, Rampart's poorly constructed story about Tipoca City's demise posed a significant risk if the truth were revealed. Although he did not personally attend the Senate session, Mas Amedda informed his master that the bill had been rejected twice before preliminary hearings and faced strong criticism from Senators Chuchi, Organa, and Pamlo. The actual vote was also postponed, much to the Emperor's frustration. He instructed the Vice Chair to inform the admiral that further failures would have severe consequences.

The vote commenced in the Senate Chamber later that day, where Rampart managed to appease Senator Chuchi's demands for fair retirement for the Clones, and the voting was about to begin until the Senator of Pantora intervened. Despite his efforts, Rampart failed to conceal his actions, as the former Senator of Kamino, Halle Burtoni, revealed that he had diverted funds from the Senate Defense Committee to finance his own projects and recruitments. The final blow, however, came when Senator Bail Organa played a hologram taken from Rampart's own Venator, showing the entire Senate the true destruction of Tipoca City.

Faced with a dire situation, the Emperor decided to attend a Senate hearing in person, appearing at his Chancellor's podium, which silenced the entire Senate hall as their leader made one of his rare appearances since the Empire's establishment. Confronted with overwhelming evidence, the Emperor determined that Rampart's usefulness had ended and had Mas Amedda arrest him. Not allowing this to derail his plans to eliminate the Clones, the Emperor spoke with the same mannerisms as when he was Chancellor and expressed his shock at Admiral Rampart's acts of transgression against the Kaminoans. He promised that the admiral would be punished for his treachery.

Now presented with a perfect opportunity, the Emperor skillfully manipulated the situation to his advantage by reminding the Senators that Rampart did not act alone; that the clones aboard the Venators willingly unleashed carnage upon their own home without hesitation. Arguing that security in the galaxy was more critical than ever and recognizing the bill's immediate necessity, the Emperor asserted that the Imperial Defense Recruitment Bill represented their future. Despite framing this as a suggestion rather than an order, the Emperor demonstrated his supreme authority as the bill was immediately passed.

Although he had presented a convincing narrative, many senators remained skeptical. Nevertheless, Palpatine had taken a crucial step in furthering his power within the Empire and his control over the galaxy, finally removing the clone army and eliminating another significant remnant of the Republic: now only the Senate remained. The era of the Imperial Stormtrooper had now begun.

Sidious soon decided to showcase the strength of the revamped Imperial Military by invading Mon Cala. As Project Stardust was still far from completion, he chose to dispatch a task force under Tarkin's command to occupy the planet. Suspecting that a surviving Jedi was advising King Lee-Char, Sidious sent Vader and the Inquisitorius to locate and eliminate the threat. The resulting battle concluded with an Imperial victory after Tarkin ordered an orbital bombardment, compelling Lee-Char to surrender. Simultaneously, the Jedi Ferren Barr confronted Vader, revealing that he had helped orchestrate the genocide after having foreseen the role the Mon Calamari would later play in defeating the Empire, before being killed by the Sith Lord in a lightsaber duel.

That same year, Tarkin contacted Sidious after Vader entered the Scarif vault without permission to learn more about Project Stardust. Sidious instructed Vader to assist Tarkin by identifying saboteurs who were hindering the project's progress, sending him to Geonosis. He also placed Vader under the Governor's authority.

Six months after the Senate voted to replace the clone army, the Emperor made an unannounced visit to the secret Mount Tantiss facility on Wayland to assess the progress of Doctors Royce Hemlock and Nala Se on Project Necromancer. Hemlock led him on a tour of the site, concluding with a heavily guarded chamber containing specimens essential to the project. The doctor stated that with more time and resources, he was confident that they would be able to successfully replicate M-counts. Considering their work of paramount importance, the Emperor assured Hemlock that he would have whatever he required for the project.

On the landing pad, while heading to his shuttle, the Emperor emphasized to Hemlock the need to maintain the base's secrecy, cautioning that many individuals, even fellow Imperials, would disapprove of the research being conducted there. Palpatine then praised the doctor's brilliance, with Hemlock responding that, with an appointment to scientific minister, he would be able to bring his abilities to bear upon the entire scientific corps. The Emperor advised him to be patient before departing.

During the Empire's rule, Sidious maintained his interest in the Unknown Regions. This culminated when the crew of the Venator-class Star Destroyer Strikefast, under the command of Captain Voss Parck, encountered the Chiss known as Thrawn in Wild Space. Years prior, Anakin Skywalker had informed Palpatine about this alien and their collaboration. This alien claimed to possess extensive knowledge of the Unknown Regions. Thrawn was subsequently brought before the Emperor on Coruscant for questioning. Thrawn informed the Emperor of threats lurking within the Unknown Regions and how they might one day target the Empire, offering his military expertise. The Emperor then inferred that Thrawn's intentions were to protect his people from these threats. Thrawn assured the Emperor that his allegiance would be to the Empire. Thrawn then revealed that he had known Anakin Skywalker during the Clone Wars, thus proving who he was to the Emperor.

For their service, the Emperor promised Captain Parck and his crew rewards. Thrawn, however, requested that his translator Eli Vanto remain with him. The Emperor then asked Thrawn to walk with him outside. In his personal garden, the Emperor expressed his interest in the Unknown Regions to the Chiss. Thrawn then warned of the great danger to be found there but assured the Emperor that he would share his knowledge of the Unknown Regions. The Emperor ordered that Eli Vanto be transferred to Thrawn's side and that they both undergo training at the Royal Imperial Academy.

Five years following the conclusion of the Clone Wars, Cham Syndulla, a war hero who liberated Ryloth from Separatist forces during the conflict, organized and led the Free Ryloth Movement to liberate his homeworld once more, this time from Imperial military occupation. Sidious summoned the Senator of Ryloth, Orn Free Taa, to incorporate the senator into his plan to eradicate the "terrorists." He ordered the Twi'lek to accompany him and his right-hand man, Darth Vader, for an official visit to Ryloth. After Sidious dismissed Taa, Vader inquired why he couldn't simply eliminate the Senator along with his entire staff, as the two Sith suspected the presence of one or more traitors providing aid to the terrorist movement. However, the Emperor desired to uncover the roots of the treachery, eliminate them, and make an example of it for the entire galaxy. Eventually, he instructed Vader to inform the Moff of Ryloth, Delian Mors, of Senator Orn Free Taa's arrival, but not of their presence.

En route to Ryloth aboard the Star Destroyer Perilous, Sidious directed the ship to stop at the Denon system for a meeting on the training cruiser Defiance with several Imperial Navy chiefs to discuss a realignment of the Imperial Naval Academy. Sidious instructed Darth Vader to oversee training exercises conducted by Commandant Pell Baylo while the Emperor was in his meeting with the naval chiefs. During one such exercise, Baylo set a hyperspace route that would have crashed the Defiance into Christophsis' sun. Cadet Rae Sloane and Darth Vader uncovered this assassination attempt and redirected the Defiance. Baylo confronted the Emperor, accusing the Galactic Empire of being a hostile force that had taken over the Galactic Republic. Vader killed Baylo, which upset Sidious, who wanted Baylo to suffer as the Navy becomes something he hated and watch as the Defiance was decommissioned and turned into "cafeteria trays." Instead, the Defiance was renamed Obedience as a final jab at Baylo and a not-so-subtle reminder toward Vader to remember his place, and Sidious and Vader re-boarded the Perilous and continued on their way to Ryloth.

The two Sith and Senator Taa arrived in the Ryloth system aboard the Perilous. Upon exiting hyperspace, they found themselves in the midst of a minefield: Syndulla was awaiting them. The Twi'lek intended to eliminate them to strike at the heart of the Empire. However, Sidious remained unperturbed by the ambush, having evidently foreseen such an event. When the shields were overwhelmed, Sidious remained on the bridge, while Vader departed in his fighter, leading a squadron to engage a swarm of vulture droids. The former Separatist fighters released thousands of explosive buzz droids which further damaged the Star Destroyer. Vader returned aboard the Perilous, where he met the Emperor and Senator Taa after discovering that the Emperor's personal shuttle had been destroyed in the attack. Suspecting a traitor within the Senator's staff, Sidious ordered their isolation in their quarters, denying them access to any communications equipment.

Meanwhile, a Twi'lek task force, disguised as a repair team, infiltrated the ship and planted explosive charges in the hyperdrive chamber, intending to trigger a chain reaction. After discovering the sabotage and realizing that the ship was doomed, Vader contacted the Emperor. The Emperor informed Vader that he had prepared a second shuttle, either as a contingency or because he had foreseen the destruction of the first shuttle, and instructed Vader to meet him there. However, Vader delayed his arrival by a few minutes in an attempt to locate and eliminate the saboteurs. The Twi'lek rebels barely managed to escape, and Vader hurried to the Emperor's shuttle, which departed as soon as Vader was aboard. Moments later, the Perilous exploded. Once in space, the fugitive task force located the Imperial shuttle and pursued it. Vader Force choked the resistance pilot of the pursuing ship through the shuttle viewport. In a desperate attempt to escape Vader's grasp and kill both him and the Emperor, the Twi'leks rammed the stolen starship into the Imperial shuttle, critically damaging it. Vader attempted to regain control of the shuttle, while Sidious remembered they had already been in situations like this. Thanks to Vader's piloting skills, the shuttle crash-landed on Ryloth's surface, in the middle of a forest.

Upon landing on the planet's surface, Sidious remarked with mild annoyance that the landing had been far less skillful than what he knew Vader was capable of and that Vader's lapse had resulted in four fatalities in the shuttle's rear compartment. Vader conceded that he had been distracted by thoughts of his past and attempted to dismiss it as insignificant. Sidious, however, remained unconvinced, though he set the matter aside and proceeded with Vader into the rear compartment. There, three of the shuttle's occupants, Sergeant Erstin Deez, his captain, and another member of the Imperial Guard had survived the crash, although one was severely injured and unconscious. Vader noted with mild surprise that the Emperor appeared to have been wrong; there were only three corpses in the compartment. One of the conscious guards explained that his injured comrade had not fastened his seatbelt during the landing and had been thrown around the compartment when the ship crashed. However the Emperor, seemingly having known about the guard, had the semi-conscious guard executed for his stupidity, leaving the fourth corpse.

The survivors exited in the night, and while the two guards who survived were checking the survival kits, Vader asked his master if he was testing him. Sidious answered they were always being tested, and they must pass all tests to gain strength and power. Meanwhile, the guards had activated the generator and the communication array to call for help. At that moment the Sith sensed that two Twi'lek ships were approaching and prepared themselves for a confrontation. The Twi'lek rebel's ships fired upon them, while Vader, immersed in the Force, deflected the laser beams with his lightsaber.

The captain suggested to take cover in the woods, but the Emperor refused and instead, removed his cloak, and ignited his lightsaber. The two Sith spun their red blades, turning every shot back at the ships. When the enemy ships engines were hit and began to explode in flames and smoke, Sidious unleashed a bolt of Force lightning on their hulls and then, with the Force, drove one of the ships to the ground, while Vader did the same with the other. The two freighters exploded, and Vader sent Deez to check for survivors. They realized the rebels had jammed the communication network and that they were hunting for them.

They walked for a long time into the depths of the forest. Sidious went forward in the darkness seeing through the Force while testing Vader's loyalty once again until he decided to stop for a while. While the guards were eating, the two Sith began to meditate. The Emperor sensed his apprentice's murderous feelings towards him. When Vader ended his meditation, Sidious told him what he had sensed, but the former Jedi pledged his loyalty to his Sith Master. At that moment, the guards, whom the Emperor had sent away, had returned, pursued by a horde of lyleks. The Emperor remained calm, sending torrents of Force lightning against the predators, and began to advance back-to-back with Vader, their lightsabers ignited.

While Vader and the guardsmen held back the advancing lyleks with their weapons, Sidious used the Force to topple trees over the advancing lylek horde. Through the Force, Sidious sensed a tunnel a hundred meters away. The four retreated into the tunnel with the lyleks in pursuit. This tunnel turned out to be the home of the lylek horde, and the four Imperials were forced to fight through hundreds of the creatures. The guards used their blasters and grenades while the two Sith Lords used the Force and their lightsabers to fight through the horde.

As they waded deeper into the cave, Sidious realized that the lyleks were herding the intruders towards their queen. At Vader's instigation, the four resolved to kill all their opponents with the Emperor activating his red blade. After a fierce battle with the lyleks, Sidious and Vader found themselves back to back. When Sidious asked his apprentice whether he had ever toyed with the idea of letting his Emperor die to fulfill his own ambitions, Vader admitted he had entertained such thoughts but reassured his master it was only for a moment. Sidious accepted Vader's loyalty and the two joined forces to tackle the lylek queen.

Following a savage battle, Vader managed to kill the queen; scattering the remaining lyleks. However, the royal guard captain was killed, leaving only Sidious, Vader, and Sergeant Deez. Based on their battle with the lyleks, master and apprentice quickly surmised that Cham and his rebels were trying to kill them to bring about the Empire's destruction. Having triumphed over the lylek horde, the three Imperials found an opening at the end of the tunnel which led back to the forest.

While Sidious and his companions were traveling through the forest, they encountered a young Twi'lek girl named Drua. Sidious made a move to kill her, but Vader blocked his master's death blow and convinced Sidious that she could lead them to a settlement where they could contact reinforcements. Drua led them to her village, which was home to escaped Twi'lek slaves. When the village head Narmn asked for their identities, Sidious introduced himself, Vader, and Deez as "Krataa," "Irluuk," and the Sergeant. Sidious and Vader alone knew that their pseudonyms stood for "death" and "fate."

Sidious warned Vader that his act of mercy towards Drua would cost both her and her fellow villagers their lives. Vader then managed to win over the villagers by offering to repair an ancient communications device. Once Vader had fixed the machine, Sidious ordered Deez to contact Moff Mors; whom he knew to be loyal. After re-establishing contact with the two Sith Lords, Mors took steps to eliminate the Imperial traitor Colonel Belkor Dray, who was secretly aiding Cham's rebels. She foiled Belkor's plot to order V-wing fighters to strike Drua's Village and the massed Free Ryloth forces in a nearby quarry. After executing Belkor, Moff Mors sent her forces to rendezvous with Sidious and Vader at the Twi'lek village.

Cham's soldiers, not wanting to hurt the villagers, discharged their weapons into the air as a warning, hoping it would cause the villagers to evacuate before the impending conflict. Responding to this, the villagers sought refuge in a nearby mine shaft, a location they considered safe during dangerous times. Conversely, Sidious, Vader, and Deez remained in place, standing firm in the village's center. Before Cham's forces could initiate their assault, Moff Mors' troops arrived aboard a pair of transport ships, effectively encircling the rebel combatants. Many of the Free Ryloth warriors perished, and Cham only barely managed to evade capture by Vader. Acting on Sidious's instructions, Mors's Imperial forces proceeded to slaughter the remaining Free Ryloth fighters. Following a brief discussion with Cham's lieutenant, Isval, Sidious commanded Vader to execute her and then, to eliminate any potential witnesses, to also massacre the Twi'lek villagers who were sheltering in the mine shaft. After a short pause of contemplation, Vader obeyed his master's commands and carried out the massacre of the villagers.

In the year 14 BBY, the top-secret Death Star project was still in progress high above Geonosis, relying on a network of logistical hubs for its supplies. The Empire was confronted with a fresh challenge in the form of Berch Teller, a former operative of Republic Intelligence who stood in opposition to the Empire. He commanded a rebel cell composed of survivors and witnesses from the Antar Atrocity, a severe crackdown on Antar 4 after the Clone Wars, which resulted in the deaths of innocent Gotal and Koorivar loyalists. Teller harbored a deep-seated resentment towards Tarkin, the mastermind behind the Antar Atrocity. He received covert support and resources from Vice Admiral Dodd Rancit, the director of the Naval Intelligence Agency and a rival of Tarkin.

Following Teller's attack targeting Sentinel Base, the Emperor convened a session of his Ruling Council to address the discovery of a stockpile of communications jamming devices on the planet Murkhana. The Imperial Security Bureau claimed to have uncovered the cache and expressed concerns that dissidents were plotting to disrupt the Imperial HoloNet, reminiscent of the Separatist Shadowfeed broadcasts during the Clone Wars. The Emperor tasked both Moff Tarkin and Lord Vader with investigating the situation. However, this development played into Teller's strategy, enabling the insurgents to seize Tarkin's corvette, the Carrion Spike, with the intention of transforming it into a symbol of resistance against the Empire.

Upon learning about the theft of the Carrion Spike, Vice Admiral Rancit proposed that the individuals responsible for the ship's theft were the same ones who had previously attacked Sentinel Base. Consequently, the Emperor instructed Rancit to reroute Imperial forces stationed in the Belderone system to provide assistance to Tarkin and Lord Vader. While Tarkin and Vader were engaged in pursuing the insurgents, the Emperor presided over another meeting of the Ruling Council. During this meeting, Rancit advocated for the deployment of additional Imperial forces to bolster Imperial installations along the Perlemian Trade Route and Hydian Way. The Council also received information that Teller's insurgents had attacked the TaggeCo mining facilities on Lucazec and were broadcasting holovids of their assaults across the HoloNet.

Following a skirmish in the Phindar system between Imperial forces and the stolen Carrion Spike, Rancit successfully persuaded the Emperor to deploy interdictor vessels against the insurgents. Grand Vizier Amedda then informed the Emperor that the Murkhana communications jammers had been discovered by an ISB operative who had been assigned to investigate the find by his superior officer. Acting on this intelligence, Sidious interrogated the Koorivar ISB operative Bracchia and his case officer Stellan, who revealed that they had received a tip about the discovery from Naval Intelligence. After reviewing the holovid, the Emperor concluded that the communications cache had been planted by a high-ranking Imperial official who was providing aid to the insurgents.

Concurrently, Lord Vader uncovered Rancit's treachery as the Imperial mole and executed him. While Tarkin led Imperial forces in a confrontation against Teller's insurgents during a space battle near the Gulf of Tatooine, Darth Sidious meditated on his ambition to achieve galactic dominance. Following the defeat of Teller's insurgency, Tarkin and Vader dedicated the subsequent three weeks to ruthlessly tracking down Teller's collaborators and contacts in a sweeping crackdown. The pair briefed the Emperor, who subsequently appointed Tarkin as Grand Moff, a position that entailed serving as the governor of the Outer Rim Territories and overseeing the Death Star project. In the aftermath of Rancit's execution, the Emperor also reorganized the Ruling Council, reintegrated Naval Intelligence into Imperial Intelligence, and established the Council of Moffs.

By 14 BBY, Sidious had also given the order to initiate Project Auger on the planet Zeffo, the former home of the Zeffonian civilization before their arrogance nearly led to their self-destruction. The project involved the commencement of Imperial mining operations on Zeffo with the objective of locating ancient artifacts. The commanding officer, Krane, concealed the discovery of one particular artifact with the intention of securing Sidious's favor by personally delivering it to him. However, she met her demise when the cave she had chosen to hide the artifact in collapsed.

Not long after his killing of Eeth Koth, Vader launched an attack on the Thirteenth Sister, accusing her of treason. Confused by this, her partner attempted to defend her, leading to their joint escape from Inquisitorius Headquarters across Coruscant. The Sith Lord eventually overtook the couple and killed them. However, the widespread destruction caused by the pursuit and the resulting death of Senator Maklooq, a figure of importance to one of Sidious's schemes, prompted the Emperor to order the relocation of the Inquisitorius. Their new base was constructed on Nur. Pleased by Koth's death, Sidious presented Vader with the former royal vessel of Queen Amidala as a gift. With the number of Jedi remaining dwindling, Sidious was on the verge of assigning his apprentice to other missions when Vader requested a world of his own: Mustafar. Sidious granted the request but demanded to know the reason behind his apprentice's choice of the site of his greatest defeat. Vader explained his belief that the dark side nexus present there could grant him access to the deceased Amidala. Sidious voiced his encouragement, confident that any knowledge or power his apprentice acquired there would ultimately fall under his control. He bestowed upon Vader one final gift, the mask of Darth Momin, before dispatching him to Mustafar alongside the architect Colonel Brenne to design a fortress for him.

By 12 BBY, the construction of Fortress Vader had been completed, following the failure of the previous eight iterations. Vader contacted Sidious, who expressed surprise at hearing from him after such a prolonged period but was eager to assign him more missions on behalf of the Empire. Upon inquiring whether Vader had obtained the knowledge he sought, Vader confirmed this with a simple "yes" and offered no further details.

In 9 BBY, Darth Vader and the Inquisitorius became involved in a hunt for Obi-Wan Kenobi, who had been deliberately lured out of hiding to rescue Princess Leia Organa of Alderaan. Although the search had been orchestrated by the Third Sister with the intention of killing Vader, her attempts were unsuccessful, leading to a lightsaber duel between Vader and Kenobi on a barren moon. Kenobi emerged victorious, inflicting damage upon Vader's armor, and successfully evaded the Imperials pursuing him. Shortly thereafter, Vader, having had his armor repaired, contacted his master via a hologram at Fortress Vader, his stronghold on Mustafar. He informed Sidious that he had dispatched probe droids to continue the search for Kenobi, assuring him that he would not evade him again. Sensing Vader's agitation, Sidious questioned the clarity of Vader's thoughts on the matter, suggesting that his feelings for his former master might have weakened him. As Sidious inquired whether Vader was unable to overcome his past, Vader declared that Kenobi held no significance, as he served only Sidious.

With the Jedi largely defeated, Sidious felt secure behind his vast galactic military and his dominance over the majority of the known galaxy. Despite this, the remaining Separatist holdouts and surviving Jedi continued to undermine his confidence in the long-term stability of his new Empire. Aiming to solidify control over the core regions, the Emperor sanctioned large-scale military incursions into the Outer Rim Territories in an effort to bring more systems under his dominion. Driven by his ultimate goal of reshaping reality according to his own design, an all-powerful Empire would enable him to hold all the galaxy's inhabitants within his dark embrace. Even with the Jedi on the brink of extinction, Force-sensitive children continued to be born throughout the galaxy. In an effort to counter this threat, Sidious instructed his apprentice, Lord Vader, to contact the Grand Inquisitor and task him with hunting down these children and eliminating them if they refused to serve the Empire.

During Vader's pursuit of the Hidden Hand, the Emperor contacted his apprentice via a hologram, expressing his disappointment in his failure to locate the criminal syndicate. He emphasized the urgency of their destruction, as they had stolen weapons from the Empire and were supplying them to the Rebellion.

Following the raid on the Imperial garrison on Aldhani in 5 BBY, Palpatine engaged in a conversation with Colonel Yularen, granting the ISB direct authority over ongoing operations and the power to apprehend anyone deemed disruptive to the Empire. The following day, the Emperor convened an emergency session of the Senate to propose a legislative package comprising bills and amendments and to formally invoke the Public Order Resentencing Directive.

During the fifteenth Empire Day celebration, marking the anniversary of the Empire's rise to power, the Emperor presided over the Imperial Senate on Coruscant, accompanied by his Royal Guards, and extended an invitation to Lothal governor Arihnda Pryce to join him in the festivities. Following the death of the Inquisitor at the hands of Kanan Jarrus and his Padawan Ezra Bridger, the Emperor dispatched his apprentice to Lothal as an "alternative solution" to the growing rebel problem. Darth Vader contacted the Emperor after he had defeated the Rebel fleet in the Lothal system. Vader informed his master of his discovery that his former Jedi apprentice, Ahsoka Tano, was still alive. The Emperor expressed his satisfaction with this news, recognizing that Tano might possess knowledge of the whereabouts of other hidden Jedi, and capturing her would enable the Empire to locate and eliminate them before they posed a threat. Although Vader was more focused on finding his former Master Obi-Wan Kenobi, the Emperor instructed his apprentice to exercise patience and to dispatch an Inquisitor to hunt down Tano and the other Jedi discovered on Lothal.

In 2 BBY, the Emperor elevated the Chiss Imperial Navy officer Thrawn to the rank of Grand Admiral in recognition of his role in suppressing the rebel insurgency in the Batonn sector. However, during the promotion ceremony, Thrawn questioned Sidious regarding the practicality of the Death Star. The Emperor inquired whether Thrawn's concerns stemmed from the threat the station posed to the Chiss species. Nevertheless, as Thrawn had fulfilled his part of the agreement by sharing his intelligence on the Unknown Regions, he let the matter drop. The Emperor then introduced Thrawn to his personal enforcer, Darth Vader.

Shortly after his promotion, Thrawn was deployed to address the escalating rebel threat at the request of Governor Arihnda Pryce and Tarkin. Subsequently, the renegade Senator Mon Mothma incurred the Emperor's wrath when she publicly denounced him as a liar and condemned his involvement in the Ghorman Massacre. Consequently, Mon Mothma was branded a traitor, and Imperial forces were dispatched to apprehend her. Despite Grand Admiral Thrawn's efforts to trap Mon Mothma and the Spectres in the Archeon Nebula, Hera Syndulla successfully transported Mon Mothma to safety on Dantooine, where she delivered a speech urging the galaxy to unite against the Empire.

Following Thrawn's defeat at Atollon, Sidious detected a significant disturbance in the Force emanating from the edge of the galaxy. Consequently, the Emperor summoned Thrawn and Vader to Coruscant for a meeting. During the meeting, the Emperor tasked the two with locating the source of the Force disturbance on the planet Batuu, testing Vader's vulnerability to his past and Thrawn's loyalty.

Following the discovery of a Jedi temple on Lothal, the Emperor instructed Minister Veris Hydan to excavate the ruins and uncover its secrets. Sometime thereafter, Hydan contacted the Emperor, informing him that they had reached the foundations of the temple and discovered a mural of the Mortis gods, which bore resemblance to art and iconography found at the former temple on Coruscant. The Emperor informed Hydan that he had sensed that Jarrus's death had altered Lothal's destiny. Vowing to control the conduit between the living and the dead, the Emperor urged his minister to expedite his work.

Later, the Emperor employed Sith alchemy in an attempt to open a portal to the World Between Worlds where Bridger and Tano were located. The Emperor taunted them through the portal and unleashed his power against them, which they managed to withstand. He then seized Bridger's leg and attempted to pull him through the portal. However, before he could fully enter the realm, Tano severed the fiery lasso. The Emperor then made another attempt but failed as Bridger and Tano successfully returned to their world, much to his fury. In the process, the Lothal Jedi Temple was destroyed.

Following the defeat of the treasonous Grand Admiral Balanhai Savit and the loss of funding for Thrawn's TIE defender program to the Death Star, Sidious contacted his Chiss Grand Admiral via his private communications display to ascertain whether his loyalties truly lay with the Empire, as Thrawn had collaborated with members of the Chiss Ascendancy to combat a Grysk Hegemony force that had infiltrated Imperial space. After confirming with Thrawn that Savit had indeed been a traitor, the Emperor shifted the topic of discussion to the Chiss officer's loyalties, although Thrawn insisted that his collaboration with the Ascendancy did not constitute treason. Thrawn acknowledged that the Grysks primarily posed a threat to his own people but argued that they had taken an interest in the Empire and might seek control of the Death Star, which Sidious vehemently denied, asserting that neither the Grysks nor the Chiss would control his station.

While Thrawn denied seeking the battle station for his people and pledged to fight against such a situation, Sidious clearly perceived the Chiss's divided loyalties. Contemplating Thrawn's true allegiances and the other factors at play, Sidious pondered whether an alliance between the Empire and the Ascendancy could prove beneficial if Thrawn's assessment was accurate. However, in such a scenario, Sidious desired control over both governments and contemplated whether Thrawn could be manipulated or persuaded into betraying his own kind. Deciding that such a possibility required further contemplation and shifting his focus to the more pressing matter of the Lothal rebels, Sidious informed Thrawn that he was sending instructions for the construction of a chamber aboard the Chimaera. He instructed Thrawn to suppress the rebel insurgency on Lothal and bring Bridger to the chamber, which was a portion of the Lothal Jedi Temple he wanted transported aboard "stone by stone." Leaving Thrawn to carry out his duties, he issued the Grand Admiral one final order: upon the conclusion of the battle at Lothal, he was to return to Coruscant for a "long long talk."

In compliance with his orders, Thrawn brought Bridger aboard the Chimaera when, in an attempt to prevent the Chiss officer from bombarding Lothal's Capital City, the young Jedi surrendered himself to the Empire. After the officer and the Padawan discussed the fate of the Jedi and Lothal, Thrawn escorted Ezra to the room containing the temple fragment, bringing Bridger face-to-face with the Galactic Emperor. As the Emperor was off-world, he utilized a hologram projection to present himself in his more benevolent, pre-scarred form. Sidious then instructed Thrawn to leave the room, leaving him alone with Bridger and the temple fragment.

In an attempt to persuade Ezra to unlock the portal to the World Between Worlds, Sidious sought to tempt Ezra with the prospect of reuniting with his deceased parents. However, Ezra, recalling his earlier lesson in the World Between Worlds, chose to reject this offer, recognizing that he had a family and then proceeded to dismantle the Temple into rubble. This caused the Emperor's hologram projection to shift from his benevolent persona to his true form. With his plan thwarted, the Emperor ordered three members of the Royal Guard and three stormtroopers to enter the room and execute Ezra. However, after Sidious deactivated his hologram, Bridger was able to use the Force to crush the soldiers with rubble and escaped. Ultimately reaching the bridge of the Chimaera, Bridger, having previously instructed his ally Mart Mattin to summon a pod of Purrgil using Frequency Zero, successfully liberated his homeworld from the Empire, as the creatures defeated the blockade in orbit and proceeded to seize control of the Chimaera, dragging it, Thrawn, the rest of the crew, and him into hyperspace. Thus, Bridger unknowingly also prevented Sidious's future plans for Thrawn from materializing.

Later that year, having intentionally placed a flaw within the Death Star, scientist Galen Walton Erso dispatched pilot Bodhi Rook to Jedha to meet with Saw Gerrera's Partisans and inform the Rebel Alliance of the existence of the planet-destroying superweapon. Fearing that the Imperial Senate might become aware of the Death Star's existence, Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin decided to test the Death Star's superlaser on Jedha City, eliminating the traitorous pilot and demonstrating the station's functionality. Tarkin communicated his decision to the Emperor, who would await the Governor's report. Director Orson Callan Krennic, however, expressed disappointment that neither the Emperor nor his favored emissary, Darth Vader, would be present for the occasion. This prompted Tarkin to explain that their absence served as a safeguard for Krennic in the event of another failure during the weapon's testing. Despite the animosity between the commanders, the Death Star fired upon Jedha City, destroying it within moments. Soon after, Krennic inquired whether Tarkin would report to the Emperor that his efforts had been successful, only for Tarkin to reveal that he would instead inform the Emperor that he would be assuming executive control of the Death Star.

Shortly thereafter, Rogue One squad, led by Jyn Erso and Captain Cassian Jeron Andor, along with a significant portion of the Alliance's fleet, managed to steal a complete technological readout of the Death Star from an Imperial Research Facility on Scarif. This loss, occurring as the space station neared completion, represented a severe and potentially catastrophic setback to the Emperor's long-term objectives. To address this issue, Sidious dispatched Vader to retrieve the Death Star plans.

Vader obliterated the rebel flagship and a substantial portion of the rebel fleet. However, Toshma Jefkin secured the plans and escaped aboard the Tantive IV, a CR90 corvette, under the protection of Princess Leia, the Imperial Senator for Alderaan and a suspected Rebel sympathizer. Vader swiftly intercepted the corvette over Tatooine, boarding the ship and taking the Princess hostage. Although Vader failed to obtain the plans, he arrested Organa as a traitor, thereby providing Sidious with the pretext he needed to dissolve the Imperial Senate. As one of the last vestiges of the Galactic Republic, Sidious had always intended to eliminate it but needed to await the completion of the Death Star to ensure that order could be maintained through fear rather than representation in the Senate. With the space station nearing completion and a Senator accused of supporting the rebellion, Sidious ordered the dissolution of the Senate. Legislative authority was transferred to regional governors and select members of the Imperial military, such as Sidious's ally, Grand Moff Tarkin, enabling the Emperor to assume complete control over the Empire without any checks on his power.

After Vader's confrontation with Obi-Wan Kenobi, Vader informed Sidious about Kenobi's demise, which Sidious received with surprised delight. Nevertheless, Vader remained disturbed by Kenobi's final statements, the vanishing of his body upon death, and the lingering mystery of Yoda's whereabouts. Sidious then committed to maintaining the Empire's strength and crushing the Rebellion.

Despite Sidious's meticulous strategies for achieving absolute control over the Empire, his schemes faced peril when the Rebel Alliance initiated an assault on the Death Star during the Battle of Yavin. Just as the Death Star was poised to fire, Sidious detected a minor ripple in the Force, a mere flicker from his perspective. At that precise moment, Rebel pilot Luke Skywalker launched his proton torpedoes, successfully obliterating the Death Star, resulting in the deaths of Tarkin and the majority of the Empire's high-ranking officials. Sidious also grew concerned about the pilot's Force connection, even though he was not as powerful as Maul or Dooku, merely a simple boy.

Darth Vader, Sidious's apprentice, was among the few survivors, having failed to defend the space station, along with General Cassio Tagge, who had been dispatched to investigate Princess Leia Organa's claims regarding an active Rebel base on Dantooine. The Rebels' triumph at Yavin was succeeded by another victory on Cymoon 1, where a Rebel team annihilated the Empire's primary production facility, Weapons Factory Alpha. Numerous additional assaults by Rebel forces, including the bombing of a supply depot on Imdaar and the shipyards at Kuat, plagued the Empire in the weeks following the Death Star's destruction. Furthermore, the aftermath of the Death Star's destruction led to an increase in pirate activity targeting Imperial supply convoys, as the galactic government was no longer perceived as invincible. The Empire's influence over crucial planets also began to wane; one such planet that began to question Imperial dominance was the mining world of Shu-Torun. Governed by a mercantile aristocracy known as the ore-dukes, Shu-Torun supplied essential materials that the Empire required for its construction projects, including the development of the second Death Star, and the Emperor persistently demanded greater tributes, particularly in the wake of the Battle of Yavin. Opposing this unsustainable increase, the Ore-dukes persuaded their elderly King to revolt against the Empire.

Determined to avert the collapse of his Empire, Sidious restructured Imperial High Command by appointing General Tagge as Grand General, granting him authority over all military affairs. Tagge had previously argued against relying solely on the Death Star as the Imperial military's primary weapon, asserting that the military itself was sufficient to safeguard the Empire and that depending on a single weapon was a recipe for disaster. Vader, having failed to protect both the Death Star and Cymoon 1, was demoted and instructed to serve under Tagge's command, as the Grand General deemed appropriate. The Emperor issued directives for the military to prioritize the conquest of the Outer Rim until the completion of the second Death Star. Tagge and Vader commenced targeting pirates for elimination and cracking down on criminal elements that had operated unchecked in the past, such as the Son-tuul Pride.

The only faction spared from the Empire's wrath were the Hutts, who had forged an alliance with the Empire. Recognizing the need for raw materials for Imperial military production and aware that the Hutts could provide them in exchange for the right price, Sidious dispatched Vader to Tatooine to negotiate an agreement with Jabba, offering their support in return for the Hutts' continued control over their power base in the Outer Rim and the underworld. The elimination of competitors, such as the Son-tuul Pride, also enabled the Hutts to benefit from the alliance, as their position in the underworld expanded to fill the void.

When Shu-Torun initiated an open rebellion against the Empire following Darth Vader's brutal suppression of an assassination attempt against him by the King, Sidious redeployed his apprentice to the mining world with a substantial military force under his command. His instructions were to quell the Ore-dukes' rebellion and uphold the Imperial-backed government led by Queen Trios, whom Vader had installed on the throne after her father's treason.

Sometime after the Battle of Yavin, the Emperor's luxurious yacht Imperialis was stolen by the gambler Lando Calrissian and his associates while undergoing repairs at Sienar Fleet Systems' Orbital Shipyard CC-24 above the planet Castell. Grand Vizier Amedda informed the Emperor of this loss within a Coruscant throne room. In response, the Emperor deployed three Star Destroyers under the command of Commodore Idel, Captain Shan, and Captain Conro to retrieve his vessel. These Star Destroyers destroyed CC-24 as punishment for Commander Pasqual's failure to safeguard the Emperor's property. After the Star Destroyers failed to recover the ship, the Emperor dispatched the bounty hunter Chanath Cha to recover the vessel. Should she fail to recover it, he instructed her to destroy the Imperialis to prevent its secrets from falling into enemy hands. Unwilling to harm her former friends Lando and Lobot, Chanath chose to destroy the vessel instead. The wreckage of the Imperialis ultimately ended up on Quantxi, the junk moon of Ord Mantell.

Following Darth Vader's inability to prevent the Death Star's destruction, Sidious was approached by Doctor Cylo, one of the scientists involved in the Tarkin Initiative. As one of the specialists who had saved Vader's life after his near-fatal injuries on Mustafar, Sidious had retained him and funded his research into enhancing organic species through cybernetic augmentation. Cylo believed that organisms could only survive by adapting with technology and eliminating weaknesses. He also predicted that the Force would become obsolete in the new world he envisioned. Although Sidious dismissed these notions, stating that everything was of the Force, he was intrigued to see what these scientists could accomplish without the constraints of the Old Republic or the Jedi.

Over the two decades since the end of the Clone Wars, Cylo had been developing several subjects with the best genetic and cybernetic enhancements he could provide, preparing them as potential enforcers for the Empire. Recognizing Vader's disgrace and the Emperor's need for strong elements to prevent further damage to the Empire, Cylo proposed replacing his apprentice with one of his subjects. Vader's role would be relegated to a ceremonial one, while the doctor's subjects would execute Sidious's will throughout the galaxy. Intrigued by Cylo's proposal, Sidious agreed to give his subjects an opportunity to impress him.

However, unbeknownst to the scientist, the Emperor had come to believe that Cylo had become too powerful due to his involvement with the Tarkin Initiative. He was unable to take action because of the doctor's connections with several of the Empire's leading scientific minds, and removing him could create division among them. However, when Cylo presented his plan, Sidious realized that he could manipulate him into overplaying his hand, thereby making him a traitor to the Empire. Knowing that Vader would be the perfect foil to Cylo's subjects, the Emperor arranged for the two men to meet. On the day he informed Vader of his punishment for his failure at the Imperial Palace on Coruscant, he also summoned Cylo for a private meeting. When his apprentice inquired about the scientist's identity, Sidious declined to answer, prompting Vader to launch his own investigation into the Emperor's secrets.

After Vader's hired bounty hunter Krrsantan successfully captured Cylo in his fourth body, he revealed under torture the location of his secret research base. The Sith Lord proceeded to the base, where he initiated an assault to locate and eliminate his potential rivals. However, Cylo-IV's death at the hands of Vader's torture droid 0-0-0 had not killed the scientist; having recreated himself as an immortal system, whenever one of Cylo's bodies died, another was activated on board his research base. Cylo-V had anticipated that Vader would discover the location of his base and arrive when he was activated. Consequently, he contacted the Emperor to provide a demonstration of his subjects. Sidious arrived just as Vader was about to kill the scientist. Only his intervention saved Cylo-V from suffering his predecessor's fate. With all the elements for his plan in place, the Emperor demanded that Cylo begin the presentation.

As they battled Vader, Cylo introduced the subjects he had been developing over the past two decades: Aiolin Astarte and Morit Astarte, twins born to a family that had supported the Separatists during the Clone Wars, who had been genetically and cybernetically enhanced to possess abilities similar to the Jedi and Sith without relying on the Force; Tulon Voidgazer, a brilliant scientist involved in high-level R&D development before being augmented with a cloud of drone-droids connected directly to her brain, enabling her to see and fight through them; Commander Karbin, a Mon Calamari veteran of the Clone Wars who had spent eighteen years on life support after his ship crashed, and who had been upgraded into a model resembling the late General Grievous and trained in lightsaber combat. Finally, Cylo had created a system capable of possessing various hosts, tested on a Trandoshan, and removing any traits the Emperor would deem undesirable, such as pain and emotions. Sufficiently impressed, Sidious demanded a real demonstration of their abilities. Vader and the subjects engaged in a battle to the death, and the Trandoshan was killed by Morit before the Emperor called a halt to the fight. He announced that he would find a use for each of them, but that only one would earn a place as his enforcer. The sole rule he established was that they were not to kill each other, or if they did, to ensure that he did not find out. As he prepared to leave, the Emperor summoned Vader for a private conversation.

Once they were alone, Sidious praised Vader for his ability to uncover Cylo's project. He was also impressed by his apprentice's capacity to act beyond his knowledge and how he had managed to acquire a private army of Separatist-era commando droids for his own purposes. Vader expressed his displeasure at being forced to prove himself against Cylo's subjects, particularly as he considered them blasphemous to the ways of the Force. Sidious rebuked him for questioning him, reminding him that he was the teacher while Vader remained the apprentice: his role was to learn what Sidious knew, and Sidious's was to discover what there was to teach. The Emperor also revealed that he needed Vader to overcome the disappointment he had caused him when he nearly fell on Mustafar and demonstrate that he was worthy of the name Sidious had bestowed upon him when he had pledged himself to the Sith. With his business concluded, the Emperor departed Cylo's base and returned to Coruscant.

At the Emperor's direction, Cylo's subjects were placed at Grand General Tagge's disposal, while the doctor served as a consultant for the military. The rivalry between them and Vader eventually led to the confrontation with the Rebel Alliance on Vrogas Vas. As a result of Karbin's manipulation, Vader crashed on Vrogas Vas when he confronted three Rebel squadrons. One pilot deliberately crashed his X-Wing into Vader's TIE fighter to bring him down. On the surface, Vader faced a large force of Rebel soldiers assembled by Leia Organa to eliminate his threat. The confrontation culminated in a battle between the Sith Lord and Karbin, resulting in the latter's death. The Rebellion suffered significant losses on Vrogas Vas, and Karbin's disappearance prompted the Emperor to search for him. Vader eventually made his way to Coruscant, where he presented his master with Karbin's corpse. Although Sidious was annoyed that his apprentice had violated his rule, he was impressed when Vader challenged him to provide another way to prove himself worthy of his trust. The Emperor granted his apprentice command of the military force he was sending to Shu-Torun to maintain Queen Trios's hold on the throne. However, he also sent Cylo and his remaining subjects, ostensibly at Grand General Tagge's request. Before Vader left the Imperial Palace, Sidious warned him not to disappoint him, as he relied on him more than he let on.

Vader's campaign on Shu-Torun was successful, and the rebellious Ore-dukes were defeated. During the battle, Cylo attempted to have his rival killed by forming an alliance with Baron Rubix, the leader of the Shu-Torun rebels. Vader evaded the trap and, with the assistance of a dying Aiolin Astarte who had been betrayed by her brother, secured the evidence needed to prove the doctor's treachery from her memory circuit. Once Vader's mission was complete on Shu-Torun, he informed the Emperor of Cylo's betrayal and reported that he had fled with his remaining subjects. Pleased that his plan had worked, Sidious summoned Vader to him at the shipyard where the Executor-class Star Dreadnought Executor was under construction.

At Kuat, the Emperor confessed to his apprentice his fear of Cylo's growing influence, the doctor's role in rebuilding him, and the purpose of the contest for his position as an enforcer. Vader recognized that, had one of his rivals been the last one standing, the Emperor would be having the same conversation with them. However, he declared that he had succeeded and that he embodied the strength of the dark side. Sidious was pleased with his apprentice's success and ordered him to find Cylo and destroy him.

While the Executor was still under construction, Cylo's fleet attacked the dreadnought. During the assault, one of his creations, Tulon Voidgazer, sabotaged the vessel. Sidious contacted Tagge, demanding to know what was happening, but the general and his crew were rendered unconscious by toxic gas. The Emperor was then informed by one of his guards that they were trapped.

After Vader killed Cylo's minions and destroyed his current body, he informed the Emperor of his success. Pleased with his apprentice, Sidious instructed him to finish his mission and then return. At that moment, the archaeologist Doctor Aphra entered his private chambers. She claimed that they had a "mutual friend" and that she possessed information the Emperor needed to know.

After Vader finished off Cylo for good, he returned to his master. Sidious then revealed that Aphra had informed him of all of his secret endeavors, many of which were technically treasonous. However, rather than reprimand or punish Vader, the Emperor told his apprentice that he was impressed with his ambitions and that he was everything he could have hoped for. He then left Vader to deal with Aphra as he pleased. Due to Tagge's failure, the Emperor demoted him and transferred command of the Executor and its fleet to Vader. Pleased with his apprentice, he left him to "educate" his subordinates on the future.

Sometime later, Sidious sought out Vader to speak with him and found his apprentice in a training room with Sergeant Kreel of Task Force 99. The trooper bowed and expressed his honor at meeting the Emperor, who said he expected as such and urged Vader to join him elsewhere.

Around 1 ABY, Vader successfully obtained a kyber crystal containing the copied consciousness of an ancient Jedi named Rur. While reporting to Sidious on a successful raid against the criminal syndicates, he presented the artifact to a pleased Sidious, who added it to his collection, certain that the crystal and its occupant would be of value to him.

Later that year, Vader led Imperial forces to a decisive victory at the Mako-Ta Space Docks, virtually crippling the Rebel fleet. While Sidious pointed out that the enemy had not been completely destroyed, Vader contended that the Rebellion had been weakened such that it could not pose a major threat to the Empire anymore. He added that the Alliance could be wiped out at their convenience, which satisfied Sidious.

The next year, Pitina Mar-Mas Voor, the head of the Coalition for Progress was exposed by Doctor Aphra as the architect of a scheme to assassinate the Emperor with the ancient Farkiller weapon. While Palpatine was evacuated to safety, Vader confronted Voor and executed her.

Three years following the Battle of Yavin, the Empire had achieved a major triumph by capturing the Rebel base on the ice planet of Hoth. However, a more significant development was unfolding. Seated within his Imperial Office, Sidious sensed a profound disturbance in the Force, reminiscent of the sensation he had experienced moments before the Death Star's destruction. Sidious sought to perceive the nature of the disturbance, which led him to a vision of a boy wielding a crimson lightsaber, seemingly having decapitated the Emperor's Royal Guards within his own Imperial Office. As he observed, the boy approached a seated Sidious within the vision, imploring the Force to choke Sidious's doppelganger. The doppelganger attempted to electrocute the boy with Force Lightning but failed to subdue him. Subsequently, the doppelganger attempted to summon his lightsaber, but the boy instead commanded it and activated the saber midflight, ultimately overpowering the doppelganger when the Sith Lord's own saber struck him down.

A familiar voice then called to the boy, who proceeded to walk to the same spot the real Sidious now occupied. The boy knelt before the hidden figure as the voice remarked that the boy had performed well. Sidious then recognized the voice as that of Anakin Skywalker. Sidious concluded that this must be a dream of Anakin's. Delving deeper into the vision, Sidious witnessed the scene of the unmasked and unburnt Anakin Skywalker walking beneath the sight of endless Star Destroyers, accompanied by a figure that appeared to resemble him as well as the looming figure of the long-deceased Senator Padme Amidala, now alive once more. The figure referred to Anakin as Father and to Padme as Mother. Anakin then gestured to the fleet, referring to the boy as Luke, stating that the fleet that flew above them was now the most powerful in the galaxy. Having witnessed this, Sidious was ejected from the vision, but he had seen enough. From these fragments, he deduced that Vader's prior actions, ostensibly undertaken to destroy the Alliance leadership, were actually motivated by a desire to find his son and mold him to his vision.

Sidious then resolved to provide Vader with the resources to accomplish this while awaiting Vader to make a mistake. When that mistake occurred, Sidious would be prepared to exploit it for his own purposes and ensure Vader's simultaneous downfall. With Darth Vader aboard his command ship, Executor, the Emperor ultimately contacted the commanding officer of the vessel, Admiral Piett, instructing him to have Lord Vader contact him immediately. Vader complied and was informed of his son, Luke Skywalker, fully aware that Vader was already knowledgeable of this information. The Emperor then expressed his desire for the elimination of this threat, yet Vader suggested that young Skywalker could become an ally. With carefully chosen words of approval, the Emperor permitted his enforcer to pursue this potential "asset." The cloaked master then left Vader to find Luke Skywalker after his apprentice pledged to confront the offspring of Anakin Skywalker and either bring him to the Emperor or have his son destroyed.

Darth Vader eventually lured Luke Skywalker to Cloud City on Bespin, where the Sith Lord attempted to capture Skywalker in carbonite and transport the Jedi-aspirant to the Emperor. However, Skywalker evaded capture and was confronted by Vader in a duel on Cloud City. There, with the Jedi-aspirant beaten by a precarious ledge, Vader divulged knowledge of his relationship with Skywalker, his son, and gave an ultimatum for the youth: to join forces—as said to be destiny—with his father, Darth Vader, or die. However, Luke Skywalker rejected his newfound father, and allowed himself to fall into the abyss.

Having failed in recruiting or destroying Skywalker, Vader returned to the Executor, only to be interrupted by its crew, which reported the Millennium Falcon's escape from Cloud City. Upon the Executor's bridge, Vader sensed the presence of his son aboard the Falcon. Calling out for the young Skywalker to join himself in vain, the father of Skywalker watched as the Falcon slipped past Imperial forces with its fully functional hyperdrive.

Angered by the situation, Darth Vader boarded an Imperial shuttle from his flagship, accompanied by a forensics droid and a squad of elite death troopers. He sought retribution against those who had concealed the survival of his offspring. Vader modified the droid's programming, rigging its power source to initiate a self-destruction should it disclose their mission to anyone, including Imperial personnel or the Emperor himself.

Simultaneously, Emperor Palpatine directed Grand Vizier Mas Amedda to contact Admiral Piett via hologram transmission. After Piett confirmed the Millennium Falcon's escape, the Grand Vizier conveyed the Emperor's urgent request for Vader to contact him. However, before the admiral could reach Vader, an officer informed Piett of Lord Vader's shuttle's departure. Choosing his words carefully, Piett informed Vizier Amedda that Vader was unavailable. Upon learning of Vader's failure and unauthorized departure, the Emperor erupted in laughter as Piett's holo-transmission played out while he sat upon his throne within his Coruscant palace, with Amedda standing nearby.

Sometime later, Vader arrived at the Imperial Palace for a meeting with his master in the throne room. There, Palpatine learned from his apprentice that the Rebel Navy was dispersed but likely to reorganize in the future. Determined to capitalize on the present opportunity, Sidious commanded his apprentice to lead the hunt and crush the Rebellion while it was vulnerable and disorganized, reasoning that, with the absence of figures like Thrawn and Tarkin, his apprentice was among the few capable of spearheading such a campaign. However, he acknowledged that this mission would hinder Vader's search for Skywalker, a pursuit they both eagerly desired to continue. Consequently, Vader proposed entrusting the mission to Tarkin's protégé, Ellian Zahra, a suggestion Palpatine approved.

With assistance from Sabé and her Amidalans, Vader ultimately uncovered the truth about his late wife's fate. He traveled to Polis Massa and viewed a recording of her final moments, where she expressed her belief that there was still good within him. Following this revelation, Vader returned to Coruscant to face his master. Upon his arrival, Sidious rebuked his apprentice for indulging in grief. He declared that Vader would have to begin anew with fear before unleashing Force lightning upon him. During the ensuing confrontation, Amedda revealed the Emperor's knowledge of Vader's failure to convert his son and his collaboration with the Amidalans. Vader was then attacked by the Emperor's guards, whom he subdued along with Amedda using a Force choke. While impressed by Vader's power, Sidious used the Force to cripple Vader's limbs, demanding that he forget everything except his master. With only his right arm intact, Vader was told by Sidious that he must rediscover himself or perish.

Accompanied by two death troopers, Sidious returned Vader to Mustafar, abandoning him on the very shore where he had been found. He informed his apprentice that he must rebuild himself without using the Force before departing. Aboard his shuttle, Sidious was informed by Amedda that Vader was heading towards the ruins of the Techno Union facility, which contained machinery likely to be used for self-reconstruction and an attempt on Sidious's life. In response, Sidious revealed his own scheme: to remind Vader of his pain, thereby fueling his resurgence to power. To this end, he would dispatch Ochi of Bestoon, a Sith assassin, to hunt down his apprentice for sport, intending to repeatedly transform Vader's anger into pain.

However, much to Sidious's chagrin, Vader overcame his assassin and discovered a Sith wayfinder that guided him to the hidden Sith world of Exegol in the Unknown Regions, where Sidious maintained a vast reserve of power and resources. After defeating an Imperial fleet and a Summa-verminoth guarding the planet, Vader arrived on Exegol with Ochi in tow. Emerging from his Sith Citadel, the Emperor was greeted by Ochi, who warned him of Vader's arrival. Observing his apprentice riding atop the Summa-verminoth, Sidious questioned Vader about the lessons he had learned from his experiences. Vader responded that he would teach his master the meaning of fear. Vader then charged into battle on the Summa-verminoth, prompting Sidious to unleash two crustaceous creatures to attack the beast. Although the creatures were defeated, Sidious then used the Force to crush the Summa-verminoth, forcing Vader to return to the ground as Sidious retreated into the Citadel. As Vader and Ochi pursued him inside, Sidious taunted his apprentice through the Force, describing the horrors that awaited him.

Within the Citadel, large vats contained bioengineered beings strong in the dark side of the Force, alongside countless Sith statues, beings known as Tankers, Sith cultists, and a jar containing the severed hand of Vader's son. Despite these creations not being Sith, Sidious claimed that any of them could replace Vader should he fail. After battling through his master's creations, Vader, followed by Ochi, reached one of the Citadel's lower levels. There, they discovered an entire fleet of star destroyers, each armed with a planet-destroying weapon. Beyond the fleet was a massive dome filled with red light and piercing screams. Despite Ochi's attempts to dissuade him, Vader entered the dome and discovered his master's greatest secret: a subterranean mountain of kyber crystal, bled red by the Sith cultists who subjected it to constant pain. Sidious explained that he used the crystal to power the cannons of his fleet. When the crystal was cut, it emitted a painful scream and a wave of power, knocking off Ochi's helmet and burning his unprotected eyes. Vader also suffered as Sidious mocked him for attempting to seize his power. Sidious then warned his apprentice that continuing to follow him would ensure eternal pain, but only by remaining by his side could he share his master's power. When Sidious asked if he had made his choice, Vader replied "Yes, my master" before departing from Exegol with Sidious, Ochi, Amedda, and Sly Moore.

Amidst the chaos, Sidious and the cultists remained unaware that his son, by then known as "The Abomination," had been wandering the Citadel and observing from a distance. The Abomination escaped with the help of his symeong slave friend Dathan aboard the ship that Vader and Ochi had arrived in, fleeing Exegol to live a life free from the dark side of the Force and to reject his cruel Sith father, ultimately rejecting the ways of the Sith.

Upon returning to Coruscant, Sidious brought Vader to the same facility where he had first been rebuilt. As Vader underwent repairs once more, Amedda cautioned Sidious about his intentions to kill him. Sidious responded that with Vader now aware of the limits of his role, he would find a more suitable target for his hatred, assuring both Amedda and Moore that he was beyond Vader's reach and they were beneath his notice. Once Vader was repaired, he inquired about Sidious's will, to which Sidious replied that he should decide for himself. Vader then summoned Ochi, who had just received a cybernetic visor to restore his sight. With the Emperor's approval, Ochi departed with Vader in a Lambda-class shuttle to commence their next mission: the elimination of Luke Skywalker. Meanwhile, Sidious inquired of Moore about her feelings regarding Vader's restoration. She evaded the question, acknowledging her failure to kill Vader. Sidious laughed, admitting he never expected her to succeed.

Vader and Ochi's pursuit of Skywalker eventually led them to the Auction for Han Solo hosted by Lady Qi'ra of the newly revived crime syndicate Crimson Dawn. Vader retrieved the stolen smuggler from the auction on Jekara in order to draw Luke Skywalker to him. However, this action provoked the ire of the Grand Hutt Council, who attacked the Executor to reclaim Jabba's prize from the Empire. While Vader engaged his son in a dogfight above the planet, Admiral Piett contacted Vader for assistance against the Hutt attack, to which Vader responded that the attack was not his concern. Consequently, Piett contacted the Emperor himself to inform him of the situation. Sidious then instructed the Admiral to inform Vader that eliminating the Hutt Council was his new priority. Vader conceded and allowed his son to escape before slaughtering the Hutt Council, ending their attack while Boba Fett retrieved his bounty from the Executor and delivered him to Jabba's Palace on Tatooine. As Vader choked Moore on the Executor for betraying him, he was contacted by Sidious, prompting him to release his grip on the Umbaran and kneel before the Emperor. After reaffirming his loyalty to his master, Vader was instructed by Sidious to hunt down and eliminate Crimson Dawn's agents within the Empire.

Some time later, Vader and his followers returned to Coruscant and slaughtered all of the Royal Guards and aides in the Emperor's throne room. Unfazed, Sidious pointed out that Vader should have spared one for questioning. When Vader asked if they were loyal, Sidious replied that they were loyal to strength, which Vader had demonstrated. However, only one of them was affiliated with Crimson Dawn, indicating that Vader's list was flawed. When Sidious questioned if his apprentice was already aware of this, Vader hesitated before assuring his master that he would bring him order. Fueled by attacks from Crimson Dawn, the most powerful syndicates in the criminal underworld, with the exception of the Hutts, began to engage in conflict with each other. Displeased with the escalating Syndicate War, Sidious ordered Amedda to contact his apprentice and inform him that his intervention was required. Upon returning to his throne room, the Emperor was informed by Amedda that the syndicates were allegedly vying for his favor. Sidious then decided to deploy his own fleet to quell their exuberance. However, as he instructed Amedda to inform Piett and Veers, his entire Royal Guard suddenly collapsed and died before him.

During his mission to eradicate Crimson Dawn, Vader joined Sabé on Gabredor III in order to rescue his childhood friends Kitster and Wald from Governor Tauntaza, who was aligned with the criminal syndicate. Upon learning of this, Sidious was amused that, after failing to save his mother and wife, Vader would attempt to do the same for others from his past. Wearing a battlesuit, Tauntaza engaged Vader in combat, damaging his suit and fleeing the planet. After his recovery, Vader appointed Sabé as his advisor, and she concluded that Tauntaza's actions had been directed by the Emperor.

Consequently, Vader returned to Coruscant with Sabé, barging into the Emperor's throne room uninvited. Sidious remarked that Vader had been listening to his heart and asked him what it had revealed. In response, Vader levitated Sabé, ignoring her address him by his original name. Sidious informed her that referring to Vader as Anakin had the opposite of the intended effect: rather than breaking through to him, she reminded him of his weakness. Despite her failure to turn his apprentice against him, Sidious was intrigued by her boldness, sending his Royal Guards to attack her. After she outmatched them, even redirecting their fire towards him, Sidious killed them with Force lightning.

Impressed by her combat prowess, Sidious spoke to Sabé about the darkness he sensed within her. When he inquired as to why she sought to kill him, she replied that he represented chaos, while Vader represented order. Sidious retorted that she brought chaos in her quest for order, urging her to embrace it as her strength. Pleased, Sidious cautioned Vader not to be troubled by his history with Sabé or her resemblance to his deceased wife, particularly since she could not hope to defeat him. Instead, Vader was to continue molding her into a servant of the Empire.

Some time later, Sidious summoned Vader back to his palace to discuss what he perceived as a threat not only to the Empire but also to the Sith themselves. He cited the Hutt attack on the Executor, the Syndicate War, Commander Zahra's failure to eradicate the Rebel Alliance, the assassination of ten of his Royal Guards, and the theft of the Screaming Key from Fortress Vader by the Knights of Ren as evidence of a concerted conspiracy against them. When Vader inquired as to who was behind the plot, the Emperor called in ISB Director Barsha to present the intelligence he had gathered regarding the Syndicate War and identify their enemy to Vader. After explaining that the syndicates were vying for the Emperor's favor after hearing rumors that the Hutts were losing their arrangement with the Empire, he revealed that Crimson Dawn was responsible for spreading the rumor.

Later, as the two Sith walked down a hallway, Sidious expressed his belief to Vader that Crimson Dawn was also behind the other incidents. Sidious asked Vader to confirm that he had met and dueled the syndicate's leader, Lady Qi'ra. Vader acquiesced, recalling that it had occurred at the auction for Han Solo, which Sidious reminded him was another of his failures. As they discussed her combat skills, which Vader described as surpassing Teräs Käsi and incorporating techniques reminiscent of Sidious, they both concluded that Qi'ra had been trained by Maul, with Sidious expressing concern that she may have learned more about the Sith than mere fighting forms.

Following the destruction of Crimson Dawn, Sidious dispatched an Imperial party to retrieve the Spark Eternal from the Amaxine Space Station. However, it had merged with a droid disc, and the resulting intelligence proceeded to possess the droids of the accompanying Star Destroyer and use them to kill everyone aboard.

In the months after the events on Bespin, Luke Skywalker continued to refine his abilities in the light side of the Force; nevertheless, Sidious remained convinced that Skywalker was susceptible to succumbing to the dark side.

In an attempt to secure a new Sith apprentice and bring an end to the Galactic Civil War, Sidious deliberately allowed the Rebels to acquire the schematics of the new Death Star being constructed above the forest moon of Endor. Following the anticipated annihilation of a significant portion of the Rebellion in a doomed confrontation against a secretly armed and operational Death Star, Sidious intended to initiate the deployment of some of the largest invasion fleets in galactic history to blockade the known rebel strongholds of Mon Cala and [Chandrila](/article/chandrila] until the Death Star II could obliterate them, permanently crushing the Rebellion and all who opposed his rule through sheer terror.

The Emperor journeyed to the second Death Star with the intention of overseeing the ultimate defeat of the Rebellion and the Jedi, using himself as bait to draw out the Alliance. A vast number of Imperial personnel, including two astromech droids, witnessed their Emperor's momentous arrival in Hangar 272. Shortly before his meeting with Luke Skywalker, the Emperor detected the presence of a mysterious, malevolent force in the distant, unexplored regions; he suspected it might be the source of the dark side of the Force, but even the Emperor was uncertain of its nature. He also sensed the death of Yoda, who appeared to him as a Force spirit, much to Sidious's surprise. Nevertheless, he began to boast about his impending victory until Yoda abruptly vanished.

While aboard the Death Star, Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Princess Leia, and Chewbacca successfully infiltrated the shield and landed on the Sanctuary Moon. Vader, who had been instructed to dispatch the fleet to the moon and remain on a command ship, sensed his son's presence. Consequently, he traveled to the Death Star, where he informed the Emperor of Luke's arrival. Surprised that he himself had been unable to sense it, the Emperor commanded Vader to go and await him, stating that he had foreseen Luke seeking Vader out and surrendering to him out of compassion for his father.

Shortly after Skywalker and the rebel strike team landed on Endor, the Emperor summoned his secret protégé, Admiral Gallius Rax, for a clandestine meeting aboard his throne room on the second Death Star. Sensing an approaching shatterpoint, Darth Sidious warned Rax that the time to implement the Contingency might soon be at hand. He then ordered Rax to take the Executor-class Star Dreadnought Ravager into the Vulpinus Nebula and conceal it until the events of this shatter point had unfolded. He also informed Rax that there would be others he had to call to his side.

Once Luke surrendered, Darth Vader brought his son to the space station and his master's throne room. The Emperor greeted Luke, dismissed the guardsmen, and removed his chains. Luke was informed that the Emperor intended to turn him to the dark side and that all that had transpired on the Moon was part of his plan. The Emperor also asserted that his father was beyond redemption and could never be turned from the dark side. Sidious also had a surprise prepared for the Rebels. When the Alliance Fleet arrived, the Death Star's superlaser was operational, contrary to what the Rebels had been led to believe. The Death Star was able to destroy several of the command ships, but the Rebels both on the surface and in space managed to press forward with their attack, as Lando was counting on Han to destroy the Shield Generator.

Luke was subsequently manipulated by the Emperor, who informed him of his friends' impending doom and that he would soon become his apprentice. Luke initially resisted, but as the Emperor continued to taunt him, Luke grew angrier and then grabbed his lightsaber to strike the old man down. Darth Vader intercepted Luke's strike, and the two began to engage in a duel, much to the Emperor's delight.

Luke was initially able to regain his composure, refusing several times to continue fighting his father. Luke attempted to evade Vader as their fight intensified, but Vader was able to sense his son's thoughts and learned that Luke had a sister. With this knowledge, Vader told Luke that if he did not turn to the dark side, perhaps Leia would. The threat of losing his sister enraged Luke and drove him to angrily attack Vader.

After Luke severed Vader's mechanical hand, Sidious betrayed Vader by instructing Luke to take Vader's place by his side, much like how he betrayed Dooku and had him replaced with Vader. However, Luke began to realize what had happened and that he was dangerously close to becoming like his father was now; a slave to the dark side of the Force. Luke threw away his lightsaber and turned to face the Emperor. He declared that he would never turn to the dark side and that he was a Jedi, like his father before him.

Enraged by Skywalker's defiance, the Emperor unleashed a torrent of Force lightning upon him, forcing him to the ground. The Emperor then proceeded to torment Luke, remarking that his rudimentary skills were no match for the power of the dark side. Meanwhile, Darth Vader watched his son struggle and plead for him to intervene, with Sidious threatening to kill the defenseless, young Skywalker; unbeknownst to Sidious, this was troubling Vader. Ultimately his concern and compassion for his son, caused the former Anakin Skywalker to wake up and save Luke. The redeemed Anakin grabbed the Emperor, and threw him off a ledge down the Death Star's reactor shaft to his imminent death. Firing his lightning upward as he fell, the Emperor apparently could do nothing but scream as he went the long way down towards the second Death Star's reactor, causing a great explosion upon hitting it and releasing a light blue wind which encompassed the throne room before falling back down the shaft.

The Reborn Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker had killed Sidious and destroyed the Sith. With his armor badly damaged by the Emperor's lightning, Anakin's decision to save his son's life would cost him his own. Before passing away into the Force, a dying Anakin requested Luke to remove the helmet Sidious forced him to wear all those years so he could finally see his son's face with his own eyes. Luke tried to convince Anakin to let him be saved by him, but Anakin told Luke that he already did and that he was right about there still being good in him, despite all that he had done, before dying peacefully. By destroying Sidious and the Sith, Anakin brought balance to the Force, ultimately fulfilling the ancient prophecy of the Chosen One as Qui-Gon Jinn had believed he would thirty-five years earlier. With this his nightmarish era of tyranny died with him. Or so the galaxy believed, as Sidious was not so easily destroyed.

While he died in every natural sense of the word, even death wasn't the end for Sidious. When betrayed by Anakin Skywalker aboard the second Death Star, Sidious had little time to realize that his apprentice had turned on him much like he once did with Darth Plagueis, but unlike his former master, he had prepared himself for Skywalker's betrayal. Calling on all the power of the dark side of the Force, and utilizing the secret to immortality he pilfered from Plagueis, the Emperor transferred his consciousness and spirit far, far away as his empty body kept falling towards the battle station's reactor to his death.

Following the Emperor's death, the Empire sought to conceal the true outcome of the Battle of Endor. In the Anoat sector, which was isolated from the rest of the galaxy by an Imperial blockade in the days following the attack, Imperial propaganda asserted that the attack on the second Death Star had failed and the rebellion was no longer a threat. Rumors of the Emperor's death were dismissed as treasonous fabrications by Governor Ubrik Adelhard. Although several holovids were circulated to show that the second Death Star had been destroyed, both rebels and Imperials around the galaxy discussed whether the Emperor or Darth Vader had really died or not, as no one was sure what exactly happened. Many Imperial messages surrounding the Emperor's death contradicted each other; some Imperials like Grand Moff Lozen Tolruck suggested that the Emperor had escaped the second Death Star through miraculous means, others wildly claimed that the Emperor was still leading the Empire from beyond the grave and some simply refused to acknowledge for months the Emperor's demise.

The late Emperor Palpatine disseminated Operation: Cinder to a hand-picked group of Imperial officers, including Admiral Garrick Versio and Captain Lerr Duvat. This directive mandated the systematic devastation of numerous planets, even his own birthplace, Naboo. The aftermath of the Emperor's demise was marked by pandemonium. Widespread rebellions erupted on countless worlds, which the Empire attempted to quell, thereby validating the rebels' long-held assertion regarding the public's aversion to Imperial rule. In the months following the Battle of Endor, devotees of the dark side, exemplified by the Acolytes of the Beyond, began venerating Vader and the dark side of the Force on various planets throughout the galaxy, such as Taris.

Amidst discussions among several New Republic soldiers concerning the potential ramifications of recovering Sidious's remains, a Mon Calamari soldier from the 61st Mobile Infantry voiced his desire for the Emperor's survival at Endor, envisioning a comprehensive trial for his extensive list of transgressions. During a search of the Hall of Imperial Register on Coruscant in 5 ABY, Grand Admiral Rae Sloane discovered that the Emperor's personal Super Star Destroyer, the Eclipse, had mysteriously vanished, contrary to Imperial records indicating its destruction by the New Republic. She also uncovered an image crystal displaying a still image of Sidious alongside several Imperial Guards, stormtroopers, and high-ranking officials, including Wullf Yularen, Dodd Rancit, Terrinald Screed, Grand Vizier Mas Amedda, and Gallius Rax. Rax, who had since attained the rank of Fleet Admiral, was secretly manipulating Sloane. In the wake of the Attack on Chandrila, Rax orchestrated the Empire's relocation to Jakku.

Despite Rax's claim that he was assessing the Empire's resilience in preparation for a showdown with the New Republic, his true intention was to execute the Contingency. This plan involved staging a confrontation between the Imperial and New Republic fleets, followed by the destruction of both forces through the detonation of Jakku's core. The Observatory on Jakku housed a deep borehole extending to the planet's core. Rax intended to introduce various Sith artifacts into this borehole to trigger the planet's self-destruction. Covertly, Rax arranged for his own escape, along with several "worthy" Imperials, including Brendol Hux, his son Armitage Hux, and a contingent of child soldiers, to the Unknown Regions. Sloane, aided by the rebels Norra Wexley and Brentin Lore Wexley, thwarted Rax's scheme to obliterate Jakku. Although Rax perished on Jakku, he succeeded in fulfilling his master's directive to dismantle the "Old Empire."

Palpatine's immense influence during his tenures as Chancellor and Emperor left an indelible mark on the New Republic Senate, fostering a deep-seated apprehension regarding the concentration of authority in the executive branch. Consequently, the power vested in the Chancellor of the New Republic was significantly curtailed compared to the office's previous iteration under the Galactic Republic, with the term "Supreme" deliberately omitted from the title. However, this reduction in the Chancellor's influence created a different set of political challenges. Instead of an overly powerful head of state, the Chancellor lacked the necessary authority to enact meaningful change. Ultimately, the Contingency and the broader legacy of Darth Sidious served as the foundational principles for the regime that evolved into the First Order, the Empire's successor, led by the enigmatic Snoke, who assumed the position of Supreme Leader of the Order. After eliminating most of the remaining Imperial leadership, with a few exceptions like Armitage Hux, Snoke sought to uncover various truths about Sidious, including the revelation that Sidious's Contingency had always encompassed a dual objective: ensuring the Empire's resurgence among the survivors of the Old Empire.

In 34 ABY, three decades after the Battle of Endor, Sidious's voice resonated within a Force vision experienced by Rey, a Force-sensitive scavenger from Jakku, at Takodana Castle. Subsequently, while instructing Rey on Ahch-To, Luke Skywalker attributed the rise of Darth Sidious and the Empire he established, along with his father's fall, to a failure on the part of the Jedi Order.

By channeling his consciousness and spirit into a cloned body meticulously crafted using Clone Wars-era technology by the Sith Eternal, a clandestine cult of Sith loyalists who continued to uphold the religious tenets of the Sith and aspired to revive their order, Sidious drew his first breath into a new existence, albeit one fraught with pain, as he recognized the temporary nature of his chosen vessel. This occurred at Sidious's Sith Citadel on Exegol, a location he had meticulously planned and prepared to serve as his permanent seat of power during his reign as Emperor, and he ascended to the ancient Throne of the Sith. However, Sidious's return was not without consequence. Through his timely intervention, Sidious managed to avert his ultimate demise, unlike his own master, Plagueis. Yet, while he succeeded in forestalling death by harnessing cloning technology and the concentrated dark side energy present on the planet, true immortality remained elusive for the Dark Lord. Furthermore, his new body proved inadequate for containing his spirit, owing to the immense power he wielded in the dark side of the Force, leading to its progressive decay.

Sustained by the unwavering devotion of the Sith Eternal cultists on Exegol, Sidious struggled to endure within his deteriorating, frail, and transient vessel. His body soon became incapable of independent movement, and he assumed a ghastly, undead appearance, marked by missing limbs and eyes clouded by cataracts. Sidious was mobilized with the aid of an Ommin harness, a mechanical spinal support once worn by Ommin, an ancient Sith king, and the degeneration of his body was slowed through the administration of restorative fluids.

Due to his immobility, Sidious was confined to the planet and forced to live in exile for many years. However, while his body was broken, his mind and will remained sharper than ever, and his spirit unbound. Over the ensuing decades, the fallen Emperor patiently orchestrated his return to power as Emperor and a Sith Lord, devising a sinister scheme to exact ultimate vengeance upon the Skywalker family, impede the restoration of the Jedi Order, and obliterate the New Republic.

On Exegol, other Sith cultists had convened to revere the ancient Sith Order and pledge allegiance to Sidious, the last Sith Lord. These adherents venerated his endeavors to establish a new Sith Empire and dedicated themselves to rebuilding the Empire from Exegol as a true Sith Empire. To this end, Sidious's subordinates constructed a formidable armada of planet-destroying warships, known as the Final Order. Operating from the shadows, Sidious plotted his resurgence, molding the remnants of the Empire into the First Order while manipulating the New Republic. Once deployed from Exegol, the Final Order would augment the forces of the First Order military, enabling the regime to finalize its subjugation of the galaxy. The Sith Eternal toiled for a generation, raising children in clandestine military camps while constructing war machines in concealed factories and shipyards.

Sith loyalists held positions on the executive boards of corporations such as Kuat-Entralla Engineering and Sienar-Jaemus Fleet Systems, enabling them to channel assets crucial to their domineering machinations through subsidiaries to Exegol. Under Sidious's direction, the children of the Sith Eternal were raised to cherish the religion of the Sith, while being instilled with unwavering loyalty to their Emperor. Their efforts resulted in legions of Sith troopers, soldiers trained to be fanatically devoted to the Sith through flash imprinting technologies rooted in the Kaminoan techniques employed in the training of clone troopers. The endeavors of the Sith Eternal culminated in the creation of a fleet and army that threatened to extinguish freedom throughout the galaxy should they ever escape into hyperspace.

Sidious leveraged one of the Sith Eternal's and his genetic experiments to extend his influence across the galaxy through indirect means while he was forced to remain on Exegol due to his condition. This being was Snoke, a humanoid genetic strandcast that, like the Emperor's cloned body, originated from the Sith Eternal's experimentation in attempts of extending Sidious' lifespan and produce him a vessel worthy of housing the dark essence that was his spirit, during the reign of the Galactic Empire. Though Snoke was naturally Force-sensitive, Sidious deemed his body an unworthy vessel for housing his dark essence, but still found use for him as a puppet for his plans of restoring himself to power.

Snoke became Sidious' proxy in power over the First Order, a hermit state that began as the remnants of the Galactic Empire that escaped under the Contingency, and by extension, helped ensure the faction would be his to control. Snoke rose to become Supreme Leader over the faction, and through manipulating his puppet, Sidious gathered the forces that would go on to form the First Order's military, while under Snoke's guidance, the militia developed into a technologically superior war machine over the one under the Galactic Empire. In addition, while the First Order served as the military arm of the Contingency, the Sith Eternal secretly served as its hidden spiritual heart, while none were aware they were secretly controlled by the Sith.

Many were confused to some of Snoke's motives upon his rise to power, such as making no effort to claim the old title of Emperor held by Palpatine during the reign of the Empire, while he also delegated main control and building of the First Order to his subordinates and focused on spiritual matter instead. Nevertheless he possessed the knowledge and power to rule them, which made him the undisputed heir to the Contingency. However, even though the highest echelons of the First Order, remained unaware of Snoke's true origins and their ultimate purpose in the form of the Contingency, some in the Order, such as Enric Pryde, came to suspect that Snoke was subservient to some greater power.

Beyond his ambition to reclaim his position as Galactic Emperor, Sidious sought to corrupt the next generation of the Skywalker lineage to the dark side of the Force. The Sith Lord focused on Ben Solo, the son of Han Solo and grandson of Anakin Skywalker through his mother, Princess Leia Organa, and nephew of the last Jedi Luke Skywalker, recognizing his extraordinary strength in the Force inherited from his family's bloodline. Through the Force, Sidious monitored Solo's development throughout his life, employing telepathy to communicate with him through a chorus of dark voices. These voices whispered secrets, offered warnings of impending danger, provided comfort and guidance, but also deceived him with false assurances that he could not survive independently, effectively exploiting his insecurities and turning his fears against him.

Moreover, Sidious, in addition to using him as a placeholder for the First Order, utilized Snoke as his proxy for luring Solo to the dark side. In addition to Sidious, Snoke whispered to the young Jedi telepathically, cultivating a friendship with the boy as he manipulated him with deceit, encouraging his negative thoughts about his family and his impulsive tendencies, while utilizing his desperate need for a teacher and fascination with his family's legacy to influence him. When Palpatine and Snoke constantly whispered to Solo, the Phantom Emperor also utilized this when Solo joined the new Jedi Order as a Padawan under his maternal uncle, Jedi Master Luke Skywalker, during his attempt to restore the religious faction of peacekeepers, and partially engineer the failures that would lead to its eventual destruction.

Sidious never anticipated his son's union, now going by the name Dathan, but the clone met a woman named Miramir and became intimately involved, and eventually with whom he sired a Force-sensitive daughter, Rey, in 15 ABY. To the Emperor, Rey was regarded as an ideal vessel to contain his spirit and all the power of the Sith, and he was determined to capture his granddaughter at any cost. However, his son and his wife went into hiding to protect their daughter from the Sith Lord, living as junk traders on the desert planet of Jakku.

Sidious dispatched Ochi, now a cultist of the Sith Eternal, to track down and retrieve Rey from her parents and bring her to Exegol in 21 ABY. Ochi was close to discovering the location of Rey and her parents when, wanting to protect their daughter, Rey's parents gave her to Jakku junk boss Unkar Plutt, who was paid with a songsteel hex charm to keep her hidden. As Rey watched on, her parents fled Jakku on the Bestoon Legacy, Ochi's starship, to lead the assassin away. After refusing to reveal the location of their daughter, on the Emperor's order, Ochi stabbed Dathan and his wife to death aboard his ship. Despite their deaths, their sacrifice allowed Rey to elude capture, and she would remain hidden on Jakku for the next thirteen years, until 34 ABY.

Sidious' followers had designed Snoke to groom Solo, serving as the one who molded him into a master of attack and cunning, while also testing his capacity to inherit not only the legacy of his grandfather, Darth Vader, but of the entire Sith Order. Snoke came to believe that Ben Solo had the right balance of the light and dark sides of the Force in him due to his heritage as Anakin Skywalker's grandson. Snoke manipulated Solo for more than a decade, his influence proving crucial as the fledgling Jedi learned that Darth Vader was his grandfather, having been kept from such a truth by his family.

When Luke Skywalker sensed Solo's growing darkness, the Jedi Master approached his student as he slept and, in a brief moment of instinct, activated his lightsaber with the intention of killing his nephew. Skywalker immediately hesitated and regretted his actions, but it was too late. Solo awoke confused and scared, seeing no other recourse than to ignite his own saber and intercept Skywalker's. Though his master attempted to assuage the situation, Solo immediately used the Force to topple his room and trap his uncle beneath the rubble. Shortly thereafter, a violent storm caused by Solo suddenly set Skywalker's Jedi temple ablaze, destroying it and killing all the students inside.

Solo fled the temple after he burned and destroyed it. At the insistence of Snoke, Solo sought to join the Knights of Ren. After being tested by the Knights, he was reluctantly accepted into the mysterious group. Although their leader Ren saw potential in Solo's raw power, he doubted the boy's hatred and ability to kill. Ren's suspicions were confirmed on a mission to the Minemoon after Ben hesitated to kill his former friend and fellow student of Luke Skywalker, Tai. Enraged and disappointed in Solo, Ren engaged him in a duel. Across the galaxy, Sidious sensed Ben's every move and emotion. Prompting the fallen Jedi through the Force, the Dark Lord of the Sith called for Ben to claim his birthright and strike down the leader of the Knights of Ren. Giving in to Sidious' manipulation, in a fit of rage Ben overpowered and stabbed Ren. Taking up the mantle of master of the Knights of Ren, Solo dubbed himself "Kylo Ren." To ensure Kylo remained on the dark side, Sidious would communicate with Ren from afar, impersonating the spirit of his grandfather and idol, Darth Vader.

Through Snoke, Sidious was able to indirectly oversee the young Ben Solo's training, thinking the humanoid taught their mutual apprentice well. Though he considered himself to be Ren's true master the whole time, through the dark side adept, the Emperor also planned to sidestep the tradition of a dark apprentice slaying their dark master to ascend to ultimate power, which Snoke's entire existence was built for in the first place.

Snoke's training of Kylo Ren proved effective, warping his understanding of his grandfather' history, conditioning him to believe the worst in people and that they would reject him and redemption would be impossible after his actions, while instructing him to pursue his impulses as a shortcut for power in the dark side when he chased his desires.

In 34 ABY, Rey confronted the Supreme Leader and his dark apprentice aboard the Supremacy, believing she could turn the former Ben Solo back to the light. Snoke overpowered Rey, and having gauged her resolve, he saw that she had the spirit of a true Jedi. Determined to see every trace of the Jedi Order eradicated, he ordered her death, but left the deed to Kylo Ren. Sensing his apprentice's newfound resolve, Snoke urged Ren to complete his training and fulfill his destiny by executing Rey. Instead, Ren outmaneuvered his master by assassinating him with the Skywalker lightsaber. With Snoke dead, Ren asserted his claim to the title of Supreme Leader, seizing political and military control of the First Order. By murdering his master in the name of obtaining greater power, Ren had unknowingly completed the Sith Eternal's final test and proved himself as an individual worthy of inheriting the legacy of the Sith.

Despite Snoke's unexpected death, and failure to bring Rey to Palpatine, the zombified Sith Lord continued to pull the strings from afar, manipulating both Kylo Ren and Rey, in order to lure them toward him. His granddaughter coming to Exegol was a key and vital part of his plan.

In 35 ABY, a mysterious audio broadcast using the voice of Emperor Palpatine, the public identity of Darth Sidious, who was still thought to be dead by the galaxy at large, was released to the galaxy, threatening revenge. Upon this, Supreme Leader Kylo Ren began a search for the broadcast's source, deeming it a challenge to his rule. After acquiring a Sith wayfinder on Mustafar that led him to Exegol, Ren entered the Sith Citadel on the planet's surface and confronted the decrepit Emperor, who admitted that he had created Snoke and impersonated Vader.

When the Supreme Leader threatened the decaying Emperor with death, the Dark Lord merely stated that he had already died before, and that the dark side of the Force was pathway to many abilities some considered to be unnatural, mirroring his conversation with Anakin at the opera ages ago. Sidious then revealed his creation of the Final Order, a Sith armada comprised of numerous Xyston-class Star Destroyers, TIE/dg starfighters, and an army of loyal Sith troopers. The purpose of this new military was to restore Sith rule across the galaxy in the form of a new Sith Empire, which Sidious offered to Ren along with the title of Emperor, but only if he killed the Jedi apprentice Rey. To Ren's surprise, Sidious revealed that he was Rey's "grandfather."

Ren disclosed this secret to Rey, convinced that knowing her true lineage would lead her to embrace the dark side. Instead of ending her life, Ren desired Rey's assistance in overthrowing her grandfather, envisioning a future where they would jointly rule the galaxy as Emperor and Empress. Sidious, observing Rey's continued existence, grew suspicious of Ren's loyalty and threatened to unleash the Sith fleet against the Supreme Leader unless he eliminated her. Forewarned, Kylo journeyed to the Endor system, engaging Rey in a duel amidst the remnants of the second Death Star, submerged in the ocean of the moon Kef Bir, until Rey inflicted a mortal wound upon him. However, sensing Leia Organa's demise on Ajan Kloss, Rey employed Force healing to restore Kylo's life, departing and leaving him to grieve for his mother. After reflecting on Rey's compassionate act and his parents' sacrifice, Ben ultimately returned to the light side. Detecting Organa's passing, Sidious cursed the former Princess of Alderaan for thwarting his designs by causing him to lose Kylo Ren's allegiance, a final disruption.

Despite this setback, the Emperor maintained his confidence in achieving victory, asserting that Anakin Skywalker's daughter had perished without purpose. Sidious then established communication via hologram with Allegiant General Enric Pryde, a veteran of the Galactic Civil War who had previously served him. With the Supreme Leader's absence, command of the First Order defaulted to Pryde, whose loyalty to Sidious was unwavering, resulting in the official merger of the First Order's forces with those of the Sith Eternal's Final Order. Recognizing the opportune moment for his resurgence, Sidious instructed Pryde to dispatch one of his Star Destroyers, the Derriphan, to Kijimi and obliterate it, thereby delivering a stark warning to the Resistance.

Initially contemplating a secluded existence akin to Luke Skywalker's due to her fear of succumbing to the Sith, Rey was dissuaded by the Force spirit of Luke Skywalker himself. He urged her to transcend her bloodline's influence on her legacy and actions, bestowing upon her a lightsaber that once belonged to Leia. Having reconciled with her past, Rey ventured alone to Exegol to confront Sidious, transmitting the route to the Resistance. Upon discovering her grandfather surrounded by the Sith Eternal in his throne room, Rey was greeted by Sidious, who denied any desire for her demise, asserting that he had summoned her to succeed him as "Empress Palpatine."

Sidious attempted to provoke his granddaughter into striking him down, echoing his manipulation of Luke Skywalker thirty-one years prior, noting that while Skywalker had his father to save him, he was her only family. In reality, Sidious intended for Rey to strike him down, initiating a Sith ritual that would transfer his spirit from the decaying clone body into Rey's youthful form, seeking to possess her. To amplify her anger and hatred, Sidious informed Rey that by transmitting the route to Exegol to her allies, she had led the Resistance into a trap that would result in their annihilation by the Sith Eternal forces.

A glimmer of hope emerged for Rey with the arrival of a redeemed Ben Solo, no longer Kylo Ren, on Exegol to aid her in her battle against Sidious. Unbeknownst to Sidious, his granddaughter had been delaying her actions, sensing Solo's presence on Exegol, preventing her from succumbing to the allure of absolute power and the dark side. Feigning an intention to strike him down with the Skywalker lightsaber, Rey transferred it to Solo through their Force-bond, enabling Solo to swiftly eliminate the Knights of Ren while Rey wielded her master Leia Organa's lightsaber to defend herself against the Emperor's Sovereign Protectors.

Astonished that his granddaughter did not kill him as he had anticipated, Sidious realized the grave error in allowing Rey and Solo to unite: their Force-bond had been forged in the crucible of mutual searching, shared grief, rage, and hate, but Sidious had failed to account for the compassion and empathy it also encompassed.

With the Knights and Sovereign Protectors vanquished, Solo joined Rey, adopting a combat stance against Sidious, who proclaimed their imminent demise for their defiance. Raising his decaying hand, he impaled them with the Force, drawing the helpless warriors toward him. However, an unforeseen consequence arose: their combined life force began to rejuvenate the clone vessel serving as Sidious's new body. His wounds healed, his bones reformed, and his flesh regenerated. Sidious immediately recognized the phenomenon before him: a dyad in the Force, a prophesied occurrence surpassing life itself, unseen for generations.

Realizing that their power would enable his complete restoration, Sidious employed the Force to drain the life energy from both Force-users, replenishing his strength. Overwhelmed with triumphant thoughts, Sidious harnessed the power of the dark side and all preceding Sith, continuously extracting life energy from the dyad as if drawing from an inexhaustible river of light, ensuring his, the one true Emperor's, restoration. With his body and mobility fully recovered and his powers amplified beyond measure, the Dark Lord freed himself from the Ommin harness, proclaiming himself the immortal Emperor of the Sith before his Sith loyalists, who hailed their master's return. Deeming Solo expendable and seeking retribution for his initial demise, the Emperor cast him into a pit as reinforcements led by Lando Calrissian arrived to bolster the Resistance.

Intending to eliminate the Resistance and wielding unprecedented power, the Emperor declared the unstoppable resurgence of the Sith before unleashing a massive surge of Force lightning into the atmosphere of Exegol, temporarily disabling all Resistance vessels. His attention then shifted to Rey, now empowered by the spirits of past Jedi. Unfazed by Rey's defiance, the Emperor proclaimed her death as the ultimate end of rebellion across the galaxy, unleashing a barrage of Force lightning that she deflected with Leia Organa's lightsaber. Approaching his granddaughter, Sidious intensified his Force lightning to kill Rey, asserting her inferiority to his power while declaring himself as all the Sith. However, Rey invoked the power of the Jedi of the past, igniting both the Skywalker and Organa lightsabers, redirecting the Force lightning back at the astonished Emperor, proclaiming herself as the embodiment of all the Jedi. Horrified, Sidious continued to unleash his Force lightning, but Rey continued to deflect the energy, returning it to her grandfather, severely damaging him. Consequently, Darth Sidious—the former Senator of Naboo, the last Supreme Chancellor of the Galactic Republic, Emperor of the galaxy, the Phantom Menace, and final Dark Lord of the Sith—was destroyed after more than a century by his own power, obliterating his body and releasing a powerful Force wave that decimated the entire arena, along with all the Sith Eternal loyalists. With the demise of Darth Sidious and the destruction of his cult, the rebirth of the Sith and the establishment of a new Sith Empire were prevented.

Due to the immense power required to permanently destroy Sidious, Rey perished after vanquishing the Emperor. However, Solo emerged from the pit where the Emperor had cast him, transferring his remaining life energy to revive Rey, sharing a kiss with her before vanishing into the Force as the last of the Skywalker lineage. Despite her Sith heritage as Sidious' descendant, Rey adopted the name "Rey Skywalker" to honor her masters' family.

Following the Battle of Exegol, the galaxy celebrated Sidious' death and the destruction of the Sith Eternal, with uprisings against the weakened First Order erupting on numerous planets. Bespin, Jakku, Corellia, Lothal, Thyferra, Endor, Coruscant, and even Sidious' native Naboo were among the systems reported to be openly rebelling against his forces.

During the victory celebration at the Ajan Kloss Resistance base, Finn and Poe Dameron discussed the possibility of Sidious' return, given his resurgence after his defeat at Endor. They concluded that while Sidious might potentially return, some other evil would inevitably emerge, although not for a considerable time.

Before establishing the Galactic Empire, Darth Sidious meticulously crafted a facade, presenting himself as a benevolent gentleman dedicated to public service. He often spoke with modesty and maintained a level of luxury befitting his position. However, Sidious was, in reality, a master manipulator and strategist who orchestrated numerous galactic events, from the Invasion of Naboo to the Clone Wars, deceiving the Jedi, Senate, Republic, and even the Separatists to augment his power. Even when unforeseen events occurred, the Sith Lord demonstrated an exceptional ability to improvise, continuing his long-term pursuit of power. He sometimes indulged in fantasies, such as imagining the Senate Building engulfed in flames, relishing the thought of the ensuing panic. However, he recognized the futility of such fantasies, understanding that they would not advance his plans. Observing the Senate's struggles during the Clone Wars and his acquisition of new political powers was almost as gratifying to the Sith Lord.

Palpatine possessed a taste for the finer aspects of life. During the Republic Era, Sidious saw no need to conceal himself in the lower levels of Coruscant, which he personally disliked. Instead, he preferred to remain among those who believed themselves safe from the dark side, identifying and exploiting their vulnerabilities to supplant the light with darkness. He only resorted to the lower levels when absolute secrecy was required, such as during discreet discussions. Furthermore, he preferred to communicate with his pawns via hologram, recognizing that his physical presence could be overwhelming to individuals like Nute Gunray. He reserved that advantage for instances when his "allies" were failing him. In public, as Senator of Naboo, he maintained a facade of perfect blandness, feigning interest in nearby conversations while concealing his true nature. As Chancellor, he intended to abandon his deceptive persona while still keeping his inner rage hidden, awaiting the opportune moment to reveal it.

Upon ascending to Galactic Emperor, he largely abandoned his public persona, fully embracing his identity as Sidious. Despite this, few individuals beyond Vader and select Royal Guard members knew of the Emperor's Sith nature, as he meticulously concealed his capabilities. Even Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin, perhaps Sidious's most trusted servant besides Vader, only suspected that Sidious was a Sith. Sidious also considered Gallius Rax a confidant, permitting him to address him as "Sheev." Freed from the constraints of portraying his gentle alter-ego, Sidious occasionally allowed his true personality, characterized by immense cruelty and sadism, to manifest, becoming evident even to his most sycophantic servants. This instilled great fear in those who worked closely with him, such as Senator Orn Free Taa and certain Imperial intelligence chiefs. Sidious was also known to despise ostentation and luxury.

Sidious's deeply manipulative nature was among his most potent traits, enabling him to deceive both the Jedi and Separatists, enticing numerous parties with promises of power, reward, or even salvation to advance his agenda. He relished the thrill of manipulating others to his will. However, he was frustrated when his pawns, such as Nute Gunray, failed to grasp the full scope of his plans. Nevertheless, he successfully coerced Anakin Skywalker into becoming Darth Vader by promising to save Padmé Amidala, attempted to entice Bridger with the prospect of reuniting with his deceased parents by altering fate, and sought to persuade Luke Skywalker to murder his father so they could jointly rule the galaxy. While attempting to influence Bridger, he projected his public persona via hologram, presenting himself as benign and courteous. When Bridger thwarted his plans, his true malevolent nature was revealed, as he had underestimated the boy's hatred for the Empire and his devotion to the Rebellion and his newfound rebel family. Similarly, when Sidious attempted to motivate Luke to kill his father upon briefly embracing the dark side, the young Skywalker resisted due to his compassion for his father and his Jedi teachings.

Sidious regarded his allies as expendable pawns in his grand scheme, readily discarding them once they ceased to serve his purpose. He maintained alliances only as long as they benefited him, severing ties when their usefulness ended. He harbored no genuine affection for any of his allies, betraying countless individuals, including Darth Plagueis, Maul, Dooku, the Separatist Council, and Vader. His betrayal of Dooku not only demonstrated his lack of genuine concern but also highlighted his ability to remain one step ahead. While acknowledging Vader as the ideal apprentice, he later attempted to replace him with Luke. Ultimately, Sidious was solely driven by self-interest.

He likened his manipulation to a sharp knife that, when plunged into another, took time for the victim to notice, realizing the spread of his manipulative "infection" only when it was too late. Even if the manner in which his manipulation spread surprised him, it always brought him joy. Manipulation was ultimately his preferred method of expanding his power. Sidious was known for his hypocrisy and arrogance. While accusing Yoda of being blinded by arrogance during their confrontation, he had previously declared himself to be the Senate when Windu attempted to arrest him. Even shortly before his second death years later, Sidious proclaimed himself to be all the Sith while attempting to eliminate his Jedi granddaughter.

After overthrowing the Republic and discarding his benevolent facade, Sidious effectively withdrew from public life, delegating the Empire's day-to-day affairs to the Imperial Ruling Council. His absence did not go unnoticed by the Empire's citizens, and rumors circulated that the Jedi assassination attempt had resulted not only in his disfigurement but also in the demise of the sanguine politician he once was. To quell the gossip, the Ruling Council dispatched skycar processions in Imperial Center to create the illusion that Sidious was still active in public.

From his secure position as Emperor, Sidious dedicated most of his time to study and meditation, often within the ancient Sith shrine beneath the Imperial Palace. Desiring to rule his Empire for eternity, Sidious initiated numerous inquiries into immortality. One notable endeavor was Project Blackwing, an attempt to unlock the secrets of immortality through Sith alchemy, which ultimately failed. However, Sidious's true ambition was to discover a means of manipulating reality itself through the dark side, thereby achieving not only "mere immortality" but also the ability to reshape the galaxy and its inhabitants to his liking. Whether Sidious made significant progress toward this goal remains unknown, as he would have required Vader's assistance to perform the necessary rituals. During the Imperial Era, Darth Sidious sought to access the World Between Worlds to control time and the universe. Following his first death, Sidious continued to pursue immortality and the preservation of the Sith, as evidenced by his attempt to perform a ritual on his granddaughter Rey to transfer his spirit into her body, perpetuating the Sith legacy.

Although Sidious's reign witnessed a surge in alien prejudice across the Empire, with humans dominating the galaxy while other species were enslaved, Sidious was willing to collaborate with aliens. During his rise to power, he relied on several aliens, including the Separatist Council he controlled during the Clone Wars and his political advisor, the Chagrian Mass Amedda. Furthermore, Sidious was trained by a Muun, Darth Plagueis, and his first apprentice was a Zabrak, Darth Maul. He also appointed General Grievous as the official commander of the Separatists after Dooku's death.

To those who had experienced his nonexistent mercy, Sidious was known to be exceptionally sadistic, often deriving visible pleasure from torturing others. He was also quite bloodthirsty, frequently reveling in combat to the point of laughing while fighting or killing. He was also noted for his lack of forgiveness, as even Darth Vader, known for summarily executing officers who failed him, considered Sidious to be even less clement. According to Sosha Soruna, Sidious left his homeworld of Naboo relatively untouched during his reign because he enjoyed tormenting the populace with the knowledge that he could destroy the planet's serene beauty at any time. Despite his exceptional mastery of the dark arts, he was no less susceptible to fear, a primary emotion of the dark side, than any other Sith. After being struck by a powerful Force push from Yoda, he displayed visible panic, attempting to flee rather than fight, and only confronted his opponent when he appeared to have no other choice. Despite this, his passion to inflict pain on others and his hate were a priority to him over his own well-being: while he could have used his own powers to save himself from Darth Vader during the Battle of Endor, Sidious' hate was so strong that his only thought was to harm Vader as his apprentice carried him to his first death.

Unlike Darth Vader, his more conservative apprentice, Sidious believed that progress was not contrary to the ways of the Sith. When Vader was presented to the cyborgs created by Doctor Cylo, he denounced them as abominations and heresy to the ways of the Force. However, Sidious claimed that he was merely an apprentice and was meant to learn what he knew and that Sidious was meant to discover what there was to teach. He also dismissed Vader's hatred of technological superiority by replying that everything was of the Force.

Sidious viewed the fall of the Galactic Empire as an inevitable consequence of his demise. He believed that the Empire had failed to protect its Emperor, despite its vast military resources, and was therefore unworthy of a future without him. In his view, the military had been negligent and should be sacrificed as penance. Using a game of Shah-tezh as an analogy, Sidious believed that the sole purpose of the Empire's existence was to safeguard his life and well-being. He considered the Empire a failure if it failed to ensure the survival of its Emperor. Even before the Empire's formation, Sidious had prepared for this eventuality by formulating a contingency plan. The Contingency involved luring the Empire to the barren Inner Rim planet Jakku and detonating the planet's core. The explosion would destroy both the planet and the orbiting Imperial and enemy fleets, an outcome Sidious regarded as retribution for the Empire's failures. The key to the Contingency was the Jakku Observatory, which concealed a borehole penetrating the planet's core, and Counselor to the Empire Gallius Rax. Decades after his death, Supreme Leader Snoke discovered that the Contingency planned for the Empire's rebirth, secretly constructing shipyards and laboratories in the Unknown Regions to achieve this goal.

Following his demise on Endor and subsequent resurrection, Sidious's mind was sharper than ever, despite his physical frailty. Upon realizing that the Jakku scavenger Rey was his granddaughter, Sidious manipulated Kylo Ren into bringing her to him, intending to steal her body as a new host. While he attempted to sway Rey to his side by claiming to care for her, Rey saw through his deception. Sensing his thoughts, she realized that his motives were solely focused on his own preservation, devoid of any goodness and driven by pure evil. When it became clear that Rey would not submit to his ritual, Sidious unleashed his fury, attempting to kill both her and a redeemed Ben Solo. It was these very traits of arrogance and selfishness that ultimately led to Sidious's final downfall, as he underestimated Rey's true potential, which she used the combined strength of all the Jedi from the past (including Vader's) to finally destroy the Sith Emperor for good. Even after experiencing death, Sidious's beliefs and way of being remained largely unchanged; his sole overriding ambitions were the attainment of unlimited power, a grand empire under his legacy and the perpetuation of a Sith Order embodied through him. He would go to any lengths to realize these goals, including harming his own progeny.

Sidious, a male of the human species, had a height between 1.73 and 1.78 meters, and his weight was 75 kilograms. Before his physical transformation, he was a slender man characterized by wavy hair, a prominent nose, blue eyes, and a thin face. By the time of the Invasion of Naboo, his once-red hair was beginning to turn gray, and a decade later, it had completely transitioned to silver. As he became increasingly involved in his scheme to seize control of the galaxy, the burden of living a double life started to become evident in his facial features. Following his confrontation with Windu, Sidious's face underwent severe disfigurement and became gaunt, displaying deathly pale, wrinkled skin, with flesh sagging from his pronounced forehead and surrounding his intense yellow eyes. Luke Skywalker viewed this alteration as a reminder of his own frailty and mortality, as well as the price he had to pay for his power, which further intensified his animosity towards the Jedi. His vocal tone also changed noticeably, becoming deeper and acquiring a sinister quality that many perceived as unsettling. However, Tarkin held the opinion that Sidious's voice merely sounded strained when compared to his pre-war demeanor.

Throughout the majority of his reign, the Emperor chose to remain out of the public eye, instead creating holograms or idealized portraits that portrayed him in his prime, as he appeared during the final years of the Galactic Republic. Nevertheless, as the Empire's rule solidified, the citizens of the galaxy largely ceased using the name "Palpatine," and the man became universally known as "the Emperor." Upon his discovery on Exegol, Sidious, inhabiting a cloned body, presented a repulsive and decaying appearance. His face bore a resemblance to its pre-disfigurement state, but his skin exhibited a more pronounced pallor than before the transfer, his eyes were white, his lips had turned black, and his fingers were in the process of rotting away, exposing the underlying bone structure. After draining Rey and Ben Solo of their life force to replenish his own, his physical appearance more closely resembled his form before his initial demise.

As the Sith's Dark Lord, Darth Sidious possessed an extraordinary and potent connection to the Force, enabling him to wield a diverse range of Force abilities that surpassed even the most accomplished Jedi Masters. This distinction led to his recognition as one of the most formidable Force-users in the history of the galaxy. Sidious asserted that his power in the dark side originated from hatred, which he professed to transform into strength rather than succumbing to suffering. Nevertheless, his command over the dark side drew sustenance from more than just personal animosity; Sidious could harness the fear and hatred of others to fuel his own power, particularly when directed towards himself. As he conveyed to Vader during one of his apprentice's acts of rebellion, he flourished on the hatred emanating from Vader. If Vader or any other individual intensified their hatred for the Emperor, those emotions would serve to amplify Sidious's strength in the dark side; effectively, Vader's endeavors to grow stronger by amplifying his hate for Sidious inadvertently fortified his master.

Sidious's advisor, Yupe Tashu, also posited that the Emperor perceived the origin of his dark side powers as emanating from "the universe beyond the edges of our maps." In pursuit of what Tashu termed "the source of the dark side," Sidious dispatched individuals into uncharted space, where they established communication stations and laboratories over numerous years.

Among the abilities Sidious employed was Force lightning, which served both as a lethal offensive weapon and as an instrument of torture. On multiple occasions on Ryloth, he unleashed bolts of Force lightning with such intensity that they not only instantly killed the lyleks he targeted but also severely charred and scorched their carapaces, which were resilient enough to withstand heavy blaster fire. In another instance, he utilized this ability to inflict substantial damage to the engines of a Twi'lek freighter, rendering it vulnerable to being easily pulled from the sky using telekinesis. Sidious demonstrated versatility in his application of Force lightning, including the capability to strike multiple adversaries simultaneously, with the bolts arcing from one victim to another in a chain-like manner, and imbuing the ground surrounding a victim's feet with energy, effectively electrocuting them. The sheer potency of his Force lightning surpassed that of Dooku's; while Yoda effortlessly absorbed and deflected Dooku's lightning, he could only partially deflect Sidious's. Furthermore, he possessed the rare ability to generate a Dark Aura, a localized storm of malevolent Force energy that hampered the movement of and inflicted torment upon all those caught within its radius. The zenith of Sidious's Force lightning potential, however, was attained prior to his ultimate demise on Exegol; upon being restored to his former self, Sidious unleashed a colossal wave of Force lightning skyward, rapidly expanding to such an extent that it incapacitated all 14,000 vessels of the Resistance and The Galaxy Fleet.

He also possessed exceptional proficiency in telekinesis; during his duel with Yoda, in which they were evenly matched, Sidious levitated numerous Senate pods concurrently, including the one he occupied, with remarkable dexterity and precision. Similarly, his telekinetic abilities were so refined that he could effortlessly remove Luke Skywalker's handcuffs with minimal effort during their face-to-face encounter on the second Death Star. Sidious was capable of unleashing a Force push with sufficient force to easily send Maul and Opress hurtling through the air, and he could restrain them with minimal exertion. He subsequently effortlessly slammed Maul against the ground and walls, inflicting severe injuries. Sidious also demonstrated mastery of Force choke. Upon his arrival on Mandalore, he effortlessly telekinetically strangled two Mandalorians to death simultaneously and employed this power on two others while positioned on the opposite side of the room. He could even target individuals from hundreds of light-years away, utilizing only a holo-transmission to identify his target, enabling him to telekinetically choke and lift Count Dooku and unlock Bridger's handcuffs while projecting himself to their respective locations via a hologram. Shortly after his new apprentice was reconstructed as a cyborg, Sidious managed to defend himself against Vader’s force choke but Vader threw the Emperor against the wall, but Sidious managed to convince Vader to let him go. After Vader did, Sidious shocked his apprentice with bolts of Force lightning. Sidious then ignited his lightsaber and threatened that if Vader touched him with the Force again, he would finish what Obi-Wan could not.

One of Darth Sidious's most potent abilities was his capacity to foresee the future, which enabled him to prepare for virtually any eventuality. He believed that, with sufficient time and dedication, he could eventually harness the dark side to perceive the future with absolute accuracy.

The Dark Lord also excelled in Sith magic, demonstrated by his ability to cast a Dark illusion on Yoda using a ritual involving Balc speech incantations and his access to the World Between Worlds through an unspecified ritual. He could also employ Sith magic to generate a blue fiery energy, which he used to attack Ezra Bridger and Ahsoka Tano, functioning both as a weapon and a means of binding and drawing someone closer, as exemplified by Bridger; the energy enveloping his leg transformed into a tangible rope. He also possessed knowledge of the ancient Sith language, ur-Kittât. The Dark Lord was also adept in the use of Force Persuade to such an extent that he was able to take complete control of a subject's mind and force them to obey his commands.

Similarly, Sidious possessed the ability to utilize Dark Absorption. He could also communicate telepathically with Darth Vader across vast distances of hundreds of light-years. However, it appeared that this ability was limited to transmitting and receiving relatively simple messages, such as Vader requesting the shipment of a starfighter, as the two Sith Lords relied on holoprojections for more complex discussions. Sidious also exhibited a remarkable ability to discern the thoughts and emotions of others, including those of exceptionally powerful Force adepts like Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker. Conversely, he could conceal his own thoughts and feelings from even individuals such as Yoda, successfully masking his true dark nature from the entire Jedi Council for decades before deliberately revealing himself. Sidious also used Force Dash and could move as fast as a "lightning strike". He had the ability to drain the life force of other Force-sensitives such as Ben Solo and Rey, a dyad that he overpowered in the Force despite the physically weakened state of his cloned body. After restoring his strength with the dyad's energy, Sidious demonstrated his proficiency in telekinesis by lifting Solo and throwing him into a chasm.

Darth Sidious was a highly skilled swordsman, having received extensive training in the art of lightsaber combat from his master, Darth Plagueis. While he primarily relied on his power in the dark side as his principal form of attack rather than his lightsabers, Sidious asserted that only a select few individuals could withstand his skill with the blade. He employed an extremely aggressive, rage-fueled dueling style, augmenting his swordplay with Force-enhanced speed, enabling him to swiftly eliminate three experienced Jedi Masters within seconds. During his confrontation with Maul and Savage Opress, he adopted a violently ferocious yet remarkably fluid fighting style, holding his own against the Sith brothers and ultimately separating them by briefly stunning Maul with the Force before toying with and killing Opress. His style was characterized by brutal aggression, exceptional speed, and lethal precision. Kit Fisto, a Jedi Master renowned for his combat expertise, was caught off guard by the ferocity of Sidious's assault and was consequently felled by the Sith's lightsaber.

Sidious demonstrated the ability to engage multiple opponents simultaneously, as evidenced by his encounters with the brothers Maul and Opress, as well as several members of the Jedi High Council. Proficient in the style of Jar'Kai, he wielded two lightsabers during an intense duel in which he killed Opress and disarmed Maul. While skilled in dual-wielding lightsabers, Sidious was also adept with a single blade, which he used against four Jedi Masters, and later Grand Master Yoda. Upon revealing his true identity to the Jedi, Sidious swiftly dispatched three Jedi Masters, eliminating Agen Kolar and Saesee Tiin with a single strike each, before striking down Kit Fisto moments later. Unlike the Jedi who succumbed to Sidious's blade, Mace Windu managed to contend with the Dark Lord of the Sith on equal footing for an extended period before ultimately disarming Sidious with a kick to the Sith Lord's face. The duel between Sidious and Yoda, both masters of the Force, was an intense battle in which the Dark Lord ultimately prevailed, albeit through the use of his Force powers rather than a lightsaber.

During a sparring match, Sidious was able to quickly overpower his apprentice Darth Vader and knock Vader's lightsaber out of his hand without much effort. He was also skilled in blaster deflection, as he was able to easily deflect every single blaster shot aimed at him when he fought on Ryloth. Soon before the Battle at Amaxine Station, Sidious used his lightsaber to once again spar with his apprentice while conversing about Qi'ra and her plans to destroy the Sith. In their sparing duel Vader manage to last longer than last time.

During the Naboo Crisis, Sidious was seen wearing a fancy blue cloak. When he was the Supreme Chancellor, he wore gold robes with a velvet overcloak around the time of the Battle of Geonosis, and a dark crimson robe with gigot sleeves near the end of the Clone Wars. As he gained more power, he started wearing cloaks that were more in line with Sith traditions, but he still liked fancy and comfortable materials. When he declared himself Emperor, Sidious wore a red robe that had symbols like the serpents from the planet Moraband. Later, as the Galactic Emperor, he wore a black zeyd cloth robe with a hood to hide his messed-up face. He had two lightsabers that were exactly the same.

Right from the start, when they were writing the 1977 movie that started it all, Star Wars film Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope, the director George Lucas had an idea for a character that would eventually become the Emperor we know today. One of the first documents about the project is a paper from early 1973 that had a list of names they might use in the story. At the top of the list was "Emperor Ford Xerxes XII," because Xerxes was a Persian king from history who was killed by his own son. Later, the name was changed to "Alexander Xerxes XII," and then "Emperor of Decarte." But in the end, they didn't use any of those names.

Palpatine was first thought of as a weak and clueless guy named Cos Dashit who thought he was a big deal. He became the President of the Republic and then the Emperor, but he was really controlled by the people in charge, like Wilhuff Tarkin. He wasn't good with the Force or a smart politician. This version of Palpatine was in the book based on the first movie, novelization, but it was replaced by everything else that came after, which showed Palpatine as the one behind everything in the Star Wars story. The Empire Strikes Back made it clear that he could use the Force, but it wasn't until Legends in Empire's End 2 that we saw he was a Sith (not just someone who used the dark side). In that story, dark side Sith ghosts treated him like a Sith Lord and he used Sith magic. Then, The Phantom Menace made it clear that he was a Sith.

In the original trilogy, especially in 1983's Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi, the character was never called "Palpatine" or "Darth Sidious" on screen. Most characters just called him "The Emperor," and Darth Vader called him "Master." His name was in other materials, like the script for Episode VI. It wasn't until the 1999 movie, Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace, that we heard his real name and Sith name in the movies.

In the first Star Wars movies, the character was called either Palpatine or Darth Sidious. But he didn't get a first name in any official or Star Wars Legends story until 2014. That's when the book Tarkin by James Luceno revealed his first name was Sheev. Luceno said that George Lucas came up with the name for the Star Wars: Underworld TV show he wanted to make. But he couldn't because of money problems, his retirement, and when The Walt Disney Company bought Lucasfilm. Leland Chee said that the name Darth Sidious might have come from the word "insidious."

George Lucas said that Darth Sidious's story was like the stories of people in real life, like Julius Caesar, Napoleon, Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, Joseph Stalin, Ferdinand Marcos, and Alberto Fujimori. They all used similar ways to turn their democracies into dictatorships. The similarities to Adolf Hitler are clear in Palpatine's role as Chancellor and how he used emergency powers to take control of the Republic, as well as his love for art. Palpatine's way of taking power is also like how the Roman Emperor Augustus, who was Caesar's heir, did it.

Richard Nixon was the main political example for the Emperor, because his presidency was known as the Imperial Presidency, and because of the constitutional problems caused by the Watergate Scandal. Lucas actually made the first Star Wars movie as a message against the Vietnam War, suggesting that the Empire was what America could have become if it had won the war ten years before 1973. But Lucas thought that Vice President Dick Cheney was more like Darth Sidious.

Also, the film critic Roger Ebert and the film historian Robin Wood pointed out that Darth Sidious looked like Death from the 1957 historical movie, The Seventh Seal and the witch form of Queen Grimhilde's in Disney's 1937 animated movie, Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. George Lucas himself said that Darth Sidious was originally supposed to be dark, but they made him brighter in post-production, so he became a white-faced figure that looked like Death, which was the spooky look Lucas wanted.

Darth Sidious, or the Emperor as he was known then, was mentioned in A New Hope. The Emperor first showed up in the 1980 sequel Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back, played by the experienced actress Marjorie Eaton. In Return of the Jedi, Ian McDiarmid played the Emperor. McDiarmid also played the role in the three prequel movies and in The Rise of Skywalker in the sequel trilogy. When he was promoting the prequel movie Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones, McDiarmid said that Palpatine was more evil than Satan because "at least Satan fell." The Devil is someone who lost his grace and wants revenge, but McDiarmid said that Palpatine was an "independent agent" who just wanted power. He wasn't sure about Palpatine's full story because the Sith Order was so secretive. While Satan could be written as both evil and someone you feel sorry for, like John Milton did by showing the Devil as a suffering soul in Paradise Lost, McDiarmid thought Palpatine never "fell" and was "evil from birth."

He also said that Palpatine was "an evil soul" who didn't have any scruples, or even know what they were. He thought that the only thing that made Palpatine happy was "pure exercise of power," and that his only real emotion was "pure anger." McDiarmid said that Palpatine's death in Return of the Jedi proved this, because he was just full of rage when he couldn't turn Luke Skywalker to the dark side. Because of that, he thought the young Jedi had to die and tried to kill him with "unadulterated fury." In 2023, McDiarmid said that Palpatine had a "complicated" childhood and that he had been twisted to evil. He wondered if "various things" had "twisted him into the way that he wanted." He described Palpatine as someone "who had to win," saying that "the word loser" was probably "the worst thing he could ever hear," and compared him to "a certain contemporary politician."

In The Empire Strikes Back, Eaton played the Emperor as a holographic image, and Elaine Baker did some test shots. Phil Tippett made the mask that Eaton wore, and Rick Baker, Elaine's husband, put it on her. Then, they combined Eaton's face with a picture of a chimpanzee for the eyes, and Clive Revill from New Zealand did the voice.

In the 2004 DVD version of The Empire Strikes Back, McDiarmid replaced Eaton digitally. They re-shot the scene with new dialogue from McDiarmid and James Earl Jones. They filmed this during the making of the 2005 movie, Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith, which McDiarmid was a main actor in.

In the first script for Return of the Jedi, when Palpatine shot Force lightning at Luke Skywalker, the Force spirits of Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda would have appeared to protect their student by changing where the lightning went.

For Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi, the Emperor was initially intended to be portrayed by the seasoned actor Alan Webb, who was 75 years of age at that time. However, just before filming was set to begin, Webb became ill due to the exceptionally cold weather that England was experiencing. He communicated to director Richard Marquand in a letter that he regretted to inform him that he felt the role was too demanding for him, and he subsequently passed away on June 22, 1982. Subsequently, Ben Kingsley, an English actor, auditioned for the part but was considered to sound "too English" for the character of the Emperor. With production running behind schedule, Ian McDiarmid was brought in as a replacement at the last minute.

McDiarmid returned to the role for all three films in the prequel trilogy, portraying a younger Chancellor Palpatine in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace and a middle-aged Palpatine in both Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones and Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith. He was initially taken aback when Lucas invited him to reprise the role, as he had assumed that a younger actor would be cast as Darth Sidious. Nevertheless, he accepted the opportunity and once again took on the part. George Lucas advised McDiarmid to envision his face as a mask concealing the face of a monster when portraying the young Palpatine. This guidance led McDiarmid to depict Palpatine as a seemingly amiable individual who was consistently courteous to others. The duel between Palpatine and Yoda in Revenge of the Sith lacks a definitive conclusion within the Star Wars saga, which inspired Tessa Gratton to pen the short story "Masters."

During Celebration Chicago in 2019, it was officially announced that McDiarmid would be returning to play Palpatine in Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker. This film served as the concluding chapter of both the sequel trilogy and the overarching Star Wars Skywalker saga, with its release scheduled for December 20, 2019. Upon the announcement, J.J. Abrams, the director of The Rise of Skywalker, expressed his satisfaction that McDiarmid's involvement in the film had remained a secret. Kathleen Kennedy, the producer, later verified that the decision to bring back Palpatine originated from discussions held during the development of Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens. However, Colin Trevorrow, the original director, clarified that the Emperor's return was not an idea featured in his initial script for the movie.

McDiarmid shared with Warwick Davis during a panel that he had engaged in conversations with George Lucas over the years, during which Lucas had confirmed that the Emperor was unequivocally deceased by the end of Return of the Jedi. McDiarmid stated that he was taken by surprise during production to discover that Sidious had created Snoke and, in effect, was responsible for every "evil action" that had occurred throughout the Skywalker Saga. Although the film does not provide an explanation for Palpatine's survival, Maryann Brandon, the editor, revealed that earlier versions of the film contained such an explanation.

For the Star Wars: The Clone Wars film and the subsequent TV show, Darth Sidious was voiced by the accomplished actor Ian Abercrombie. In the Creative Conservation commentary included on the film's Blu-ray release, as well as in the audio commentary on the film's DVD, Director Dave Filoni mentioned that he was intrigued by the dynamic between Palpatine and Jabba the Hutt, noting that it was a character interaction he never anticipated witnessing. Following Abercrombie's death on January 26, 2012, actor Tim Curry took over the role, appearing in the final moments of "The Lawless" and in the remaining episodes of the series. He received credit for his work, beginning with the fifth-season finale, "The Wrong Jedi."

In Star Wars Rebels, Sam Witwer, a Star Wars veteran, provided the voice for Sidious in "The Siege of Lothal," which served as the premiere episode of the show's second season. For the show's fourth and final season, McDiarmid returned to voice the Emperor, and he also re-recorded Witwer's dialogue from the second-season premiere. McDiarmid once again reprised the role for Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi.

Stuart Beattie was the screenwriter for the initial Obi-Wan Kenobi feature film, which was intended to be the first in a trilogy. From the outset of Beattie's narrative, Emperor Palpatine was to instruct Vader to disregard Kenobi and concentrate on the immediate challenges. In one scene, Palpatine dispatched Vader to suppress a rebel uprising while Vader was attempting to put Kenobi out of his mind. Vader later informed Palpatine that Kenobi and Yoda posed the greatest threats, prompting Palpatine to become angry and remind Vader of his position. McDiarmid reprised his role in the sixth episode of the television series Obi-Wan Kenobi. David Decio served as McDiarmid's double and stand-in. McDiarmid's scene was filmed in front of a blue screen. Deborah Chow, the director, desired Palpatine to convey to Vader that his fixation on Kenobi was a weakness. She instructed McDiarmid to perform his scene with a sense of being on edge, while also delivering some lines in a more casual manner. McDiarmid encountered difficulty in remembering to use the word "execute" during the filming process.

Palpatine's endeavors to consolidate power and undermine democracy were initially explored more extensively in Revenge of the Sith, specifically through the "Rebel Alliance subplot." Initially, Palpatine and Skywalker were to have a scene in the Chancellor's office where Palpatine disclosed that the Senate would, that afternoon, request that he assume direct control over the Jedi Council's affairs, justifying the decision by stating that it was another adjustment to the constitution in the interest of security. While Skywalker concurred with the idea of transferring power over the Council from the unfocused Senate to win the war, he cautioned his old friend about the Council's growing unease with the constitutional changes. Asserting that he had no choice but to accept the additional power, Palpatine swiftly shifted the conversation to his history with Skywalker before prompting him to question the Council, alleging that they viewed his increasing power in the Force as a threat.

The Rebel Alliance subplot commenced with Organa and Mothma establishing the Delegation of 2,000 to oppose the Chancellor's growing power. In Organa's apartment, it was noted that Palpatine had consistently passed amendments to the constitution, assumed personal control over the Jedi Council, and, as of that morning, appointed governors to oversee Republic star systems, effectively undermining the Senate's authority. Although surprised that one of her oldest advisors would behave in such an undemocratic manner, Amidala joined the Delegation. Following a meeting in Amidala's apartment, where the assembled legislators decided that their new alliance would focus on the Senate rather than immediately approaching the Jedi, Palpatine and Skywalker were confronted by a gathering of the Delegation in the Chancellor's office, where Amidala spoke on behalf of the group against Palpatine's actions.

Interrupting Fang Zar's attempt to speak and bidding the group farewell, Palpatine continued to tempt Skywalker to the dark side by asserting that the group, including Amidala, had ulterior motives and could not be trusted. Despite Skywalker's attempts to defend his secret wife, Palpatine probed the conflicted Jedi's emotional defenses by claiming that he simply did not want to acknowledge the possibility. The Delegation of the 2,000 and Palpatine's Sector Governance Decree have since been confirmed as canon. Palpatine's manipulation of Skywalker from the Delegation meeting in the Chancellor's office deleted scene was mentioned in "The Long Game," an article about Palpatine's rise to power written by Michael Kogge for Star Wars Insider 188, as a canonical quote.

Another deleted scene depicts Windu, Kenobi, and Yoda discussing Palpatine's efforts to seize control of the Jedi Council and contemplating whether they should take action against him. In the original story treatment for Revenge of the Sith, Darth Sidious was intended to reveal that he had created Anakin Skywalker through the midi-chlorians, effectively making him Anakin's father in some way. However, George Lucas ultimately removed this element from the film. While the attempts of Darth Sidious and/or Darth Plagueis to manipulate midi-chlorians are mentioned in the film, the concept of Sidious creating Skywalker was omitted from the final version.

One well-known debate concerning Darth Sidious revolves around his true appearance. In Revenge of the Sith, during his duel with Mace Windu, Sidious, upon being disarmed, uses Force lightning against the Jedi Master. However, Windu deflects the lightning back at him, resulting in the disfigurement and scarring of Sidious's face. Later, when Anakin severs Windu's hand to aid Sidious, Sidious electrocutes Windu, causing him to fall out of the window to his death. Notably, the Force lightning does not disfigure Windu during the brief period it is used.

However, prior to the appearance of Force lightning in Revenge of the Sith, when it first appeared in Return of the Jedi, Sidious used it against Luke Skywalker, and it did not disfigure or scar Skywalker. Matt Martin of the Lucasfilm Story Group suggested that Palpatine employed a higher voltage of lightning when attacking Windu, or that there were other factors at play, such as the Sith Lord overexerting himself, which caused the change in appearance. In 2005, author Gary M. Sarli proposed that Palpatine had been utilizing a Sith alchemy technique known as masking to conceal his true appearance, with the Force lightning removing the mask. Sarli further theorized that Sidious chose not to preserve his mask in order to further convince Skywalker that he needed to intervene and to falsely claim that he was scarred to the Senate.

Sidious's height has been reported as either 1.73 meters or 1.78 meters. This article assumes that the more recent databank entry on StarWars.com provides the accurate height.

During a question-and-answer session for The Clone Wars: The Lost Missions, Dave Filoni stated that Sidious had both Darth Maul and Darth Tyranus as apprentices simultaneously. However, Sidious's biography gallery in the Databank claimed that he recruited Dooku into the Sith during his tenure as Supreme Chancellor, following the Invasion of Naboo. Maul was presumed to have been killed during that event. Nevertheless, "The Lost One" establishes that Dooku must have joined the Sith in some capacity before The Phantom Menace; Finis Valorum loses his position as Supreme Chancellor within that movie, yet Dooku had Sifo-Dyas killed for the Sith Plan during Valorum's chancellery. The Tales of the Jedi episode "The Sith Lord" directly addressed this issue by depicting Dooku having joined Sidious by the time of The Phantom Menace, although he had not fully succumbed to the dark side and become Sidious's pupil until the events of the episode.

In the non-canonical LEGO Star Wars: The Freemaker Adventures, Trevor Devall provided the voice for Darth Sidious. During the first season, Sidious and Darth Vader learned about the history of a powerful lightsaber known as the Kyber Saber, which was constructed from numerous kyber crystals. However, the Jedi Master who created the sword deemed it too dangerous and destroyed the lightsaber before scattering all of the crystals throughout the galaxy. Driven by a desire to destroy the galaxy in a single blast, Darth Sidious sought to collect all of the crystals. He and Vader dispatched the Sith agent Naare to retrieve the Kyber Saber crystals. However, Naare's mission was complicated by her encounter with Rowan Freemaker, who was sensitive to the Force, and his family. In an attempt to acquire the crystals, Naare feigned being a Jedi and offered to train him in the ways of the Force. Despite Sidious's efforts, the Sith Lord failed to seize the Kyber Saber from Rowan, who successfully destroyed the weapon.

In the second season, Darth Sidious created an Imperial hunter droid called M-OC, tasking it with hunting down Rowan. This sparked jealousy in Darth Vader, who sabotaged M-OC's efforts on multiple occasions. Despite failing to capture the Freemakers on several occasions, M-OC managed to deflect blame by pointing out that Lord Vader had obstructed his efforts to obtain an XX-23 S-thread tracker. After Rowan constructed a powerful starship called the Arrowhead, Sidious compelled Vader and M-OC to collaborate. M-OC lured Rowan into a trap on Qalydon, but Vader outwitted the droid and brought it before the Emperor.

While in Imperial captivity, Rowan revealed that he had destroyed the Kyber Saber. Although the Emperor intended to kill Rowan, Vader convinced him that Rowan could assist them in locating more kyber crystals to power up the second Death Star. After Vader forced Rowan to disclose the location through a mind probe, the Emperor determined that Rowan had outlived his usefulness and ordered his execution. However, Rowan was rescued by his siblings. Meanwhile, M-OC rebuilt itself and stole the Arrowhead from the Freemakers, earning the Emperor's favor. The Emperor commanded M-OC to hunt down the Freemakers.

Following a skirmish on Shantipole, Rowan convinced M-OC that its programming was flawed. M-OC instead deduced that there was a flaw in the second Death Star and rushed to the Endor system. However, M-OC's warnings were ignored since the Emperor was preoccupied with Luke Skywalker. Later, M-OC was distracted when he witnessed the Emperor falling to his death, allowing Rowan to defeat it once and for all.