Palpatine

Sheev Palpatine, secretly the Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Sidious and later known simply as the Emperor, was a human male who ruled the Galactic Empire from 19 BBY to 4 ABY. Cultivating two identities, he used the public face of Palpatine to advance through the Galactic Senate while pursuing his true aims as Sidious. He orchestrated the fall of the Galactic Republic and the Jedi Order through the Clone Wars and reigned over the galaxy until his death at the Battle of Endor. Through the dark side he escaped death and returned, seeking immortality until he was finally destroyed at the Battle of Exegol by Rey, his granddaughter.

Origins and apprenticeship#

Palpatine was born on the Mid Rim world of Naboo in 84 BBY and raised in the capital city of Theed, where he formed connections among the political class and acquired an early mastery of manipulation and the subtleties of power. Possessing a strong connection to the Force, he was secretly trained in the ways of the Sith by Darth Plagueis. While apprenticed, he constructed his own Sith lightsabers and steadily built political influence, establishing relations with future collaborators such as Wilhuff Tarkin.

Deciding that his master had outlived his usefulness, Sidious broke into Plagueis's apartment and murdered him in his sleep. As the Sith Master himself he trained the Dathomirian Zabrak Maul as a weapon, taking him to the Sith world of Malachor to instill a hatred of the Jedi. He later recruited the former Jedi Master Dooku, exploiting his disillusionment with the Republic.

The fall of the Republic#

The Sith adhered to the Rule of Two, which permitted only a master and an apprentice at any time. To advance his plans, Sidious orchestrated the Invasion of Naboo, using the Trade Federation as his instrument. Though the invasion failed and Maul met his presumed death at the hands of Obi-Wan Kenobi, the crisis won Palpatine election as Supreme Chancellor of the Republic. He maintained a reputation as a mild-mannered servant of the common good while the galaxy remained ignorant of his true nature.

With Dooku installed as his new apprentice under the name Darth Tyranus, Sidious set in motion the Separatist Crisis and the Clone Wars. He played the Jedi and the Confederacy against one another, secretly directing both sides while accumulating emergency powers through constitutional amendments. He commissioned the clone army through the Kaminoans and had its troopers fitted with biochips that would one day enforce Order 66.

Order 66 and the Empire#

During the Battle of Coruscant, Sidious had Dooku abducted him as Chancellor, then arranged for Anakin Skywalker to execute the Count. He then drew Skywalker toward the dark side, exploiting the young Jedi's fear of losing his wife and telling him the story of Darth Plagueis and the power to defy death. When Jedi Master Mace Windu came to arrest him, Sidious feigned helplessness, and Skywalker chose to defend him, sealing his own fall.

With his cover broken, Sidious issued Order 66 to the clone commanders, and across the galaxy the Jedi were betrayed and killed by their own troops. He then announced the reorganization of the Republic into the first Galactic Empire and declared himself Emperor, to little resistance from the Senate. After Skywalker was maimed on Mustafar, Sidious recovered his fallen apprentice and had him rebuilt as the armored Sith Lord Darth Vader.

Search for immortality#

As Emperor, Sidious moved his seat of power into the Imperial Palace, built atop an ancient Sith shrine, and withdrew increasingly from public view to probe the secrets of the dark side. He sought not merely to extend his life but to escape death entirely, preparing the hidden Sith world of Exegol in the Unknown Regions and supporting it with the loyal cult of the Sith Eternal, who experimented with cloning. Through a technique known as Strand-Casting he produced a clone son who lacked any connection to the Force; that son would father Rey. Anticipating his own defeat, he devised the Contingency to destroy the Empire and replace it with a new Sith Empire should he fall.

Death and return#

The Emperor's reign went virtually unchallenged for a generation until the rise of the Alliance to Restore the Republic. During the Galactic Civil War he sought to replace Vader with the latter's son, Luke Skywalker. At the Battle of Endor in 4 ABY, as he tortured Luke with Force lightning, Vader turned on him and killed him to save his son, destroying the reigning Sith.

Through his master's teachings, however, Sidious had transferred his essence into a clone vessel. His plans gave rise to the First Order, the creation of Supreme Leader Snoke, and the corruption of Ben Solo into Kylo Ren. When the Emperor announced his return in 35 ABY, the Resistance struck at Exegol. There the resurrected Sidious discovered the Force dyad between Ren and Rey, a descendant of his own bloodline. His dream of eternal rule ended when Rey, drawing on the strength of past Jedi, turned his own power against him and destroyed him along with his Sith Eternal cultists.