Full
Name: Darth Sidious, Lord (also Palpatine, Senator/Supreme Chancellor/Emperor)
Nationality:
Nubian
Age:
uncertain - late fifties/early sixties @ Phantom Menace
Height:
1.79m
Weight:
unknown
Hair:
Grey
Eyes:
Blue-grey, later orange
Source:
the Star Wars films
Distinguishing
Features: orange eyes and stark-white complexion from Revenge of
the Sith onwards
Creator:
George Lucas
I don't think there could possibly be a better time than now in which to highlight this fabulous character as my favourite of the moment. This is the man who makes the galaxy of the Star Wars universe his playground, a place where he pulls every conceivable string, and even the strings of those who believe they are working of their own accord. Enter the most skilled and crafty puppet-master of any fantasy saga - the ingenius Darth Sidious.
Okay, if you wish to insult me and you haven't actually heard of this guy, perhaps a short intro is in order. And this will ruin the story a bit if you haven't watched any of them before and you're intending to... Darth Sidious is introduced to us about 3 minutes or so into The Phantom Menace. A shadowy, mysterious figure who is clearly the true orchestrater of the Trade Federation's blockade of Naboo, Sidious is also a Sith Master and therefore will have ulterior motives for everything he is doing...
Ironically, not long after we see the holographic, hooded Sidious on the bridge of the Trade Federation's ship, we also see him again in the throne room of the Queen of Naboo - but this time, we see him as a man called Senator Palpatine. You see, Sidious isn't just your average, sinister super-villain who lives in the shadows, he's a man of two faces, being both Sith Lord and senator for Naboo, a bad guy who works in the light at the same time as in the dark and, through this deception, eventually elevates himself into the position of Supreme Chancellor, and then to Emperor! Cue an evil laugh, if your tastes run that way...
'So'? What do you mean 'so'? This guy is the best of the best of the best, I'm telling you!
I must confess, I feel that I'm a rather unique individual in that I admire Sidious far more than anyone else seems inclined to and I, in turn, have a problem in communicating my reasoning for this - but I shall do my best here. To me, Darth Sidious is a man beyond awe - a great man, but a terrible man at the same time, very much like our own iconic "evil" figures in history. I feel that one must have to be a seriously patient and careful person to be able to maintain an alter-ego as a politician - a career that always throws one into the limelight - at the same time as playing the part of Sith Master, which entailed the raising and training of Darth Maul, which could hardly have been an easy feat. Presumably, as a boy, Palpatine was well-trained in preparation for this vital dual role, one which he has now fulfilled to such perfection that no one suspects him. Thus, with the time being right, he knows that he must do his ultimate duty, something that the two-man Sith cult has been waiting to do for nearly 2000 years - and that's to overthrow the Jedi, their mortal enemies, and to rule the galaxy!
I envy those who go into the Star Wars movies ignorant, for there can be no greater shock for these people than to realise that Sidious and Palpatine are one and the same. And yet, when one realises this state of things, the films become that much more beautiful, and I can only admire George for doing such a fine job with them. The Phantom Menace is perhaps my favourite film, and undoubtedly the movie which showcases Sidious's most intricate and remarkable handywork.
To start with in Phantom, we of course have the Trade Federation blockade that Sidious has set up - the blockading of his own planet, might I add - and we later have the chase to Naboo, in which he sends out his apprentice, the demonic Darth Maul, to pursue and capture the Queen. All the time, he is manipulating the activites of the senate to suit his will - "The senate is bogged down in procedure" and "I will see to it that, in the senate, things stay as they are" being two of the giveaway lines that he is, in fact, a presence in said senate. By the time the Queen gets to Coruscant, Sidious sees that the balance is about ready to tip in his favour and, using the young Queen's compassion for her people to his advantage, he gets the current Supreme Chancellor ousted and sets himself up to be elected.
Sidious is a man of patience and subtlety, and, though his lines in the movies may not be the stuff of movie legend, I feel, similar to how I feel about the character of Count Dooku, that his best moments are the ones where he doesn't speak at all, or, if he does, the moments where one should concentrate on what he is doing rather than what he is saying. Some of Sidious's best moments are Phantom, and furthermore, most of these are definitely in the scene between him and the young Queen Amidala, where she announces she is to return home - watch his features when he says "I will be Chancellor", and see the slight flicker of panic there when the Queen announces she is to go back and, therefore, possibly wreck the Sith Master's beautifully construed plans. Most of all, though, watch the final shot of the scene as the screen wipes away over a lingering look at Palpatine's face. "I pray you bring sanity and compassion back to the senate" Amidala says, and we all bask back with a grim smile on our faces and shake our heads at such delicate irony.
Perhaps the most cheeky Sidious-shot in Phantom is one at Qui-Gon Jinn's funeral, which is very similar to the 'sanity and compassion' one, mentioned above. Toward the very end of the scene, Mace asks Yoda, as they talk about the re-emergence of the Sith Lords: "But which one was destroyed, the master or the apprentice?" and the shot then slides slowly across the row of faces watching Qui-Gon's body burn, before it stops and lingers on Palpatine's face, from which we leap into the next and final scene of the film. It's a wonderful little moment that gives you a thirst for more, a wish to know what will happen next whilst this Sith Master is still at large, and free to manipulate everything & everyone to his will; this is the man who said "Wipe them out. All of them" with no remorse, the man who indirectly killed Qui-Gon Jinn, and who is now, composedly, standing here at the same man's funeral. Here is the man now elected to rule the galaxy, and to bring 'peace and proserity back to the Republic'. I think not...
Palpatine's part in Attack of the Clones was somewhat less, though he still had a major role to play. Clones is the lull before we move into Revenge of the Sith territory, where this most devastating of Sith Master's will demonstrate the true extent of his powers. One thing we do see via Clones though is that Sidious now has Count Dooku under his wing; the Sith Master has turned a former Jedi to the dark side, has convinced him to fight this war with him, and has put him to use as leader of the secessionist movement, the Confederacy of Independant Systems. There are several reasons why Sidious might have decided to opt for Dooku - or Darth Tyranus - as his apprentice: upon Maul's death, there was little chance of his having the time to raise an apprentice from birth - he had his eyes on young Anakin as a future protégé, besides - but he needed one here and now to fill the gap. Tyranus, who had recently left the Jedi Order and who was bitter with disillusion, was the perfect canvas on which to work. He was skilled, charismatic... everything Sidious needed in an apprentice. Not only this, but Tyranus was old, older than he was. This works because Sidious knows that he will replace this man as soon as he is finished with him - whether or not Dooku knows this is another thing altogether. Surely the Count must have some suspicions about being so readily hired by the Sith Master at his age - Dooku is an intelligent man, there can be no doubt - and yet perhaps he no longer cares; he is going to take his chances and do this one, final rash thing for the galaxy, whether it likes it or not. Perhaps, then, Dooku is just so desperate to get one back over the insitution that has failed him, that he is willing to do even this, to learn and take orders from Darth Sidious, despite the fact this same Sidious trained the warrior, Darth Maul, who killed his former apprentice, Qui-Gon Jinn.
And so, through Clones, a war is orchestrated by the two Sith Lords, one acting on each side - Palpatine in the senate, Dooku with the separatists. So far, so good. Thus, we come into Revenge territory. And I can't talk about that yet, if I knew about what was to happen or not. We all know this much, though - and that is that Palpatine becomes Emperor and brings about his notorious Empire, scrapping the Republic and abolishing the Jedi.
By the time we reach A New Hope, the senate has only just been scrapped, meaning that it has taken another eighteen years or so after Revenge for every facet of Palpatine's plan to fall into place, the Death Star being its ultimate manifestation. The Sith Master is in control, with the Chosen One at his right hand, and with the galaxy at his beck and call. The only problems he then has left to face are the pesky rebels, and it is Luke Skywalker, son of Darth Vader, who shall be the Sith Master's inadvertant downfall...
Are you sure? Well, I'll leave it there. I think that you have to stand back and look at the Star Wars saga in perspective to truly get an idea of the brilliance of this man and the scale of his achievements. Phantom Menace is his sure crowning glory, the place where it all starts and where everything begins to mould to his will, yet he makes an impression in every film, to some extent, being more of a looming presence than an active participant in the plots. His final appearance as the well-known, gnarled old man in Return of the Jedi is wonderfully creepy, and you can really see the true facets of Sidious's character there, when he is free of needing to appear to be someone else and when he knows that he is the ultimate power in the universe. Jedi shows Palpatine to be a man possessed of the most incredibly terrifying powers (who hasn't made a nervous laugh when Lord Vader tells his Admiral "The Emperor is not as forgiving as I am", for instance?) but, alas, Sidious ends up being slightly too short-sighted for his own good, and he falls foul to his own apprentice. A tragic ending, in the correct sense, but a fitting one nevertheless - it's only right that the Chosen One should be the one to bring down this almost unstoppable menace.
I always remember a little riddle off an episode of the cartoon Jumanji (spin-off from the film), and the clue on the game board was: "Blind obedience brings disaster, until the servant turns on the master". That short sentence could almost sum up the entire saga, a saga which all happened because of one little Sith Master, his web of influence, his powers of intellect, and his skill in manipulation.
I often feel that Ian McDiarmid isn't given enough credit for his contribution to the Star Wars saga, similar to Christopher Lee in a way, but I guess that he just isn't a man for the red carpet. I can't actually tell you an awful lot about the man who brings Sidious to life - he's Scottish, was born in 1944, and is more a classical stage actor than a movie-man, but that's about it. Either way, I'm sure I can speak for most of the fandom when I say that we're all very glad that he has made such a fantastic contribution to the saga. He's got a very distinct look about him and, for his political guise, has the perfect urbane manner, where he seems both amiable and trustworthy, yet, conversely, when he turns his tone of voice down to its more insidious (excuse the pun) levels, and the cowl goes up, he becomes quite unsettling and scary. Palpatine is one of those characters I don't think could be accomplished by just any actor, and McDiarmid is just so perfect as the character that I could hardly imagine anyone else even coming close to bringing this villainous senator to life. Ian has the look, the aura and the subtle skill to bring this pivotal Star Wars character to life, and I bow down at his feet for it.
I'm no sycophant. ;) I just can't articulate my admiration for this guy in words.
Well, that about wraps up most of what I have to say about Lord Sidious. I think the character is best left as obscured by mystery, but there are a few things I do wonder about him, like who his parents were and who raised him (could his mother possibly even have been his Sith Master?), but all that just highlights one of the beauties of the Star Wars saga - you take it home with you.
All that's left to finish off this guy's story is that highly-anticipated movie, Revenge of the Sith, which is due in cinemas this May. And I just can't wait to see McDiarmid take Palpatine through this final transformation into Emperor. Just bring it!
