So, you decided to come back (I was worried I'd lost you there for a sec). As promised yesterday, I am here to speak about the downfall of one of the galaxy's most notorious, and most powerful masterminds

This guy brought down two of the longest lasting establishments in the galaxy: The Jedi Order, and The Republic. If that's not an achievement then I just don't know what is. His meticulous planning, adaptability, and a fairly good amount of patience enabled him to become the ruler over the entire Star Wars galaxy. He nearly wiped out all of the Jedi, personally handling four of members of the Jedi council. Yet his own apprentice, and one Jedi Knight defeated him, and he never saw it coming. How did this happen? How could two--TWO!--people take him down?

I have spoken much of how he rose to power, and the failings of the Jedi, and others, that allowed him to take his place as Emperor, but I have not spoken much of his downfall.

Palpatine was a very confident person; in fact he was very overconfident. I can hardly blame him for it, look at all he accomplished. So I am saying he fell victim to the same thing that caused the Jedi Order to fall? Not necessarily. Palpatine wasn't just arrogant about his own powers; in many ways he was a victim of his own success (if you can call mass-murder, and Tyranny a success). His plans worked. His plans worked very well, almost flawless. He was overconfident in his plans. He became so assured that his plans would always work (look how beautifully they did in the Prequels), that he lost his ability to adapt to, or really even notice, changes to his plans, when things went wrong or differently.

Aboard the second Death Star, in a conversation with his trusted apprentice, Darth Vader reports that a rebel force has infiltrated and landed on Endor...with his son among them. The Emperor was surprised by this, and even asked if Vader was sure. "Strange that I have not [felt his presence]." Suddenly something has gone outside of his plans, and he wasn't even aware of it. His arrogance, and overconfidence in his plans began to blind him to the things happening around him, which parallels what happened to the Jedi in the Prequels. Their arrogance in thinking they could detect any problems if they were to happen, blinded them (Now I won't say more than that, because I have already discussed the Jedi arrogance at length in a two part series:Part One Part Two)

His trust in his apprentice was another thing that led to his downfall. This seems apparent, but I shall go into it anyway. Palpatine thought that he had broken Vader's spirit (truly by the end of ROTS he really had, for Vader thought there was nothing left for him, everything he ever cared about was gone). Vader felt that the Emperor was the only one left to him. Did Vader hate Palpatine, oh I'm sure he did, but at the same time he had no one else. His wife was dead, and presumably his child (remember he didn't know about the twins) was as well. His best friend had abandoned him on the bank of a lava river to die, and only Palpatine had come to rescue him. Palpatine felt that he had him on a very short leash, and did not think that Vader would, or could, betray him.

However, Vader's self-loathing was overpowered by the love he had for his son, and his daughter (albeit he did just find out about her). The Emperor had not counted on this, for he thought his control over Vader was infinite and absolute.

Which leads me into my next, and final, point. The Emperor was powerful, and he knew it, and, as he so beautifully put it, "All people who have power, are afraid to lose it." (Forgive me if I am not 100% correct on this, it has been a few weeks since I last saw ROTS). But it wasn't just that he was afraid of losing his power, which he was (why else would he create such powerful weapons to keep people in line), but he also wanted more power. He was very much a megalomaniac, and wanted to gain more power. This, combined with his sense of infallibility, because his plans were always right, helped bring about his downfall. Because he had so much power over everything, and so much control, he felt that he really did have control over everything. It was almost inconceivable to him that something was not under his influence, which is why he never suspected that Vader would turn on him (at least to go to the Lightside, and help his son; remember the rule of two here people), and why he was constantly underestimating the Rebels.

He believed completely that he could force Luke to turn to the Darkside, and to become his new apprentice. Notice how he laughs during the final duel between Luke and Vader in Return of the Jedi, because he is confident that his plan won't fail. Then notice how angry he becomes when suddenly, his plan doesn't work. He's not just angry that Luke won't turn, he's angry that something was outside of his control, one of his plans didn't work. Then once he is confident that he has Luke at the mercy of his lightning, he is smiling again, never suspecting that Vader would betray him.

See, the adaptability that I praised him for in my other entries, during the time of the Prequels, vanished, because he had too much faith in his plans, to even think that they could go wrong. It wasn't just faith in his power (if you had beaten Yoda, wouldn't you be real confident in your powers), but a feeling that nothing was outside his control, that brought about his downfall. He underestimated the power of love, because he has probably never known it, and because Vader, presumably, was under his control.

Well, I suppose that's enough of my rambling for one night. As always I am open to comments, and welcome them heartily. Just remember....well you've all heard my disclaimer before, so I guess I don't need to restate it here.

I hope you enjoyed this entry, as I feel it was a necessary companion to his rise to power, and I hope you continue to come back. Tomorrow I am discussing the parallels between the two choices Vader made: to turn to the Darkside, and to come back to the Lightside, so I hope I will see you guys there.

--DLZ